Privacy Policy

1. Introduction & Scope

Welcome to TPBio.me (“TPBio”, “we”, “us”, or “our”), operated as India’s dedicated bio profile platform and city directory for Chartered Accountants (CA), Company Secretaries (CS), Cost and Management Accountants (CMA), GST Practitioners (GSTP), and Tax Advocates.

This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, store, use, disclose, and protect personal and professional information when you visit our website at https://tpbio.me, register an account, publish a public bio profile, use Google Sign-In, or interact with tax professionals listed in our directory.

By accessing or using TPBio, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to the practices described in this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following categories to provide and maintain our services:

A. Information You Provide Directly:

• Account Details: When you register an account, we collect your handle/username, email address, password hash, and optional business details.
• Professional Bio Information: Full name, firm name, qualifications (CA, CS, CMA, GSTP, LLB/Tax Advocate), membership numbers (optional), practicing since year, office address, city, state, postal code, phone number, and WhatsApp contact numbers.
• Practice & Services Data: Services offered (such as ITR filing, GST compliance, tax audit, company incorporation, ROC compliance), office hours, consultation fees (if disclosed), and promotional links.
• Uploaded Media: Profile photos, firm logos, and document proofs uploaded for verification purposes.

B. Information From Google Services (OAuth & Google Places):

• Google Sign-In: When you sign in or register using Google OAuth, Google provides us with your verified email address, full name, profile picture, and unique Google account identifier. We do not receive or store your Google password.
• Google Places API: If you connect your Google Business Profile, we retrieve publicly available business metadata via the Google Maps Platform (Places API), including your public Google rating, total review count, verified place name, and official business address.

C. Technical & Usage Information Collected Automatically:

• IP address, browser type, device identifiers, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, and date/time stamps.

3. Google API Services User Data Policy Compliance

• We only request access to basic Google user profile data (email, name, profile picture) strictly necessary to authenticate your account and create your profile.
• We do not sell Google user data to any third parties, data brokers, or advertising networks.
• We do not use Google user data for serving personalized advertising, retraining third-party artificial intelligence models, or credit scoring.

4. How We Use Your Information

We process your data for the following legitimate business purposes:

• Hosting Public Bio Profiles: To generate and publish your dedicated bio profile page at tpbio.me/yourname.
• Indian Tax Directory Listings: To index your public profile by city, state, and specialization so potential clients can find qualified practitioners in their region.
• Facilitating Direct Client Communications: Enabling prospective clients to reach you directly via WhatsApp, phone, email, or your office address.
• Displaying Verified Ratings: Showcasing authentic Google star ratings on your profile and directory cards to build trust.
• Account Security: Preventing fraud, verifying listing ownership, and enforcing our Terms of Service.

5. Data Sharing & Third-Party Disclosures

We respect your privacy and never sell or rent your personal information. Information is only shared under these limited circumstances:

• Public Directory Display: Information you choose to publish on your public bio profile (such as firm name, bio, qualification, city, and WhatsApp contact) is publicly viewable by website visitors.
• Infrastructure Service Providers: Trusted third-party vendors who assist in operating our platform under confidentiality agreements:
  • Cloud hosting and database infrastructure.
  • Cloudflare Inc. (CDN, DDoS mitigation, and SSL/TLS security).
  • Google Cloud Platform (OAuth authentication and Google Places API).
• Legal Requirements: When required by applicable Indian law, court order, or governmental authority to comply with statutory legal obligations.

6. Your Rights & Data Control

In accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) and global privacy standards, you have the following rights regarding your data:

• Right to Access & Update: You can review, update, or edit your bio profile, contact details, and account settings at any time directly through your TPBio Dashboard.
• Right to Hide Sensitive Info: You can choose to hide your phone number or qualification from public view via dashboard privacy toggles.
• Right to Erasure (Account Deletion): You may permanently delete your account and bio profile at any time via your account settings. Upon deletion, your public profile and bio links are immediately unindexed and removed.
• Right to Disconnect Google: You can revoke TPBio’s access to your Google account anytime via your Google Account Permissions page.

7. Data Security & Cookies

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational security measures, including 256-bit SSL/TLS transport encryption, password hashing, parameterized database queries, and secure Cloudflare edge protection to safeguard against unauthorized access.

Cookies: We use essential session cookies for authentication, security tokens (CSRF protection), and cookie consent preferences. We do not use intrusive third-party cross-site tracking cookies.