Privacy Policy

We collect only what each feature needs:

• Advocate directory listings — name, Bar Council enrolment number, mobile/WhatsApp number, email (optional), districts and courts of practice, practice areas, specialities, years of practice, languages and the “about” text you write.
• “Find a lawyer” requests — your name, mobile number, district, court (if given), the type of legal problem, the description you choose to write, preferred languages, and which advocates were shown to you.
• WhatsApp number verification — when you register as an advocate or search for a lawyer, you confirm your number by sending us a short code on WhatsApp. We receive your WhatsApp number, the message and its time, and may send you a one-line reply confirming the result.
• Google sign-in (to use the practice-management trial, research tools and feedback) — your Google account ID, name, email address and profile photo, the date and time of each sign-in, and the date you start the free trial. We do not get your Google password or access to your Gmail, contacts or files.
• Feedback form — your answers, linked to your Google sign-in, and optionally your name, court/city and phone number (only if you agree to a call).
• Profile photo (optional) — a picture you upload when you register as an advocate. It is shown publicly on your listing. Your browser shrinks it and removes camera information (such as location) before it is uploaded.
• Payments — when you buy a paid plan: the plan, amount, order number and dates, linked to your Google email. Payments are made on the secure page of our payment processor, Cashfree Payments India Pvt Ltd; it collects your card, UPI or bank details, and we never see or store them. We give it your name, email and mobile number so it can process the payment.
• Waiting list — your name and mobile number, if you join the launch waiting list, so we can tell you when BarristerX goes live (including on WhatsApp).
• Students — if you use the Students section: your Google name and email, your mobile number, your college or university and (optionally) your year of study, so we can run the section, count how many students use it and contact you about it. If you later move to a full account we note that too.
• Questions to the in-app guide — the text of questions you ask the BarristerX guide chat, with any phone numbers or email addresses blanked out, and whether you marked the answer helpful. We keep no name, email or IP address with it, and use it only to improve the app. The question is sent to an AI service (Groq or Google Gemini) to write the answer. Please do not type client names or case details into it.
• Technical data — IP address, browser type and time of request, kept in server logs for security, fraud and spam prevention and rate limiting.

Your saved work is kept in your account. The clients, cases, notices, follow-ups, payments, saved research and profile you save are stored in your BarristerX account in Oracle Cloud’s Mumbai (India) region, so they are on every device you sign in on. Each record is encrypted by our application before it is stored, with a key kept only on our server, so someone reading the database sees only scrambled text. We do not read your saved work. The BarristerX developer can view it only if you turn on “Let BarristerX support see my data” in Settings: that allows read-only viewing for 7 days at a time, every view is written to an access log, and you can turn it off at any time. Your device also keeps a copy so the app works offline; it is removed from the device when you sign out. You can download everything you saved from Settings at any time, and delete any record yourself.

Cookies and analytics. The cookies that make the Platform work are a secure sign-in cookie that keeps you signed in for up to 30 days, and a short-lived cookie used during Google sign-in. If you accept, we also use Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics on our public pages to count visits and see which pages are useful. Nothing from Google is loaded until you accept. They set cookies and receive your IP address, the pages you view, your device and browser type and approximate location, but not the details you type into forms. They are not loaded on sign-in, billing or admin pages. We do not use them to show advertising. You can change your choice at any time with “Cookie settings” at the bottom of any page, and the Platform works the same either way. We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal data beyond what you choose to type.

We process personal data on the basis of your consent, given through the consent tick on each form, and only for these purposes:

• showing advocates’ public profiles to people looking for legal help, and helping people find suitable advocates;
• following up on a request where no suitable advocate was found, if you asked us to;
• giving you access to the trial and tools, and knowing who has reviewed the Platform;
• improving the Platform from feedback, and contacting you for a call only if you agreed;
• keeping the Platform secure, preventing spam and misuse, and complying with law.

We do not sell personal data, and we do not use it to train artificial-intelligence models.

• Advocate profiles are public to people searching the directory, except the enrolment number and email address, which only we can see.
• Client requests are not shown to advocates. An advocate receives your details only when you contact them yourself (for example through the WhatsApp or Call buttons). WhatsApp and your phone provider handle those messages under their own terms and privacy policies.
• Service providers: our hosting and database run on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in its Mumbai (India) region. They process data only on our instructions.
• Google (Analytics and Tag Manager): receives the visit information described under “Cookies and analytics” above, under Google’s own terms, and may process it outside India.
• BarristerX developer (support access): can view your saved work only while you have allowed it in Settings, for 7 days at a time and read-only. Each view is recorded in an access log.
• Meta (WhatsApp): verification messages pass through the WhatsApp Business Platform operated by Meta Platforms, which processes them under its own terms and may process data outside India.
• Authorities: we may disclose data where required by law, court order or a lawful request from a government agency.

Personal data is stored in India (Oracle Cloud, Mumbai region). It is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest, and the application can only add records and read public advocate profiles — it cannot read back enrolment numbers, emails, client requests or feedback. Access to the full records is limited to authorised administrators.

No system is perfectly secure. If a personal data breach occurs, we will inform the Data Protection Board of India and affected users as the DPDP Act requires.

• Advocate listings (including any photo): while the listing is active, and deleted within 30 days after you ask us to remove it.
• “Find a lawyer” requests: up to 12 months, then deleted or anonymised.
• Feedback: up to 24 months, then deleted or anonymised.
• Payment records: 8 years, as tax and accounting law generally requires.
• Your saved cases, clients, notices, follow-ups and payments: while your paid plan or free trial is active. When it ends you keep 5 days to view and download your data, and it is then permanently deleted from our servers. We tell you the date in the app and by email. You can also delete any record yourself, or everything, at any time.
• Students section (name, mobile number, college): until you ask us to delete it.
• Questions to the guide: up to 12 months.
• Waiting list: until you ask us to remove you, and in any case no later than 12 months after launch.
• Google sign-in account: until you ask us to delete it; sign-in history up to 24 months.
• WhatsApp verification records: deleted after 7 days.
• Server logs: up to 90 days.

We may keep data longer only where the law requires it.

Under the DPDP Act you may:

• ask what personal data we hold about you and how it is used;
• ask us to correct, complete, update or erase it;
• withdraw your consent at any time (this does not affect processing already done);
• nominate another person to exercise these rights on your behalf in case of death or incapacity;
• raise a grievance with us, and if it is not resolved, complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

To use these rights, contact us using the details below. We will respond within 30 days. See also Your data & rights.

The Platform is meant for people aged 18 and above. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has submitted data, contact us and we will delete it.

We may update this policy. The date at the top shows the latest version. Significant changes will be highlighted on the Platform.

• Nishan Business Consultants, A3/1, Sai Sahawas Society, Karvenagar, Pune, Maharashtra, India
• Email: info@nishanconsultants.org
• WhatsApp: +91 93711 48927
• Grievance Officer: Anniket