This Privacy Policy explains how CultHours ("CultHours", "we", "us") collects, uses, shares and protects personal data when you use the CultHours mobile apps, the website culthours.com, and the CultHours partner dashboard used by sports academies, venues and coaches (together, the "Services"). By using the Services you agree to this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Services.
1. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Account details — your name, mobile number, email address and password (stored only in encrypted, hashed form).
- Profile details — city or area, address, and for coaching students: date of birth, photo, training level and any documents (for example an ID or birth certificate) that you or your academy upload.
- Bookings and activity — courts and slots you book, coaching batches you join, games and events you create or join, reviews and ratings you write, coupons and karma points you use, and messages you send through in-app chat.
- Partner information — for academy owners, staff and coaches: business name, venue and court details, bank or UPI details for payouts, GST details, pay terms, and the records you keep about your students (attendance, fees, notes).
- Support requests — anything you tell us when you contact us or ask us to delete your account.
Information collected automatically
- Location — if you allow it, your approximate location (latitude and longitude) is used to show nearby venues, coaches and games, and is stored with your searches. You can turn location access off in your phone settings at any time.
- Device and usage data — device type, operating system, app version, a push-notification token, IP address, pages and listings viewed, searches made, and ads or listings clicked.
Information from others — an academy or coach may add you (or your child) as a student, record attendance and fees, or book a slot on your behalf. Payment providers tell us whether a payment succeeded.
2. How we use your information
- To create and manage your account and let you log in securely.
- To make, confirm, change and cancel bookings, coaching enrolments, games and events.
- To process payments, refunds, partner settlements, invoices and GST records.
- To send booking confirmations, reminders (including fee reminders an academy sends you on WhatsApp), and service updates by in-app notification, SMS, email or WhatsApp.
- To show relevant venues, coaches, games and offers near you, and to improve search and recommendations.
- To keep the Services safe — preventing fraud and misuse, and enforcing our terms.
- To understand how the Services are used so we can fix problems and improve them.
- To meet legal, tax and regulatory obligations.
We process personal data on the basis of your consent, to provide the Services you ask for, and where the law requires or permits it. We do not sell your personal data.
3. Who we share it with
- Academies, venues and coaches you book with or enrol at — they receive your name, contact details and booking or enrolment details so they can serve you. Each partner is responsible for how it uses that data for its own business.
- Other players — when you create or join a game or event, other participants can see your name and profile photo. Reviews you write show your name.
- Service providers who work for us under confidentiality obligations: payment processing (Razorpay), cloud hosting and storage, and push-notification delivery (Google Firebase Cloud Messaging and Apple Push Notification service).
- Legal and safety — when required by law, court order or government request, or to protect the rights, safety and property of our users, partners or CultHours.
- Business transfers — if CultHours is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, personal data may be transferred, subject to this policy.
4. Payments
Online payments are processed by Razorpay. Your card, UPI and bank account details are entered on Razorpay's secure pages and are not stored by CultHours. We receive and keep a payment reference, amount, status and method (for example "UPI") so we can confirm your booking, handle refunds and keep accounting records. Razorpay's own privacy policy applies to the data it processes.
5. Children and students
Many coaching students are under 18. A student's account and records are created by a parent or guardian, or by the academy with the parent's or guardian's permission. We use a child's data only to provide coaching, attendance, fee and safety features, and never for targeted advertising. Children under 18 should not create an account themselves without a parent's or guardian's consent. If you believe a child's data was provided without consent, contact us and we will delete it.
6. How long we keep your information
We keep personal data while your account is active and for as long as needed to provide the Services. When you delete your account, we delete or anonymise your personal data within 30 days, except where we must keep certain records for longer — for example booking, payment, invoice and tax records that Indian tax and accounting laws require us to retain, or data needed to resolve a dispute or prevent fraud. Retained records are kept securely and used only for those purposes.
7. Security and where your data is stored
We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, role-based access for academy staff, and private storage for student photos and documents that only authorised people can open. Our servers are located in India. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we work to protect your data and will notify you and the authorities of a data breach where the law requires.
8. Your rights and choices
Subject to applicable law, including India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you can:
- Access a summary of the personal data we hold about you;
- Correct or update it — most details can be edited in your profile;
- Delete your account and personal data (see below);
- Withdraw consent — for example by turning off location or notifications in your phone settings; this does not affect processing that took place before;
- Raise a grievance with us, and if you are not satisfied, with the Data Protection Board of India;
- Nominate another person to exercise your rights in case of death or incapacity.
To use any of these rights, email support@culthours.com. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.
9. Deleting your account
You can ask us to delete your CultHours account and personal data at any time from the Delete your account page, or by emailing support@culthours.com from the email address or with the mobile number registered on your account. That page explains what is deleted and what we have to keep.
10. Cookies
The partner dashboard and website use essential cookies to keep you signed in and to protect forms against misuse. We do not use advertising cookies. You can clear cookies in your browser, but you will then need to sign in again.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top shows when it last changed. If we make significant changes we will tell you in the app or by email before they take effect.
12. Contact us and grievance officer
For questions, requests or complaints about your personal data, contact our Grievance Officer:
Grievance Officer
CultHours
Email: support@culthours.com
Website: culthours.com
We aim to acknowledge grievances within 48 hours and resolve them within 30 days.