Privacy Policy

Last updated: Sep 18, 2019

InstaConnect recognizes that your privacy is very important and we take it seriously. This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes our policies and procedures on the collection, use, disclosure, and sharing of your personal information or personal data when you use the InstaConnect Platform. This Privacy Policy applies to activities by InstaConnect and its affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively “InstaConnect,” “we” or “us”).

The Information We Collect

We collect information directly from individuals, from third-parties and automatically through the InstaConnect Platform.

Account and Profile Information: When you create an account and profile on the InstaConnect Platform, we collect your name, contact information (including your telephone number), and other information you provide, such as topics that you know about or find interesting. Your name, photo, and any other information that you choose to add to your public-facing profile will be available for viewing to users of the InstaConnect Platform. Once you create a profile, other users will be able to see your profile in their InstaConnect dashboard and send you “Call request” before calling you through InstaConnect.

Calls made by you: We collect and store the information and calls that you make and receive through InstaConnect. We do not record or store your conversations. We only collect information about whom you have contacted or who have contacted you through InstaConnect, in order to maintain the “Karma” and provide you with services required to operate InstaConnect platform, such as ratings.

Your Phone Number: When you join InstaConnect and verify your mobile number through OTP, we assign a virtual i.e masked extension number to your InstaConnect profile. Other users on InstaConnect will never be able to view your email or your real/actual phone/mobile number. They will be able to view the extension number assigned to you. When you receive a call through InstaConnect you will also not be able to view their actual/real phone/mobile number.

Communications: Your contact information will be used to communicate with you (via e-mail, phone, text message, through the InstaConnect Platform or otherwise). When you communicate with us (via email, phone, text message, through the InstaConnect Platform or otherwise), we may maintain a record of your communication. By disclosing your contact information to InstaConnect, you consent to our use of your contact information to communicate with you.

Consent to Call: By joining InstaConnect platform, you give constent to InstaConnect users to contact you through InstaConnect for their specific needs.

Integrated Service Provider and Linked Networks: You can elect to sign in or sign up to the InstaConnect Platform through a linked network (i.e. Linkedin), and you can connect your existing InstaConnect account with certain third party networks like LinkedIn (each a “Linked Network”). We receive certain profile and account information about you from the Linked Network. These Linked Networks may also appear in your profile, so that people can find you on these Linked Networks. The specific information provided to us by Linked Networks is determined by these third parties and may vary by network. In all cases, the permissions page for the Linked Network will describe information being shared. You should consult their respective privacy policies for information about their practices. You may also elect to connect and make and receive payments to and from use through third party networks (“Integrated Service Provider”); if you do so, you will be allowing us to pass to and receive from the Integrated Service Provider your login information and other user data for payment purposes.

Automatically Collected Information About Your Activity: We use cookies, log files, pixel tags, local storage objects, and other tracking technologies to automatically collect information about your activities, such as your searches, page views, date and time of your visit, and other information about your use of the InstaConnect Platform. We also collect and may store information that your computer or mobile device provides to us in connection with your use of the InstaConnect Platform such as your browser type, type of computer or mobile device, browser language, IP address, mobile carrier, unique device identifier, location, and requested and referring URLs. We also receive information when you view content on or otherwise interact with the InstaConnect Platform, even if you have not created an account.

How We Use Your Information

We do not sell your personal data– such as your name and contact information – to third parties to use for their own marketing purposes.InstaConnect uses the information we collect for the following purposes:

  • Provide our Services. To provide you the services we offer on the InstaConnect Platform, communicate with you about your use of the InstaConnect Platform, respond to your inquiries, provide troubleshooting, and for other customer service purposes.
  • Personalization. To tailor the content and information that we may send or display to you in the InstaConnect Platform, to suggest other InstaConnector’s on the platform, offer location customization, and personalized help and instructions, and to otherwise personalize your experiences while using the InstaConnect Platform.
  • Marketing and Promotions. For marketing and promotional purposes, such as to send you news and newsletters, special offers, and promotions, or to otherwise contact you about products or information we think may interest you, including information about third party products and services.
  • Analytics. To gather metrics to better understand how users access and use the InstaConnect Platform; to evaluate and improve the InstaConnect Platform, including personalization, and to develop new products and services.
  • Comply with Law. To comply with legal obligations, as part of our general business operations, and for other business administration purposes.
  • Prevent Misuse. Where we believe necessary to investigate, prevent or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person or violations of our Terms of Service or this Privacy Policy.

How We Share Your Information

We share information as set forth below, and where individuals have otherwise consented:

Service Providers. We may share your information with third party service providers who use this information to perform services for us, such as payment processors, hosting providers, auditors, advisors, consultants, customer service and support providers, as well as those who assist us in providing the InstaConnect Services.

Affiliates. The information collected about you may be accessed by or shared with subsidiaries and affiliates of InstaConnect, whose use and disclosure of your personal information is subject to this Privacy Policy.

Business Transfers. We may disclose or transfer information, including personal information, as part of any merger, sale, and transfer of our assets, acquisition or restructuring of all or part of our business, bankruptcy, or similar event.

Legally Required. We may disclose your information if we are required to do so by law.

Protection of Rights. We may disclose information where we believe it necessary to respond to claims asserted against us or, comply with legal process (e.g., subpoenas or warrants), enforce or administer our agreements and terms, for fraud prevention, risk assessment, investigation, and protect the rights, property or safety of InstaConnect, its users, or others.

