Privacy Policy

1. Information we collect

• Account data (if you sign in): email address, display name and provider identifier from your sign-in method. We use this to authenticate you and to sync your watch history and My List across devices.
• Guest preferences: if you browse without an account, a small first-party cookie and browser storage remember lightweight preferences, history and saved items on your device. Your analytics choice is stored in browser local storage.
• Submissions: when you use the contact or copyright & takedown forms, we store the name, email, subject and message you provide, plus a timestamp and originating IP address for anti-abuse purposes.
• Analytics: aggregate page-view, search-query and engagement metrics — collected through Firebase Analytics only after you accept optional analytics.

2. How we use it

• To operate the site, authenticate accounts and personalise your session.
• To respond to submissions you send us. Contact and takedown forms are forwarded to the Gems of Bollywood editorial team by email (see “Sharing” below) so nothing sits unattended.
• To understand which pages and topics resonate and to improve the catalogue.
• To detect abuse, spam and rate-limit violations.

3. Cookies and analytics

Essential cookies and browser storage support accounts and preferences. We remember your analytics choice in local storage. Optional Firebase Analytics is disabled until you accept it. You can choose essential only and continue browsing, or change your choice at any time using Cookie preferences in the footer. Withdrawing consent disables further analytics collection; it does not erase data previously collected.

4. Third-party embeds

Videos are embedded from their original platforms (such as YouTube). Those providers may set their own cookies when a video is played, and their privacy policies apply to that data. We do not receive any personally identifying information about viewers from those embeds.

5. Sharing

We do not sell or rent your data. Limited sharing happens with the service providers we rely on to run the site:

• Google Firebase (hosting, authentication, database, storage) — processes account data and stored submissions on our behalf.
• Email delivery (SMTP via Gmail) — used to send copies of your submissions to the Gems of Bollywood team inbox (vidya@ritvijam.com).
• Payment partner — if you contribute via the Support Us page, your name and email are shared with our payment gateway solely to process the transaction and, where you requested course access, to provision it on lms.thevedicleader.com.

We may also disclose information where required by law, or to protect the rights, property or safety of Gems of Bollywood, our users, or others.

6. Retention

Account data is kept while your account is active. Submissions (contact / takedown) are kept for as long as needed to address the request and to maintain an editorial audit trail. Analytics data is retained in aggregate form. You can request deletion at any time — see “Your choices” below.

7. Security

Data in transit is protected by HTTPS. Backend data is stored in Google Cloud with provider-managed encryption at rest. Access to admin data is restricted to authorised staff.

8. Your choices

• You can choose essential only, or change your analytics choice in Cookie preferences, and still browse.
• You can browse as a guest without creating an account.
• You can request access to, correction of, or deletion of your account and stored submissions by writing to vidya@ritvijam.com or via the contact page.

9. Children

The site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a child has provided us with data, please contact us and we will remove it.

10. Changes

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected on this page.

11. Contact

Privacy questions? Email vidya@ritvijam.com or use the contact page.