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We place the highest importance on respecting and protecting your privacy. Our relationship with you is our most important asset. We want you to feel comfortable and confident when using our ITR Platform and Services. The objective of this Policy is for you to better understand the type of information we intend to collect from you; the purpose for which the information collected by us will be used; the use of such information by the parties with whom we will share your information; our policy regarding cookies and identity theft instances; the data security practices of the third party website links available on our ITR Platform; the data retention policy and information security measures implemented by us; our disclaimers in relation to Services and the ITR Platform; our policy regarding the changes and updates to this Policy; our policy with respect to withdrawal of your consent; and legal rights and obligations in case of disputes and grievances.
This Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) applies to the use of or access to the website www.cleartax.inand Black application (hereinafter referred to as the “ITR Platform”), by the User (hereinafter “you” or “your”).
The ITR Platform is provided by Defmacro Software Private Limited (hereinafter or “Cleartax” or “our” or “we” or “us”), a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013, having its registered office at B-3 Lower Ground Floor, School Lane, Naraina Vihar, New Delhi - 110028 and its corporate office at 23-24 AMR Tech Park, Block 1, First Floor, Hosur Main Road, Hongasandra, Bangalore, Karnataka PIN:560068.
Cleartax provides its ITR Platform to Clearsharp Technology Pvt. Ltd (“Clearsharp”), an authorised E-return Intermediary (“ERI”) as per the Electronic Furnishing of Return of Income Scheme, 2007 with User ID ERIP000708. Clearsharp is also duly authorised by the Income Tax Department as a third-party software utility developer and is assigned with the Software ID: SW20000709. Cleartax provides functionality on the ITR Platform which allows Users to automatically create the income tax return file based on the information provided by the Users. The Users may choose to (i) download the file and file their income tax returns on the relevant website of the government or (ii) avail services of Clearsharp, a registered ERI, to digitise the return into desired output file format (currently XML or JSON) and transmit the output file to the server designated by the Income Tax Department using its e-Return Intermediary Identification Number. Cleartax is only acting as a technology facilitator to Clearsharp wherein the role of Cleartax is limited to the extent of providing the ITR Platform.
This Policy is published in accordance with the provisions of Rule 3(1)(a) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and Rule 4 of the (Indian) Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal data or Information) Rules, 2011 framed under the (Indian) Information Technology Act, 2000 (as amended from time to time) and that requires publishing the privacy policy for usage of ITR Platform and Services. This Policy (read with the Terms of Use (hereinafter the "Terms")) constitute a binding and legally enforceable contract between Cleartax and User.
By using the ITR Platform or availing the Services, you agree to this Policy. Subject to applicable laws, the terms of this Policy (and any changes thereto) will become applicable to you retrospectively on and from the date of your first use of the ITR Platform. If you do not agree to the terms of this Policy, please do not use our ITR Platform and Services. Further, by using this ITR Platform, you also confirm that you are either the owner of or are duly authorized to use and share the information that the ITR Platform may require, and that you using the ITR Platformdoes not violate any applicable law or contract by which you may be bound or is otherwise prejudicial to any person. You agree to indemnify Cleartax, its employees, directors, officers, agents, business associates, affiliates and agents from any loss, damage, expenses or other adverse consequence they suffer as a result of your usage of the ITR Platform unless such loss, damage, expenses or other adverse consequence can be attributed to our act or omission.
The Policy extends to the following information: (a) information you provide us, or the information otherwise collected by us through your usage of our ITR Platform and Services (see Terms); (b) information collected while you use the ITR Platform and Services; (c) information collected from any other source; or (d) information generated while availing the Services including but not limited to any transactional information. We aim for full transparency on how we gather, use, and share your information.
The Terms and the Privacy Policy DO NOT apply to the ERI services which are provided by Clearsharp Technology Private Limited(“Clearsharp”). Cleartax does not provide ERI services, and they are nota part of the definition of Services under Clause 2.1 of the Terms. The ERI services provided by Clearsharp are governed by Clearsharp terms and conditions available at http://clearsharp.in/terms.html and Clearsharp privacy policy available at http://clearsharp.in/privacy.html
This Policy should be read in consonance with the Terms (available at https://clear.in/meta/terms-itr) and they are incorporated by reference. Capitalised terms not defined herein, shall have the meaning set out in the Terms.
1. Information we collect
1.1. When you use our ITR Platform or avail the Services, we seek or collect, amongst others information such as your name, mother’s name, father’s name, date of birth, gender, Permanent Account Number (PAN), signature, marital status, nominee details, cancelled cheque, photograph and video recording, email id, phone number, educational or professional qualification, business name, business address, nature of business, Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN), bank account details, United Payments Interface (UPI) ID, and/or other payment and investment information and copies of KYC documents that helps us confirm your identity and facilitate provision of the Services through our ITR Platform. No liability pertaining to the authenticity/ genuineness of the information disclosed will lie on Cleartax. Further, Cleartax will not be in any way responsible to verify any information obtained from you.
