Privacy Policy - Have a Chai Tea

Personal data practices for creators and supporters using chaitea.me.

Have a Chai Tea ("we", "us", "our") is operated as a sole proprietorship under Indian law.

We are committed to protecting the personal data of every creator and supporter who uses this platform. This Privacy Policy is written in compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) 2023.

By using chaitea.me, you agree to the collection and use of your data as described below.

1. Data We Collect

From creators:

Full name and email address at signup
Username chosen for the platform
Bank account number and IFSC code for payouts, collected and verified by Cashfree and not stored on our servers
PAN card number for KYC, collected and verified by Cashfree and not stored on our servers
Profile information such as bio, photo, social links, and product details you choose to add

From supporters:

Name entered before making a payment
Email address if provided for a payment confirmation
Message sent to a creator if provided
UPI transaction reference ID supplied by Cashfree on payment confirmation

Automatically collected:

Device type, browser, and IP address through Cloudflare infrastructure for security and fraud prevention only
Page visit data through Cloudflare Analytics in anonymised form and not linked to individual users

2. Financial Data and KYC

We do not store credit card numbers, bank account numbers, or UPI credentials on our servers.

All payment processing, bank account verification, and KYC verification is handled by Cashfree Payments, an RBI-licensed Payment Aggregator (Certificate of Authorisation No. 266/2025). Their data practices are governed by their own Privacy Policy.

3. How We Use Your Data

Processing creator payouts to verified bank accounts
Sending transaction confirmation notifications to creators and supporters
Displaying supporter messages on creator profile pages when a supporter chooses to leave one
Fraud detection and platform security
Responding to support queries sent to hello@chaitea.me

We do not use your data for advertising. We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with any third party for marketing purposes.

4. Data Sharing

We share data only with the following parties and only to the extent necessary:

Party	Purpose	Data shared
Cashfree Payments	Payment processing, KYC, payouts	Creator bank details, PAN, transaction data
Cloudflare	Hosting, CDN, security, DDoS protection	IP address and page request data
Resend	Transactional email delivery	Email address and notification content

No other third-party sharing occurs.

5. Data Retention

Creator account data is retained for as long as the account is active and for a minimum of 3 years after account closure, as required for financial record-keeping under Indian law.
Supporter payment records, including transaction IDs, amounts, and timestamps, are retained for 3 years for audit and dispute resolution purposes.
If you request deletion of your account, we will delete your personal profile data within 30 days. Financial transaction records may be retained longer to comply with legal obligations.

6. Your Rights (Under DPDPA 2023)

You have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you
Correct inaccurate personal data
Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements
Withdraw consent for non-essential data processing at any time
Nominate a person to exercise these rights on your behalf in the event of death or incapacity

To exercise any of these rights, email us at hello@chaitea.me with your registered email address and the specific request.

7. Cookies

We use only essential cookies required for session management and login state. We do not use tracking, advertising, or analytics cookies.

Cloudflare may set security cookies as part of its infrastructure. These are functional and not used for profiling.

8. Contact

For privacy-related queries or data requests, email hello@chaitea.me