Privacy Policy

Last updated 7 October 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how BidHype Private Limited (trading as HYPE. and The Hype Company, "we", "us") collects, uses, shares and protects your personal data when you use thehypecompany.in and related services (the "Platform").

We are the Data Fiduciary for this data under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (the "DPDP Act"). Until the DPDP Act and the DPDP Rules, 2025 fully apply, we also follow the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 (the "SPDI Rules").

The short version

We collect what we need to run a safe auction marketplace: contact details, verification documents, orders, payments and Claim evidence.
We share data only with the partners who help complete your Order (payments, delivery, messaging) and with authorities when the law requires it.
We never sell your personal data.
Other Users see only your masked bidder ID, or your seller name, city, level and rating. They never see your phone number, email or address.
You can access, correct or erase your data, and withdraw consent, by emailing team.thehypecompany@gmail.com.

1. What we collect and why

Data	From whom	Why we use it
Name, mobile number, email, confirmation that you are 18 or older	Everyone who signs up or joins the waitlist	Create your account, verify you by OTP, and send launch and account updates
Delivery or pickup address	Buyers and Sellers	Arrange pickup and delivery, and check you are in our service area
PAN	Buyers bidding on items of ₹50,000 or more, and all Sellers	Confirm identity, prevent fraud and duplicate accounts, and meet tax law
Selfie	Buyers bidding on items of ₹50,000 or more, and all Sellers	Match you to your identity document and prevent impersonation
Identity and address proof (full KYC); masked Aadhaar or DigiLocker record	Sellers, and Buyers after a strike	Verify identity and prevent fraud
Bank account details; GSTIN (if any)	Sellers	Pay out sale proceeds and meet tax and invoicing requirements
Bids, watchlist, Orders, purchase and sale history	Buyers and Sellers	Run Auctions, complete Orders, show bid history, and calculate levels and ratings
Payment status and method type (e.g. UPI, card)	Buyers	Confirm payment and process refunds. Card and UPI details are handled by Razorpay; we never see or store full card numbers, CVVs or UPI PINs.
Listing photographs, videos, descriptions, purchase invoices	Sellers	Publish Listings, authenticate items and verify invoices
Claim evidence: photographs and unboxing videos	Buyers and Sellers involved in a Claim	Decide Claims and prevent item-swapping fraud
GST status and enrolment number; seller type declaration	Sellers	Apply the correct GST, TCS and TDS treatment
Messages to us, grievances, call and chat records	Anyone who contacts us	Answer you and keep a record of how we resolved the matter
Device, browser, IP address, pages viewed, cookies, logs	Everyone who visits	Keep the Platform secure, fix errors, prevent fraud and, with your consent, understand usage

Sensitive data. Your bank account details are "financial information", and your selfie may be "biometric information", under the SPDI Rules. We collect them only with your express consent, given when you submit them. We use them only for the purposes above and protect them with additional safeguards (section 4.2).

We never collect or store your full Aadhaar number. We accept only a masked copy or a DigiLocker record.

We do not ask for data about your health, religion, caste, sexual orientation or political views. Please don't include such information in Listings, messages or evidence.

If you give us data about another person, such as a delivery contact, please make sure they know.

2.1 Consent. We process your data on the basis of the consent you give when you sign up, join the waitlist, list an item or place an Order. Your consent covers only the purposes in section 1.

2.2 Withdrawing consent. You can withdraw consent at any time (section 7). Withdrawal does not affect processing already done. It may mean we can no longer provide some services, such as bidding or selling. We will close your account on request.

2.3 Legitimate uses. As the DPDP Act allows, we may also process data without separate consent where needed:

to comply with law, such as tax records or a court order;
to respond to a medical emergency or a threat to safety; or
for a purpose you voluntarily gave the data for, such as using your address when you ask us to arrange a pickup.

2.4 Marketing. We send promotional messages only if you opt in, through a separate checkbox that is never pre-ticked. You can opt out at any time. Service messages about your account, Bids, Orders, payouts and Claims are not marketing.

