PRIVACY POLICY

1. Information We Collect

Personal Information

When you create an account, place an order, subscribe to our newsletter, or contact us, we may collect personally identifiable information including:

• Full name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Shipping and billing address
• Order history and product preferences

Payment information such as credit/debit card numbers, UPI details, or other payment instrument data is collected and processed directly by our payment gateway service providers. Sword Cricket does not store your complete payment card details on our servers.

Automatically Collected Information

When you browse our Website, we may automatically collect certain information including:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Device type and operating system
• Pages visited and time spent on our Website
• Referring URL (the website you came from)
• Shopping behaviour and product interactions

This information is compiled and analysed on an aggregated basis to help us understand user behaviour, improve our Website, and enhance the shopping experience.

2. Cookies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies on our Website. Cookies are small files placed on your device that help us provide and improve our services.

Types of Cookies We Use

• Essential Cookies: Required for the Website to function properly — managing your cart, processing checkout, and maintaining your session.
• Functional Cookies: Remember your preferences such as login details and display settings. Login cookies last for two days; "Remember Me" cookies persist for two weeks.
• Analytics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors use our Website, which pages are most popular, and how users navigate the site.
• Advertising Cookies: Used by third-party advertising partners to serve relevant ads based on your browsing activity.

You are free to decline cookies through your browser settings, although this may affect your ability to use certain features on the Website.

We do not control cookies placed by third-party services embedded on our Website.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Processing and fulfilling your orders for cricket gear, equipment, and related products
• Managing your account and providing customer support
• Communicating order confirmations, shipping updates, and delivery notifications
• Sending promotional offers, product launches, and newsletters (with your consent)
• Personalising your shopping experience and product recommendations
• Improving our Website, products, and services
• Detecting and preventing fraud, error, and unauthorised activity
• Complying with legal obligations and enforcing our Terms & Conditions

4. Sharing of Personal Information

We may share your personal information in the following circumstances:

• Service Providers: With third-party companies that help us operate our business — including payment processors, shipping/logistics partners, email service providers, and analytics tools. These providers only receive information necessary to perform their specific functions.
• Corporate Affiliates: With our affiliated entities and brand partners. These affiliates may contact you for marketing purposes unless you opt out.
• Legal Requirements: When required by law, court order, or government regulation, or when we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganisation, or sale of assets, your personal information may be transferred to the successor entity, which will be bound by this Privacy Policy.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties for their independent marketing purposes without your explicit consent.

5. Media & User Content

If you upload images to the Website (such as product reviews or comments), we recommend avoiding images that contain embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Other visitors may be able to download and extract location data from images uploaded to the Website.

6. Comments

When you leave comments on product pages or blog posts, we collect the data shown in the comment form along with your IP address and browser user agent string to assist with spam detection.

An anonymised hash of your email address may be shared with the Gravatar service to display your profile picture alongside your comment. After your comment is approved, your profile picture is visible to the public.

7. Embedded Content

Pages on our Website may include embedded content from third-party sources (e.g. videos, social media posts, maps). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the same way as if you had visited those websites directly. These third-party services may collect data about you, use cookies, and monitor your interaction with the embedded content.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services, fulfil orders, and resolve disputes. Specifically:

• Comments and their metadata are retained indefinitely to enable automatic approval of follow-up comments.
• Registered user profile data is stored until you request its deletion.
• Order and transaction data is retained as required by applicable tax and accounting regulations.

9. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: Update or correct inaccurate personal information through your account settings.
• Deletion: Request erasure of your personal data, subject to any legal obligations we may have to retain certain information.
• Export: Request an exported file of your personal data in a machine-readable format.
• Opt-Out: Unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time via the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us.

All users can view, edit, or delete their personal information at any time through their account dashboard (except usernames, which cannot be changed).

10. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, or alteration. We use secure servers for all account and transaction operations. However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Third-Party Links

Our Website may contain links to third-party websites, including social media platforms, payment partners, and affiliate sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these external websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party site you visit.

12. Advertisements

We may use third-party advertising companies to display ads on our Website. These companies may use information about your visits to our Website and other websites to provide advertisements about products and services that may interest you. This is typically done through cookies and similar tracking technologies.

13. Children's Privacy

Our Website is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will take steps to delete such data.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, services, or legal requirements. When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically. Your continued use of the Website after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

15. Your Consent

By using our Website and/or providing your information, you consent to the collection and use of the information you disclose on the Website in accordance with this Privacy Policy, including your consent for sharing your information as described herein.

16. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or grievances regarding this Privacy Policy or the handling of your personal data, please contact us: