Privacy Policy — Fasal Mitra

 # Privacy Policy — Fasal Mitra

**Last updated: 10 July 2026**

Fasal Mitra ("the app", "we", "us") helps farmers detect crop diseases, check weather and irrigation advice, and track mandi (market) prices. This policy explains what data the app uses, how, and your choices. We built Fasal Mitra to be **offline-first and privacy-respecting**: most of your data never leaves your phone.

## 1. Summary (the short version)

- **No account is required** to use the app.

- Your **profile, fields, scan history, cached prices/weather, and alerts are stored only on your device.**

- We **do not sell your data** and **do not use advertising or third-party analytics/trackers.**

- Some features send limited data to free public services (weather, mandi prices, optional cloud disease check, optional voice) only when you use them — detailed below.

## 2. Information the app uses

### a. Information you provide

- **Name (optional)** and **crop field details** (field name, crop type, area). Stored **only on your device**; never uploaded (unless you enable an optional cloud account — see §4).

### b. Device permissions and how they're used

| Permission | Why | Where the data goes |

|---|---|---|

| **Camera** | Photograph a crop leaf for disease detection | The photo is analysed **on your device**. It is stored locally in the app. It is sent to a cloud model **only** when the on-device result is low-confidence **and** you are online (see §4, Hugging Face). |

| **Location (approximate)** | Local weather forecast + to pre-select your state for mandi prices | Approximate latitude/longitude are sent to the weather service (Open-Meteo) to fetch your forecast. Your state is derived **on-device**. We do not store your location on any server. |

| **Microphone** | Optional voice commands to navigate the app | Speech is recognised **entirely on your device** (offline). Audio is **not transmitted anywhere.** |

| **Notifications** | Weather and price alerts you set up | Alerts are generated and shown **locally** on your device. |

| **Internet / Network state** | Fetch fresh weather and prices; optional cloud features | See §4. |

### c. Information stored on your device

Scan photos and results, crop fields, cached weather and mandi prices, price alerts, and your settings are stored locally (in the app's private database). Full-resolution scan photos are automatically compressed after ~30 days to save space.

## 3. What we do **not** collect

- We do not require or collect your email, phone number, or contacts.

- We do not include advertising SDKs or third-party analytics/tracking.

- We do not sell or share your personal information for marketing.

## 4. Third-party services

When you use certain features, the app contacts these external services. Each receives only the minimum needed for that feature:

- **Open-Meteo (weather)** — receives your approximate coordinates to return a forecast. No API key, no account, no personal identifiers. https://open-meteo.com/en/terms

- **data.gov.in / Agmarknet (mandi prices, Government of India)** — receives your selected commodity, state and district to return public market prices. No personal data is sent. https://data.gov.in

- **Hugging Face Inference API (optional cloud disease check)** — used **only** to get a second opinion when the on-device model is uncertain and you are online. Receives the crop photo for that scan. https://huggingface.co/privacy

- **Bhashini / AI4Bharat (optional voice output, Government of India)** — used **only** if you tap "read aloud" in a language your device cannot speak on its own. Receives the **text** to be spoken (for example, treatment advice). No audio recording is sent. https://bhashini.gov.in

- **Firebase (optional, off by default)** — if a future build enables cloud sync/notifications, anonymous scan metadata (disease label, confidence, approximate location, timestamp — **not** your photos), a sign-in identifier, and a push token may be processed by Google Firebase. This is disabled unless explicitly configured. https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy

If you never use a given feature, no data is sent to that service.

## 5. Data retention and deletion

- On-device data remains until you delete it in the app, **clear the app's data**, or **uninstall** the app — which removes all local data.

- Weather and price caches refresh over time; old scan photos are compressed after ~30 days.

- Requests sent to third-party services are subject to those services' own retention policies (linked above).

## 6. Security

Your data is kept in the app's private storage, isolated from other apps by Android. Network requests use HTTPS. No system is perfectly secure, but we minimise data collection by design (local-first).

## 7. Children

Fasal Mitra is intended for farmers and the general public. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country).

## 8. Your choices and rights

- Grant or deny any permission at any time in Android Settings.

- Delete all your data by clearing app data or uninstalling.

- Because we store data locally and require no account, there is no server-side profile to request or erase.

## 9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app evolves. Material changes will be reflected here with a new "Last updated" date.

## 10. Contact

Questions about this policy or your data? Contact **Rhythm Themes** at **saktisankarb@gmail.com** — **https://rhythm-themes.onrender.com*.