Updated in February 2023
Josh - Privacy Policy
Please read this Privacy Policy very carefully. This Privacy Policy is made effective immediately by Ver Se Innovation Private Limited, having its place of business at 11th Floor, Wing E, Helios Business Park, Outer Ring Road, Kadubeesanahalli, Bengaluru- 560103, Karnataka, India (“Josh”, “VerSe”, “We”, “Us” or “ Our”).
1. General
a. Josh takes Your (“You”, “Your” or,“User”) privacy very seriously and exercises its best efforts to protect Your private data/information. Joshendeavors to provide a secure and reliable environment for using its Platform and Services. Any private information collected by Josh from You will be used only in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the Terms and Conditions provided hereunder.
b. This Privacy Policy applies to Josh’s mobile or desktop application software technology called Josh (“Platform” or “Josh”) and services offered by Josh in connection with the Platform (“Services”).
c. This Privacy Policy sets out the manner in which We collect, use, maintain and disclose information collected from the Users of mobile or desktop applications and/or Services connected with it.
d. You are advised to read the Policy carefully and provide Your consent only if You agree with the terms of the Policy. By using or by registering Your profile with the Platform and/or by using Services offered in connection with the Platform, You are consenting to the use, collection, transfer, storage, disclosure and other uses of Your information in the manner set out in this Privacy Policy. For the purpose of this Policy, any reference to Josh shall include its affiliates, subsidiaries and sister concerns.
e. By updating, downloading, installing and/or continuing to access/use this Platform, You agree to be bound by any alteration, amendment, addition or modification to this Privacy Policy.
f. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of third parties that Josh does not own, control, or manage including but not limited to any third-party websites, services, applications, or businesses (Third-Party Services). Josh does not take responsibility for the content or privacy policies of those Third-Party Services. Josh encourages You to carefully review the privacy policies of all Third-Party Services You access through the Platform.
g. This Privacy Policy is subject to the Platform’s Terms of Service
h. If You do not agree to any of the provisions of this Privacy Policy, You may not download, install and/or use the Platform and/or Services. Josh may revise, alter, add, amend or modify this Privacy Policy at any time by updating this page.
2. What Information May Be Collected By Josh
a. We collect and process the information you give us when you create an account and upload content to the Platform. This includes technical and behavioral information about your use of the Platform. We also collect information about you if you download the app and interact with the Platform without creating an account.Josh may collect information from Users at various stages from registration on the Platform by the Users to submission of content by the Users or while the User is accessing/using Services.
b. Josh may collect personal information that is capable of identifying You. This may include, but is not limited to the information submitted during download, installation and/or use/access of the Platform or in connection with access/use of Services or features offered through the Platform or in connection with the Platform. Personal information collected may include Your name, image, mailing address, email address, phone number and demographic information such as gender, nationality, postcode and other personal information including but not limited to date, time or place of birth, location, interests, preferences, likes and dislikes, and usage information.
c. Josh collects personal information only if You submit such information to Us or provide access to such information by connecting to social networking sites through the Platform or Services (for example when You use the facilities or Services connected with the Platform or engage in certain Platform related activities including, but not limited to, becoming a member or signing up for an account or linking an account through a social network including, but not limited to Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus).
d. Josh may also collect personal information You may provide when corresponding with Us by email or phone, or to access/use any other interactive/non-interactive features of the Platform and/or Services.
e. You can always refuse to supply personal information; however, it may prevent You from using the Platform and/or certain features of the Platform and Services.
f. Josh may collect and store other information, which may or may not be personal information, whenever You use, access or interact with the Platform and/or use its Services. Such information may include the mobile or computer’s name, version, the type of device used, Your operating system and version, the unique ID of the mobile device, third-party apps or websites or services that referred You to this Platform, language preferences, location information, IP address, technical information, information about third-party apps including without limitation package name (which is same as the package ID on play store), package version, installation and/or uninstallation event information and other similar information about the User.
g. Based upon your explicit specific Consent, we may also collect additional information including but not limited to GPS, Phone memory, etc. Such information may be used to update your profile or its Content on the Platform.
h. You may not download, install and/or use the Platform if You do not wish to provide or share personal information and/or other information with Josh. By providing personal and other information to Josh, You agree to permit Josh to use the said information as provided in this Privacy Policy.
