Privacy Policy

About Our Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy [“Policy”] is a legally binding contract between Himalayan Institute of Cultural and Heritage Studies Foundation [“HICHS”] who is the creator, owner and operator of the website www.hichs.org (along with the services provided on or through it) [“Website”] and each user of the Website.

By using the Website, you signify that you understand and unconditionally agree with and consent to the terms of this Policy. This Privacy Policy should be read in conjunction and together with the Terms of Use. If you do not agree with or consent to the terms of this Policy, please do not use the Website.

Why this Privacy Policy

HICHS is committed to protecting your privacy and strives to provide you a safe and secure user experience. This Policy sets forth the information and collection, storage and usage policies and practices which HICHS follows and which apply to the Website and its use by you. This Policy provides the following information:

• Collection of your Information
• How your Information will be stored and processed
• Safeguards in place to protect your Personal Information
• Disclosure of your Personal Information
• Other useful information about this Policy
• Where to address your questions or complaints

This Policy is in compliance with the applicable laws of India, and particularly, the provisions of the Information Technology Act 2000; the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Information) Rules 2011; and the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules 2011.

1. Collection of your Information and Data

To ensure that HICHS can best meet your needs, it may require certain information and data from you. Such information and data collected by HICHS or provided by you to HICHS may consist of “Personal Information” and “Non-Personal Information”. All such “Personal Information” and “Non-Personal Information” is together referred to as “Information”.

• Personal Information

1.1.1   “Personal Information” means any information or data that can be used to uniquely identify you or contact you and which you have provided to HICHS during your registration process on the Website or while using the Website or the services provided by it and includes, without limitation:

• (i) Your name
• (ii) Your telephone numbers
• (iii) Information regarding your subscription, purchase or payment for premium or upgraded version of the Website.

• (iv) Your Internet Protocol address
• (v) Identification code of your communication device which you use to access the Website or otherwise deal with HICHS

1.1.2   “Sensitive personal data or information” as defined under the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data of Information) Rules, 2011 shall not be collected.

1.1.3   HICHS may receive Personal Information about you from third parties, such as social media services, commercially available sources and business partners. If you access the Website through a social media service or connect a service on the Website to a social media service, the Information HICHS collects may include your user name associated with that social media service, any Information or content the social media service has the right to share with HICHS, such as your profile picture, email address or friends list, etc and any information you have made public in connection with that social media service. In such cases, you authorize HICHS to collect, store, use and retain such Information and content in accordance with this Policy.

1.1.4   HICHS may also require you to pay with a credit card, debit card, net banking or other online payment mechanisms for any of its services. In such event, HICHS will collect your credit card / debit card number and/or other Information such as bank account number, online payment mechanism details etc and will use such Information for the billing and payment processes, including but not limited to, the disclosure of such Information to third parties as necessary to complete such billing operations. Verification of such Information, however, is accomplished solely by you through the authentication process offered by a third-party payment gateway. Transactions through your credit-card/debit card etc are made upon secure sites of approved payment gateways which are digitally under encryption, thereby providing the highest possible degree of care. You are advised, however, to exercise discretion in this regard.

1.1.5   The Website may enable you to communicate with other users or to post Information to be accessed by them, whereupon other users may collect such Information. Such users, including any moderators or administrators, are not authorized representatives or agents of HICHS and HICHS hereby expressly disclaims any liability on account of any of their acts in respect of any Information made available to them by you during the use of the Website.

1.2      Non-Personal Information

1.2.1   HICHS may also collect information or data other than Personal Information from you through your use of the Website. Such information or data shall be “Non-Personal Information” and may be stored in server logs. Non-Personal Information will not help in identifying you personally.

• Non-Personal Information may include, without limitation:

• Your geographic location
• Your list of contacts
• Your camera and photos
• Files on your device
• Calendar entries on Google and on your device
• Details of your telecom service provider or internet service provider
• The type of browser you use (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome, etc.)

• The operating system of your system, device and the website you last visited before using the Website

• The duration of your stay on the Website and the date and time of your access

• Non-Personal Information is collected through various ways such as using cookies, web beacons, embedded scripts and security software used for security and fraud detection purposes. HICHS may place temporary or permanent cookies on your computer and use cookies, web beacons, embedded scripts and security software etc. to collect Non-Personal Information about you.

1.3      Your Representations

You represent to HICHS and agree that:

1.3.1   The Information you periodically provide to HICHS is and shall be authentic, correct, current and updated and that you have the necessary rights, permissions and consents as may be required to provide such Information to HICHS.

1.3.2   Personal Information and Non-Personal Information may be treated differently.

1.3.3   Your providing the Information to HICHS and HICHS’s consequent collection, storage, use, processing and transfer of the same in terms of this Policy shall not be in violation of any third-party agreement, laws, or orders qua you.

1.3.4   HICHS and each of its directors, officers, agents or any person acting through HICHS, by whatever name called, shall not be responsible for the authenticity of the Information provided by you and you shall indemnify and hold all of them harmless in the event you are in breach of these representations.

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1.3.5   All Information provided by you shall, subject to the terms of this Policy, be and shall remain the exclusive property of HICHS.         

