Your data, treated like a donation — with care.

Last updated: 18 May 2026

1. Who this policy applies to

This Privacy Policy applies to information collected by Cognitud Foundation ("we", "our", "us") through our website cognitud.org, when you make a donation, sign up for updates, or contact us.

2. Information we collect

Information you give us

• Identity: name, salutation, age (if relevant).
• Contact: email address, phone number, postal address.
• Financial: donation amount, PAN (for 80G receipt eligibility), payment method (handled by Razorpay — see below).
• Communications: messages you send via email or contact forms.

Information collected automatically

• Standard server logs: IP address, browser type, pages visited, time of visit.
• Basic analytics to understand site usage. No cross-site tracking.

3. How we use your information

• Process your donation and issue an 80G tax receipt.
• Send you donation confirmations, impact updates and the annual report.
• Respond to your enquiries.
• Maintain audit and statutory records as required by Indian law.
• Improve our website and programmes based on aggregate, anonymised usage.

4. Payment processing

Donations are processed through Razorpay, a PCI-DSS compliant payment gateway. Your full card or bank details are submitted directly to Razorpay and are not stored on Cognitud servers. We receive only a transaction reference and the metadata necessary to issue receipts.

5. Who we share your information with

We share personal information only with:

• Our payment processor (Razorpay), for the limited purpose of processing your donation.
• Our auditors and statutory regulators, where required by Indian law.
• Email service providers, to deliver receipts and updates.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We do not share your donation history with third parties for marketing purposes.

6. Data retention

Donation records are retained as required by Indian tax and statutory law, currently a minimum of eight years from the end of the relevant financial year. Other personal data is retained only as long as it is useful for the purposes above.

7. Cookies

We use a minimal number of essential cookies for site functionality (e.g. session, security). We do not use third-party advertising cookies. You can disable cookies in your browser settings; some parts of the site may not function as a result.

8. Your rights

You have the right to:

• Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate information.
• Request deletion of your information, subject to statutory retention obligations.
• Unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time, via the link in any email.

To exercise any of these rights, please write to privacy@cognitud.org.

9. Security

We maintain reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect your personal information. No system is fully secure, but we will notify affected donors promptly in the unlikely event of a breach.

10. Children

Our website and donation flow are intended for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors.

11. Changes to this policy

We may revise this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated through the "Last updated" date above. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

12. Contact

Privacy queries: privacy@cognitud.org
General queries: founders@cognitud.org
Postal address: Cognitud Foundation, 17, 2nd Cross, Indiranagar 1st Stage, Bengaluru, Karnataka — 560038, India.