3.1 We never sell your personal data. We share it only as described here, and only as much as each recipient needs.

3.2 Service partners (Data Processors). These partners process data on our instructions, under contract, and must keep it secure:

Partner	What they receive	Why
Razorpay Software Pvt Ltd (payment gateway)	Name, contact details, Order amount, the payment details you enter	Take payments and issue refunds
Our delivery staff and any local delivery personnel we engage	Name, phone number, pickup or delivery address, Order ID	Pick up and deliver items
WhatsApp (Meta), SMS and email providers	Name, phone number or email, message content	Send OTPs, Order and payout updates, and opted-in marketing
Identity verification services (e.g. DigiLocker)	The documents or details you submit	Verify identity
Hostinger (hosting provider; servers in Mumbai, India)	All Platform data, stored on their servers	Run the website and store data
Google Analytics (Google LLC)	Device data, approximate location and on-site activity, via cookies	Understand how the Platform is used. Only if you accept analytics cookies.
Independent authentication experts	Photographs and details of the item, never your contact details	Authenticate items
Our statutory auditor and any professional advisers we engage	Transaction and tax records	Audit, accounting, tax and legal compliance

3.3 Other Users. Bidders appear only as a masked ID. Sellers appear by display name, city, level, rating and number of sales. Buyers and Sellers never see each other's phone number or email. Where an item ships directly from a Seller, the delivery address appears only on the shipping label. The Seller's legal name and address appear on the Buyer's invoice, as the law requires.

3.4 Authorities. We share data with government, tax, law-enforcement or regulatory authorities, or courts, when the law requires it, or where needed to prevent fraud, protect Users or defend legal claims.

3.5 Business transfers. If HYPE. is merged, acquired or restructured, your data may pass to the new owner, who must continue to protect it under this Policy.

3.6 Data outside India. Platform data is stored in India. Some partners, such as Google and Meta, may process data outside India. We transfer data only to countries not restricted by the Government of India, and only to partners bound to protect it.

4. How long we keep data, and how we protect it

4.1 Retention.

Data	How long
Account and contact details	While your account is open, then up to 3 years after your last activity
Verification documents (PAN, KYC, selfie)	While your account is open, then up to 1 year, unless a Claim, strike or legal matter is open
Orders, payments, payouts, invoices and tax records	8 years, as tax and company law require
Claim evidence (photographs, unboxing videos)	1 year after the Claim closes
Security and access logs	At least 1 year
Waitlist sign-ups who never create an account	12 months after launch

After that, we delete the data or anonymise it so it can no longer identify you. We may keep anonymised sale prices and bid history to power market data.

4.2 Security. We use reasonable security practices, including:

encryption in transit (HTTPS);
access restricted to people who need the data;
OTP verification;
masked display of bank and identity numbers;
separate, restricted storage for verification documents and selfies; and
logging of access.

Payment card data is handled only by Razorpay, which is PCI-DSS certified. No system is fully secure, so please keep your OTPs and login private.

4.3 Data breaches. If a personal data breach occurs, we will inform affected Users without delay. We will report it to the Data Protection Board of India and to CERT-In within the timelines the law sets.

5. Public information and children

5.1 What is public. Open prices are the core of HYPE. The following are therefore public:

Listings, photographs and condition reports;
Auction results and sale prices;
bid history, with masked bidder IDs; and
Seller display names, cities, levels and ratings.

5.2 Market data. We may publish aggregated, anonymised data such as price reports and indices. These never identify individual Users.

5.3 Children. HYPE. accounts are only for people aged 18 and over, and you must confirm your age when you sign up. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18, and we do not track or target advertising at children. If we learn that we hold such data, we will delete it and close the account.

6. Cookies

We use essential cookies to run the Platform and, only with your consent, analytics cookies. Details are in our Cookie Policy.

7. Your rights and how to contact us

7.1 Your rights. You can:

access a summary of the personal data we hold about you, how we use it and who we have shared it with;
correct, complete or update inaccurate or incomplete data;
erase your data when it is no longer needed, subject to what the law requires us to keep (section 4.1);
withdraw consent as easily as you gave it;
nominate a person to exercise your rights if you die or become unable to do so; and
raise a grievance with us, and then with the Data Protection Board of India if you are not satisfied.

7.2 How to use them. Email team.thehypecompany@gmail.com from your registered email. We may verify your identity before acting. We respond as soon as possible, and in any case within 90 days.

7.3 Your duties. Please give accurate information, don't impersonate anyone, and don't file false or frivolous complaints.

7.4 Privacy contact. Our Grievance Officer also handles privacy matters. Contact details are in our Grievance Redressal Policy.

7.5 Changes. We will post updates here with a new "Last updated" date, and notify you of material changes before they apply. Where a change needs fresh consent, we will ask for it.