This Privacy Policy applies to your ("User" or "You" or "Your") access and use of KS Expert mobile application ("Kisan Sarathi Platform" or "We" or "Our") and the Services provided therein and detailed under the Terms of Service. The Privacy Policy and Terms of Service shall be read together, and any terms not covered in the Privacy Policy shall be governed by the Terms of Service.

Objective

The KS Expert Platform empowers users with personalized agricultural advice, real-time weather updates, and market prices to support informed decisions. It offers access to government schemes, webinars on sustainable farming, and expert guidance from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) professionals. With easy registration and multilingual support, it promotes productivity and sustainable agriculture across India.

Using the platform involves collecting personal data, which we protect with strict privacy measures. This policy details the data collected, collection methods, responsible parties, and usage. By registering, you agree to this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service.

Definitions

Unless otherwise defined herein, the terms used in this Privacy Policy shall have the same meanings ascribed to them in the Terms of Use. Additional definitions relevant to this Privacy Policy are provided below.

• Call Recordings: Refers to the audio and/or video recordings of consultations between Experts and Users conducted through the Kisan Sarathi Platform.
• Data Fiduciary: shall mean ICAR which dictates the purpose and means of processing Personal Data, as well as designating Experts within the Kisan Sarathi ecosystem.
• Data Processor: shall include DIC or any person or entity or third party partners etc. who may process Your Personal Data on behalf of the Data Fiduciary.
• Data Principal: the individual to whom the personal data relates, including farmers using the Kisan Sarathi Platform and individuals who have shared the data with Experts.
• Expert Application: Shall mean the mobile application and associated services designed for ICAR-affiliated KVK professionals to provide agricultural advisories and support to Users.
• Expert: Any individual, particularly certified professionals from ICAR or affiliated Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), who accesses or uses the Expert Application to provide Services to Users.
• Forum Content: Includes all user-generated and expert-generated text, images, videos, and other media contributed to the Discussion Forum feature of the Kisan Sarathi Platform.
• ICAR: Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
• Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK): Agricultural science centres established by ICAR to provide various agricultural services, including expert support.
• Platform(s): Kisan Call Center (KCC), Common Service Center (CSC), PM Kisan Saman Nidhi (PM Kisan), Indian Metrological Department (IMD), my Scheme, National language Translation Mission (BHASINI).
• Personal Data: Personal Data means any data about the User who is identifiable by or in relation to such data.
• Services: Services shall mean all services provided to the Users of Kisan Sarathi Platform.
• Webinar Data: Encompasses details related to scheduled webinars, notifications, recorded sessions, User comments, attendee feedback, and registration tracking.

Data Collected

When You use Kisan Sarathi Platform, We may collect your Personal Data to enhance Your experience and provide Our Services. This shall include, but is not limited to:

• Identifying Data (Mandatory) for account creation: Name, mobile number, location (automatically collected), gender, village;
• Non-Identifying Data (Non-Mandatory): domain, soil type, crop type, device type, etc. This is collected to provide Services specific to Your need.
• Farmer Profile Data: Detailed demographic information, landholding specifics (e.g., area, type of land), and cropping patterns (e.g., crops grown, cultivation history) collected and managed by Experts.
• Query and Communication Data: Content of queries submitted by Users (text, audio, video), expert responses, and records of all communication exchanges (including call logs and transcripts) within the platform.
• Call Recordings: Audio and video recordings of consultations between Users and Experts conducted via the Kisan Sarathi Platform.
• Advisory Content Data: Information related to advisories generated and disseminated by Experts, including content, target audience filters, and delivery status.
• Discussion Forum Data: Content posted by Users and Experts in the community forum, including threaded conversations, images, videos, and multilingual inputs.
• Webinar Participation Data: Information related to User registration for and participation in webinars, including attendance, feedback, and interaction data.
• Expert Application Usage Data: Data generated through Expert interactions with the Expert Application, including helpdesk logs, reports and analytics data, and crop calendar views.
• Expert Credentials and Access Data: User identity, designation, authentication details, and access logs for KVK Experts accessing the Expert Application.
• Integrated Service Data: Data exchanged with integrated external platforms such as e-NAM (market intelligence) and MyScheme (government welfare scheme eligibility).

Device Permissions

The Kisan Sarathi Platform will require certain access permission for Your device for seamless Service, which includes:

• Location Access: To provide accurate weather forecasts, crop-specific recommendations, and nearby market prices.
• Notification Access: To send real-time updates on weather alerts, market price fluctuations, government schemes, webinars and other critical information. You will have the ability to manage notification preferences within Kisan Sarathi mobile application.
• File Manager Access: To allow You to upload or download documents, images, or files, such as subsidy application forms, receipts, and invoices.
• Camera Access: To enable You to capture and upload photos for various purposes, such as documenting crop health, uploading documents, or submitting images for support and query Services.

How We Use Collected Data

We are committed to safeguarding Your Personal Data and using it responsibly. The Personal Data we collect serves several important functions:

• Access to Services: Your data enables us to provide the Services in a streamlined and tailored manner as per Your need.
• User Support: Your data enables us to provide responsive and effective User support, addressing any inquiries or issues You may have.
• Communication: We keep You informed about Our Services, including real-time updates, alerts, and notifications related to advisories, webinars, and other critical information via SMS and push notifications.
• Account Management: Your Data is used for managing accounts, including user authentication, account recovery, and communication regarding account-related matters.
• Legal Compliance: We may process Your data as necessary to comply with obligations under applicable law, resolve disputes, and enforce Our policies.
• Kisan Sarathi Platform Improvement: We analyze non-personal data to refine Kisan Sarathi Platform’s functionality and improve the overall User experience. We also analyse aggregated report data from the Expert Application to refine functionality and improve overall user and expert experience.
• Develop New Services: We may use the Data collected to help develop new services or feature.
• We may use your Data for any other purposes as required, in addition to the purposes listed above, within the ambit of applicable law, with your consent.
• Quality Assurance and Scientific Intervention: Specifically for call recordings, data is used for study, report and quality assurance purposes.
• Knowledge Dissemination: Advisory content and forum discussions are used for structured knowledge dissemination among farmers and experts.
• Market Intelligence and Scheme Navigation: Utilizing market data and farmer profiles to provide insights on crop prices and assist in navigating government welfare schemes.

Data Sharing

When Kisan Sarathi Platform Shares your Personal Data:

We do not share Your Personal Data with companies, organizations, or individuals outside of Kisan Sarathi Platform except in the following cases:

• Legal Reasons: We may disclose your Personal Data to investigate or prevent unlawful activities, comply with legal obligations, or address violations of our Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, or rights of third-party, Our employees, users, or the general public. This may involve sharing data with law enforcement, government, or judicial authorities.
• With Your consent: We will share Personal Data outside of Kisan Sarathi Platform when we have your consent for using any of the Services provided by Us that may require sharing Your Data with a third party. Kisan Sarathi Platform shall take all reasonable security safeguards to prevent the breach of any Personal Data. You are requested to see the privacy policies of such other parties to understand how Your data is dealt at their end.
• External Processing: We may share your Personal Data with trusted third-party partners or integrated APIs who process data on our behalf under strict confidentiality and security guidelines. This sharing of data is essential to enable us to provide you with seamless Services. The third-party partners are only granted access to Your data for the purposes specified and will not store or retain any such Data.

Specific Integrations

• Communication Infrastructure Providers (CDAC): For SMS alerts, secure audio/video consultations, and push notifications.
• Public Service Platforms (UMANG, CSC, KCC): For syncing queries and data from various farmer access points.
• Webinar & Streaming Tool Providers (YouTube): For hosting live interactive sessions (e.g., YouTube Live, RTMP streams).

Expert access to farmer Data is limited to consultation purposes. All interactions are logged and auditable. Experts cannot retain farmer Data beyond the platform.

As a Data Fiduciary, we take full responsibility for the collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Data handled by Our designated third-party partners/data processors. We ensure all data processing complies with applicable laws and implement strict contracts to protect your data’s confidentiality, integrity, and security. We also hold our data processors accountable for any breaches.

We are committed to safeguarding Your privacy and will only share Your Data with Third-Party Partners when necessary and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

Sharing of User Data by Third Party Partners

• We permit Third Party Partners to utilize User Data specifically for the purposes for which the Data has been shared by Kisan Sarathi Platform.
• Third Party Partners are strictly prohibited from transferring/selling/sharing Your Data, for free or for a fee, to any other entity/person. Any such attempt may result in action against such Third Party Partners.
• We do not permit Third Party Partners to retain any User Data or any other Personal Data in any other place/platform in contravention of this Policy.

