Privacy Policy

1. Overview & Commitment

Shahya ("we", "our", or "us") respects your privacy. We are committed to protecting the personal data of all users who browse, post, or communicate on our platform. We never sell your personal data or phone number to third-party telemarketers or real estate brokers.

2. Information We Collect

We only collect information necessary to facilitate peer-to-peer flatmate matching and secure communication:

• Authentication Data: Mobile phone number (verified via Firebase SMS OTP), or Google Account name and email (via OAuth).
• Profile Information: Name, age, gender, occupation, college/company, short bio, and lifestyle preferences (diet, smoking, sleep routine, pets).
• Listing Data: Room details, property specifications, rent, locality, photos, and amenities.
• In-App Messages: Messages sent through our built-in real-time chat service to enable direct room discussions.
• Technical Data: Device type, browser headers, and IP address for fraud detection and spam prevention.

3. How We Use Your Information

Your data is used strictly for the following purposes:

• Displaying your listings and public seeker profile to prospective flatmates.
• Calculating lifestyle compatibility scores between flatmate seekers and hosts.
• Delivering real-time direct chat messages.
• Moderating abusive content and preventing scam listings.
• Maintaining system security and service availability.

4. Data Sharing & Third Parties

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. Limited sharing occurs only with essential infrastructure providers:

• Authentication: Google Firebase for SMS OTP verification and Google Identity.
• Cloud Storage & Database: Supabase (PostgreSQL) hosted in encrypted AWS Asia-Pacific (Mumbai) data centers.
• Hosting & CDN: Vercel edge infrastructure with HTTPS encryption in transit and at rest.

5. Cookies & Local Storage

We use secure HTTP-only cookies and browser `localStorage` strictly to maintain your authenticated login session across page refreshes. We do not use intrusive cross-site tracking cookies.

6. User Rights & Data Deletion

Under applicable data protection laws (including the India DPDP Act), you have the right to access, rectify, download, or permanently erase your personal data.