Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 2026 · Applies to histurica.com and the Histurica mobile app.

This policy explains what personal data Histurica ("we", "us") collects, why, and the choices you have. It is written to align with India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) for our Indian users, and covers international visitors on a best-effort basis in line with general data protection principles (e.g. GDPR).

1. What we collect

Data	When	Why
Name, email, password (hashed)	If you create an account	Login, digital passport progress, saved preferences
Device location (GPS)	If you enable the Nearby Radar or passport check-in features	To show monuments near you and verify in-person visits — only used when you actively grant permission
Questions you ask the AI Guide	When you use the AI Guide feature	To generate an answer and improve answer accuracy; not linked to your identity unless you're logged in
Basic usage telemetry (pages viewed, features used)	Automatically, in the background	To understand which features are useful and fix what isn't working
Device/browser type	Automatically	Compatibility and performance debugging

We do not collect payment card details — tour bookings are coordinated directly via WhatsApp/email with our team or a partner, not processed on this site.

2. How we use your data

• To operate core features: accounts, the digital passport, nearby monument search, and the AI guide.
• To improve the platform — e.g. seeing which monuments or trails are most viewed.
• To send you optional push notifications, only if you explicitly enable them.
• We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

3. Third-party services we use

Some features rely on external services, each governed by their own privacy policy:

• Google Fonts — for typography (loads fonts from Google's servers).
• Google Gemini API — powers the AI Guide's language understanding. Questions you ask may be processed by this service.
• Wikimedia Commons — source of some monument images (credited under CC BY-SA).
• Booking.com, Zomato, Uber, Ola (or equivalent) — when you tap a hotel, restaurant or taxi link on a monument page, you leave Histurica and interact directly with that provider under their own privacy policy. These are affiliate/referral links; we may earn a commission, but we do not receive your booking or payment details from them.

4. Cookies & local storage

We use browser local storage and a service worker cache to enable offline access to monument data (part of our Progressive Web App functionality) and to remember your language and theme preference. We do not use third-party advertising trackers at this time; if we enable Google AdSense in the future, this policy will be updated and AdSense's own cookie use will be disclosed here before it goes live.

5. Your rights

Under the DPDP Act 2023 (and applicable international law for visitors outside India), you have the right to:

• Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate data.
• Request deletion of your account and associated data.
• Withdraw consent for location access at any time via your device/browser settings.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@histurica.com. We will respond within a reasonable timeframe.

6. Data retention

Account data is retained as long as your account is active. Location data used for a single nearby-search or check-in is not stored beyond what's needed to complete that action. Usage telemetry is retained in aggregate/anonymized form for product improvement.

7. Children's privacy

Histurica is an educational platform suitable for general audiences, but account creation is not intended for children under 18 without parental involvement. We do not knowingly collect personal data from young children beyond anonymous usage of public content.

8. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as features change — particularly if/when advertising (e.g. Google AdSense) is introduced. Material changes will be reflected with an updated "Last updated" date above.

9. Contact

Questions about this policy: privacy@histurica.com