Privacy policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Castanet (the online platform and related services operated by ALT-PI FINTECH PRIVATE LIMITED, "we", "us", "our") collects, uses, stores, discloses, and otherwise processes personal data when you visit our websites, use our applications, or otherwise interact with us. It should be read together with our Cookie Policy.

Under Indian law, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 ("DPDP Act"), we typically act as a Data Fiduciaryin respect of personal data you provide or that we otherwise process in connection with the services. Where this policy uses everyday words like "you", that includes Data Principals as defined under applicable law.

Castanet helps founders and investors with discovery and structured engagement. We are not a broker, investment adviser, or bank; how you use information you obtain through Castanet is your responsibility and should comply with applicable law and professional advice you choose to obtain.

Who this policy covers

This policy applies to visitors to our marketing sites, registered users (for example founders, investors, and team members they invite), and others who contact us or otherwise interact with Castanet online. Some enterprise or partner arrangements may be governed by additional terms or data-processing agreements; where those terms conflict on a specific point, the signed agreement usually prevails for that relationship.

Personal data we collect

The personal data we process depends on how you use Castanet. It may include:

• Account and contact data — such as name, email address, phone number, employer or fund name, professional title, and credentials used to sign in or verify your account.
• Profile and listing content — information you add to your profile, pitch, team section, updates, media (including video), documents you choose to upload, and similar content you submit for discovery or collaboration.
• Transaction and subscription data — billing contact details, plan type, and payment-related references processed by our payment partners (we do not store full card numbers on our servers).
• Communications — messages you send us (for example support requests), optional survey responses, and records of in-product messaging or notifications where those features exist.
• Usage and device data — such as IP address, device type, browser type, approximate location derived from IP, pages or screens viewed, referring URLs, timestamps, and diagnostic events that help us operate and secure the service.
• Support and integrity data — logs and security signals we use for fraud prevention, abuse detection, debugging, and legal compliance.

We may receive limited personal data from third parties — for example analytics or advertising partners, authentication providers, or publicly available professional sources where you point us to them — in line with their policies and applicable law.

How we use personal data (purposes)

We process personal data for purposes that include:

• Providing and improving Castanet — account creation, authentication, hosting profiles and content, enabling discovery, messaging, notifications, search, and product features you request.
• Security and abuse prevention — monitoring for unauthorised access, spam, fraud, and violations of our terms and acceptable use standards.
• Customer support — responding to questions and troubleshooting issues.
• Billing and administration — managing subscriptions, invoices, and tax or record-keeping obligations.
• Analytics and product measurement — understanding aggregated usage, feature adoption, and reliability so we can prioritise engineering and design work.
• Marketing — sending service-related announcements and, where permitted, information about Castanet; you can opt out of promotional emails using the link in those messages or by contacting us.
• Legal and compliance — complying with law, regulation, court orders, and government requests; enforcing our terms; and protecting our rights, users, and the public.
• Corporate transactions — in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, subject to safeguards required by law.

Legal bases and consent (including India)

We process personal data where we have a lawful basis under applicable law. Depending on context, that may include:

• Consent — where you have given clear, informed consent (for example for certain marketing communications or non-essential cookies, where the law requires consent).
• Provision of services — processing necessary to perform our contract with you or to take steps you ask for before entering a contract.
• Legitimate uses — where the DPDP Act or other law permits processing for specified legitimate uses (such as certain employment-related processing, safety, or cybersecurity purposes, subject to conditions in the statute and rules).
• Legal obligation — where we must process data to comply with the law.
• Legitimate interests — where allowed outside India (for example the EEA or UK), we may rely on balanced legitimate interests for security, analytics, or internal operations, except where overridden by your rights or local requirements.

You may withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal. Withdrawing consent may limit features we can offer you.

Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies, storage on your device, and similar technologies as described in our Cookie Policy. That policy explains categories of cookies, your choices, and how to manage preferences.

Sharing and disclosure

We do not sell your personal data in the conventional sense of selling lists of individuals for money. We may share personal data as follows:

• Service providers (processors) — hosting, email delivery, analytics, payment processing, customer support tooling, security vendors, and other subprocessors who process data on our instructions and under contractual obligations.
• Other users — content and profile elements you choose to make visible on Castanet (for example to investors or founders browsing the platform) are shared according to your settings and product design.
• Professional advisers — lawyers, accountants, or auditors where necessary.
• Authorities — when we believe disclosure is required by law, to protect rights and safety, or to respond to lawful requests.
• Business transfers — in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, personal data may be transferred as part of the transaction, with notice where required.

Where we appoint processors, we seek to use contracts and technical measures that require them to protect personal data and use it only for the agreed purposes.

International transfers

Castanet is operated from India, but we may use infrastructure or suppliers in other countries. Where personal data is transferred outside India (or, for users elsewhere, outside your country), we implement safeguards required by applicable law — such as standard contractual clauses, adequacy decisions, or your explicit consent where that is the appropriate mechanism.

Retention

We retain personal data only as long as needed for the purposes above, including providing the service, resolving disputes, complying with legal and tax obligations, and enforcing our agreements. Retention periods vary by data type: for example, security logs may be kept for a shorter window than billing records. When data is no longer required, we delete or irreversibly anonymise it in line with our internal policies and applicable law.

Security

We implement technical and organisational measures appropriate to the risk — including access controls, encryption in transit where supported, monitoring, and staff training. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure; we encourage you to use strong passwords and protect your account credentials.

Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, or delete personal data; object to or restrict certain processing; port data to another service; or withdraw consent. Under the DPDP Act, Data Principals generally have rights including correction and erasure, grievance redressal, and nomination of a representative, in each case subject to the Act's conditions and exemptions.

To exercise your rights, contact us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request. You may also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority or, in India, with the Data Protection Board of India once fully operational and as prescribed under the DPDP Act and related rules.

Children

Castanet is intended for adults engaged in professional and investment discovery. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children below the age at which verifiable parental consent is required under applicable law (including thresholds set out under the DPDP Act and rules). If you believe we have collected such data, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

Automated processing

We may use automated systems to rank content, detect abuse, or recommend connections. We do not make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you without human oversight where such review is required by law. If that changes, we will update this policy and provide any notices required by law.

Third-party links and embedded content

Our sites may link to third-party websites or embed content (such as video players). Those third parties have their own privacy notices. We are not responsible for their practices; please review their policies before sharing personal data with them.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time — for example when we launch new features, change vendors, or need to reflect legal developments. We will post the updated policy on this page and revise the "Last updated" date. Where the law requires fresh consent or notice, we will provide that in the appropriate way.

Contact and grievances

For privacy questions, requests to exercise rights, or grievances under applicable Indian law, you may contact trust@castanet.info (Compliance & Grievances). For general enquiries, see our Contact page or write to hello@castanet.info.