Privacy Policy

Last Updated: March 20, 2024

INTRODUCTION

The Misinformation Combat Alliance Association (“us”, “we”, or “our”) has set up a dedicated collaborative task force, called the Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU), to ensure timely response and research on the emerging crisis of AI generated content.The DAU will operate a WhatsApp tipline (+91 9999025044), hereinafter referred to as the “Tipline”, through which the public can escalate purported synthetic audio and video content (“Media Files”) to the DAU for further investigation and action. The DAU will coordinate with external forensic experts as well as fact checking organisations, through its dashboard on www.dau.mcaindia.in (the “Platform”), in order to analyse the files shared on the Tipline, determine if such files are authentic or synthetic files i.e. if such files are AI generated or have elements of AI generated media and publish assessment reports based on its findings (the “Services'').This Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) governs your usage of the Tipline and visit to the Platform, and explains how we collect, safeguard and disclose information that results from your use of our Service.We use your data to provide and improve our Services. By using our Services, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.Unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, the terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms and Conditions. Our Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern all use of our Services and together with the Privacy Policy constitutes your agreement with us (“Agreements”).

DEFINITIONS

“Personal Data” means any data about an individual who is identifiable by or in relation to such data. It is clarified that any data available in the public domain, including but not limited to Media Files (as applicable) shall not be considered as Personal Data;

“Usage Data” is data collected automatically either generated by the use of Service or from Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit);

“Cookies” are small files stored on your device (computer or mobile device);

“Data Fiduciary” means any person who alone or in conjunction with other persons determines the purpose and means of processing of Personal Data;

“Data Principal” means the individual to whom the personal data relates and, where such individual is—

a child, includes the parents or lawful guardian of such a child;
a person with disability, includes her lawful guardian, acting on her behalf;

“Data Processor” means any person who processes personal data on behalf of a Data Fiduciary;

Under this Policy, (i) The MCA would be the Data Fiduciary under this Policy; (ii) You would be the Data Principal under this Policy; and (iii) our partners would be the Data Processors.All capitalized terms not defined in Clause 2 shall have the meanings assigned to them in the other parts of the Agreement including in the introduction to, recitals of and body of this Agreement when defined by use in bold letters enclosed within quotes (“ ”).

YOUR ACCEPTANCE TO THE POLICY

By usage of the Services we offer or by merely visiting any of our Tipline and/or Platform, you will be deemed to have read, understood and agreed to the practices and policies outlined in this Policy and agree to be bound by this Policy. You hereby consent to our collection, use and sharing, disclosure of your information as described in this Policy. If you use the Services on behalf of another person or entity, you represent that you are authorized by such person or entity to (i) accept this Policy on such person’s or entity’s behalf, and (ii) consent on behalf of such person or entity to our collection, use and disclosure of such person’s or entity’s information as described in this Policy.Kindly note the Tipline and Platform are not intended for minors (i.e. persons under the age of 18 years) and it is not our intention to collect data relating to minors.

TYPES OF DATA COLLECTED

Personal DataWhile using our Service, we may ask you to provide us with certain data that can be used to contact or identify you. Such data may include, but is not limited to your:

Name;
Phone number
Email address
Address, Country, State, Province, ZIP/Postal code, City
Cookies and Usage Data

We may use such data to contact you with newsletters, marketing or promotional materials and other information that may be of interest to you. You may opt out of receiving any, or all, of these communications from us by following the unsubscribe link.Usage DataWe may also collect Usage Data, relating to information that your browser sends whenever you visit our Platform or when you access the Services through the Tipline.This Usage Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Platform that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.When you access the Tipline and/or Platform with a device, this Usage Data may include information such as the type of device you use, your device unique ID, the IP address of your device, your device operating system, the type of Internet browser you use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.Tracking Cookies DataWe use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on the Tipline and Platform.Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your device. Other tracking technologies are also used such as beacons, tags and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze our Services.You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Services.Examples of Cookies we use:

Session Cookies: We use Session Cookies to operate our Services.
Preference Cookies: We use Preference Cookies to remember your preferences and various settings.
Security Cookies: We use Security Cookies for security purposes.
Advertising Cookies: Advertising Cookies are used to serve you with advertisements that may be relevant to you and your interests.

Other DataWhile using our Service, we may also collect the following information: sex, age, date of birth, address, telephone number, educational qualification, language preferences and other data.Media Files All data in any Media File shared on the Tipline will be collected by us, including but not limited to video content, audio content and information embedded in such Media File.

