Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Bihar Star Hunt ("we", "us", "our") organises the Bihar Star Hunt 2026 talent competition. This policy explains how we handle the personal information of people who visit our website, register as participants, or communicate with us.

• Organiser: Bihar Star Hunt — Director Ritesh S Kumar, Founder & Organizer.
• Registered address: 1606 Range Heights, Andheri West, Mumbai.
• Contact: biharstarhunt@gmail.com · +91 73596 63355 (also WhatsApp).

2. Information we collect

We collect only what we need to run the competition:

• Registration details you provide: full name, date of birth, gender, phone number, email address, district, talent category, and (for minors) a guardian's name and contact.
• Media you submit: your audition/submission video, profile photo, and any social media handles (Instagram/Facebook) you choose to add.
• Payment information: the registration fee is processed by our payment provider (Razorpay). We do not receive or store your full card/UPI details — only the payment status and a transaction reference.
• Messaging data: the WhatsApp messages we exchange with you (our confirmations and updates, and your replies), including your WhatsApp phone number and profile name.
• Technical and usage data: basic analytics such as pages visited, device/browser type, referrer, and progress through the registration form, collected to understand and improve the sign-up experience.

3. How we use your information, and why

We process your information to operate the competition and to communicate with you. Specifically:

• To register you and administer the competition — auditions, shortlisting, judging, and results.
• To contact you about your entry — registration confirmations, shortlist invitations, schedules, and important updates — by WhatsApp, phone, or email.
• To display shortlisted and finalist candidates publicly (name, district, category, photo, and submission video) on our leaderboard and voting pages, where you have consented to public participation.
• To process your registration fee through our payment provider.
• To improve our website and reduce sign-up friction using aggregated analytics.
• To meet legal, accounting, and safety obligations, and to prevent fraud or abuse.

4. WhatsApp messages

We use the WhatsApp Business Platform (Meta) to message registered participants. By registering with your phone number you agree to receive competition-related WhatsApp messages from us.

• We send transactional and competition updates (e.g. registration confirmation, shortlist invitation, event information).
• When you reply, your message is delivered to our organising team so we can respond and assist you.
• You can opt out at any time by replying to ask us to stop, or by contacting us at the details below; we will stop non-essential messages.

5. How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with service providers who help us run the competition, and only as needed:

• Razorpay — to process the registration fee.
• Meta Platforms (WhatsApp Business Platform) — to deliver and receive WhatsApp messages.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) — secure hosting and storage of our website, database, and uploaded media.
• Google — sign-in for our organising team (organiser accounts only).
• Authorities or advisors where required by law, or to protect the rights and safety of participants and the public.

6. Public visibility

Bihar Star Hunt is a public talent competition. If you are shortlisted or advance, some of your details are shown publicly so audiences can discover and support you:

• Your name, district, talent category, profile photo, and submission video may appear on our public shortlist and voting pages.
• Please do not upload anything in your photo or video that you do not want to be shown publicly.

7. How long we keep your information

• We keep registration and competition data for the duration of the 2026 season and for a reasonable period afterwards for records, accounting, and dispute resolution.
• Payment records are retained as required for financial and legal compliance.
• We delete or anonymise data when it is no longer needed, or earlier on a valid request (see below).

8. Your rights and how to delete your data

You can ask us to access, correct, or delete your personal information at any time. To make a request, contact us and we will act on it promptly:

• Email biharstarhunt@gmail.com with the subject "Data request", or
• WhatsApp / call +91 73596 63355.
• Tell us your name and registered phone number so we can find your record. We may keep the minimum information required to meet legal obligations even after deletion.

9. Children and guardians

• Minors may participate only with the consent and involvement of a parent or legal guardian, whose contact details are collected at registration.
• A guardian may exercise the rights above (access, correction, deletion) on the minor's behalf.

10. Security

• We use reputable providers (AWS, Razorpay, Meta) and reasonable technical measures to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we work to keep your data safe.

11. Changes to this policy

• We may update this policy from time to time. The current version is always available at this page, with the “last updated” date below.