Privacy Policy

Last Updated: 15 August 2026

Sudhar.org (“Sudhar”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is an independent public-interest platform operated by a group of professionals.

Sudhar documents and publishes information about local civic issues and places where improvement may be needed. Members of the public may voluntarily send us photographs, videos, descriptions, locations and other information about such issues.

We take privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains what information we may receive, why we receive it, how it may be used, what may be published, when information may be shared with others, and the choices available to individuals who contact or submit information to Sudhar.

This Privacy Policy applies to information collected through Sudhar.org, our email communications, direct messages, social media interactions, and other channels through which information is voluntarily submitted to us.

1. Our Basic Privacy Principle

Sudhar follows a simple principle:

A public issue may be documented publicly without making the person who reported it public.

The identity and contact information of a person submitting an issue are not automatically published merely because that person has submitted information to Sudhar.

The public report may contain information about the issue, location, photographs, observations and relevant public facts, while personal information about the person who submitted the report is handled separately.

2. Information We May Receive

Depending on how a person contacts Sudhar, we may receive some or all of the following:

2.1 Information voluntarily provided by a contributor

This may include:

Name or display name
Email address
Telephone number, if voluntarily provided
Social-media username or account information
Photographs
Videos
Written descriptions
Voice messages
Location of the reported issue
Date or approximate date when the issue was observed
Other information voluntarily included in a submission

We do not require a person to provide more personal information than is reasonably necessary for us to understand, verify or communicate about a reported issue.

3. Photographs and Videos

Photographs and videos submitted to Sudhar may contain information that is not immediately obvious, including:

People appearing in the image
Vehicle registration numbers
House or building numbers
Business names
Street signs
GPS or other metadata
Device-generated information
Other identifying details

Contributors should avoid unnecessarily including identifiable individuals or private personal information in photographs where such information is not relevant to the reported issue.

Where reasonably practical, Sudhar may crop, blur, redact or otherwise remove unnecessary personal information before publication.

However, contributors understand that photographs and videos submitted to an online publication may contain incidental information and that complete removal of every identifying element cannot always be guaranteed.

4. Location Information

Location is an important part of Sudhar's reporting process.

A contributor may voluntarily provide:

Address
Locality
Landmark
Road name
School or facility name
Map location
GPS coordinates
Photographic location information

We may use location information to:

Understand the reported issue;
Verify that the reported issue exists at the stated location;
Prepare an accurate public report;
Categorise or archive reports geographically;
Contact an appropriate public authority where necessary; and
Provide the public with sufficient information to understand where the reported issue exists.

Public Location vs. Personal Location

The location of a public issue may be published when necessary for the report.

This does not mean that the private residential address, identity, telephone number or other personal information of the person who submitted the report will also be published.

We will generally distinguish between:

The location of the reported issue
and
the identity/location information of the person who reported it.

5. How Sudhar Handles a Submission

A submission may generally pass through the following stages:

Stage 1 — Receipt

We receive an issue through email, direct message or another available submission channel.

Stage 2 — Initial Review

We may review the information to determine whether it appears to concern a genuine civic or public-interest issue.

Stage 3 — Verification

Where reasonably possible, we may verify the stated location and basic details of the issue.

Verification may include reviewing:

Photographs or videos
Location information
Publicly available maps
Publicly available information
Information supplied by the contributor
Other reasonably available sources

Verification does not necessarily mean that Sudhar independently confirms every factual statement made by a contributor.

Stage 4 — Editorial Decision

After review, Sudhar may:

Publish the report;
Request additional information;
Request clarification;
Hold the report for further verification;
Decline to publish the report; or
Remove or modify a report later if new information becomes available.

Stage 5 — Publication

If published, the report may appear on Sudhar.org and may also be promoted through Sudhar's social-media channels.

Stage 6 — Follow-up

Where appropriate, Sudhar may monitor whether the reported issue changes or is addressed and may update the original report.

6. What May Be Published

A published report may contain:

The nature of the reported issue
Photographs or videos
Public location information
Date or approximate date
Relevant observations
Publicly available information
Information necessary to explain the issue
Status updates
Information about subsequent improvement

The exact information published will depend on the nature of the report and editorial considerations.

7. What We Generally Do Not Publish About Contributors

Unless there is a specific and legitimate reason to do otherwise, Sudhar does not intend to publish a contributor's:

Private telephone number
Private email address
Private residential address
Personal identification documents
Passwords
Account credentials
Private conversations
Other unrelated personal information

A person's submission to Sudhar does not automatically make that person a public source.