3. How Josh uses the information collected
a.Josh may collect and use Your personal information and other information for business and/or non-commercial purposes. Josh may use the information for the following purposes:
i. Your email address and password may be used to identify You while logging into the Platform. Josh may use Your personal information to control Your access to the Platform as well as the use of the Platform and Services, to communicate with You, customize Your experience of using the Platform and/or the content of any email newsletter or other material that Josh may send from time to time, and provide information that may be useful or interesting based on the content and personally identifiable information. Your email address may be used to send User information, administrative information, changes in account settings and any changes to the Platform/Services or updates on new policies of Josh. Apart from this, if You choose to opt-in to our mailing list, You will receive periodic emails that may relate to company news, related product or service information, etc. Your email address may also be used for responding to any of the inquiries, questions, and/or any other requests made by You. If at any time You want to unsubscribe from receiving future emails, Josh has included detailed unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email, or You may contact Josh via the Platform.
ii. Josh may further use the collected information to analyze the use of the Platform and/or Services, and the people visiting and using the Platform, for the purpose of improving the features of the Platform. Josh may use Your information to analyse Your use of the Platform for providing You customized content, advertisements and features. Information provided by You helps Josh in responding to Your customer service requests and support needs more efficiently.
iii. Josh may use information in the aggregate to understand how Users, as a group, are using the Platform and/or Services. Josh may use the personal information provided by the User to prevent or take action against activities that are, or maybe, in breach of Josh’s Agreement and any applicable laws.
iv. Josh may use Your non-personal information like information regarding third-party apps, including without limitation, package name (which is the same as the package id on the playstore), package version, installation and/or uninstallation event information for personalizing contents and Services based on Your interests. Josh may also use Your non-personal information for promoting content with respect to, or from other applications installed or used by You or for creating customized sharing options for You.
v. Josh may use Your information to analyse Your use of the Platform and Services and the people visiting and using the Platform and Services for improving the features of the Platform and Services. While accessing, using or installing the Platform and/or Services, Your Information may also be accessible to third parties whose SDKs (Software Development Kits) are included in the Platform. Such SDKs may include, but not be limited to Google ads, Google Platform Indexing, Google Support Library, Google Design Library, Google authentication for login, Mobvista (Ads), Appnext Native (Ads), Appnext Interstitial (Ads), Facebook Audience Network (Ads), vmax (Ads), Mastadview (mraid), Glide for graphics, Branch IO for deeplink support, Baidu (Ads), Firebase for deeplink support, IMA (Ads), AppnextActions (Ads), Picasso for image handling, RxJava, Retrofit and Dagger for code efficiency, OkHttp for network efficiency, Otto event bus, Disklrucache for memory optimizations, Facebook connection class for network quality assessment, Facebook SDK for login, and sql lite asset helper for performance optimization. These SDKs may use Your information for generic analytical, and other purposes.
vi. Josh may also use Your Information for market research purposes and may share Your information with its affiliated businesses that it controls (including Josh Innovation). Josh may also use Your information for targeted advertising, targeted content delivery, and other business purposes unless You specifically opt-out of such uses.
vii. Josh may use Your personally identifiable and/or other information You submit while accessing/using the Platform and Services, providing feedback, making/submitting comments, providing inputs, and/or interacting on the Platform and Services for improving User experience on the Platform and in connection with Services, to provide targeted content, advertising and Services, and for other business and/or non-commercial purposes.
4. Linking your social accounts to Josh
a. Our Services allow You to, upon Your direction, link Your Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and YouTube account(s) with Your Josh account. This allows users to find You more easily on other platforms via Josh and redirect them to Your social media account(s).
b. We only receive and store the limited information that Instagram or YouTube permits to be transferred (such as Your name, username or channel name, and public profile) and agreed by You when You first connect Your account from such platforms with Your Josh account. This information is stored solely for the purpose of displaying Your linked public profiles on our Platform and is not shared with any third-party apps, websites, or other services.
c. If You no longer want to link Your Instagram or YouTube account with Your Josh account, please tap the Instagram or YouTube icon in Your profile page and follow the instructions to remove the Josh app access permissions.
5. How Josh protects User information
We take steps to ensure that your information is treated securely and in accordance with this policy. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. The Internet is not 100% secure. We cannot promise that your use of our websites, apps, or Services will be completely safe. Any transmission of Your information to our Services is at your own risk. We encourage you to use caution when using the Internet. We keep personal information as long as it is necessary or relevant for the practices described in this Privacy Policy, including, for example, for legal compliance, dispute resolution, contract enforcement, backup, archival, and other internal operations purposes. This includes data You or others provide to us and data generated from your use of our Services. We also keep the information as otherwise required by law.
a. For the above purpose, Josh adopts appropriate data collection, storage, control and processing practices and security measures to protect against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction of Your personal information, username, password, and data stored on the App. Specifically, Josh takes care of Your personal information by taking security measures such as password protection, and by monitoring security vulnerabilities at regular intervals and by taking remedial steps to prevent data breach and loss.
b. Personal information exchange between the Platform/Services and Users is protected by Josh using an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) secured communication channel. However, Josh cannot guarantee the security of any information obtained through unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software failure, and other factors that may compromise the security of User information at any time. It is important for the User to prevent unauthorized access to his/her account and personal information by limiting access to his/her device.[SS2]
6. Control Over User Information
We want you to be in control of your personal information, in accordance with the terms of use:
- Access, Correction, and Portability. You can access and edit your account information right on our Platform. Because your privacy is important to us, we will ask you to verify your identity. We may also reject your request to update your personal information for a number of reasons, including, for example, if the request risks the privacy of other users or is unlawful.