1.3.6   This Policy provides for reasonable and sufficient safeguards in respect of the Information provided by you to HICHS and that you do not expect HICHS to do anything further to protect your Information.

2. How your Information and Data will be stored and processed

            The Information shared by you will be stored and processed by HICHS as follows.

2.1      Your Information will primarily be stored in electronic form. However, certain Information may also be stored in physical form.

2.2      HICHS may store, collect, process and use your data in countries other than India but under compliance with applicable laws. HICHS may enter into agreements with third parties, in or outside of India, to store or process your information or data. These third parties may have their own security standards to safeguard your information or data and HICHS will, on reasonable basis, require such third parties to adopt reasonable security standards to safeguard your information / data in terms of this Policy.

2.3      Your Information may be processed or used for any of the following purposes, as may be permissible under applicable laws (including where the applicable law provides for such collection, usage, storage or processes in accordance with the consent of the user):

2.3.1   To facilitate your use of the Website or other services of HICHS.

2.3.2   To respond to your inquiries or fulfil your requests for information about the various products and services offered by HICHS

2.3.3   To provide you information about products and services available on the Website or offered by HICHS

2.3.4   To provide you information regarding the Website, including but not limited to administrative information

2.3.5   To send you communications which HICHS believes may be of interest to you

2.3.6   To personalize your experience on the Website by presenting advertisements, products, services and offers tailored to your preferences

2.3.7   To help you address any issues that you may encounter during the use of the Website

2.3.8   To complete and fulfil any purchase made by you on or through the Website

2.3.9   For proper administration and functioning of the Website and to improve services thereon

2.3.10 To review and analyse services on the Website

2.3.11 To conduct academic research and surveys

2.3.12 To protect the integrity of the Website

2.3.13 To undertake forensics of the concerned computer resource as a part of investigation or internal audit

2.3.14 To implement information security practices and determine any security breaches, computer contaminant or computer virus etc.

2.3.15 To comply with any legal obligations or requirements or to investigate, prevent or take action in respect of illegal activities

2.4      In specific, HICHS uses certain portions of data as provided by you for certain specific purposes as well, which are without foregoing the generality of the use of this information as given in Clause 2.3, also processed for the following specific purposes:

2.5      You hereby agree and acknowledge that the Information so collected is for lawful purposes and the collection of Information is necessary for the said purposes.

3. Safeguards in place to protect your Personal Information, Retention and Deletion

The security of your Personal Information is important to HICHS and it strives to protect your Information against unauthorized access or unauthorized alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

3.1      HICHS adopts commercially reasonable electronic, physical and procedural controls which may include internal reviews of the data collection, storage and processing practices and security measures, including appropriate encryption and physical security measures to guard against abuse access to systems where HICHS stores your Personal Information.

3.2      HICHS has implemented best international market practices and security policies, rules, and technical measures to protect the personal data that it has under its control from unauthorised access, improper use or disclosure, unauthorised modification and unlawful destruction or accidental loss.

3.3      HICHS will periodically implement reasonable security practices and procedures that are commensurate with respect to the Personal Information being collected and the nature of its business.

3.4      HICHS will also adopt all security practices and procedures as mandated under applicable laws for the protection of your Personal Information.

3.5      Notwithstanding anything contained in this Policy or elsewhere, HICHS shall not be held responsible for any loss, damage or misuse of your Personal Information, if such loss, damage or misuse is not directly attributable to HICHS including, but not limited to, sabotage, fire, flood, explosion, pandemics, epidemics, acts of God, civil commotion, strikes or industrial action of any kind, riots, insurrection, war, acts of government, computer hacking, unauthorised access to computer, computer system or computer network, computer crashes, breach of security and encryption, power or electricity failure or unavailability of adequate power or electricity.

3.6      While HICHS will endeavour to take all reasonable and appropriate steps to keep secure your Personal Information which We hold about You and prevent unauthorized access, You acknowledge that the internet or computer networks are not fully secure and that HICHS cannot provide any absolute assurance regarding the security of your Personal Information.

3.7      HICHS will only gain access to or modify settings of a computer system on which the Website is being operated after specific consent is taken to access/modify settings.

3.8      HICHS will not be responsible for any form of transmission, whatsoever, received by you from any third-party website during your use of the Website. Accordingly, HICHS does not make any representations concerning the privacy practices or policies of such third-parties or terms of use of such third-party websites, nor does  it control or guarantee the accuracy, integrity, or quality of the information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, videos, messages or other materials available thereon. The Information provided by you to such third-party websites shall be governed in accordance with the privacy policies of such third-party websites and it is recommended that you review the same prior to using such websites

3.9      You agree that, unless required by law [including any lawfully made and applicable rule, regulation or guideline] or by an order passed or direction made by a competent authority, including without limitation, a court, judicial or quasi-judicial or regulatory authority, law enforcement agency, investigation agency, authorised government official, or other legal or state authority, all Information shall be retained and not deleted till such time as may be required by HICHS in its sole discretion.

