Privacy Policy

Last updated: 27 May 2026

1. Who we are

LawyersNearMe is operated by [LAWYER REVIEW: insert registered legal entity name, address, CIN, GSTIN]. We act as the Data Fiduciary for the personal data described in this policy.

2. What personal data we collect

2.1 If you are a consumer (someone looking for a lawyer)

• • Name, email, mobile number (provided at signup)
• • State / location (optional, used to narrow lawyer matches)
• • Description of your legal issue (free-text query you submit)
• • Connection metadata when you reach out to a lawyer (timestamp, lawyer matched, message text)
• • Technical data: IP address, browser type, anonymous session ID (see Cookie notice)

2.2 If you are a lawyer (advocate signing up for a profile)

• • Name, email, mobile number, date of birth, professional bio
• • Bar Council registration details: bar council name, enrolment number, enrolment date, expiry date
• • Verification documents (enrolment certificate, identity proof) uploaded by you for our verification team to review
• • Selected specialisations and high-court affiliations
• • Payment data: processed by our payment provider — we receive only the transaction status and last four digits / payment method type, never your full card or bank details
• • Connection history with consumers (who reached out, when, what issue context they shared)

3. Why we collect this data (purposes)

• • Matching: connect consumers with lawyers appropriate to their issue, state, and specialisation
• • Verification: confirm a lawyer is genuinely enrolled with a State Bar Council before listing them publicly
• • Account management: authentication, profile updates, password recovery
• • Payment processing: activate paid lawyer subscriptions and issue receipts
• • Service improvement (with consent): aggregate analytics on which legal issues are most searched, in what states
• • Fraud prevention: detect duplicate enrolments, forged documents, abusive behaviour
• • Legal compliance: respond to lawful requests from courts, regulators, or law enforcement

4. Legal basis (under the DPDP Act)

We process your personal data on the following grounds:

• • Your consent (DPDP Act §6) — given when you create an account, accept this policy, or accept analytics cookies
• • Performance of a contract — fulfilling our Terms of Service with you
• • Legal obligation — responding to court orders, tax filings, regulator requests
• • Certain legitimate uses (DPDP Act §7) — fraud prevention, statutory compliance

5. Who we share your data with

We share data only with the parties listed below, and only the minimum necessary in each case:

• • Payment processor ([LAWYER REVIEW: name the processor — Razorpay, Stripe India, etc. — once selected for production]) to take subscription payments from lawyers
• • Email delivery provider ([LAWYER REVIEW: name once finalised]) to send verification, notification, and transactional emails
• • Hosting provider for storing your data securely. All data is stored on servers located in India.
• • Lawyers on the platform— when a consumer reaches out via the Connect flow, the lawyer sees the consumer's name, contact, and the issue context the consumer chose to share
• • Government authorities when required by lawful order under Indian law

We do not sell your personal data, share it with advertisers, or use it for targeted advertising on third-party platforms.

6. How long we keep your data (retention)

7. Your rights as a Data Principal

Under the DPDP Act, 2023, you have the following rights:

• • Right to access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• • Right to correction — request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• • Right to erasure — request that we delete your personal data, subject to lawful retention requirements
• • Right to grievance redressal — escalate unresolved concerns to our Grievance Officer (below) and, if not resolved, to the Data Protection Board of India
• • Right to nominate — nominate another individual to exercise your rights on your behalf in the event of your death or incapacity
• • Right to withdraw consent — at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal. [LAWYER REVIEW: clarify effect on active lawyer subscriptions]

8. Grievance Officer

In compliance with the DPDP Act and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, our Grievance Officer is:

9. Children

LawyersNearMe is intended for individuals aged 18 and above. We do not knowingly collect personal data of children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data of a child, please contact our Grievance Officer and we will delete it.

10. Security

We use technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including TLS encryption in transit, encrypted password storage, access controls, and regular security review of our infrastructure. No system is perfectly secure; we will notify you and the Data Protection Board of India of any personal-data breach within the timeframes prescribed by the DPDP Act.

11. Cross-border transfers

All personal data is stored on servers located in India. We do not transfer personal data outside India. [LAWYER REVIEW: revise if hosting / payment / email providers actually transfer data abroad]

12. Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will re-prompt for consent on your next visit. Non-material changes (typos, link updates, clarifying examples) will be reflected in the “Last updated” date above without re-prompting.