- Revoking permissions. In most cases, if you let Us use your information, you can simply revoke your permission by intimating Us as per the due process for revocation laid down by Us.
- Deletion. While We hope you’ll remain a lifelong Josh User, if for some reason you ever want to delete your account, just follow the steps provided here to learn how based on your social login. This includes data You or others provide to us and data generated from your use of our Services. We also keep the information as otherwise required by law. We may also retain certain information in backup for a limited period of time or as required by law.
- For FB Connect, for User disabling or login out from your FB Connect credentials to Us, all of Your profile Content and other information may be deleted. Upon deletion request, Josh will log out the user from all his user accounts on Josh and reset all user data. We will also disassociate your username, your password and, all related information, files and user content associated with or inside your account (or any part thereof), including your user content. However, certain details are maintained with us for archival and legal purposes. Josh will not have any liability whatsoever to you for any suspension or termination, including for deletion of your User Content. Josh will hold and use the content/data as long as required and/or permissible under local laws. All provisions of the Agreement which by their nature should survive shall survive termination of this Agreement, including without limitation, warranty disclaimers, governing law, and limitations of liability.
7. Sharing User Information
We work with our corporate group and selected third-party partners or business associates who help us provide, operate and improve our Services. We also share your information with Cloud Service Providers, CDNs, ISPs, Technology Partners, content moderation services, measurement providers, advertisers, and analytics providers. Also, when and where required by law, we will share your information with law enforcement agencies or regulators, and with third parties pursuant to a legally binding court order. Josh reserves the right to transfer the personal information of users to another party as a result of business partnership, contractual engagement, merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of Josh’s assets to another party, and under such a circumstance, the provisions of this Privacy Policy will continue to apply unless You are notified otherwise.
a. Josh does not sell, trade, or rent Your personal information collected by Josh to third parties except as provided in this Policy. Josh may share generic aggregated demographic information not linked to any personal information, regarding visitors and users with Josh’s business partners, contractors, affiliates (including Josh Innovation) and advertisers.
b. Josh may be required by law or litigation to disclose personal information about the Users. Josh may also disclose information about the Users if Josh determines that for national security, law enforcement, or other issues of public importance that disclosure of information is necessary.
c. Josh may disclose the information if it is necessary to enforce the applicable terms of use of the Platform and/or reasonably necessary to protect our rights and property or our officers, directors, shareholders, employees or agents.
d. Josh reserves the right to transfer personal information of Users to another party as a result of business partnership, contractual engagement, merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of Josh’s assets to another party, and under such a circumstance, the provisions of this Privacy Policy will continue to apply unless You are notified otherwise.
7. Cookies
We may use cookies, for example, to keep track of your preferences and Account profile information, or to engage in certain retargeting activities that we feel will better enhance your User experience and the efficiency and effectiveness of the Platform and certain services and functionalities offered thereon. Cookies are also used to collect general usage and volume statistical information that does not include Personal Information. We may also use another company or third-party service to place cookies on your computer to collect non-personally identifiable information to compile aggregated statistics for us about Users of the Platform.
Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored as text files by your Internet browser on your computer's hard drive. Most Internet browsers are initially set to accept cookies. You can set your browser to refuse cookies from websites or to remove cookies from your hard drive, but if you do so, you may not be able to access or use portions of the Platform, or certain offerings on the Platform may not function as intended or as well. Also, some browsers have “do not track” features that allow you to tell a website not to track you. These features are not all uniform. If you block cookies, certain features on the Platform may not work. If you block or reject cookies, not all of the tracking described herein will stop. Please note that certain options you select are browser- and device-specific.
a. Whenever You access the Platform and/or Services Josh may place cookies on Your hard drive for record-keeping purposes to enhance Your experience or sometimes to personalize Your experience. Cookies are small text files that are placed on Your computer’s hard drive by the Platform You visit. Cookies help Josh to identify information relating to Your activities and retain information relating to Your preferences and history on the Platform.
b. Josh and/or its service providers may use advertising cookies to deliver ads that are more relevant to You and Your interests unless You opt-out of such advertisements.
c. You may choose to disable cookies by turning off the cookie feature on the web browser. However, by disabling this feature, some parts of the Platform may not function properly. This may prevent You from taking full advantage of the Platform and Services.
