Privacy Policy

1. About Gatezen

Gatezen is a society visitor management platform that helps Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), housing societies, and gated communities manage entry of visitors, guards, residents, and society administration. Our services include:

• Visitor Management — guards log visitors at the gate; residents approve or deny entry from their phone.
• Pre-Approved Visitors — residents can pre-approve regular visitors (cooks, maids, drivers) for faster entry.
• Blacklist — residents can blacklist unwanted visitors at their flat level.
• Emergency SOS — residents can alert guards and admin in emergencies (medical, fire, suspicious activity, security threats).
• Notices and Broadcasts — society admins can communicate with all residents.
• Complaints — residents can raise complaints to the society admin.
• Society Administration — admins can manage flats, guards, gates, and view detailed visitor logs.

Gatezen is provided to societies by their RWA/management committee (the "Society"). The Society is our direct customer. Residents, guards, and visitors interact with Gatezen as part of the Society's onboarding.

2. Information we collect

The information we collect depends on your role and how the Society has configured Gatezen.

From Residents (owners and renters)

• Full name
• Mobile phone number (used for OTP login)
• Flat number, building, and society identifier
• Whether you are an owner, renter, or family member
• Family members and renters you add (their names and phone numbers)
• Pre-approved visitor list (names, phone numbers, type)
• Blacklist entries (names, phone numbers, reason)
• Approval/denial decisions on visitor entries
• Complaints and feedback you submit
• Push notification token for your device (so we can send approval requests)
• Do Not Disturb hours (if you set them)
• Language preference

From Guards

• Full name
• Mobile phone number (used for OTP login)
• Assigned gate and society
• Visitor entries you log (visitor name, phone, photo, vehicle, visit type, target flat, time)
• Push notification token for your device

From Society Administrators

• Full name
• Email address (used for dashboard login)
• Mobile phone number (used for mobile app login)
• Society identifier and society name

From Visitors

• Name (provided by visitor at the gate)
• Mobile phone number (provided by visitor at the gate)
• Vehicle number, if applicable
• Photo, if guard captures one (optional, society discretion)
• Visit type and which flat is being visited
• Entry and exit time

Automatic / Technical Information

• Device information (model, operating system, app version)
• IP address
• Crash logs and diagnostic data (used to fix bugs)
• Approximate location (only for time-zone purposes; we do NOT track location continuously)

3. How we collect information

We collect information in three ways:

1. Directly from you: when you sign up, log in, fill in your profile, add family members, log a visitor, or submit a complaint.
2. From your Society: the Society's admin uploads resident lists, building/flat numbers, and guard assignments during onboarding.
3. Automatically: standard technical information (device, OS, IP) is collected when you use the app, to help us improve service quality and detect issues.

We do not buy personal information from third parties or use external data providers to enrich your profile.

4. Why we collect information

We use the information we collect to:

• Authenticate you (verify your phone number via OTP and identify your role).
• Show you the right information for your role (residents see their own visitors; guards see their society's gate logs; admins see society-wide reports).
• Send push notifications when a visitor arrives, when an SOS is triggered, when a notice or broadcast is published.
• Allow you to approve, deny, or pre-approve visitors.
• Help guards verify visitor identity (matching name/phone against pre-approved lists and blacklists).
• Generate visitor logs and analytics for society administrators.
• Send periodic CSV archives of older visitor records to society admin's email.
• Respond to complaints and feedback.
• Improve the service (fix bugs, add requested features, monitor reliability).
• Comply with applicable laws.

We do not use your information to:

• Show you advertisements.
• Sell or rent your information to advertisers, data brokers, or third parties.
• Track your location continuously.
• Build a marketing profile of you outside of the Gatezen service.

5. Your privacy controls

Privacy between owner and renter

If you are a renter, your visitor approvals, pre-approved list, blacklist, and emergency alerts are private from the owner of the flat. Owners do not see visitors targeted at the renter's household, and renters do not see visitors targeted at the owner's household. Each is a separate household for privacy purposes.

Privacy between neighbours

Residents in your society do not see your private SOS alerts (Medical or personal Emergency). Society-wide alerts (Fire, Suspicious activity) are shared with the whole society so neighbours can respond.

Updating your information

You can update your name, phone number, family members, language, and Do Not Disturb settings from inside the app at any time. Changes apply immediately.

Opt out of notifications

You can disable push notifications at the device level (Settings → Apps → Gatezen → Notifications).

