Privacy Policy

Last updated: 14 October 2026  ·  Effective from: 14 October 2026

Aureus Circle ("we", "our", or "the Company") operates the website aureuscircle.com and the Aureus Circle mobile application (collectively, "the Platform"). This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, store, and protect information about you when you use the Platform. By accessing or using the Platform, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly to us and information generated by your use of the Platform.

• Identity & Contact: Full name, mobile number, email address, city, profession, and company name — provided during application or registration.
• Professional Information: Industry, business category, what you sell, and what you buy — used to match you with relevant deals and members.
• Application Data: Answers you submit in the membership application form, including intent statements and business credentials.
• Transaction Data: Records of payments made for enrollment fees or membership fees, processed via Razorpay.
• Contribution and Activity Data: Profile completeness, gives, asks, referrals and introductions, response times, peer ratings, meeting attendance, and scores derived from them (such as the Trust Score) — used to review contribution and decide on membership confirmation.
• Consent Records: The date, time and version of the Terms and Privacy Policy you accepted when applying.
• Usage Data: Pages visited, features used, deal posts created, and in-app interactions — collected automatically.
• Device Data: Device type, OS version, push notification token — collected when you use the mobile app.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To process your membership application and communicate our decision.
• To operate your account, including access control and lifecycle management.
• To match your deal posts (WANTs and OFFERs) with relevant members using rules-based and AI-assisted matching.
• To send push notifications about matched deals and platform activity.
• To process and record payments securely via our payment gateway.
• To review your contribution during the Pre-Launch Period and decide whether to confirm your membership (see our Terms of Membership).
• To improve the Platform, prevent abuse, and maintain security.
• To communicate important updates, policy changes, or service announcements, and to email you about your application, enrollment, and programme updates. Replies to our emails reach founder@aureuscircle.com. You can ask us to stop non-essential emails at any time.

3. AI and Automated Processing

Aureus Circle uses AI to assist with deal matching and post parsing. Your deal posts may be processed by AI models to extract structured information (category, quantity, value range, city). This processing helps surface relevant opportunities to other members. No automated decisions that have legal consequences are made solely by AI — all membership decisions are reviewed by our team.

4. Sharing of Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share information in the following circumstances:

• With other members: Your name, business category, city, and deal posts are visible to verified Aureus Circle members within the Platform. Your phone number is only shared with a matched member when you explicitly accept their response to your deal post.
• With service providers: We share necessary data with Razorpay (payment processing), Expo (mobile app infrastructure), our hosting provider (AWS, Mumbai), our email and messaging providers, and AI providers (Anthropic for text analysis and translation; Voyage AI for search embeddings). These providers act on our instructions and are contractually bound to protect your data.
• Transfers outside India: Some AI providers process data on servers outside India. We transfer personal data abroad only where permitted by the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and send them only the text needed for the task.
• For legal compliance: We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or to protect our legal rights.
• With your consent: We will share information in any other circumstances only with your explicit consent.

5. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored on servers hosted in India (AWS Mumbai region). We implement industry-standard technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including encrypted communications (HTTPS/TLS), secure token-based authentication, and access controls. However, no system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

OTP-based authentication is used in place of passwords, reducing the risk of credential exposure.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide services. If your membership is terminated, your application is rejected, or you are enrolled but not confirmed, we retain minimal records for up to 3 years for compliance and dispute resolution purposes, after which they are deleted or anonymised.

7. Your Rights

Under applicable Indian data protection law, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate information.
• Request deletion of your data (subject to legal retention requirements).
• Withdraw consent for non-essential processing at any time. Withdrawing consent to contribution review means we cannot continue to consider you for confirmed membership.
• Delete your account yourself from within the app, or ask us to do so.
• Have a grievance addressed, and nominate another person to exercise your rights if you die or become incapacitated.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at the details below.

8. Consent and Grievance Redressal

We process your personal data on the basis of the consent you give when you apply, and for other uses the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 permits. If you have a complaint about how we handle your data, write to our Grievance Officer — the Founder, Aureus Circle — at founder@aureuscircle.com. We will acknowledge your complaint and aim to resolve it within 30 days. If you are not satisfied, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

9. Cookies and Analytics

The website uses essential cookies to enable navigation and security features. We may use basic analytics (page views, session duration) to understand how the site is used. We do not use advertising cookies or track you across third-party sites.

10. Third-Party Links

The Platform may contain links to third-party websites or services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies.

11. Children's Privacy

Aureus Circle is a B2B platform intended for business professionals. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18 years of age.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you via email or in-app notification and update the "Last updated" date above. Continued use of the Platform after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

13. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of India. Any disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in Mumbai, Maharashtra.