This policy explains what personal information Popular Business collects, why we use it, who can see it and the choices you have.
Information you give us
- Account details: name, email address, password (stored in a scrambled form that we cannot read) and optional profile details.
- Business details: listings, addresses, phone numbers, opening hours, photos, documents, products, services and other content you add.
- Enquiries and messages: what you send through contact forms, quotation requests, bookings, job applications and member messages.
- Reviews and posts: reviews, photos, articles, videos and forum posts.
- Optional profile details: photo, work, education, birth date, marital status, anniversary and address, only if you add them. Each detail stays private unless you choose to make it public.
- Birthday and anniversary offers: only if you turn them on, we use your dates and PIN code to show you offers. Businesses see only how many people are in a PIN code, never a group smaller than five. They see your name and phone only if you claim an offer from them. You can turn this off at any time.
- Verification documents: the document you upload when you apply for a badge.
- Payments: what you bought and the payment reference. Card and bank details are entered with our payment provider and are not stored by us.
Information we collect automatically
- Technical data: IP address, browser type and the pages you visit. We use it for security, preventing spam and understanding how the site is used.
- Cookies: see our Cookie Policy.
- Location: only if you choose a city, press a "near me" button or ask to see distances. Your browser asks for permission first. Distances on listings are worked out in your browser. To find your city, your position is rounded to about one kilometre and sent to us, and we may look up the place name with OpenStreetMap Nominatim. A "near me" search sends your position with that search. You can refuse location access and choose your city by hand.
How we use your information
- To run your account and show the content you publish.
- To pass your enquiries, quotation requests and bookings to the business you contacted.
- To send service messages such as confirmations, receipts and replies.
- To send our newsletter if you subscribed. You can leave at any time from the link in each email.
- To detect spam, fraud and abuse, and to keep the site secure.
- To improve the site and meet our legal duties.
What other people can see
Listings, reviews, articles, videos and forum posts are public, along with the name you post under. Your account email address is not shown on your listings unless a site setting allows it. Think carefully before you add personal details to public content.
Who we share information with
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only as needed with:
- The business or person you contact, who receives the details you send them.
- Payment providers, to take payments you start.
- Service providers who help us run the site, such as hosting, email and analytics.
- AI providers, only when a listing owner asks for AI suggestions. The listing text is sent to the provider to create them.
- Authorities or advisers, when the law requires it or to protect our users and our rights.
Verification documents
Documents you upload for verification are kept outside the public website, can be opened only by our administrators, and are deleted once your application has been decided.
How long we keep information
We keep account and listing information while your account is open. We keep payment records for as long as tax and accounting law requires. Security logs and messages are kept only as long as needed for their purpose. When you ask us to delete your account, we delete or anonymise your information unless we must keep it by law.
Your choices and rights
Subject to the law that applies to you, including India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you can:
- See and correct your details in your account.
- Ask for a copy of your personal information, or ask us to delete it.
- Withdraw consent you gave, such as newsletter consent.
- Raise a complaint with us. If you are not satisfied, you may be able to complain to the data protection authority.
To use these rights, please contact us. We may need to confirm who you are first.
Security
We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards, including encrypted connections and restricted admin access. No online service is perfectly secure, so please use a strong password that you do not use anywhere else.
Children
The site is not meant for children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their information without a parent's or guardian's consent. If you think a child has given us personal information, please contact us and we will remove it.
Storage outside your country
Some of our service providers may store or process information outside your country. Where this happens, we rely on the protections the law requires.
Advertising
We may show advertisements from third parties, including Google. Google and other ad companies use cookies, or similar technology in our mobile apps, to show ads based on your earlier visits to this and other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies lets it and its partners show you ads based on those visits.
You can turn off personalized advertising in Google Ads Settings, and see how Google uses information at How Google uses data from partner sites. You can also opt out of many other companies' personalized ads at aboutads.info. Our apps may also show ads from Meta Audience Network and Google AdMob, which can use your device's advertising ID; you can reset or limit it in your phone's settings.
Where the law requires consent, these cookies are used only after you agree. You can change your choice at any time using "Cookie settings" at the bottom of any page. We don't give advertisers your name, phone number or email address.
WhatsApp messages
If you tick the WhatsApp box, or turn it on in your account, we use WhatsApp to send updates about your enquiries and bookings, such as a confirmation or a reminder. WhatsApp is run by Meta, which handles these messages under its own privacy policy. Reply STOP at any time, or turn it off under My account → WhatsApp.
When you choose to chat with a business on WhatsApp or send it an enquiry, we give that business your name and contact details so it can answer you.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. The date at the top of this page shows the latest version.
Contact
For any privacy question or complaint, please use our contact page.