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HirePassionate
verified_user DPDP Act 2023 & IT Act Compliant • Effective: November 2026

Privacy Policy

At HirePassionate, trust and transparency are the foundation of our freelance marketplace. This policy explains how we collect, store, encrypt, and handle your personal data and government identity verification documents.

lock KYC Encrypted

100% Private & Protected

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100% Buyer Refund Guarantee

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Full DPDP 2023 Control

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1. Overview & Data Fiduciary Role

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In Plain English: HirePassionate Inc. is the company responsible for guarding your data in accordance with India's Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023. We collect only what is strictly necessary to run the marketplace.

HirePassionate Inc. ("HirePassionate", "we", "us", or "our") operates the online specialized freelance platform accessible via hirepassionate.com. Under the provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 and the Information Technology Act, 2000 (along with applicable Intermediary Guidelines), HirePassionate acts as a Data Fiduciary in determining the purposes and means of processing personal data.

This Privacy Policy applies to all registered and prospective users, including Clients/Buyers seeking digital and engineering services, Candidates/Sellers offering technical and design freelance services, and general platform visitors.

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2. Personal Data We Collect

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In Plain English: We collect your contact details when you register, chat messages sent between buyers and sellers, and payment logs. We never collect data secretly without your knowledge.

person Profile & Account Data

Full name, email address, phone number (with country code), username, avatar picture, bio, skills, professional portfolio links, and company affiliation.

chat Communications & Work Data

In-platform messaging records, attached project files, deliverable review logs, custom offers, client feedback ratings, and dispute submissions.

payments Financial & Escrow Records

Transaction timestamps, order IDs, invoice numbers, UPI Virtual Payment Addresses (VPAs), bank account payout records, and wallet credit/debit logs.

devices Technical & Log Data

IP address, user agent, browser telemetry, device type, last seen status, and operational server error logs for security audits.

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3. KYC & Identity Document Security Guarantee

Ironclad Document Protection Guarantee
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Our Strict Promise: Your government ID, Aadhaar, PAN card, or passport documents uploaded for seller verification are strictly confidential. They are encrypted at rest and in transit, isolated from public access, and will NEVER be shared publicly, indexed by search engines, or sold to third parties.

To maintain marketplace trust, eliminate identity fraud, and satisfy Indian statutory compliance guidelines, sellers undergo mandatory identity verification (KYC). When you upload identity proofs (such as PAN Card, Aadhaar Card, Passport, or Voter ID), HirePassionate enforces stringent architectural safeguards:

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    Encrypted Storage & Isolated Partitions: Documents are stored on secure, sandboxed storage volumes with encryption at rest (AES-256) and TLS 1.3 in transit.
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    Access-Restricted Endpoints: Our application server actively denies public or unauthorized static access to KYC directories. Files can only be inspected by authenticated, security-cleared compliance personnel or the document owner.
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    Strict Zero-Indexing & Non-Commercialization: KYC documents are exempted from public sitemaps and blocked via robots protocols. We do not monetize, rent, or share KYC documents with marketing partners or advertising aggregators.
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4. How We Use Your Information

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In Plain English: We use your info to connect buyers with developers, facilitate escrow transactions, send OTP login codes, and resolve order disputes.

Your data is processed strictly for legitimate marketplace functions:

  • Account Administration: Authenticating user logins via secure 6-digit OTP codes sent through authorized mail services (ZeptoMail).
  • Service Discovery: Indexing freelancer gigs, skill tags, pricing tiers, and public ratings for buyer search.
  • Order Execution: Managing order lifecycles, project milestones, custom quotation approvals, and revision workflows.
  • Dispute Resolution: Providing objective mediation based on chat transcripts, submitted project deliverables, and milestone agreements.
  • Security Auditing: Detecting malicious activities, automated bot spamming, identity duplication, and evasion of platform rules.
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5. Platform Fees, Escrow & 100% Buyer Refund

Fair Transparent Pricing
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Fee & Refund Summary: HirePassionate charges a transparent 6% buyer service fee and a 6% seller commission. If an order is cancelled or rejected, 100% of the buyer's funds are transferred back to the buyer without unfair retention.

Buyer Platform Fee

6%

Calculated on the gross order value at checkout to maintain platform escrow, fraud surveillance, and 24/7 mediation.

Seller Commission Fee

6%

Deducted from the gig earnings upon milestone release to support global marketing, payment gateway processing, and KYC validation.

verified 100% Buyer Escrow Refund Guarantee

Whenever an order is cancelled mutually, rejected by the buyer due to failure of delivery, or terminated by resolution dispute in the buyer's favor, 100% of the funds in escrow will be immediately returned and transferred to the buyer's original payment method or wallet balance.

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6. Data Sharing & Third-Party Processors

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In Plain English: We never sell your data to data brokers. We share limited necessary info only with verified partners like payment processors (UPI/RBI licensed aggregators) and transactional email providers (ZeptoMail).

We share limited personal data only with vetted third parties bound by strict data processing confidentiality agreements:

  • Payment Aggregators & Banking Partners: Licensed under RBI directives for processing UPI payments, debit/credit cards, and automated seller payouts.
  • Transactional Email Services: Enterprise SMTP providers (such as Zoho ZeptoMail) for dispatching one-time passwords and critical order notifications.
  • Statutory Authorities: Law enforcement or judicial bodies only when mandatory under a formal court warrant or official legal notice under Indian Law.
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7. Data Retention & Cryptographic Security

We retain personal data only for as long as your account remains active or as needed to comply with our statutory obligations under the Companies Act and Indian GST regulations (which mandate transaction logs to be maintained for 8 years).

All sensitive credentials, session keys, and database records are safeguarded utilizing salted hashes (Argon2 / PBKDF2), HTTP-only secure cookie configurations (`pb_auth`), and database encryption on our LibSQL database cluster.

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8. Your Rights Under the DPDP Act 2023

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In Plain English: You own your data. You have the right to request a copy, fix mistakes, or ask us to delete your account whenever you choose.

Right to Access

Request a summary of your personal data being processed along with details of processing activities.

Right to Correction & Erasure

Update incomplete data or instruct erasure of data no longer required for regulatory purposes.

Right of Grievance Redressal

File a complaint directly with our Grievance Officer or escalate to the Data Protection Board of India.

Right to Nominate

Designate another individual to exercise your privacy rights in the event of death or incapacity.

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9. Cookies & Browser Storage

HirePassionate uses minimal cookies and local storage tokens strictly necessary to maintain authentication and user preferences:

  • `pb_auth` Cookie: Secure, HTTP-only session cookie validating your authenticated login session.
  • `color-theme` LocalStorage: Preserves your preferred theme (Light vs. Dark mode) across browser reloads.

We do not utilize invasive cross-site behavioral advertising trackers.

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10. Grievance Redressal Officer

Mandatory Statutory Redressal Mechanism

In accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000 (and Rules made thereunder) and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the name and contact details of the designated Grievance Officer are set forth below:

person Designated Officer: Rohan Wagh (Head of Trust & Safety)
alternate_email Official Email: grievance@hirepassionate.com
location_on Corporate Address: HirePassionate Inc., Tech Park, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560103, India
timer Statutory Response SLA: Acknowledgment within 48 hours • Resolution within 30 days