Privacy Policy

Discover Darjeeling mobile application · Last updated 22 September 2026

Discover Darjeeling is published by [FILL IN: full official name of the office, e.g. "the Office of the Sub-Divisional Officer, Siliguri, Darjeeling District, Government of West Bengal"] ("we", "the Department"). The Department is the data controller for the information described below.

This policy explains what the app collects, why, where it is kept, who can see it, and how to have it erased. It covers the Android and iOS app and the server behind it. It is written to be read, not to be waved at — if anything here is unclear, write to us at the address at the bottom.

The short version. We ask for your email address so your badges and trip progress are yours and not the phone's. When you check in at a stop, we record which stop and where you were standing, so the check-in can be trusted. Photographs you take in the app stay on your phone — we never receive them. There is no advertising, no analytics, and nothing is sold or shared for marketing. You can delete your account, and everything attached to it, at any time.

1. What we collect, and why

Information	Why we need it	Where it is kept
Email address	It is how you sign in and how your badges and progress follow you to a new phone. We send a six-digit code to it each time you sign in; we never set or store a password.	On our server, and on your phone in the operating system's secure storage.
Location at a check-in	The app unlocks a badge only when you are actually at a stop. The coordinates of the check-in are recorded against your account so the badge can be relied on, and so the Department can see which stops visitors are reaching.	On our server, attached to your account, and on your phone.
Location while you use the map	To show where you are on the map, how far a stop is, and the weather where you are standing. This is read while the app is open and is not recorded.	Not stored. Used on your phone as you go.
Photographs you take at a stop, and your profile picture	So your trip has your own pictures in it.	Only on your phone. The picture itself is never uploaded. Our server records only how many photographs were taken at a stop.
A device identifier	The app sends a scrambled (one-way hashed) form of the identifier your phone gives to apps, so that unusual patterns — for example one handset creating a great many accounts — can be noticed. It is not used to track you between apps or across the internet.	On our server, alongside your email address.
Your display name, appearance setting, favourites, saved circuits	To make the app yours.	Only on your phone. Never sent to us.

What we do not collect

We do not ask for your name, phone number, date of birth, address, payment details or any government identity number. The app contains no advertising, no advertising identifier, and no analytics or crash-reporting service of any kind. Nothing is used for profiling or automated decision-making.

2. Camera and location permissions

The app asks for location only while it is open, to place you on the map and to confirm you have arrived at a stop. It never reads your location in the background or while the app is closed.

The app asks for the camera to scan the QR code on a stop's signboard and to take photographs at a stop, and for permission to add photographs to your gallery so the ones you take sit alongside your other holiday pictures. It cannot read the pictures already in your gallery, except for the one you choose yourself as a profile picture.

Both permissions can be refused or withdrawn in your phone's settings at any time. Refusing location means badges must be unlocked by scanning the QR code at the stop instead; refusing the camera means you can still browse everything and follow the circuits.

3. Who else sees anything

Your information is not sold, rented, or shared for advertising. It is seen by:

Authorised staff of the Department, through the content manager, who can see the list of registered email addresses and the check-ins recorded against them. This is used to run and improve the circuits.
Our hosting provider, which stores the server's database on our behalf and may not use it for anything else.
Map, route and weather services the app calls as you use it — OpenFreeMap for map tiles, Project OSRM for walking and driving distances, and Open-Meteo for the forecast. To answer, these services necessarily receive the coordinates being asked about and your device's internet address. They receive no email address, no account, and no name.
Anyone we are required by law to disclose to, where a lawful order compels it.

4. How long we keep it

Your account and its check-in history are kept while the account exists. Sign-in codes are deleted five minutes after they are issued, or as soon as they are used. When you delete your account, everything attached to it is removed from our live database immediately; routine backups are overwritten in the ordinary course within 30 days.

5. Deleting your account

You can erase your account, your check-in history and your badges at any time:

In the app: Profile → Delete my account.
Without the app: use the account deletion page on this website.

Deletion is immediate and cannot be undone. The photographs on your phone are removed from the app's own storage; any copies you saved to your gallery stay in your gallery, because they are yours.

6. Keeping it safe

Everything travels over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. Sign-in codes are stored only as a one-way hash, so even we cannot read them, and a code expires after five minutes, can be used once, and is destroyed after five wrong attempts. There are no passwords to leak. Access to the content manager is limited to named departmental accounts.

7. Children

The app is a general-audience travel guide and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from a child. If you believe a child has created an account, write to us and we will remove it.

8. Your rights

You may ask us what we hold about you, ask for it to be corrected, or ask for it to be erased. Write to the address below and we will respond within 30 days. You can also erase it yourself, as described in section 5.

9. Changes to this policy

If what the app collects changes, this page is updated and the date at the top changes with it. Material changes will be announced in the app.

10. Contact

SDO Office Siliguri
PCH7+9QR Vivekananda Bhavan, near Biswadeep Cinema Hall, Ward 1, Pradhan Nagar, Siliguri, West Bengal 734003
Email: contact@discover-darjeeling.com