Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy outlines how Ankush Potgante ("we", "our", or "us") handles user data within our portfolio of mobile applications published on the Google Play Store. It ensures strict compliance with Google Play Store Developer Policies, Google AdMob Publisher Policies, and global regional guidelines (including GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and LGPD).

1. App Portfolio Scope

This Privacy Policy applies globally to all of our mobile applications currently distributed on the Google Play Store:

• ResizR: An image resizing tool built to help users compress, scale, and adjust image dimensions locally.
• StatusSift: A utility application designed for sorting, filtering, and managing media status updates locally.
• BSc Notes: An academic resource hub featuring year-wise sorted peer-to-peer study materials and notes.
• Thinking Pillars: A quiz application offering multiple-choice questions for multiple academic and programming subjects.
• Agni Pariksha: An interactive quiz-centric application for structured challenges and knowledge tests.
• Sat Sahib: A dedicated platform focusing on spiritual devotional content and community sharing.
• Chhota Media: An image and video compression tool built to optimize media files locally using foreground media processing services.
• ID Kavach: A privacy-first identity document protection tool utilizing on-device AI for redaction and secure storage.
• SSC Saar (SSC सार): An educational app designed for students to track study progress, streaks, and scores locally.

2. Developer Information & Point of Contact

For any inquiries, questions, or concerns regarding your privacy or this policy, please utilize our designated contact mechanism:

• Developer Entity: Ankush Potgante
• Privacy Point of Contact: apotgante@gmail.com
• Developer Website: https://apotgantee.web.app

3. Comprehensive Data Collection & Disclosures

Our applications process data in two distinct ways: local on-device processing and network-transmitting collection (strictly via third-party advertising SDKs).

A. On-Device Local Processing (No Transmitted Collection)

In accordance with Google Play's On-Device Access Exception, certain features are executed strictly locally on the user's hardware. These do not require disclosure in the Google Play Data Safety form because the data is never transmitted off-device:

• Local Images, Video, and Media (ResizR, StatusSift, Chhota Media, and ID Kavach): Our media utility and privacy-first optimization applications read, crop, resize, compress, redact, or filter local media files strictly in memory. We never upload, save, or transmit your media files or identity documents to any external servers.
• On-Device AI & Zero-Metadata Policy (ID Kavach): All document scans, image redactions (such as masking Aadhaar numbers, PAN, or faces), and AI analyses are performed strictly on your local hardware. The app strips all EXIF metadata (location, camera details, device info) from images during the redaction process to prevent accidental leakage of sensitive identifiers.
• Foreground Media Processing (Chhota Media): Chhota Media utilizes the FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROCESSING permission to perform local CPU-intensive video and image compression tasks (such as H.265 transcoding). This foreground service ensures that transcoding continues without interruption if you lock your device or switch to another application, preventing file corruption and ensuring task completion. A persistent notification with a progress indicator is displayed throughout the compression process, and all media optimization occurs strictly on-device without data transmission.
• Local Study Progress Database (SSC Saar): All chapter completions, streaks, and quiz performance metrics are stored on-device in a local Room SQLite database (ssc_saar_user_progress.db). This learning progress data is kept strictly private. By using our app, you consent to our on-device storage policy to track your educational journey.
• Android Auto Backup Integration (SSC Saar): Study data is safeguarded using Android's built-in Auto Backup system, which securely stores encrypted progress data in the user's associated Google account. Under this system-managed feature, when your device is charging, on Wi-Fi, and has system Auto Backup enabled, progress database files are automatically backed up to your personal, private Google Drive storage. This data is automatically restored to your device if you reinstall the app or switch devices.
• Local Quiz & Content Loading (BSc Notes, Thinking Pillars, Agni Pariksha, Sat Sahib, and SSC Saar): All quiz results, notes loading, devotionals, and quiz interactions are processed locally. Currently, the app does not have a registration system, email login, or profile name requirement, treating the user as an anonymous guest. No personal data is collected or transmitted to our servers.

SSC Saar - Android Permissions & Third-Party Disclosures

SSC Saar utilizes minimal permissions and libraries for user experience and system operations:

• Internet Access (INTERNET): Used solely to download the modern Lexend font from Google Fonts and to support the system-managed backup and restore features. It is not used to transmit progress data to private developer servers.
• Vibration (Haptics): Used to trigger haptic feedback during quiz attempts to provide an interactive study experience.
• Google Play Services: Used for font delivery and system Auto Backups.
• Lottie UI Animations (Airbnb): Used strictly for rendering UI animations locally (no data-tracking is associated with this library).

ID Kavach - Detailed Android Permissions Disclosures

To enable privacy-first document protection, ID Kavach requests specific permissions for local, on-device operations:

B. Disclosed Data Collection (Transmitted Data)

We do not collect or transmit any personal account data (such as names, email addresses, or user credentials). The only network data transmission is executed by integrated third-party SDKs (Google AdMob) for advertising and monetization purposes:

4. Purposes of Data Processing

We strictly limit the collection, access, and usage of user data to the following policy-conforming purposes:

• App Functionality: Processing local quiz responses and displaying academic notes on-device.
• Analytics: Monitoring application performance, diagnostics, crash tracking, and understanding aggregated user behavior.
• Advertising or Marketing: Displaying ads, capping the frequency of shown ads, and evaluating the effectiveness of advertising campaigns via Google AdMob.
• Fraud Prevention, Security, and Compliance: Detecting bad actors, protecting system integrity, preventing invalid clicks or ad impressions, and ensuring legal compliance.