8. Combining Information
Josh may combine Your personal and other information across the Platform and Services in order to provide offers, promotions and information that is most relevant to Your interests, likes and/or preferences. Josh may also combine information You share with Josh on the Platform and with respect to Services with information You have provided to third parties, who have been authorized by You to share the information with Us, for providing content, advertising, promotions, and offers, and for improving User experience on the Platform and Services. Josh may share Your information with third parties, who have Your information, and who are authorized to combine information.
9. How long Josh retain your data
Josh will retain the personal information for the period necessary to provide You with the Service. In case, we do not need your information in order to provide the service to you, we will retain it only for so long as we have a legitimate business purpose in keeping such data. On occasions, where we are likely to keep this data for longer in accordance with our legal obligations or where it is necessary for the establishment, exercise or permitted by law.
The criteria used to determine our retention periods include:
- The length of time we have an ongoing relationship with You and provide the Services to you (for example, for as long as you keep using the Services)
- Whether there is a legal obligation to which We are subject (for example, certain laws require us to keep records for a certain period of time before we can delete them)
- Whether retention is advisable considering our legal position (such as, for statutes of limitations, litigation or regulatory investigations
Josh will keep the personal information of Users for only as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and as required by the law. At the end of that retention period, Josh may either delete the information or anonymize it or pseudonymize it.
10. How You Can Stop Josh From Using Your Data
a. Josh values Your preferences and provides You with options to stop direct marketing communications from Us. You may stop direct marketing communications from Us by doing any of the following:
i. Click ‘unsubscribe’ or ‘opt-out from email communications from a particular division, service, or team;
ii. Login in to Your account and change Your privacy preferences.
b. If You opt-out of marketing communications, You may still receive non-promotional emails/notifications from Josh, such as emails about Your account, updates with respect to the Platform and/or Services, and/or any other business communications.
c. You may uninstall and/or discontinue using the Platform and Services by deleting the Platform from Your device if You disagree with the privacy policy, or do not wish to share Your information for uses provided in this policy.
11. Changes and Updates to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we update the Privacy Policy, we will notify you by updating the “Last Updated” date at the top of this policy and posting the new Privacy Policy and providing any other notice required by applicable law. Your continued access to or use of the Platform after the date of the updated policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy. If you do not agree to the updated policy, you must stop accessing or using the Platform.
Josh may update and revise this Privacy Policy from time to time. The revised Privacy Policy will be posted here. You are encouraged to periodically check this page to stay informed about changes to this Privacy Policy. You hereby acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to review this Privacy Policy periodically and become aware of the modifications. If You disagree with any of the changes to the Privacy Policy, You may refrain from using or accessing the Platform and Services. Your continued use of the Platform and/or Services following the posting of the revised Policy shall indicate Your acceptance and acknowledgment of the changes and You will be bound by the changed policy.
12. Notice and Grievance Redressal Mechanisms
Notice is specifically given that Josh is not responsible for the Content or advertisements accessible through the App. Josh reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove and/or disable access to Content claimed to infringe third-party rights and/or terminate the accounts of the Users of the Platform who may infringe upon the intellectual property or other rights of Josh and/or other third parties.
Grievance Redressal Mechanism
Josh has implemented the following mechanism for dealing with grievances:
Grievances or concerns regarding violations of the Terms of Service, Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Community Guidelines must be addressed to the “Resident Grievance Officer” through the process mentioned here.
- Self-report on the App: You can also report content by using the report content feature within the app on any offending content.
- Email: In accordance with Information Technology Act 2000 and rules made there under, the contact detail of the Grievance Officer is provided below:
Mr Nagaraj
Email: grievance.officer@myJosh.in
(c) Alternatively, by writing to us at
To,
Mr. Nagaraj
Grievance Officer
VerSe Innovation Private Limited
11th Floor, Wing E, Helios Business Park,
Outer Ring Road, Kadubeesanahalli,
Bengaluru- 560103, Karnataka, India
A complaint or other issue faced by a user of our product may be submitted through email at the below address. The complaint should provide: (i) the username of the relevant account holder (ii) specific content/video that is of concern and (iii) reason(s) for such a takedown request.
The complaint must contain such information as is necessary in order for Josh to dispose-off the complaint. All notices to Josh hereunder shall be in writing and shall be duly given if delivered personally or sent by registered mail, return receipt requested, or facsimile to the above address or emailed.
This document is published in accordance with the provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 that require publishing the rules and regulations, Privacy Policy and Terms for access or usage of the App.
I have read and understood the terms of this User Agreement and I hereby, out of my free will, unconditionally accept to be bound by the same.
If You have any grievances or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, You may contact Josh’s Grievance Officer by email or mail. You may send Your grievances to the email address (insert email address) with the subject “Privacy Grievance”. You may also contact the Grievance Officer at the above methods via email or writing a letter:
