What you can ask for

• A copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction of anything inaccurate.
• Deletion of your account and data — including the photographs, which are erased from storage rather than merely hidden.
• Withdrawal of any consent you gave, itemised rather than all-or-nothing.
• An explanation of how a decision about your data was made.
• Removal of a profile, photograph or message that is unlawful, impersonates someone, or shows a person in a private or intimate state without their consent. That last kind we take down within 24 hours of being told.

Signed-in members can do the first four immediately from Privacy and your data without waiting for anyone. Members can also report any profile or conversation from inside it.

If you are not satisfied with our answer to a data protection complaint, you can take it to the Data Protection Board of India.

What we keep, and why

A few things survive account deletion, and we would rather say so than have you discover it: payment records, detached from your identity, because financial records carry statutory retention; the log of staff access to member data, with your identity removed; and security records of verification codes sent, for one year; and, for an account that was suspended or under open reports, a scrambled code made from its phone number. The privacy policy lists each one and why.