Privacy Policy

1Introduction and Our Commitment

OpenBalti is a community-driven project dedicated to preserving and promoting the Balti language, an ancient Tibetic language spoken in Baltistan (Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan) and parts of Ladakh, India. We understand that your trust is essential to our mission, and we are committed to protecting your personal information.

This Privacy Policy describes our practices regarding the collection, use, storage, and disclosure of information we receive from users of our website at openbalti.com (the "Service"). By using our Service, you consent to the practices described in this policy.

We believe in transparency and accountability. OpenBalti operates as an open-source project, meaning our code is publicly available for review. This extends to our data practices — we collect only what is necessary to provide our services and improve the user experience.

2Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

When you create an account or interact with our Service, you may provide:

• Account Information: Your name, email address, and profile picture when signing in through Google OAuth authentication.
• User Contributions: Words, definitions, translations, example sentences, and other linguistic content you submit to the dictionary.
• Feedback and Reviews: Comments, ratings, and feedback you provide on dictionary entries.
• Communication Data: Information you provide when contacting us for support or inquiries.
• Preferences: Your saved favorites, learning lists, and search preferences.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you access our Service, we automatically collect certain technical information:

• Usage Data: Pages visited, search queries, features used, time spent on pages, and interaction patterns.
• Device Information: Browser type, operating system, device type, and screen resolution.
• Log Data: IP address, access times, referring URLs, and error logs.
• Cookies and Similar Technologies: We use essential cookies for authentication and preferences, and analytics cookies (with your consent) to understand usage patterns.

3How We Use Your Information

We use collected information for the following purposes:

4Third-Party Services

We use trusted third-party services to operate OpenBalti. Each service has its own privacy policy governing the use of your information:

5Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information:

• Encryption: All data transmission is encrypted using HTTPS/TLS protocols.
• Secure Authentication: We use OAuth 2.0 through Google, avoiding storage of passwords.
• Access Controls: Only authorized team members can access sensitive data.
• Regular Updates: We keep our systems and dependencies updated with security patches.

While we strive to protect your information, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but will notify affected users promptly in case of any data breach.

6Your Rights and Choices

You have several rights regarding your personal information:

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at shadbalti2@gmail.com. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

7Children's Privacy

OpenBalti is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately. If we discover that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

For users between 13 and 18 years of age, we encourage parents and guardians to monitor their children's online activities and consider using parental controls.

8International Data Transfers

OpenBalti is operated from Pakistan, but our services use infrastructure located in various countries. By using our Service, you consent to the transfer of your information to countries outside your country of residence, which may have different data protection rules. We ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

9Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will:

• Post the updated policy on this page with a new "Last Updated" date
• Notify registered users via email for significant changes
• Display a prominent notice on our website

Your continued use of the Service after any changes indicates your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.