Privacy Policy

Last updated: Sep 21, 2026 — Version 1.0

This Privacy Policy explains what information CinemaPoll collects, why, and what rights you have over it.

1. What We Collect

  • Phone number — used to verify your identity and secure your account. Your phone number is encrypted; even our own support team can only see the last four digits.
  • Device identifier — used to enforce one account per device, and to prevent abuse of the voting system.
  • Ticket images — used solely to verify your vote is genuine.
  • Push notification token — used, only if you allow it, to notify you when your vote is verified.
  • Community display name — a name you choose during sign-up, shown publicly alongside anything you post or reply to in Community."
  • Bio — an optional short description you can add to your profile, shown publicly, available at any recognition tier.
  • Avatar and name color — optional personalization you can add once you reach a certain recognition tier, shown publicly on your profile and posts.
  • Location (optional) — a state and city you can choose to add to your profile, used to help us understand where our users are, in aggregate. This is separate from, and does not replace, the approximate location we infer from your IP address at signup — if you add your own location, we use that instead, since it's more accurate than an automatic guess.
  • Approximate location — inferred from your IP address when you use the app (city/region level only — never GPS or precise location). Used only in aggregate, to help us understand where our users are for analytics and marketing purposes. We never store your raw IP address, and this is never shared with advertising platforms.
  • Recovery email (optional) — an email address you can add to your profile, used only if you ever need help recovering your account (for example, if you lose access to your phone number). Like your phone number, it is encrypted, and our support team can only see it in full when handling a genuine recovery request, with that access logged.
  • Credits and recognition — actions like verifying a ticket, correctly predicting a result, or receiving reactions earn "credits," which determine a public recognition tier shown alongside your posts. We may occasionally adjust a user's credits directly, for support or moderation reasons.
  • Follows — you can follow other users, and be followed by others. Your own list of who you follow and who follows you is always visible to you; depending on your recognition tier, other users may also be able to view these lists.
  • Profile visits — depending on your recognition tier, we may show you an aggregate count of how many people have viewed your profile. We never show you who specifically visited.
  • Basic usage information — such as which screens you use, and whether you're on iOS or Android, to help us understand and improve the app. This is separate and minimal, and never includes your ticket images.
  • Date of birth — collected once during sign-up, solely to confirm you meet our 18+ age requirement. We never store your exact date of birth. We retain only a general age bracket (e.g. 25–34) for internal analytics purposes.

2. Why We Collect It

We collect only what is necessary to verify real votes, keep the platform fraud-resistant, and operate the app reliably. We do not collect location, contacts, or any information unrelated to these purposes.

3. How Long We Keep It

  • Verified ticket images are kept for 90 days, then automatically deleted.
  • Rejected ticket images are kept for 30 days, then automatically deleted.
  • If a ticket is part of an active complaint or investigation, its image is retained until that matter is resolved.
  • Basic usage information is kept for up to 180 days.

4. Sharing With Businesses (B2B Data)

CinemaPoll may share aggregated, anonymized sentiment data with production houses, distributors, or theaters — for example, "62% Good in Chennai." We never share, sell, or expose any individual's vote, ticket, or identity as part of this. Small groupings that could be used to identify an individual are never shared.

5. Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Access — see what information is associated with your account
  • Correct — update information such as your notification preferences
  • Delete — remove your account at any time from the Account tab
  • Raise a concern — contact our Grievance Officer with any question about your data

When you delete your account, your personal information is removed. Your past votes remain in the public record in anonymized form, so that every movie's result stays accurate for everyone — this does not include your name, phone number, or any way to identify you.

6. Security

Your phone number is encrypted at all times. It is only ever displayed in full to a designated administrator, in documented cases such as investigating a serious account issue, and every such access is logged with a reason. Ticket images are validated and processed to remove hidden data before storage. If you ever lose access to your phone number, our support team can update it on your account after verifying your identity, so you don't lose your posts, votes, or credits. Every such change is logged, and never happens without a genuine support request from you.

7. Grievance Officer

Jeeva, Founder, is CinemaPoll's designated Grievance Officer. For any question, concern, or request regarding your data, contact grievance@cinemapoll.in, or use the Support option in your Account tab.

8. Changes to This Policy

If we make a material change to this Policy, we will ask you to review and accept the updated version.