5. Data Sharing, Recipients & Anti-Sale Policy

We do not share any personal user data. Device advertising identifiers are processed by standard advertising networks as detailed below:

• Google AdMob SDK: Integrated advertising frameworks collect pseudonymous identifiers and interaction data directly from your device to process ads and measurement.
• Service Providers: Standard diagnostics and crash analytics tools process anonymous performance logs strictly on our behalf.
• Legal Obligations: We may disclose data when legally required to do so to comply with valid government orders, law enforcement, or applicable judicial proceedings.

6. Google AdMob Integration & Ad-Serving Modes

All of our apps integrate with Google AdMob to serve advertisements, allowing us to fund free academic and utility tools. AdMob utilizes device identifiers (such as the Android Advertising ID) to support ad delivery. Depending on the user's demographic profile, explicit consent choices, and regional settings, Google AdMob operates in the following modes:

• Personalized Ads: Delivered when a user gives explicit consent. Google serves ads tailored to estimated user interests by analyzing historical and current app usage. Under Google policies, personalized ads require consent across Consent Management Platform (CMP) Purposes 1, 3, and 4, and Legitimate Interest or Consent across Purposes 2, 7, 9, and 10.
• Non-Personalized Ads: Delivered when user consent is restricted. While not targeted to past behavior, these ads still utilize local identifiers and cookies to perform essential frequency capping, basic ad rotation, and aggregated reporting. These require consent for Purpose 1 (Local Storage) and appropriate configurations for Purposes 2, 7, 9, and 10.
• Limited Ads (LTD): Active when Purpose 1 consent is denied. LTD disables all personalized targeting and completely ceases the usage of local identifiers. No local storage, cookies, or mobile ad IDs are accessed for ad-serving purposes.

7. Regional Disclosures & CMP Revocation

A. European Economic Area (EEA) & United Kingdom (GDPR / ePrivacy)

Under the EU User Consent Policy, users in the EEA and UK must be presented with granular choices regarding local storage usage and ads personalization. We utilize a Google-certified Consent Management Platform (such as the **Google User Messaging Platform (UMP) SDK**) to securely gather, record, and transmit consent choices adhering to the IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF).

B. United States State Laws (CCPA / CPRA)

Users residing in states with active privacy laws have the right to request access to their collected data, opt out of data sharing, and request the deletion of their personal information. We respect all consumer privacy rights and honor opt-out flags transmitted programmatically.

C. Brazil (LGPD)

We process Brazilian users' personal data in compliance with the Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (LGPD). Consent is legally requested and handled via certified consent interfaces, offering a clear path to access or delete personal records.

D. International Transfer & Data Privacy Frameworks

If we access, utilize, or process personal information originating in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland ("EU Personal Information") made available by Google, we formally commit to the EU-U.S., UK, and Swiss Data Privacy Framework Principles. We implement robust technological safeguards to ensure equivalent levels of protection. Any compliance failures will be immediately reported to Google's Data Protection Office via email at data-protection-office@google.com.

8. Android Advertising ID & App Set ID Guidelines

Our applications operate under strict hardware identifier regulations:

• Android Advertising ID (AAID): AAID is a resettable, pseudonymous identifier used strictly for advertising and monetization. Users can reset their Advertising ID or opt out of personalized ads entirely by navigating to Settings -> Privacy -> Ads on their Android device.
• App Set ID: Introduced by Android to support essential analytics, diagnostics, and fraud prevention across our apps. We strictly comply with Google Play Console policies:
  • The App Set ID is never used for ads personalization or advertising measurement.
  • The App Set ID is never associated, linked, or combined with personal user data or resettable advertising identifiers (AAID) for advertising purposes.

9. Secure Data Handling & Modern Cryptography

Your privacy and the integrity of your personal information are paramount. We adopt best-in-class operational security practices to safeguard all collected user data:

• Encryption in Transit: AdMob SDK communications and diagnostics are strictly transmitted using modern, industry-standard cryptographic protocols. All active connections are conducted over secure HTTPS (TLS) channels to prevent interception.

10. Data Retention, Deletion Portal & Account Purging

We maintain precise retention policies based on the nature of the data processed:

• Transient/Ephemeral Data: Performance logs and diagnostics are automatically purged or fully anonymized within 90 days of collection.
• No Account Deletion Required: Since none of our apps transmit user account data or profile files, there are no active, developer-hosted accounts to delete. However, we provide a portal for users who wish to request the purging of any cached diagnostics or have questions regarding their advertising ID data.

11. Children & Families Policy Compliance

We strictly comply with Google Play's Families Policy across our applications:

• Target Audience: If an application includes children under 13 in its target audience, or is classified as a "mixed audience" app:
  • We restrict the integrated third-party frameworks strictly to Google Play-approved Families SDKs (such as AdMob).
  • We programmatically flag our advertising requests with COPPA tags, enabling age-restricted treatment (tagForChildDirectedTreatment or tagForUnderAgeOfConsent) to disable personalized profiling and prevent behavioral ad-targeting for child users.
• App Compliance: We do not collect or transmit any sensitive personal identifiers from children without legally verified parental consent.
• SSC Saar Educational Focus: SSC Saar is an educational app intended for students. We do not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information (PII) from any user, including children.