USE OF DATA

Misinformation Combat Alliance Association uses the collected data for various purposes:

to maintain the Tipline and Platform;
to provide and improve the Services;
to notify you about changes to our Services;
to allow you to participate on the Platform and in interactive features of our Service when you choose to do so;
to provide customer support;
to share with our partners and collaborators;
to educate the public on AI generated content and improve technology on detection of synthetic videos;
to gather analysis or valuable information so that we can improve our Services;
to monitor the usage of our Services;
to detect, prevent and address technical issues;
to fulfil any other purpose for which you provide it;
to carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection;
to provide you with notices about your account and/or subscription, including expiration and renewal notices, email-instructions, etc.;
to provide you with news, special offers and general information about other goods, services and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless you have opted not to receive such information;
in any other way we may describe when you provide the information; or
for any other purpose with your consent.

RETENTION OF DATA

We will retain your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.We will also retain Usage Data and Media Files for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of our Service, or we are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods. Media Files shall be retained for the purpose of educating the public on AI generated content, research on AI generated content and may be used by our partners and collaborators to improve technology and software used for the detection of AI generated content.

TRANSFER OF DATA

Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to – and maintained on – computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those of your jurisdiction.If you are located outside India and choose to provide information to us, please note that we transfer the data, including Personal Data, to India and process it there.Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.We will take all the steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organisation or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.

DISCLOSURE OF DATA

We may disclose personal information that we collect, or you provide for the following reasons:

Disclosure for Law Enforcement

Under certain circumstances, we may be required to disclose your Personal Data, if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public or statutory authorities.

Business Transaction

If we or our subsidiaries are involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, your Personal Data may be transferred.

Other cases

We may disclose your information also:

to our subsidiaries, affiliates,;
to contractors, service providers, partners, collaborators and other third parties we use to support our business;
to fulfill the purpose for which you provide it;
for the purpose of including your company’s logo on our website;
for any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information;
with your consent in any other cases; and/or
if we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Company, our customers, or others.

SECURITY OF DATA

The security of your data is important to us but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service, provide Service on our behalf, perform Service-related services or assist us in analysing how our Service is used. These third parties have access to your Personal Data, but will also be bound by applicable data privacy laws.We may use third-party service providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service.We may use third-party service providers to automate the development process of our Services.We may use third-party service providers to show advertisements to you to help support and maintain our Service.

BEHAVIOURAL REMARKETING

We may use remarketing services to advertise on third party websites to you after you visited our Service. We and our third-party vendors use cookies to inform, optimise and serve ads based on your past visits to our Service.

PAYMENTS

We may provide paid products and/or services within Service. In that case, we use third-party services for payment processing (e.g. payment processors).We will not store or collect your payment card details. That information is provided directly to our third-party payment processors whose use of your personal information is governed by their privacy policy.

HOW WE TREAT USER GENERATED CONTENT?

We may invite you to post content on our Platform, including comments, feedback and any other information that you would like to be available on our Platform. If you post content to our Platform, all of the information that you post will be available to all visitors to our Platform. If you post your own content on our Tipline and Platform, your posting may become public and we cannot prevent such information from being used in a manner that may violate this Policy, the law, or your personal privacy.

LINKS TO OTHER SITES

The Tipline, the Platform and our Services may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click a third party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the privacy policy of every site you visit.We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

Our Services are not intended for use by children under the age of 18 (“Child” or “Children”).We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from Children. If you become aware that a Child has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from Children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us by email: hello@mcaindia.in.

GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION

This Policy shall be governed in all respects by the laws of India.The courts at Delhi, India shall have exclusive jurisdiction and you hereby accede to and accept the jurisdiction of such courts.

DISCLAIMER

While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information offered on these pages, we shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The Tipline and/or the Platform could include inaccuracies or out- dated information and is subject to change at any time without notice. Your use of the Tipline and/or the Platform is at your own risk.THE INFORMATION, DOCUMENTATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES CONTAINED ON THE TIPLINE AND/OR THE PLATFORM ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. WE AND OUR OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, PARTNERS AND AGENTS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE INFORMATION, DOCUMENTATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES CONTAINED ON THE TIPLINE AND/OR THE PLATFORM, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTIES AGAINST INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY MAY LAST, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, TO THE EXTENT INAPPLICABLE. WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES, WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL, AS A RESULT OF THE REPRODUCTION, MODIFICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR USE OF THE INFORMATION, DOCUMENTATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.