8. Anonymous and Private Submissions

A person may contact Sudhar without publicly identifying themselves.

However, anonymity cannot always be guaranteed when a person voluntarily communicates through a third-party platform such as a social-media service.

For example, if a person sends a direct message through a social-media platform, Sudhar may receive information associated with that account as provided or made available by the platform.

Sudhar will not intentionally publish the identity of an anonymous contributor merely because the contributor submitted an issue.

9. Social Media

Sudhar may use social-media platforms to highlight reports published on Sudhar.org.

A published report may therefore appear on:

Sudhar's website;
Social-media pages or accounts operated by Sudhar;
Social-media posts, stories, reels or similar formats;
Other public communication channels operated by Sudhar.

Once information is published on a public social-media platform, that platform operates independently and may process, store, copy, recommend or redistribute content according to its own policies.

Sudhar cannot control how third parties subsequently copy, share or redistribute publicly available content.

10. Contacting Public Authorities

Sudhar may, where considered appropriate, communicate a reported issue to a relevant public authority, department, institution or other responsible body.

This may include sending:

A link to the published report;
Photographs;
Location information;
A description of the issue;
Relevant supporting information; and
Information necessary to explain the matter.

The purpose of such communication is to bring the reported issue to the attention of the relevant authority or institution.

Sudhar will generally avoid sharing the contributor's personal information when it is not necessary for communicating the issue.

However, there may be circumstances where disclosure of certain information is necessary, required by law, requested through a lawful process, or reasonably necessary to address a matter.

11. We Do Not Sell Contributor Information

Sudhar does not sell, rent or commercially trade a contributor's personal information.

Personal information received through issue submissions is not collected for the purpose of selling contributor databases or creating commercial marketing lists.

12. We Do Not Use Submissions for Unrelated Advertising

Information submitted for reporting a civic issue is not intended to be used to create unrelated advertising profiles or marketing databases.

If Sudhar introduces a separate service requiring a different use of personal information, the relevant privacy information will be provided separately where required.

13. Email Communications

If a person contacts Sudhar by email, Sudhar may retain:

The email address;
The contents of the email;
Attachments;
Date and time of communication; and
Other information contained in or associated with the communication.

This information may be used to:

Respond to the sender;
Verify a report;
Request clarification;
Maintain an internal record;
Follow up on a published report; or
Handle a privacy, correction or removal request.

Email information will not be published merely because an email was sent to Sudhar.

14. Direct Messages

If a person contacts Sudhar through a social-media platform, the platform may provide Sudhar with information associated with the communication.

Sudhar may retain the conversation or relevant portions of it for purposes including:

Reviewing the report;
Verification;
Communication with the contributor;
Editorial records;
Handling complaints or disputes; and
Protecting the integrity of the reporting process.

The privacy practices of the social-media platform itself are outside Sudhar's control.

15. Technical Information

When a person visits Sudhar.org, certain technical information may be processed automatically by the website, hosting provider, Blogger/Google infrastructure, security systems or other technical services.

Depending on the services enabled on the website, this may include:

IP address;
Browser type;
Operating system;
Device information;
Referring page;
Requested pages;
Date and time of access;
Approximate technical location;
Error information; and
Other standard server or security logs.

Such information may be used for:

Website operation;
Security;
Abuse prevention;
Troubleshooting;
Performance monitoring;
Understanding general website usage; and
Maintaining the reliability of the service.

Sudhar does not use ordinary technical logs to identify a contributor publicly merely because the person visited the website.

16. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Sudhar.org may use cookies or similar technologies provided by Blogger/Google, analytics services, security services or other website technologies.

Cookies may be used for purposes such as:

Website functionality;
Security;
Performance;
Analytics;
Preferences; and
Understanding general traffic patterns.

The exact cookies and technologies used may change as website functionality changes.

Where third-party services place cookies or similar technologies, those services may process information according to their own privacy policies.

17. Google and Blogger

Sudhar.org may use Google's Blogger platform and related Google infrastructure to host and operate the website.

As a result, Google may process certain technical information associated with visitors and website operation.

Google's processing of information is governed by Google's own policies and terms in addition to this Privacy Policy.

Sudhar does not control Google's internal infrastructure, security systems, analytics systems, cookie technologies or data-processing practices.

18. Third-Party Services

Sudhar may use third-party services for functions such as:

Website hosting;
Domain and DNS services;
Email;
Website security;
Analytics;
Social-media distribution;
Spam prevention;
Image or file delivery; and
Other technical operations.

Third-party providers may process information necessary to provide their services.

