Privacy Policy

1. Who this policy covers

Hosts (people who list a place on the Site), guests (people who browse listings or contact a host), and anyone else who visits the Site.

2. Our role

For the personal data described here, Shoreline decides why and how it is processed, and is the data fiduciary under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (the "DPDP Act"). We also follow the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the rules made under it.

3. What we collect from hosts

When you list a place, the listing form asks for:

• Your name and the languages you can reply in. These are shown on your listing once it is approved.
• Your WhatsApp number. It is never shown on any page. When a guest taps "Enquire on WhatsApp", the Site opens a WhatsApp chat with this number, so the guest will see it in WhatsApp.
• Your email address, if you give one. Only the Shoreline team sees it.
• The property's address. Only the Shoreline team sees it; guests see the area, not the address.
• The details of the place (description, rooms, price, amenities, rules, distances and directions) and its photos. These are shown on your listing once it is approved.

We also store the IP address the listing was sent from, to spot spam and repeated submissions.

Photos are re-processed when they are uploaded, which removes location (GPS) and camera details stored inside the image file.

Your listing has a private link that lets anyone who has it edit the listing. Keep it to yourself. If it gets out, message us and we will replace it; the old link stops working at once.

4. What we collect from guests

Guests don't create an account or fill in any form on the Site. When you tap "Enquire on WhatsApp", we record that an enquiry was made for that listing, and when. We don't record who made it.

Your dates and number of guests, if you enter them, are only used to write the opening WhatsApp message for you; we don't store them. Everything you then send the host happens on WhatsApp, between you and the host, under WhatsApp's own terms and privacy policy.

5. What we collect from every visitor

• Technical data such as your IP address, browser and device, which our hosting provider handles to deliver the Site and protect it from abuse.
• Short-term records of IP addresses, used to limit spam and repeated actions (for example, how many enquiries or listings come from one connection). These are deleted automatically within about a day.
• Error reports. If a page fails, a report goes to our error-monitoring service with the page address, your browser and the error. We remove phone numbers, private listing links and the query part of addresses before reports are sent.

We don't use analytics or advertising tools, and we don't track you across other sites.

6. Cookies and storage in your browser

• The Site doesn't set cookies for visitors. The only cookie is a sign-in cookie for the Shoreline team's admin pages.
• Your browser remembers whether you chose the light or dark theme.
• While you fill in the listing form, a draft is kept in your browser so you don't lose your work. Your name, phone number, email and address are kept only until you close the tab; the rest stays until you submit the form. This draft stays on your device and isn't sent to us until you submit.

7. How we use personal data

• To review listings before they are published and to show approved listings on the Site.
• To put guests in touch with hosts on WhatsApp.
• To contact hosts about their listings, including sending a replacement private link.
• To keep the Site working and secure, and to prevent spam, fraud and misuse.
• To deal with questions, complaints and requests about your data.
• To meet legal obligations and respond to lawful requests from authorities.

We don't send marketing messages, and we don't sell personal data.

8. Consent

Hosts give their consent when they submit the listing form and accept this policy. You can withdraw your consent at any time (see section 12); we will then take your listing down and delete your data as described in section 10. We may also process data without consent where the DPDP Act allows it, such as to comply with the law.

9. Who we share data with

Guests and hosts: listing details, the host's name and languages are public. A host's WhatsApp number reaches a guest only when the guest taps "Enquire on WhatsApp". What either side shares in WhatsApp is then that person's responsibility.

Service providers who run parts of the Site for us, and may use the data only for that:

• Vercel, which hosts the Site.
• Neon, which hosts our database (in Singapore).
• Cloudinary, which stores and delivers listing photos.
• Sentry, which receives error reports (in the European Union).
• WhatsApp (Meta), where enquiries take place.

Authorities, where the law, a court order or a government authority requires it, or to protect the rights, safety or property of Shoreline, our users or others.

A successor, if Shoreline is ever merged, acquired or sold. It would remain bound by this policy.

10. How long we keep data

• Listings and host details: while the listing is on Shoreline. Listings that are paused, taken down or not approved are kept so they can be fixed and sent again, until you ask us to delete them.
• The IP address a listing was sent from: kept with the listing.
• Enquiry records: kept to count how often each listing is enquired about. They contain no personal data.
• Short-term IP records for spam limits: deleted automatically within about a day.
• Error reports: kept by Sentry for a limited period, then deleted automatically.
• Photos removed from a listing may stay in our photo storage until we clear it. Ask us and we will delete them.

When you ask us to delete your data, we will erase it within a reasonable time, unless we must keep some of it to comply with the law, resolve a dispute or enforce our Terms and Conditions.

11. Security

We use reasonable security practices, in line with the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011. These include encryption in transit, keeping private details (phone numbers, email and addresses) out of public pages, and limiting the admin pages to the Shoreline team. No system is completely secure, so we can't guarantee absolute security.

If a personal data breach affects you, we will tell you and the Data Protection Board of India as the law requires.

12. Your rights

Under the DPDP Act, you can:

• ask for a summary of the personal data we hold about you and how we use it;
• correct or update your data (hosts can change most listing details themselves, using their private link);
• ask us to erase your data;
• withdraw your consent;
• have a complaint dealt with (section 14);
• nominate someone to exercise these rights if you die or become unable to.

To use any of these rights, message us on WhatsApp (Message Shoreline). If you are a host, please message from the WhatsApp number on your listing, so we know the request is yours; otherwise we may need to check who you are before we act. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can approach the Data Protection Board of India.

13. Age

The Site is for people aged 18 and over, and hosts must confirm they are 18 or over when they list a place. We don't knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you think someone under 18 has given us their data, contact us and we will delete it.

14. Complaints and contact

For any question, complaint or request about this policy or your personal data, message the Shoreline team on WhatsApp (Message Shoreline). We will acknowledge your complaint within 24 hours and resolve it within the time the law requires.

15. Data stored outside India

Some of our service providers (section 9) store or process data outside India, including in Singapore, the European Union and the United States. We only do this as the DPDP Act and any restrictions notified by the Government of India allow.

16. Other sites

The Site links to other services, including WhatsApp. This policy doesn't cover them; please read their own policies.

17. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. The new version will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date. If a change is significant, we will also say so on the Site. Continuing to use the Site after an update means you accept the new version.

18. Governing law

This policy is governed by the laws of India. Subject to the dispute resolution terms in our Terms and Conditions, the courts at Mangaluru, Karnataka have exclusive jurisdiction.