1.2. In case you are required to provide your Aadhaar details to us during account creation, you acknowledge and agree that the act of providing your Aadhaar details to us is voluntary. We require Aadhaar details solely for the purpose of carrying out KYC.
1.3. We collect and store mobile numbers, e-mail addresses that you provide us on the ITR Platform and use the same for sending various communications to you.
1.4. When you visit our ITR Platform or avail the Services, we collect certain information about your interaction with our ITR Platform including the pages that you view, your internet protocol address, the links you select or actions you take, browser type, the unique identifier of your device and device information such as operating system, operating system version, browser plug-ins, crashes, system activity, hardware settings, location based information, date and time of your request and referral URL, and cookies that may uniquely identify your browser and mobile application and the previously visited webpage.
1.5. When you avail the Services, we may after obtaining consent, access and read information from your device such as information from your SMS storage for the providing the Services. Further, certain Services require us to obtain access to the ability to make phone calls or send messages using your device. If you choose to avail such Services, by agreeing to this Policy and Terms you are providing your express consent to permit Cleartax to access the calling and messaging functionalities of your device.
1.6. To automate creation of relevant file (currently XML or JSON file) for you to file your income tax returns we collect information about your income, deductions, credits, dependents, etc.”.
2. How we use the information
2.1. We do not sell or share your personal or financial information to anyone. However, notwithstanding anything contained in this Policy, you expressly acknowledge, consentand agree to the following terms on information use and further authorise us to access and use your information in the manner set out below:
a. to use your information to manage your account, to contact you and to operate, improve, and deliver our ITR Platform and Services. We use your information to give you a customized, interactive experience as you use our ITR Platform and avail the Services.
b. to use your information for maintaining a record of such information and your transactions in a secure and confidential manner, and as required under the applicable laws.
c. to use services of third parties to provide the ITR Platform and Services for you, who are bound to keep such information confidential.
d. to troubleshoot software bugs and operational issues, to conduct data analysis, testing and research and to monitor and analyze usage and activity trends. Information collected may also be used to share communications to you about our ITR products & services, provide additional features through cookies and to detect and/or prevent any fraudulent/criminal/prohibited activity as per applicable laws.
e. to use the data in an aggregated/compiled form to produce statistical/demographic analyses for strategy and business purposes. However, these will be used in ways that will not be able to identify you or link any specific information to an individual. Such aggregated information and results/analyses shall be our property and you will not be entitled to any compensation for the use thereof.
f. to share your information with judicial, administrative and regulatory entities to comply with any legal and regulatory requirements.
g. to summarize information about your usage and combine it with that of others to learn about the use of the ITR Platform and Services and further to help us develop new products and services.
h. to use your information to manage your account, to contact you and to operate, improve, and deliver our products and services, including the ITR Platform. You further acknowledge, agree and authorise us to use your information for market research, project planning, product development, troubleshoot problems and analyse user behaviour.
i. to use your information to compute the charges for the products and services you purchase.
j. to use the contact information to communicate with you. You further expressly consent and authorise us to send you messages on your mobile number, call you on your mobile number, send you messages and communicate with you in any other manner for the purpose of providing you ITR Platform and Services.
k. to use third-party advertising companies to display advertisements. Such companies may use information about your visits to the ITR Platform and Third-Party ITR Platforms in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. We will not provide your ERI data to third party advertising companies
l. to share your information with our third party service providers and our affiliates to host, use, copy, transmit, process, store, analyse, display, communicate with you, make derivations, and back up all data you submit to us through the ITR Platform limited to the purpose of provision of ITR services.
m. to conduct audit of your records without any notice in case of apprehension of fraud;
n. to retain/ store your data and confidential information, of any nature (either wholly or partially), in Cleartax’s servers or cloud or otherwise in any other medium as may be transmitted/ processed/ passed through the ITR Platform.
2.2. If you choose to use Services provided our third-party service providers through the ITR Platform, your information may be governed by the terms of the privacy policy of such third-party service providers. We will not be responsible or liable for the privacy practices of any third-party service providers.
3. ERI Services ERI Services for filing your ITR are provided by ClearSharp Technology Private Limited (“ClearSharp”) through our ITR Platform. ClearSharp is an authorised ERI as per the Electronic Furnishing of Return of Income Scheme, 2007. You authorise ClearSharp to request and collect your personal and other information in order to provide e-filing services to you, add you as a client of the ERI, retrieve your income tax return information using ERI services, E-File access of your ITR, access, store and process your Form-16, perform other additional functions as necessary to discharge its responsibilities as ERI.
4. Cookie Policy Like many websites, we use cookies, flash cookies, web beacons or similar technologies. “Cookies” are small text files that are stored on your computer or other device when you visit certain online pages that record your preferences and actions. We use cookies for a variety of purposes, including remembering you and your preferences, tracking your use of our ITR Platform, and facilitating your use of ITR Platform. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but, if you prefer, you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies. However, please note that refusing a cookie may limit your access and/or use of ITR Platform and Services.
5. Identity Theft
5.1. There may be instances when you receive a seemingly legitimate looking e-mail asking your personal information from you such as your credit card details, bank account details, one-time passwords, contact information, etc. Cleartax will never ask for such information from you via e-mail.
5.2. Such activities are usually carried on by unauthorized individuals and are illegal in nature. They are called phishing or identity theft. In case of any suspicion of such activity or on receiving such an e-mail you are certain it was not sent by us. We advise you to not respond to such mail and to take whatever action you see fit.
6. Links to Other Sites Our ITR Platform provides links to other websites and third-party platforms (“Third-Party Platforms”). Such Third-Party Platforms may collect information about you. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of those linked websites and Third-Party Platforms. We recommend you to review the privacy policies of such Third-Party Platforms. In case you choose to log-in through your Google account, we will access information from your Google accounts once they give us permission to do so whilst using the Google-related functionality (as the case maybe) of the Platform. Once permission is granted, the Platform accesses a user’s account details, mobile number, email address, contact list and location (as applicable). The respective privacy policies of Google will also be applicable.
7. Data Retention by Us
7.1. We will retain your information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Policy. We will retain and use your information 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.
7.2. We encourage you to review the information and inform about any discrepancies and information found to be inaccurate shall be corrected or amended. Please reach out to us at support@cleartax.in in case you would like to review the information collected by us. 7.3. You shall at all times, take adequate necessary precautions, at your end, to preserve the integrity and security of your data which shall include and not be limited to your personal information. All information disclosed by you shall be deemed to be disclosed willingly and without any coercion.
8. Log Data We want to inform you that whenever you use our ITR Platform or avail the Services, we collect data from your device called Log Data. This Log Data may include information such as your device’s Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, device name, operating system version, configuration of the app when utilising the Service, the time and date of your use of the Service, and other statistics.
9. Information Security We work to protect your information from loss, misuse or unauthorized alteration by using industry-recognized security safeguards, coupled with carefully developed security procedures and practices. We maintain electronic and procedural safeguards of all information. We use both internal and external resources to review our security procedures.
10. Disclaimer
10.1. We make no representation as to providing or storing back-up copies of any information submitted to us. You shall be solely responsible to ensure that you maintain back-up copies of such information and in the event of any malfunctioning or failing of the ITR Platform for any reason whatsoever (including on account of maintenance), you may be required to resubmit such information.
10.2. Although, we take appropriate steps to maintain the security of information we collect from you, we assume no responsibility of whatsoever nature as to make good the losses and damages you may incur, due to privacy and/or security breach of your information. We shall not be liable for any loss or damage sustained by reason of disclosure (inadvertent or otherwise) of any information and/or omission or inaccuracy with respect to any information so disclosed and used whether or not in pursuance of a legal process or otherwise.
11. Changes to this Policy Please note that this Policy may change from time to time. The “Last Updated” date at the top of the Policy indicates when the most recent modifications were made to the Policy. We reserve the right to modify or amend the terms of our Policy from time to time. We will endeavor to post any changes to this Policy on our webpage and, if the changes are significant, to provide a more prominent notice. While we will make reasonable efforts to keep you posted on any updates to this Policy, to make sure that you are aware of any changes, we recommend that you review this Policy periodically. In the event we modify this Policy, your continued use of the ITR Platform and Services will signify your acceptance of the modified Policy, and will be adequate proof that you have expressly agreed to the terms of this Policy which shall apply from the date of your first use of the ITR Platform.
12. Withdrawal of Consent by You You may choose to withdraw your consent provided hereunder at any point in time. Such withdrawal of consent must be sent in writing to support@cleartax.in. In case you later withdraw your consent, we request you not to access the ITR Platform and/or use the Services and also reserve the right to not provide you any Services through the ITR Platform.
13. Governing Law This Policy shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of India. Any controversies, conflicts, disputes, or differences arising out of this Policy shall be resolved by arbitration in New Delhi in accordance with the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 for the time being in force, which is deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Clause. The tribunal shall consist of 3 (three) arbitrators. Each Party shall appoint an arbitrator and the two appointed arbitrators shall appoint the third arbitrator who shall act as the presiding arbitrator. The language of the arbitration shall be English. The parties to the arbitration shall keep the arbitration confidential and not disclose to any person, other than on a need to basis or to legal advisors, unless required to do so by law. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on all the Parties hereto. Subject to other provisions in this Clause, courts in New Delhi shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all issues arising out of this Policy.
14. Contact Us If there are any questions or grievances regarding this Policy or the safety of your information, you may contact us at the address given below.
Grievance Officer
Name: Aditya Kumar
Address: 23,24 AMR Tech Park, Block 1, First Floor, Hosur Main Road, Hongasandra, Bangalore, Karnataka PIN:560068
Email: aditya.k@cleartax.in