Sudhar seeks to use services appropriate to the purpose for which they are engaged, but third-party services operate under their own terms and privacy policies.

19. Information We Do Not Intentionally Request

Sudhar does not normally need sensitive personal information to report a civic issue.

Contributors should not send:

Aadhaar numbers;
PAN numbers;
Passport details;
Bank account information;
Credit/debit card details;
Passwords;
OTPs;
Medical records;
Private financial records;
Authentication credentials; or
Other highly sensitive personal information

unless specifically required for a lawful and clearly explained purpose.

If such information is unnecessarily submitted, Sudhar may delete, redact or securely dispose of it where reasonably possible.

20. Children and Minors

Sudhar may receive reports from people of different ages.

We strongly discourage children from sharing personal contact information, home addresses, school identification details, photographs of themselves, or other personal information with Sudhar without the involvement of a parent or responsible adult.

If we become aware that personal information belonging to a child has been unnecessarily submitted, we may remove or restrict that information where appropriate.

Reports concerning schools, children or minors will be handled with additional care to avoid unnecessary identification of individual children.

21. Publicly Available Information

Sudhar may refer to information that is already publicly available when verifying or reporting an issue.

The fact that information is publicly accessible does not mean that Sudhar will automatically publish every piece of personal information associated with it.

We aim to use only information that is relevant and reasonably necessary for the report.

22. Data Minimisation

Sudhar aims to collect and retain only information that is reasonably relevant to:

Receiving a report;
Understanding the issue;
Verifying the location or circumstances;
Communicating with the contributor;
Publishing or updating a report;
Contacting an appropriate authority where necessary;
Maintaining the integrity of the public record; or
Meeting legal or security requirements.

We do not seek personal information merely because it is technically possible to collect it.

23. Data Retention

Different information may be retained for different periods.

Published reports may remain online for a long period because Sudhar's purpose includes maintaining a historical public record of reported issues and subsequent improvements.

Internal communications and contributor information may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary for:

Verification;
Editorial records;
Follow-up;
Handling disputes;
Security;
Legal obligations; or
Protecting the integrity of the publication.

Where personal information is no longer reasonably required for these purposes, Sudhar may delete, anonymise or otherwise dispose of it, subject to technical limitations, legal requirements and legitimate archival needs.

24. Public Archive vs. Personal Data Retention

A published report may remain part of Sudhar's public archive even after a contributor's personal contact information is deleted.

Deleting a contributor's personal information does not necessarily mean deleting an otherwise legitimate public-interest report.

Where appropriate, Sudhar may retain the report while removing personal information that is not necessary for the public record.

25. Correction Requests

If a person believes that a published report contains inaccurate information, they may contact Sudhar and provide:

The relevant article or report;
The information believed to be inaccurate;
The reason for the correction; and
Supporting information, where available.

Sudhar may review the request and, where appropriate:

Correct the report;
Add an update or clarification;
Add a correction note;
Remove inaccurate information; or
Decline the request where the existing information is reasonably supported.

A correction request does not automatically require removal of an entire report.

26. Privacy or Personal Information Removal Requests

A person may contact Sudhar if they believe that a published report contains unnecessary personal information about them.

Depending on the circumstances, Sudhar may:

Remove the personal information;
Blur or redact an image;
Modify the article;
Remove identifying details;
Add clarification; or
Decline the request where the information is reasonably necessary for a legitimate public-interest report or where another lawful basis requires retention.

Requests will be considered individually.

27. Withdrawal of a Submission

A person may ask Sudhar to stop considering an unpublished submission.

Where the submission has not yet been published, Sudhar will generally consider the request.

However, withdrawal of a submission does not automatically require removal of information that has already been independently verified, published, legally required to be retained, or incorporated into a legitimate public record.

28. Security

Sudhar takes reasonable measures appropriate to the nature of the information it handles to protect information against unauthorised access, misuse, loss, alteration or disclosure.

These measures may include:

Access restrictions;
Account security;
Administrative controls;
Technical safeguards;
Secure service providers; and
Limited access to contributor information.

However, no internet transmission, email system, cloud service or digital storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Therefore, contributors should avoid sending passwords, OTPs, financial information or unnecessary sensitive personal information.

29. Internal Access to Contributor Information

Access to contributor information may be limited to persons who reasonably need that information for purposes such as:

Reviewing submissions;
Verifying information;
Editorial decisions;
Communication;
Technical administration;
Privacy requests;
Legal compliance; or
Security.

