Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how Technova Solutions (“Technova”, “we”, “us”, or “our”), operator of the Bistar streaming service (the “Service”), collects, uses, discloses, retains and protects information that relates to you when you access or use the Service. By using the Service you consent to the practices described in this Policy. This Policy is published in accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (to the extent applicable).

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of information:

• Account data: name, email address, mobile number, profile image, password hashes and authentication tokens, created when you sign up via Google Sign-in or phone OTP.
• Subscription & billing data: Plans purchased, purchase history, transaction IDs and payment status. We do not store full card numbers, CVVs, UPI PINs or bank credentials; these are handled directly by our payment gateway (PayU or successor).
• Usage & viewing data: the titles you watch, watch duration, play/pause events, search queries, ratings, watchlist, preferences, recommendation interactions and session information.
• Device & technical data: IP address, device type, operating system, browser, screen resolution, device identifiers, language, time zone, referring URLs, crash logs and approximate location derived from IP.
• Communication data: one-time passwords, verification codes, delivery receipts, support tickets and any information you provide when contacting us.
• Cookies & similar technologies: cookies, local storage, pixels, SDK identifiers and analytics tags used to operate the Service, remember preferences, maintain sessions and measure performance.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• create and manage your account and authenticate you;
• process payments, activate Plans and maintain transaction records;
• deliver, personalise, recommend and improve the Service and its content;
• enforce our Terms of Use, detect fraud, abuse, piracy and security incidents;
• send service-related messages (OTP, account alerts, transaction receipts) and, with your consent where required, marketing communications;
• perform analytics, aggregate reporting and research;
• comply with applicable laws, regulations and lawful government requests.

3. Legal Bases

We process your information on one or more of the following bases: performance of a contract with you, your consent, our legitimate business interests (including fraud prevention, security and service improvement) and compliance with legal obligations.

4. Sharing & Disclosure

We do not sell your personal information. We may share it with the following categories of recipients, each of which is subject to confidentiality obligations or their own published privacy policies:

• Service providers & processors who support the Service on our behalf, including cloud hosting (Google Firebase, Google Cloud), content delivery (Cloudflare), payment processing (PayU), SMS/OTP (MSG91), email, analytics, customer-support and anti-fraud providers.
• Content partners & licensors, on an aggregated and de-identified basis, for royalty reporting and audit purposes.
• Law-enforcement, regulators and courts where required by law, legal process, enforceable governmental request or to protect the rights, property or safety of Technova, its users or the public.
• Successors in the event of a merger, acquisition, restructuring, insolvency or sale of all or part of our business or assets.

5. Cookies & Tracking

We and our service providers use cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember preferences, analyse traffic and measure the effectiveness of communications. You can control cookies through your browser settings; however, disabling cookies may prevent the Service from functioning correctly (for example, you may be unable to sign in or play video). Your continued use of the Service with cookies enabled constitutes consent to their use.

6. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active, as long as needed to provide the Service and for a reasonable period thereafter to comply with legal, tax, accounting, audit, fraud-prevention, dispute-resolution and contractual requirements. De-identified or aggregated data may be retained indefinitely.

7. Your Rights

Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to access, correct, update or erase your personal data, to withdraw consent, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to port your data. You can exercise most of these rights directly through your account settings; otherwise, you may contact us at the address below. We may require verification of your identity before acting on any request. Certain information must be retained to provide the Service or to comply with law, and such requests may be denied to that extent.

8. Security

We maintain reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect your information, including encryption in transit, access controls and regular security reviews. However, no method of transmission or storage is one hundred per cent secure. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Technova disclaims all liability for any unauthorised access to, disclosure of, loss of or damage to your information resulting from events outside our reasonable control, including cyber-attacks, security breaches at third parties, credential compromise at your end, device theft or any other circumstance not attributable to our gross negligence.

9. Children

The Service is not directed to, and we do not knowingly collect information from, persons under the age of eighteen (18). If you believe a minor has provided us personal information, please contact us and we will take reasonable steps to delete it. Parents and guardians are responsible for monitoring and supervising the use of the Service by minors in their care.

10. International Transfers

Your information may be stored and processed in India and in other countries where our service providers operate. Where such transfers take place, we take reasonable steps to ensure an adequate level of protection consistent with this Policy and applicable law.

11. Third-Party Links & Services

The Service may contain links to, or integrations with, third-party websites, applications and services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of any third party. Your interactions with such third parties are governed by their own policies. We encourage you to read them.

12. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top indicates when it was last revised. Material changes will be communicated through the Service or by other reasonable means. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes your acceptance of the revised Policy.

13. Grievance Officer & Contact

In accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and rules made thereunder, the name and contact details of the Grievance Officer are provided below. You may write to us with any questions, complaints or requests regarding this Policy or your personal data:

We endeavour to acknowledge grievances within forty-eight (48) hours and resolve them within one (1) month of receipt, in accordance with applicable law.