3.10    HICHS collects minimal data for its operations and adheres to a strict policy of no third-party access to any data or Information collected by it. However, should HICHS share Information with a third-party as per this policy, it will ensure that such party provides equal protection and safeguards for the data or Information so shared.

3.11    HICHS will not gain, obtain, compile or acquire any Information surreptitiously and shall only access Information with the User’s consent in terms of this Policy.

4. Disclosure of Your Personal Information

HICHS takes your right to privacy very seriously and, except as specifically agreed in this Policy, will not disclose your Personal Information to any third party.

4.1      HICHS will not disclose your Personal Information to any third-party, without your express consent, for any purpose except the purposes mentioned in 2.3 above.

4.2      Notwithstanding anything contained in this Policy, HICHS may disclose your Personal Information or User Content as defined in Clause 6.6 of the Terms of Use for Website , if required to do so by operation of any law [including any lawfully made and applicable rule, regulation or guideline] or by an order passed or direction made by a competent authority, including without limitation, a court, judicial or quasi-judicial or regulatory authority, law enforcement agency, investigation agency, authorised government official, or other legal or state authority or for similar requirements or when HICHS, in its sole discretion, deems it necessary in order to protect or defend its own rights or the rights of others, to prevent harm to persons or property, to fight fraud and credit risk, or to enforce or apply its Terms of Use. HICHS may also disclose your Personal Information if it believes that such disclosure is necessary in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of various terms and conditions or policies.

4.3      HICHS operates with minimal Information about the User. In consonance with its commitment to minimum disclosure and privacy in communication, HICHS does not facilitate any third-party to identify an anonymous User and does not repurpose any Information that has may have been acquired during registration on the Website.

4.4      You agree that such disclosure of your Personal Information as provided for in this Policy shall not be deemed to cause any wrongful loss to you or to any third party, or any wrongful gain to us or to any third party.

5. Other useful information about this Policy

            Here is some other useful information about this Policy.

5.1      Discretion & opt Out

5.1.1   You agree and acknowledge that you are providing Information out of your free will and accord. In case you do not wish to do so, you should not visit, download or use the Website or any service provided by HICHS. Further, HICHS may deny you access or refuse permission to use the Website or any service provided by HICHS.

5.1.2   You can add to or update your Personal Information on regular basis.

5.1.3   If during your use of the Website, you do not wish to comply with any term of this Policy, please do not use the Website and inform HICHS immediately on the following email ID:

            Email: hichshimachal@gmail.com

5.2      Change to Privacy Policy

5.2.1   HICHS reserves the right to change, modify, add to, or delete any contents or terms of this Policy at its sole discretion, at any time without notice.

5.2.2   In the event there are significant changes in the way HICHS treats your Information, or in this Policy itself, HICHS will send you or publish a notification so that you may review the changed terms prior to continuing to use the Website. If you object to any of the changes to this Policy, and you no longer wish to use the Website, you may contact HICHS on the following email ID:

            Email: hichshimachal@gmail.com

5.2.3   If you use the Website after a notification of change in terms of 5.2.2 above has been sent to you or published, you duly and unconditionally agree with and consent to the changed terms in this Policy.

5.3      Business/ Assets Sale or Transfer

5.3.1   HICHS may sell, transfer or otherwise share some or all of its business or assets, including your Information in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets or business or in the event of bankruptcy.

5.3.2   Any third party to which HICHS sells or transfers or otherwise shares its business or assets, as aforesaid, will have the right to continue to use your Information subject to the terms of this Policy.

5.4      Children’s and Minor’s Privacy

5.4.1   Although the Website is not intended for use by minors, HICHS respects the privacy of minors who may inadvertently use the Website.

5.4.2   HICHS strongly encourages parents and guardians to supervise the online activities of their minor children and consider using parental control tools available from online services and software manufacturers to help provide a child-friendly online environment.

5.4.3   In terms of Clause 3.1 of the Terms of Use for Website, every User must be eligible to enter a legal and binding contract under Indian law. Consequently, minors are not eligible to use HICHS. If a minor operates the Website through misrepresentation or otherwise, HICHS shall not be liable for any breach of privacy.

6. Where to address your questions or complaints

6.1      Questions:

If you have questions about this Policy or HICHS’s Information collection, use and disclosure practices, you may contact us at the following email:

Email: hichshimachal@gmail.com

6.2      Complaints & Grievance Officer -Cum- Data Protection & Control         Officer:

If you have any complaints or grievance with respect to HICHS’s use of your Information or the compliance of this Policy, you may contact HICHS’s Grievance Officer -Cum- Data Protection & Control Officer:

Name : Sonali Gupta
            Grievance Officer -Cum- Data Protection and Control Officer
            Himalayan Institute of Cultural and Heritage Studies Foundation
            Upadhyaya Cottages, Village Jonga, Tehsil Katrain

District Kullu, Himachal Pradesh – 175129

Phone : +91-9717949023

Email: hichshimachal@gmail.com

Details of the Grievance Officer -Cum- Data Protection and Control Officer may be changed by us at any time by updating this Policy. We will use all reasonable efforts to respond promptly to any questions, concerns, complains or grievances which are brought to our notice.