Contributor information is not intended to be openly accessible to the general public merely because it was submitted to Sudhar.

30. Disclosure Required by Law

Sudhar may disclose information where reasonably necessary to:

Comply with applicable law;
Respond to a lawful order, notice or legal process;
Protect the rights, safety or security of Sudhar or another person;
Investigate unlawful activity;
Prevent fraud, abuse or security threats; or
Comply with a legally valid request from an authorised authority.

Where legally permitted and reasonably appropriate, Sudhar may seek to limit disclosure to information that is relevant to the request.

31. Emergency or Safety Situations

Where information indicates an immediate or serious risk to life, safety or public security, Sudhar may take steps reasonably necessary to address the situation, including contacting an appropriate authority or emergency service where appropriate.

This may involve sharing information that is necessary to communicate the relevant risk.

32. User Responsibility

A person submitting material to Sudhar is responsible for ensuring that they have the right or permission to provide that material where such permission is required.

Contributors should not knowingly submit:

False information;
Fraudulent material;
Stolen or unlawfully obtained material;
Private personal information unrelated to the issue;
Malicious software;
Passwords or credentials; or
Material intended to harm, threaten or harass another person.

Sudhar may decline to publish or remove material that appears unreliable, unlawful, abusive, irrelevant or otherwise unsuitable for publication.

33. Photographs Submitted by the Public

By voluntarily submitting a photograph or video for consideration, a contributor understands that Sudhar may review, edit, crop, resize, caption or publish the material if it is selected for publication.

Publication does not require Sudhar to identify the contributor publicly.

Where appropriate, Sudhar may provide attribution, but attribution is not guaranteed unless separately agreed.

34. Public Interest and Editorial Independence

Sudhar makes independent editorial decisions regarding whether and how a submission is published.

Submitting material does not guarantee publication.

Sudhar may consider factors including:

Public relevance;
Location;
Evidence;
Verification;
Accuracy;
Safety;
Privacy;
Potential harm;
Duplication;
Legal considerations; and
Editorial relevance.

Sudhar may reject or delay a report even when a contributor believes the issue is important.

35. No Guarantee of Government or Institutional Action

Publishing a report or communicating an issue to an authority does not guarantee that any government department, public body, institution or other organisation will take action.

Sudhar's role is to document, publish and bring attention to reported issues.

Any subsequent action or improvement remains the responsibility of the relevant authority, institution, property owner or other responsible party.

36. Updates to Published Reports

Sudhar may update an existing report when:

New information becomes available;
A correction is required;
The reported condition changes;
An authority or responsible body responds;
Improvement work begins; or
The issue is otherwise resolved or materially changed.

Where appropriate, updates may remain attached to the original report so that the historical record is preserved.

37. Links to Other Websites

Sudhar reports may contain links to government websites, social-media platforms, maps, news organisations, public institutions or other external websites.

Sudhar does not control the privacy practices of those websites.

Users should review the privacy policies of external websites before providing personal information to them.

38. Social-Media Interactions

Comments, replies, mentions, direct messages and other interactions on social-media platforms may be visible to those platforms and, depending on the platform and user's settings, potentially to other users.

Sudhar cannot guarantee the privacy of information that a person voluntarily posts publicly on a third-party social-media platform.

If privacy is important, contributors should use Sudhar's designated private submission channel rather than posting personal information publicly.

39. Changes to This Privacy Policy

Sudhar may update this Privacy Policy when its services, technology, legal requirements or operational practices change.

The latest version will be published on Sudhar.org.

The “Last Updated” date at the beginning of this Privacy Policy indicates when the policy was most recently revised.

40. Contact Us

For privacy-related questions, correction requests, personal-information removal requests or other concerns regarding the handling of personal information, contact:

Sudhar
Website: https://sudhar.org
Privacy Contact: [privacy@sudhar.org]

When contacting us about a published report, please provide the relevant article URL or sufficient information to identify the report.

Please do not send passwords, OTPs, financial information or other unnecessary sensitive information in a privacy request.

41. Applicable Law

This Privacy Policy is intended to operate in accordance with applicable laws of India, including applicable data-protection and information-technology laws and regulations.

Where applicable, Sudhar will review and update its privacy practices to reflect changes in Indian data-protection requirements.

42. Important Notice

Sudhar is an independent public-interest platform.

It is not a government department, government portal, political party, or official representative of any government authority.

The purpose of collecting and processing information is primarily to receive, verify, document, publish and communicate information concerning public-interest and civic issues, while taking reasonable steps to protect personal information.

Sudhar — Where Improvement Is Needed.