1. Introduction
Meenavargal Munnetra Kazhagam (MMK) is committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality, and security of your personal data. This Privacy Notice describes our practices regarding the collection, verification, use, storage, and protection of the information you provide when registering as a member, applying for our digital membership card, or interacting with our website https://mmkorg.com/.
Our data collection practices comply with the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 of India, and other applicable guidelines governing privacy and cybersecurity in the state of Tamil Nadu and the Republic of India.
2. Information We Collect
To register and maintain your membership, issue digital membership cards, and verify voter registry status, we collect information that you directly submit in our online portal or forms. We only collect the minimal amount of personal details necessary to securely authenticate your membership and facilitate communication with our volunteers.
3. Personal Information
The personal information collected during membership registration includes:
- Full Name: Collected to identify you in our registers and print your digital membership card.
- Mobile Number: Used as your unique account ID, for SMS communications, OTP-based secure logins, and verification matches.
- Email Address: Used for registration receipts, communications, newsletter subscriptions, and general updates.
- Date of Birth & Age: Collected to verify eligibility and compile demographic representations.
- Gender: Collected for balanced organizational representations and gender-specific welfare program statistics.
- Complete Physical Address: (State, District, and Constituency details) Used to align you with local MMK volunteer centers and constituencies in Tamil Nadu and other coastal states.
- Occupation: Collected to align vocational schemes, local trade union updates, and educational drives for fishers.
- Profile Photograph: Used to display on your verified digital membership card for visual verification.
4. Voter ID Data Collection and Verification
During the registration process, we collect and store your Voter ID Number (EPIC Number).
- Purpose: Voter ID information is collected solely for identity verification, elector validity checks, and membership validation purposes. It guarantees that membership requests correspond to real, eligible, and localized community members.
- Security and Processing: Your Voter ID number is encrypted in transit and at rest in our databases. The Voter ID details are cross-referenced with public electoral registries to confirm matching name and constituency data. This verification is executed securely, and the raw Voter ID details are never exposed to other members or public visitors.
Privacy & Data Consent Statement
By submitting the membership registration form, you explicitly consent to the collection, processing, verification, and storage of your personal data, including your Voter ID details, as outlined in this Privacy Policy. You represent that you are the legal owner of the credentials submitted.
5. Purpose of Data Processing
We process your personal information for the following specific purposes:
- Verifying your identity and electoral registration status to confirm membership validity.
- Generating, displaying, and issuing your secure digital MMK Membership Card (complete with Tamil translations, photo layout, and an encrypted verification QR code).
- Communicating announcements, news, welfare initiatives, local meetings, and event updates.
- Responding to feedback, queries, and volunteer applications.
- Managing our member directories, local volunteer branches, and constituency databases.
- Upholding security and preventing duplicate, fake, or malicious registrations on the portal.
6. Data Security Measures
We employ administrative, technical, and physical security measures to safeguard your personal data from unauthorized access, loss, alteration, or disclosure:
- No Sale of Data: MMK explicitly states that personal information is not sold, rented, or leased to third parties. Your data is used exclusively for MMK community activities and welfare drives.
- Encrypted Database Storage: All sensitive credentials (such as passwords, Aadhaar, and Voter IDs) are stored in secure, access-controlled databases utilizing modern encryption algorithms (e.g. salted MD5/SHA hashes).
- Secure QR Codes: The verification QR code printed on the back of your membership card contains your details encrypted with Military-grade AES Encryption using a secure cryptographic secret key. Unauthorised scanners cannot read your information.
- Access Controls: Access to registration data and uploaded documents is restricted strictly to verified MMK administrators and IT handlers with secure passwords and logging sessions.
- Local Development Safety: When verifying or generating cards on our servers, data is transmitted over secure SSL protocols (HTTPS).
7. Data Retention Policy
We retain your personal data only as long as you choose to remain an active member of Meenavargal Munnetra Kazhagam (MMK). In the event that you cancel your membership, submit a deletion request, or if your account is terminated for violating terms, we will delete or anonymize your data within a reasonable timeframe (typically within 30 days of request processing), except where retention is required by governing laws in India or for audit purposes.
8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Our website utilizes minor cookies, local browser storage, and session tokens to enhance your user experience. Cookies help us keep you logged into your profile dashboard and recall language selections (English/Tamil) between visits. You can disable cookies in your web browser settings; however, doing so may limit your ability to view or download your membership cards smoothly.
9. Third-Party Services
We do not share your personal information with third-party advertising companies. We may only utilize trusted third-party service providers (such as secure cloud hosting companies, SMS gateways for OTPs, and basic analytics tools) to maintain the portal's infrastructure. These providers are bound by strict non-disclosure terms and are prohibited from using your data for any independent marketing.
10. User Rights
Under Indian data protection laws, as a member, you have several rights regarding your personal data. These include:
- The right to access and view all personal data we hold about you.
- The right to request corrections or updates to inaccurate details.
- The right to request the deletion or erasure of your profile.
- The right to withdraw your consent to data processing (which will result in card cancellation and membership termination).
11. Data Correction Requests
If your personal details change (e.g., you move to a new constituency, change your mobile number, or notice a typo in your Voter ID or Name), you can edit your profile details directly by logging into your member dashboard and selecting "Edit Profile". Alternatively, you can submit a correction request to our grievance support email at info@mmkorg.com, and we will update your files after verification.
12. Data Deletion Requests
If you wish to terminate your membership and request the complete deletion of your records (including photos, mobile number, and Voter ID details) from our database, please contact our support team at info@mmkorg.com with the subject line "Membership Deletion Request". We will verify your identity via OTP and remove all your data within 30 days.
13. Children's Privacy
Our website and membership registrations are strictly intended for individuals who are 18 years of age and older. MMK does not knowingly collect or solicit personal data from children under the age of 18. If we discover that a registration contains details of a minor, we will delete the record immediately.
14. Changes to Privacy Policy
MMK reserves the right to update or modify this Privacy Notice at any time to comply with changes in legal acts, security guidelines, or portal enhancements. We will alert users by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this notice. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.