Right to deletion

You have the right to delete your account and your information at any time.

Delete from inside the app (recommended): Open the Gatezen app → tap Settings (bottom-right) → scroll to the bottom → tap "Delete my account". Confirm when prompted. Your name and phone number will be permanently removed from your flat and you will be signed out immediately. This action cannot be undone.

Other ways to delete your account:

• Ask your society admin to remove you from the resident list. Once removed, your account is automatically deactivated.
• Email support@gatezen.app with your request. We will action it within 30 days, subject to any retention obligations under applicable law.

Some information may be retained for a limited period after deletion for legal, security, or fraud-prevention purposes.

Right to access and export

You can request a copy of the data we hold about you by emailing support@gatezen.app. We will respond within 30 days.

6. Sharing and disclosure

We share your information only in these limited cases:

With your Society

Your Society's admin can see information necessary to operate the service for the Society — such as visitor logs at gates, broadcast read receipts (where applicable), complaint history, and high-level resident lists. Admins do not see private content like your blacklist or Do Not Disturb settings unless you choose to share them.

With other residents and guards in your Society

Other residents see only the limited information we describe under "Privacy controls" above. Guards see your name and flat number when verifying visitors at the gate. Guards do not see your full address or other contact details beyond what is needed to log a visitor.

With service providers we use

We use trusted third-party providers to operate Gatezen. They are bound by contract to keep your information confidential and use it only as needed:

• Google Firebase (Authentication, Cloud Firestore database, Cloud Functions, Cloud Storage, Cloud Messaging) — operated by Google LLC.
• Expo (push notification delivery) — operated by 650 Industries, Inc.
• Hostinger (transactional email delivery for password resets, welcome emails, archive emails).

For legal reasons

We may disclose information if we have a good-faith belief that disclosure is necessary to:

• Comply with a law, regulation, or legal process.
• Enforce our Terms of Service, including investigating possible violations.
• Detect, prevent, or address fraud, security, or technical issues.
• Protect the rights, property, or safety of Gatezen, our users, or the public.

Business transfers

If Gatezen is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred to the new entity. We will notify you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

We do not sell or rent your information to anyone.

7. How we protect your information

We take reasonable steps to protect your information:

• All communication between the app and our servers is encrypted using TLS (HTTPS).
• Information is stored encrypted at rest in Google Firebase data centres located in India (asia-south1 region).
• Access to production data is restricted to authorised Gatezen staff and is logged.
• Strong password and OTP-based authentication is used for all logins.
• We monitor for unusual activity and security threats and respond quickly when incidents are detected.

However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use reasonable means to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your phone number, OTP code, and dashboard password. If you suspect unauthorised access to your account, contact us immediately.

8. Data retention and deletion

Visitor entries

Visitor entry records (name, phone, photo, time, flat visited) are retained for 60 days in the live Gatezen database. After 60 days, the records are exported as a CSV file and emailed to the society's admin email address, and then deleted from our live database. The Society is responsible for storing these CSV archives if longer retention is needed for security or legal reasons.

SOS alerts and broadcasts

Older than 60 days are also archived to society admin and deleted from the live database.

Resident, guard, and admin profiles

Retained as long as your society is using Gatezen and you remain part of that society. Removed within 30 days of you leaving the society or the society stopping their Gatezen subscription.

Complaints and feedback

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

Account deletion request

You can delete your account at any time directly from inside the Gatezen mobile app: Settings → Delete my account. Your name and phone number will be permanently removed from your flat within minutes. Alternatively, you can email support@gatezen.app and we will process the request within 30 days. We may retain certain information beyond this period if required by law or for fraud prevention.

Backup data

Some information may persist in our encrypted backups for up to 90 days after deletion before being permanently destroyed.

9. Children's privacy

Gatezen is not designed for, and we do not knowingly collect information from, children under 18 years of age. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe your child has provided us with information, please contact us at support@gatezen.app and we will delete the information.

Family members listed by the primary resident may include minors (e.g. children of the household). In such cases, only the child's name is recorded by the parent — no personal contact information of minors is required, and the listing is at the parent's discretion.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you through the app or by email to the address on file. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when this policy was last revised. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

11. Contact us

If you have questions, concerns, or grievances about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information, please contact us:

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

We will acknowledge your message within 7 days and substantively respond within 30 days, unless a longer period is required by law or by the complexity of the request.