FarmConnect App Privacy Policy

Last updated 20 October 2026

This policy explains how VPL Agritech, a proprietorship of Padidam Prathap Reddy ("VPL", "we") handles personal data in the FarmConnect Android app (package com.vplagritech.app). FarmConnect connects VPL with the farmers and organizers who grow seed crops with us. We follow the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act). We do not sell personal data. The app shows no ads.

Who is responsible

VPL Agritech, a proprietorship of Padidam Prathap Reddy, 371, Block A, Sri Ram Hills Colony, Kondapur, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana 500084, is the data fiduciary for the FarmConnect app. For any privacy question, deletion request or grievance, contact Padidam Prathap Reddy at info@vplagritech.com or +91 96768 45909.

Who uses the app

FarmConnect is for farmers and organizers who work with VPL, and for VPL staff. There is no open sign-up. VPL or your organizer creates your account. A farmer can be registered by an organizer and may never log in. The app is meant for adults. We record age at registration and do not knowingly register anyone under 18 as a farmer.

How you log in

You log in with your phone number and a one-time code sent by SMS. The SMS and code check are run by Google Firebase Authentication. If the app offers it, you can instead confirm your number with one WhatsApp message (run by Meta) or with Truecaller. There are no passwords. Your login session is kept in secure storage on your phone.

What we collect and why

• Profile: name, phone number, village, mandal, district, state and age. For organizers, the villages they cover. Used to identify you and run your contracts.
• Land: survey number (if given), a map pin or a boundary drawn on a Google Maps satellite view, and the area you state. Area is shown in acres and guntas. Used to plan seed quantity and check the field.
• Crop and season records: the seed company, variety, season, contract status and crop stage. Used to run the seed production contract.
• Seed distribution: what seed was given, how much, when, where, by whom, and the receipt proof (a signature or thumb photo, or a code). Used to keep the record of seed you received.
• Crop photos: photos of your field at each stage, with the time, GPS location and a fingerprint of the image. Used to follow the crop, check that photos are genuine, and, only if you agree, for crop analytics (see "Your choices on crop data").
• Payment requests and payments: the reason, an optional voice note, the amount if known, status, and the payments VPL made (amount, method, reference, date, and proof photos such as a receipt for a cash payment). Amounts are kept in exact paise. Used to pay you and keep our accounts.
• Bank details: account holder name, account number, IFSC and UPI ID. Optional. Used only to pay you. See "How we protect bank details".
• Consent records: the version of the terms, the language, which purposes you agreed to, how you confirmed (the Telugu terms audio and a code sent from your own phone, or a photo of a signed paper form), who explained it, and the time, device and GPS location. Kept as proof of what you agreed to.
• Device push token: a code from Google Firebase Cloud Messaging, so we can send you alerts such as seed received or payment made.

Phone permissions the app asks for

• Location (approximate and precise): to tag crop photos and records with where they were taken, and to help draw your field on the map.
• Camera and photos: to take crop stage photos, receipt and proof photos, and photos of signed consent forms.
• Microphone: only when you hold the button to record a voice note for a payment request.
• Notifications: to show alerts about your seed and payments.
• Internet: to send and receive your records.
• You can turn a permission off in your phone settings. The feature that needs it will then not work, but the rest of the app will.

What the app does not do

The app has no advertising and no third-party analytics or tracking tools. We do not sell personal data, rent it, or share it for others' marketing.

Your choices on crop data

At onboarding we ask for consent separately for each purpose. Each has its own yes or no.

• Operations: your profile, land, contract, seed and payment records. Needed to run a contract with VPL.
• Internal crop analytics: using your crop photos and location, with weather and land data, inside VPL only, to plan crops. Optional.
• Sharing crop data outside VPL: combined crop data or images, grouped to village or area level, with your name, phone, survey number, exact location and photo details removed. Buyers may include companies outside India. Optional.

Who can see your data

• You: your own records.
• Your organizer: the contracts he arranged, including their crop photos and payment requests. Never your bank details.
• VPL staff: what their role needs. Only VPL's payments staff can see full bank details.

Where your data is stored

Your records are stored on Google Cloud in Mumbai, India: the app server on Cloud Run, the database on Cloud SQL, and photos in a private Cloud Storage bucket. Photos are never public. The app opens them through links that expire after a short time, given only after we check you are allowed to see them.

These service providers also handle some data: Google Firebase (login SMS and push alerts), Google Maps (the map view), Cloudflare (passes app traffic to our server), and, only if you use them, Meta WhatsApp and Truecaller for login. Some of them may process data outside India.

How we protect bank details

Bank account numbers and UPI IDs are encrypted, with the key kept outside the database. After you save them, the app does not show them back to farmers or organizers. Only VPL's payments staff can read them, and each time they do it is logged. Everywhere else they are masked, for example XXXX1234.

Delete your account and data

To delete your FarmConnect account and data, email info@vplagritech.com or call +91 96768 45909, or tell your organizer to pass on your request. Give your name, the phone number on the account and your village. We will confirm it is you, then reply within 30 days.

• What we delete: your login account, profile, land boundaries, crop photos, voice notes and push token. We also stop using your data for crop analytics and stop including it in any outside sharing.
• What we keep: payment requests and payments made to you, their proof photos and payee details, and other records the law requires us to keep, such as for tax and accounts. We keep these only for the period the law requires, and nothing more. They are not used for anything else.
• Backups: deleted data can stay in our backup copies for up to 30 days, until those copies are replaced.
• Security logs: records of who accessed what are kept for up to one year.
• Already shared: combined crop data that was shared outside VPL before your request, with your identity removed, cannot be recalled.

Withdrawing consent

You can withdraw any consent at any time. Tell your organizer or contact VPL at info@vplagritech.com or +91 96768 45909. Saying no to crop analytics or outside sharing does not affect your seed, contract or payments. Withdrawing consent for operations ends your contracts with VPL; payment and tax records are then kept as described above.

Your rights

Under the DPDP Act you can ask us for a summary of the personal data we hold about you, ask us to correct, complete or erase it, withdraw consent, nominate someone to exercise these rights for you, and raise a grievance. Write to info@vplagritech.com or +91 96768 45909. We aim to reply within 30 days. If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

Language

The terms are explained to farmers in Telugu at onboarding. This English page is the governing text.

Changes

We will update this page when the app or our practices change and show the date of the latest version at the top.