Privacy Policy

SCOPE OF THIS POLICY

This Privacy Policy explains how AICOUNTLY Interactive Services Private Limited ("AICOUNTLY", "we", "us") handles personal data collected through aicountly.com and the AICOUNTLY suite of applications, including Smart Books, AICOUNTLY Auditor, Secretarial, Smart HRMS, Our People, Contacts, Calendar, Chat, Docs, Manage, Vault, and AI Pulse (each an "App", together the "Services"). It applies to visitors of our website, registered users of our Services, and, where relevant, the employees of our business customers who use the Services on their employer's behalf.

This policy does not cover third-party websites, apps, or services that we link to but do not control.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1. Account and identity data — name, work email, phone number, company name, role/designation, and password (stored hashed) when you or your employer registers on my.aicountly.com or within a Service.
2. Business, HR, and financial data you or your employer submit — depending on which Service you use, this may include employee records, attendance and leave data, payroll and compensation status (not full payroll processing detail on the mobile app), approvals and workflow requests, accounting entries, secretarial filings, contacts, calendar entries, chat messages, and documents you upload.
3. Payment and billing data — billing name, address, and subscription/invoice details when you purchase a plan. Card details are handled by our payment processor; AICOUNTLY does not store full card numbers.
4. Device and technical data — IP address, browser or device type, operating system, app version, and access timestamps, collected for security, fraud prevention, and diagnosing service issues.
5. Cookies and similar technologies — used on aicountly.com for session management and essential site functionality. See our Cookies Policy for full details on what we set and how to control it.

MOBILE APP PERMISSIONS AND ON-DEVICE DATA (SMART HRMS)

The AICOUNTLY: Smart HRMS mobile app is a companion to the Smart HRMS web platform and is intentionally limited in what it accesses on your device:

1. The app does not access your camera, photo library, or microphone.
2. The app does not collect precise or background location.
3. The app stores your sign-in session token in the device's secure, encrypted local storage so you stay signed in between visits; this token is not shared with third parties.
4. The app requires an internet connection to communicate with the Smart HRMS API (hrms.aicountly.com) and does not function offline.
5. The app does not include third-party advertising or analytics SDKs, and does not sell or share your data for advertising purposes.

Other AICOUNTLY apps may request additional device permissions where the feature genuinely requires it (for example, a document scanner requesting camera access); where that is the case, the specific permission and its purpose are disclosed at the point the app requests it and in that app's store listing.

WHO CONTROLS EMPLOYEE AND BUSINESS DATA

For HR-related Services (Smart HRMS, Our People) and similar business tools, the organisation that has subscribed to the Service (your employer or engagement client) is generally the data controller for the employee, attendance, leave, and payroll-status data entered into the platform, and AICOUNTLY acts as a data processor on that organisation's instructions. If you are an employee and want to access, correct, or delete data your employer has entered about you, please contact your employer/company administrator first; we will support them in fulfilling that request.

For account data you provide to us directly (registration, billing, support requests), AICOUNTLY is the data controller.

HOW WE USE INFORMATION

1. To provide, operate, and maintain the Services you or your employer have subscribed to.
2. To authenticate sign-in, maintain session security, and prevent fraud or unauthorised access.
3. To process approvals, notifications, and workflows you initiate (e.g. leave approvals, ticket updates).
4. To bill for subscriptions and send related transactional communications.
5. To provide customer support and respond to enquiries.
6. To diagnose bugs, monitor uptime, and improve reliability and performance of the Services.
7. To comply with applicable law, regulation, or lawful government requests.

We do not use your data for third-party advertising, and we do not sell personal data.

HOW WE SHARE INFORMATION

We do not share customer or employee data with third parties for their own marketing or advertising purposes. We share data only with:

1. Subprocessors who help us run the Services — such as cloud hosting, email/SMS delivery, and payment processing providers — bound by contractual confidentiality and data-protection obligations, and permitted to use the data only to perform the task we've engaged them for.
2. Your employer or engagement organisation, where you are using a Service made available to you by them (e.g. an HR admin viewing employee records within Smart HRMS).
3. Law enforcement or regulators, only where required by law, and, except where legally prohibited, we will attempt to notify the affected customer before disclosing their data.
4. A successor entity, in the event of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, subject to this policy or a materially equivalent one continuing to apply.

DATA RETENTION

We retain customer and employee data for as long as the relevant subscription is active. If a subscription is cancelled or expires, we retain the data in a restricted account for 45 days so you have time to export it or renew, after which it — including cached and backup copies — is deleted or securely destroyed, except where we are required to retain specific records for longer to meet legal, accounting, or regulatory obligations.

DATA SECURITY

We use encryption in transit and at rest, access controls, and monitoring to protect data against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. Full detail on our security practices is available in our Security Policy. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

YOUR RIGHTS AND CHOICES

1. You can access, update, or correct your account profile at any time by signing in.
2. You may request export or deletion of your personal data by writing to support@aicountly.com. Where the data belongs to an employer/business account, we will direct or route the request through that organisation's administrator, consistent with the controller/processor relationship described above.
3. You may opt out of non-essential marketing communications using the unsubscribe link included in those messages; transactional and account-security messages cannot be opted out of while your account is active.

CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

The Services are business tools intended for use by working professionals and are not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has provided us personal data, contact us at support@aicountly.com and we will delete it.

INTERNATIONAL USERS

AICOUNTLY is based in India and primarily serves Indian businesses, CA firms, company secretaries, and HR teams. Data is primarily processed and stored in India. If you access the Services from outside India, you understand your data may be transferred to and processed in India.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, Services, or legal requirements. We will update the "Last updated" date above when we do; material changes will be communicated through the Services or by email where appropriate.

GRIEVANCES / CONTACT US

If you have any questions about this policy or how your data is handled, e-mail support@aicountly.com.
If a complaint is not resolved within 7 working days, you can escalate it to our Grievance/Nodal Officer:

Email:	support@aicountly.com
Address:	3069-B, Third Floor, Ajanta Enclaves, Sector 51-D, Chandigarh – 160047

To help us respond efficiently, please include: the product/app name, your registered email or mobile number, a description of your complaint, and the date/time it relates to. If essential details are missing, we may be unable to investigate and will let you know what's needed.