Privacy policy

Last updated: September 20, 2026

Summary

Refine is a photo-sharing and personal cloud storage platform operated by The Vikalp. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over your information. We've written it in plain English because legal documents shouldn't require a lawyer to read.

The short version: You own your content. We never train AI on your photos. Face embeddings are tenant-scoped and used only for your face searches. We don't sell your data. You can delete your account and all associated data at any time.

Who we are

Refine is a product of The Vikalp, an independent software company based in Rajasthan, India. The Vikalp is the legal entity that operates the Refine service and the organisation responsible for the personal data described in this policy. You can find out more about the company, and the other products and open-source libraries we maintain, at thevikalp.com.

For any privacy question, or to exercise any of the rights below, write to [email protected]. Our postal address is Churi, Banethi, Kotputli-Behror, Rajasthan 303105, India.

Data we collect

We collect four categories of data:

• Account data - your email address, display name, hashed password (we never store your plaintext password), and email-verification status.
• Content you upload - photos, videos, documents, and any other files you store on Refine. For face search, we also generate mathematical embeddings derived from face crops; see below.
• Operational data - IP address, device name, user agent, and a unique request ID per API call. We use these for rate limiting, abuse prevention, and debugging.
• Billing data - your plan, invoice history, and payment-method metadata returned by our payment processor (card brand, last four digits, expiry, and the payment status). We never receive or store your full card number, UPI PIN, or CVV.

We do not collect biometric identifiers (raw face images used for matching) beyond what you explicitly upload for face search. The raw selfie you upload is deleted immediately after the scan completes (configurable).

How we use data

• To provide, secure, and improve the Refine service.
• To authenticate you and protect your account.
• To process payments, issue invoices, and manage your subscription.
• To power face search - embeddings are compared only against your own photos, never against other users.
• To send you transactional emails (verification, password reset, billing, critical security alerts).
• To respond to legal requests when required by law. We publish a transparency report annually.

We do not sell your data, train AI models on your photos, or share your content with advertisers.

Face data & embeddings

When you use face search, Refine generates numerical vectors (“embeddings”) that describe the faces in your photos. These embeddings are:

• Tenant-scoped - they only ever match against photos in your own account. They cannot be used to identify people across users.
• Stored in a separate table with foreign keys that cascade delete when the source photo is deleted.
• Never shared with third parties.

The selfie you upload for a scan is processed once and then deleted by default. You can disable face indexing entirely in your account settings.

Sharing & third parties

When you create a share link, that link exposes the shared content to anyone who has it. We do not grant access to anyone else. You can revoke any share link at any time, instantly.

We use a small number of third-party processors to run the service. Each is bound by a data-processing agreement:

• Email delivery (Resend or Postmark, depending on deployment).
• Payment processing - card, UPI, and net-banking payments on paid plans are handled by our payment gateway partner, a PCI-DSS compliant processor. Your full card number, UPI PIN, and CVV are entered on their systems and never reach ours. We receive only a payment token, the card brand, and the last four digits, so we can show you which method is on file.
• Object storage (S3, Cloudflare R2, or self-hosted).
• Face embedding model - runs locally by default (no data leaves your server). On hosted plans, embeddings are generated on our infrastructure and never persist after the scan completes.

Where your data is stored

Your content is stored in the region you choose at signup. We currently offer US, EU, and Asia-Pacific regions. Object storage is encrypted at rest using AES-256, and all data in transit is protected by TLS 1.2+.

For self-hosted deployments, all data stays on infrastructure you control. The default storage adapter writes to a local directory; production deployments can attach S3 or R2 via configuration.

Retention & deletion

• Active content is retained until you delete it.
• Trash retains soft-deleted files for 30 days, then purges them from storage and removes the corresponding quota usage.
• Activity logs are retained for 90 days, then pruned.
• Face-scan selfies are deleted immediately after the scan completes (default).
• Account deletion - when you delete your account, all content, embeddings, share links, sessions, and activity logs are purged within 30 days. Backups roll off within 90 days.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• Access a copy of all data we hold about you (Settings - Export).
• Correct inaccurate data (Settings - Profile).
• Delete your account and all associated data (Settings - Account).
• Object to processing or request restriction (email us).
• Withdraw consent at any time (email us).

The Vikalp is the data controller for the purposes of the EU/UK GDPR, and the data fiduciary for the purposes of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (India). California residents have the rights described in the CCPA. We honour all of these regardless of where you live.

Grievance officer. If you are not satisfied with our response, or want to raise a complaint about how we handle your data, contact our Grievance Officer at [email protected] or by post at Churi, Banethi, Kotputli-Behror, Rajasthan 303105, India. We acknowledge every complaint within 24 hours and resolve it within 15 days.

Cookies

We use a minimal set of cookies: one for your session, one for your refresh token, and one for CSRF protection. No third-party tracking, no analytics cookies. If we add analytics in the future, we'll ask first.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes, we'll email you at least 30 days before they take effect and surface a banner in the app. Non-material changes (typos, clarifications) will be reflected in the “Last updated” date above.

Contact us

Questions, concerns, or data requests? Email [email protected] or use the contact form. We reply within one business day.

You can also write to The Vikalp, Churi, Banethi, Kotputli-Behror, Rajasthan 303105, India. More about the company at thevikalp.com.