The Indian Hemp Association ("IHA", "we", "us") is a trade association for India's industrial-hemp sector, based in Gurugram, Haryana. This policy explains, in plain language, what personal data we collect through indianhempassociation.com, why we collect it, who handles it on our behalf, and the rights you have over it. We have written this policy with the requirements of India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) in mind. IHA is the data fiduciary for the personal data described here.
1. What we collect
We collect personal data only when you submit it through forms on this website. Depending on the form you use, this includes:
- All forms: your name, phone number, email address, and postal address including state and PIN code.
- Farmer registration: details about your farm, such as location, landholding, and crops of interest.
- Ayurveda practitioner registration: your professional licence or registration number.
- SME / business registration: details about your business, such as its name, sector, and activities.
- Patient registration (optional health information): if you choose to, you may describe a health condition or treatment interest. This is entirely voluntary — the form works without it — and it receives the special care described in section 7.
We do not use advertising trackers, and we do not collect data about you from other sources.
2. How your data travels and where it is stored
When you submit a form, two things happen:
- Your submission is delivered to IHA's email through Formspree Inc., a form-processing service based in the United States. This means your form data transits Formspree's systems outside India.
- A backup copy of non-sensitive form submissions is stored in an access-protected directory on IHA's web server, hosted with GoDaddy.
Formspree and GoDaddy act as data processors for IHA; they handle your data to deliver and store it for us, not for their own marketing purposes. Health information submitted through the patient form is not stored on our web server — it is delivered to the IHA team by email only.
Our pages load typefaces from Google Fonts, which means Google receives your IP address when a page loads, as with most websites. We plan to self-host these fonts to remove this transfer.
3. The "Ask IHA" online assistant
Our "Ask IHA" assistant answers questions about hemp, membership, and IHA's work. To generate responses, the text of your conversation is sent to Anthropic's API, an AI service provider. Please do not enter sensitive personal information — such as health details, financial information, or identification numbers — into the chat. The assistant is for general information, and chat text is processed only to produce a reply.
4. Why we process your data
We use the personal data you submit for these purposes, and no others:
- administering membership applications and member records;
- responding to your enquiries;
- connecting members with one another — for example, connecting a farmer with a buyer, or a patient with a registered practitioner — where you have asked us to;
- sending our newsletter (₹250 per year), which is strictly opt-in. We never add you to the newsletter without your explicit consent, and you can withdraw at any time.
5. What we never do
We do not sell personal data. We do not run advertising trackers on this website. We do not share your data with anyone other than the processors named in this policy — Formspree, GoDaddy, and (for chat text only) Anthropic — unless the law requires us to.
6. Your rights
Under the DPDP Act you can ask us to:
- access the personal data we hold about you;
- correct data that is inaccurate or incomplete;
- erase your data, subject to any legal duty we have to retain it.
To exercise any of these rights, write to info@indianhempassociation.com or call +91 9999 659 994. We will verify your identity before acting on a request, and respond within a reasonable time.
Grievance officer: if you are not satisfied with how we handle your data or your request, you may write to the Grievance Officer: Secretary, Indian Hemp Association, D 102 Westend Heights, DLF City Phase 5, Gurugram, Haryana — 122 009. If your grievance remains unresolved, you may approach the Data Protection Board of India.
In line with India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you may also withdraw consent you have previously given, at any time, and you may nominate another individual to exercise these rights on your behalf in the event of death or incapacity. Withdrawal takes effect prospectively and does not affect processing already carried out.
Children: our services and forms are intended for adults (18+). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a minor has submitted data to us, contact us and we will delete it.
7. Special care for health information
Health information submitted voluntarily through the patient-registration form is treated with special care. It is stored confidentially, it is never published anywhere, and it is shared only with your consent — and only for the purpose of connecting you with a registered Ayurveda practitioner. You may ask us to delete it at any time using the contacts above.
8. How long we keep data
We keep your personal data only as long as it is needed for the purpose you gave it to us — for example, for the duration of your membership or until your enquiry is resolved — or until you ask us to delete it, whichever comes first, subject to any retention the law requires.
9. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we will update the "last updated" date above and, for material changes affecting members, notify members by email.
10. Contact
Indian Hemp Association
D 102 Westend Heights, DLF City Phase 5,
Gurugram, Haryana — 122 009
+91 9999 659 994 · info@indianhempassociation.com