Data Privacy at Gatezen

Last updated: May 19, 2026

Your data belongs to you. Gatezen is built around that idea.

This page summarises how we approach data privacy, the principles that guide every product decision, and how you can exercise your rights under the Indian Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act).

For full legal detail, see our Privacy Policy. This page complements it with a plain-language explanation.

Our data privacy principles

📥 Collect only what's needed

We collect the minimum information required to operate the service — name, phone number, flat, and visitor entries. No location tracking, no advertising IDs, no enrichment from third parties.

🎯 Use only for what you signed up for

Your information is used to authenticate you, deliver visitor approvals, and keep your society secure. We do not use it for advertising, profiling, or any other commercial purpose.

🔒 Keep it secure

All data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest. Stored in Google Firebase data centres in India (asia-south1). Access is restricted, logged, and audited.

🏠 Privacy between residents

Renters' visitors are private from owners. Owners' visitors are private from renters. Neighbours don't see each other's medical or personal emergency alerts. Each household is separate.

⏱️ Delete when no longer needed

Visitor logs older than 60 days are archived to the society admin and deleted from our live database. Account data is deleted within 30 days of you leaving the society.

🚫 No selling, ever

We do not sell or rent your information to advertisers, data brokers, or any third party. We do not show ads in our products.

What we collect, by role

Residents (owners and renters)

Your name, phone number, flat number, role (owner/renter/family), language preference, list of family members and renters you add, your pre-approved visitor list, your blacklist, your approval/denial decisions, your complaints, your push notification token, and your Do Not Disturb hours.

Guards

Your name, phone number, assigned gate, push notification token, and the visitor entries you log on duty.

Society Admins

Your name, email, phone number, and society name.

Visitors

Your name, phone number, vehicle (if applicable), photo (only if guard captures one), visit type, target flat, and entry/exit time. This information is recorded by the guard with your consent at the gate.

Automatic technical data

Device model, operating system, app version, IP address, and crash diagnostics. We do not track your location continuously.

For the complete list of what we collect and why, see Section 2 of our Privacy Policy.

Your rights under the DPDP Act, 2023

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 grants you specific rights over your personal data. Here is how to exercise each one with Gatezen:

Right	What it means	How to exercise it
Right to access	Get a copy of the personal data we hold about you.	Email support@gatezen.app with your name, phone number, and society. We respond within 30 days.
Right to correction	Update incorrect or outdated information.	Most fields (name, phone, language, family members) can be edited from inside the Gatezen app. For other corrections, email us.
Right to erasure	Ask us to delete your personal data.	Ask your society admin to remove you, or email support@gatezen.app. Processed within 30 days, subject to legal retention requirements.
Right to grievance redressal	Raise a complaint about how your data is handled.	Contact our Grievance Officer (details below). Acknowledged within 7 days, resolved within 30 days.
Right to nominate	Nominate a person to exercise your rights in the event of your death or incapacity.	Email support@gatezen.app with the nominee's name, contact, and your written nomination.
Right to withdraw consent	Withdraw permission for us to use your data.	Email support@gatezen.app. Note that withdrawing consent may mean we can no longer provide the service to you.

🗑️ Delete your account and data

You can delete your Gatezen account and all associated personal data at any time. Two methods:

Option 1 — From inside the Gatezen app (recommended)

Open the Gatezen app and sign in
Tap Settings (bottom-right tab)
Scroll to the bottom
Tap Delete Account
Confirm by tapping Yes, delete my account

Your account is deleted immediately. You will be signed out and cannot recover the account.

Option 2 — By email

If you cannot access the app, email support@gatezen.app with the subject "Delete my account" and include your registered phone number. We will delete your account within 7 days and confirm by reply email.