Cookies Policy

Kisan Sarathi itself does not directly use cookies for tracking user browsing activity. However, when Users interact with certain integrated third-party services (e.g., YouTube Live for webinars), these third parties may use cookies or similar technologies independently. Users are advised to refer the respective privacy policies of these third parties.

Your Rights

• As a registered User, You have the right to access Your profile at any time for any account registration data that You have supplied.
• If You no longer wish to use Kisan Sarathi Platform You are free to delete Your account on Kisan Sarathi Platform. For any clarifications regarding the process of deletion You can reach out to our Grievance Officer at: kisansarathiteam@gmail.com.

Consent Withdrawal

• By agreeing to this Privacy Policy, you give Kisan Sarathi Platform your free, unconditional and informed consent to process your Personal Data. You may withdraw this consent at any time, which will not affect the legality of any processing done before the withdrawal. After withdrawal, Kisan Sarathi Platform will stop processing your data and will make reasonable efforts to ensure third-party partners do the same.
• You can at any time give, manage, review, or withdraw the consent to process Your Personal Data. Upon withdrawal of such consent, all User Data collected by Us will be either deleted or anonymized.
• You may request correction, modification, or updation of Personal Data provided if it is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, or misleading. You can access, correct, or modify the Personal Data You provided to Us by writing to Us on the contact details provided hereunder.
• You also have the facility to register a nominee on Kisan Sarathi Platform, who, in the event of Your death or incapacity, can access/use Kisan Sarathi account or Services related thereto.

Retention of Data

• Retention Period: We will retain Personal Data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. The specific retention period will be determined based on:
  • The nature of the data.
  • The purpose for which it was collected.
  • Any applicable legal obligations.
• Deletion of Data: Upon termination of Our Services or at the request of the User, We will securely delete or return all Personal Data, unless retention is required by law. This includes:
  • Deleting identifiable information from Our systems.
  • Anonymizing Data where possible for analytical purposes.
  We will also ensure that Our Third Parties Partners/Data Processors erase any Data shared for processing upon withdrawal of consent or when the purpose of processing is no longer served.
• Aggregated Data: We may create aggregated, de-identified, or anonymized Data from Personal Data collected. Such Data will not be used in a manner that could identify individuals and may be retained indefinitely for business analysis and improvement of Our Services.
• Legal Compliance: We will comply with all applicable laws regarding data retention and deletion, including but not limited to Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 (DPDPA) and any/all relevant Rules notified thereunder.
• Inactive Account: In the event that Your account remains inactive for a period of 5 years, Kisan Sarathi Platform reserves the right to delete Your account. Prior to taking this action, We will provide You with an advance notification on Your registered mobile number to inform You of the impending account deletion due to lack of activity. If You wish to retain Your account, please ensure that You log in or engage with Kisan Sarathi Platform within the specified timeframe.

Please note that once Your account is deleted, all associated Data may be permanently removed and cannot be recovered.

How we protect Your Personal Data

This policy outlines the commitment of Kisan Sarathi Platform to protect its systems, Data, Users, and other digital assets from cyber threats. It provides guidelines for the implementation of security measures and the responsibilities of Users and administrators, which are as follows:

• You are responsible for maintaining the security of Your account credentials, including the use of strong passwords and the protection of login information. Users must report any suspected security breaches or misuse of information to Kisan Sarathi Platform Support.
• We implement appropriate security measures which includes technical, organisational and physical measures, to protect Our systems. This includes the use of firewalls, secure data storage and transmission, restrictive access to authorized individuals, encryption, intrusion detection systems, and regular security audits.
• In the event of a security incident, Kisan Sarathi Platform will take immediate action to mitigate the impact, investigate the cause, and prevent future occurrences. Users will be notified of incidents that affect their Data or service.

Grievance Redressal

Kisan Sarathi Platform is committed to protecting user privacy and will address concerns as per its policy and applicable laws. If you believe your privacy rights have been violated or have questions about this policy, please contact our Grievance Officer at: kisansarathiteam@gmail.com for prompt assistance.