Your Activity. Your information, including your name, profile picture, profile information, and certain associated activity information is available to other users of the InstaConnect Platform and may be viewed publicly. In addition, Your Content may be indexed by search engines.

Anonymized and Aggregated Data. We may share aggregated or de-identified information with third parties for research, marketing, analytics and other purposes, provided such information does not identify a particular individual.

Cookies, Pixels and Tracking

We and our third party providers use cookies, clear GIFs/pixel tags, JavaScript, local storage, log files, and other mechanisms to automatically collect and record information about your usage and browsing activities on the InstaConnect Platform and across third party sites or online services. We may combine this information with other information we collect about users. Below, we provide a brief summary these activities.

  • Cookies. These are small files with a unique identifier that are transferred to your browser through our websites. They allow us to remember users who are logged in, to understand how users navigate through and use the InstaConnect Platform, and to display personalized content.
  • Pixels, web beacons, clear GIFs. These are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, which we use to track the online movements of users of the InstaConnect Platform. We also use these in our emails to let us know when they have been opened or forwarded, so we can gauge the effectiveness of our communications.
  • Analytics Tools. We may use internal and third party analytics tools, including Google Analytics. The third party analytics companies we work with may combine the information collected with other information they have independently collected from other websites and/or other online products and services. Their collection and use of information is subject to their own privacy policies.

Do-Not-Track Signals. Please note we do not change system behavior within the InstaConnect Platform in response to browser requests not to be tracked.

How We Protect Your Information

The security of your information is important to us. InstaConnect has implemented safeguards to protect the information we collect. However, no website or Internet transmission is completely secure. We urge you to take steps to keep your personal information safe, such as choosing a strong password and keeping it private, as well as logging out of your user account, and closing your web browser when finished using the InstaConnect Platform on a shared or unsecured device.

Access and Amend Your Information

You may update or correct your account information at any time by logging in to your account.

Emails, Text Messages and Communications.When you join the InstaConnect Platform by signing up for an account or creating a profile, as part of the service, you will receive the InstaConnect notifications over email and SMS containing information about “call requests” or other information that we believe may match your interests. As permitted by law, you are also opting to receive other emails and text messages from us that may be of interest to you as a user of the InstaConnect Platform. Note that you cannot opt-out of receiving certain administrative or legal notices from us. If you opt-out of receiving emails and text messages about recommendations or other information we think may interest you, we may still send you transactional e-mails and text messages about your account or any services you have requested or received from us.

Transferring Your Data

InstaConnect is headquartered in India and has operations, entities and service providers in India and throughout the world. As such, we and our service providers may transfer your personal information to, or access it in, jurisdictions (including the United States) that may not provide equivalent levels of data protection as your home jurisdiction. We will take steps to ensure that your personal information receives an adequate level of protection in the jurisdictions in which we process it, including through appropriate written data processing terms and/or data transfer agreements.

Children’s Privacy

We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 13 (or under the age of 14 for anyone living in Spain or South Korea or under the age of 18 for anyone living in India) or knowingly allow such persons to register. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under the relevant age without parental consent, we take steps to delete that information.

Links to Other Websites

The InstaConnect Platform may contain links to third-party sites or online services. We are not responsible for the practices of such third parties, whose information practices are subject to their own policies and procedures, not to this Privacy Policy.

Your California Privacy Rights

California law permits users who are California residents to request and obtain from us once a year, free of charge, a list of the third parties to whom we have disclosed their personal information (if any) for their direct marketing purposes in the prior calendar year, as well as the types of personal information disclosed to those parties. If you are a California resident and would like to request this information, please submit your request in an email to nitin.bajaj@dmsiitd.org

Contact Us

If you have any questions or grievances about our practices or this Privacy Policy, please contact us at nitin.bajaj@dmsiitd.org, or send mail to: InstaConnect
Attn: Nitin Bajaj
Privacy Grievance Officer
Hno 1423/7, UE, Karnal 132001, Haryana,India

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

If we change our privacy policies and procedures, we will post those changes on this page. If we make any changes to this Privacy Policy that materially change how we treat your personal information, we will endeavor to provide you with reasonable notice of such changes, such as via prominent notice in the InstaConnect Platform or to your email address of record, and where required by law, we will obtain your consent or give you the opportunity to opt out of such changes. By continuing to use the InstaConnect Platform and InstaConnect services without consenting to the changes or opting out, it will be deemed that you have consented to such changes by your conduct.

Country-Specific Terms for India

India law defines ‘sensitive personal information’ to mean information relating to: (i) passwords; (ii) financial information such as bank account/credit card/debit card details; (iii) physical, physiological and mental health condition; (iv) sexual orientation; (v) medical records and history; (vi) biometric information; (vii) any details relating to the above clauses as required for providing you with access to the InstaConnect Platform; and (viii) any of the information received under above clauses for processing, stored or processed under lawful contract or otherwise. Unless otherwise specified in the Privacy Policy, ‘personal information’ will include ‘sensitive personal information’ as well. By using the InstaConnect Platform and InstaConnect services, you will be deemed to have consented to InstaConnect collection, disclosure and transfer of your personal information. By way of illustration, you will have provided us such consent by your conduct if you choose to share your personal information while using the InstaConnect Platform, such as by including sensitive personal information in Your Calls or by providing sensitive personal information in your registration information.

If an individual in India deletes or deactivates their account, then their personal information will be deleted as per requirements under applicable law.

While transferring personal information collected from individuals in India, we will ensure that it is transferred to entities that offer at least the same levels of data protection as adhered to by us.