Privacy Policy

Smile Foundation Trust (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a registered public charitable trust (Registration No. E/24550/AHD Gujarat) working as an NGO in Ahmedabad and across Gujarat. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect personal information when you visit our website, contact us, volunteer, or make a donation through online payment gateways or other channels.

We are committed to transparency and dignity in how we handle donor, beneficiary, volunteer, and visitor data. This policy is written for individuals and institutions who support orphanage care, education, old-age support, women empowerment, calamity relief, medical assistance, and related charitable programmes.

Information we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect: name, email address, phone number, postal address, donation amount and date, payment reference or transaction identifiers provided by the payment gateway (we do not store full card numbers), PAN or other tax details when required for 80G certificates, message content from contact or enquiry forms, and basic technical data such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited for security and site improvement.

If you share information about a beneficiary or referral, we ask that you only provide details you are authorised to share. We use such information solely to assess need and deliver support through our programmes.

How we use your information

We use personal information to process donations and issue receipts or 80G certificates where eligible; respond to enquiries; coordinate volunteer and partner activities; improve our website and outreach; maintain financial and statutory records required of a public charitable trust; and communicate programme updates when you have opted in or when communication is necessary to complete a donation or request.

We do not sell personal data. We do not use donor information for commercial marketing unrelated to Smile Foundation Trust’s charitable mission.

Payment gateways and third parties

Online donations may be processed by authorised payment gateway providers. Card, UPI, net-banking, and wallet details are handled by those providers under their own security and privacy terms. We receive confirmation of successful or failed payments and limited transaction metadata needed for accounting and receipts.

We may share information with professional advisors (for example auditors or legal counsel), hosting or email service providers, and government authorities when required by law or for legitimate trust compliance. Any service provider is expected to handle data only for the purpose we specify.

Cookies and analytics

Our website may use cookies or similar technologies to keep sessions secure, remember preferences, and understand aggregate traffic. You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect some site features.

Data retention and security

We retain donation and contact records for as long as needed for programme delivery, donor care, and legal or tax obligations applicable to a charitable trust in Gujarat. We apply reasonable administrative and technical safeguards; no online transmission is perfectly secure, and we encourage donors to use strong passwords where accounts exist and to contact us if they suspect misuse of their information.

Your choices

You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information we hold about you, subject to legal retention requirements for donation and statutory records. To exercise these rights or ask a privacy-related question, use the contact details below.

Updates

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The revised version will be posted on this page. Continued use of our website or donation channels after changes constitutes awareness of the updated policy.