What gets deleted

Your name, phone number, and profile information
Your push notification tokens (you stop receiving notifications immediately)
Your pre-approved visitors list and personal blacklist
Your role membership in the society (you are removed from the flat / guard / admin list)
Your Firebase Authentication account

What is retained (and why)

Visitor entry logs at the gate where your name appears as the resident — retained for up to 60 days for the society's security records, then auto-deleted
Complaints you submitted — retained for record-keeping by the society until resolved, then deleted within 60 days
SOS alerts you triggered — retained for up to 60 days for the society's safety records, then auto-deleted
Encrypted backups — may retain data for up to 90 days before permanent destruction
Information legally required to be retained — for example, anti-fraud or law enforcement obligations

Note for Society Admins: Deleting the primary admin account triggers a cascading deletion of the entire society and all its data (residents, guards, visitor logs, etc.). This is irreversible.

How long we keep data

Visitor entries (gate logs): 60 days

Older entries are emailed as a CSV archive to the society's admin email and deleted from our live database. The society is responsible for the archives if longer retention is needed.

SOS alerts and broadcasts: 60 days

Same archive-and-delete cycle as visitor entries.

Account data (residents, guards, admins)

Retained while you are part of an active Gatezen society. Deleted within 30 days of you leaving the society or the society stopping its subscription.

Complaints and feedback

Retained as long as needed to resolve them, plus a reasonable period for record-keeping.

Backups

Encrypted backups may retain data for up to 90 days before permanent destruction.

Where your data is stored

All Gatezen data is stored in Google Firebase data centres located in India (asia-south1 region, Mumbai). Data is not transferred outside India for primary storage or processing.

Some service providers we use (such as Expo for push notification delivery) may briefly process delivery metadata outside India, but no resident profile data, visitor information, or complaint content is transferred outside India.

How we secure your data

Encryption in transit: All connections between the app and our servers use TLS 1.2 or higher.
Encryption at rest: Data stored in Google Firebase is encrypted using AES-256.
Access controls: Only authorised Gatezen staff can access production data, and only when needed for support or operational reasons. All access is logged.
Authentication: Mobile users authenticate via OTP-verified phone numbers. Admins use email-and-password with strong password requirements.
Privacy boundaries enforced in code: Owners cannot see renter data; renters cannot see owner data; neighbours cannot see each other's medical/personal SOS alerts. These boundaries are enforced by both the application logic and the Firebase security rules.
Regular security review: We routinely review our database rules, code, and infrastructure for security gaps.

If you discover a security vulnerability, please report it to support@gatezen.app. We will acknowledge within 48 hours and work with you to address it.

Data sharing

With your Society

Society admins see information necessary to operate the service: visitor logs at gates, complaint history, resident lists. Admins do not see your private blacklist, Do Not Disturb settings, or family members' personal preferences.

With service providers

Trusted third parties bound by confidentiality:

Google Firebase — Authentication, database (Firestore), file storage, push messaging, hosted at Google data centres in India.
Expo — push notification delivery to your device.
Hostinger — transactional email delivery (welcome emails, password resets, archive emails).

For legal reasons

We may disclose data if required by law, court order, or to protect against fraud or imminent harm.

We do not sell or rent your information to anyone.

Children's data

Gatezen is not designed for users under 18. We do not knowingly collect data from children directly.

However, primary residents may add minor children as family members (typically just the name, no phone number). This is at the parent's discretion. If you believe we hold data of a child who should not be in the system, contact support@gatezen.app and we will remove it.

Grievance Officer

Under the DPDP Act, 2023, every Data Fiduciary must designate a Grievance Officer. For Gatezen:

Grievance Officer: Gatezen Grievance Team
Email: support@gatezen.app
Phone: +91 81028 43296
Address: Patna, Bihar, India

If you have a privacy concern, complaint, or want to exercise any of your DPDP rights, please write to us. We will:

Acknowledge your message within 7 days.
Substantively respond and resolve within 30 days.
Maintain records of all grievances and how they were addressed.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may escalate to the Data Protection Board of India under the DPDP Act, 2023.