Privacy Policy

Who we are

FindThatThing is run by an individual, not a company. Under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 that makes the operator the Data Fiduciary for anything here — the person responsible for what is collected and what happens to it.

For anything in this policy, email contact@findthatthing.shop. A person reads it and replies within 7 days.

What never leaves your device

A few things are remembered on your own phone or computer so the site feels familiar next time:

• Your dark or light mode choice
• Products you tap Save
• Products you have recently viewed
• Your last few searches

None of this reaches us. We cannot see it, and clearing your browser data wipes it.

What we count, without knowing who you are

We count activity so we know what is useful and what is missing: which pages get visited, which searches come back empty, which buy buttons get clicked, and whether search results were helpful when you tap the thumbs.

None of these carry your IP address, a cookie, or an account. There is nothing in them that could be traced back to you — not by us, and not by anyone who obtained them. That is a deliberate design choice, not an accident, and we intend to keep it that way.

One addition: within a single browser tab, we give your visit a random number, so we can see how people find things — for example, that a visit which started from an AI assistant searched for a reel and then opened a product. It is made fresh for each tab, your browser forgets it when you close the tab, and it is not linked to your name, your connection or an account. After 90 days we remove it and keep only daily totals.

A service provider records, on our behalf, how pages on the main site are used: the page address, including any words searched for, where a visitor taps or clicks, how far a page is scrolled, the type of device and browser, and the country. It is used to find parts of the site that are difficult to use. Text typed into a form is hidden from the record. No cookie is set for this, and the record is not linked to a name or an account. The provider receives it directly from your browser and may use it to improve its own services.

We show no ads, run no advertising trackers, use no marketing pixels, and build no profile of you. We do not sell your data, and share it only with the service providers described in this policy.

What we do store that could point at you

Being honest about the exceptions matters more than the reassurance above. There are seven, and only the first two apply to ordinary browsing:

• If our content filter blocks something you typed — into search or the request form — we record the text and the internet connection it came from. This is how we catch someone abusing the site repeatedly, and how we fix the filter when it gets something wrong.
• If a connection is blocked for abuse, we record it so the block can be applied.
• If you ask a product to be tracked down, we keep what you wrote. It is our to-do list. Searches that find nothing are kept the same way.
• If you ask to be notified when a product goes live, we store a token your browser gives us, and which request or search it is waiting on. It identifies a browser, not a person — there is no name or email attached.
• If you share a video so that we can identify the products in it, service providers analyse that video on our behalf. We do not keep the video. We keep a still picture of the product from it for seven days, to check that the right product was found; it is not linked to you. To limit how often one person can use this, your browser keeps a random number, sealed so it cannot be altered, in a cookie and in its own storage for one year, sent only when you use this feature. We keep a scrambled form of that number and of your internet connection's address for two days.
• If you message us on Instagram, Instagram gives us your message and a number for your Instagram account. We use the number to reply to you. We keep the reel link or the words you sent, as with a search, but not the number. To limit how many searches one account can make each day, and so that we do not answer one message twice, we keep a scrambled form of the number, and of the message's own id, for two days. If our filter blocks a message, or an account is blocked for abuse, we record the number in place of an internet connection.
• If you join the contributor waitlist, we keep the email address you gave us. That is a separate part of the site with its own notice, linked from it.

That is the complete list. We never ask for your phone number, your address, your date of birth or your payment details, and the main site has no accounts to sign into.

How long we keep things

• Counts of what pages, products and searches are popular — kept indefinitely. These carry no IP address, no cookie and no account — there is nothing in them that could be traced back to you, which is exactly why we are comfortable keeping them.
• A random number that links the pages you view and the searches you make in one browser tab — 90 days. It is made fresh for every tab, your browser forgets it when you close the tab, and it is not linked to your name, your internet connection or an account. It lets us see how people find things — for example, that a visit which started from an AI assistant searched for a reel and then opened a product. After 90 days we remove it and keep only daily totals.
• A scrambled form of your internet connection's address and of a random number your browser keeps, when you ask us to identify the products in a video you shared — 2 days. They are only used to limit how often one person can use this each day, and cannot be turned back into the address or the number. The number stays in a cookie in your browser for one year, sent only when you use this, and clearing your browsing data removes it. The video itself is not kept.
• Your Instagram account ID and the video you sent, when you ask us in a direct message to identify the products in it — 2 days. They are kept only so that we can send you the answer once it is ready, and are then deleted. The video itself is not kept.
• A still picture cut from a video you ask us to identify the products in — 7 days. It shows the product, and lets us check that the right one was found. It is not linked to you, your browser or your internet connection, and it is not shown publicly.
• What you typed when our content filter blocked it, and the internet connection it came from — 90 days. Long enough to spot someone abusing the site repeatedly and to fix a filter that got it wrong. Short enough that this is not an archive of things strangers typed.
• A record of a connection blocked for abuse — until the block ends, then 90 days. Permanent blocks stay, by design. Once a temporary one has lapsed there is no reason to keep the record much longer.
• What you wrote in the request form, and searches that found nothing — until we deal with it, then 1 year. This is our to-do list — it is how we decide what to add next. We keep it for a while after because the same thing often gets asked again.
• A note of which browser asked to be told when a product goes live — until you turn notifications off. It identifies a browser, not a person — we have no name or email attached to it. It also disappears by itself once your browser stops accepting notifications.

Children

This site is not aimed at anyone under 18, offers no accounts, and builds no profiles — so there is nothing here that tracks a child around the internet. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we hold something about your child, email contact@findthatthing.shop and we will delete it.

Where your data is held

On servers in India, and in some cases outside India where a service we rely on operates elsewhere. Wherever it sits, everything in this policy still applies to it.

What you can ask for

• See what we hold. Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and a summary of how it has been used.
• Correct it. Request correction of any data that is inaccurate or out of date.
• Have it deleted. Request deletion of your data, except where the law requires us to keep it. Those exceptions are listed above, each with its reason.
• Nominate someone. Nominate a person to exercise these rights on your behalf in the event of your death or incapacity.
• Withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent, such as for notifications or the waitlist, you may withdraw it at any time. Processing based on that consent then stops.
• Complain. Contact contact@findthatthing.shop. We respond within 7 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

To make a request, email contact@findthatthing.shop. No form or account is required. We respond within 7 days.

If something goes wrong

If personal data we hold is involved in a breach, we will notify the people affected and the Data Protection Board of India, as the law requires.

The notice will describe what happened, the data involved and the steps you should take. It will be sent promptly, without waiting for the investigation to finish.

If you believe a breach has occurred, contact us at contact@findthatthing.shop.

Changes to this policy

The date at the top moves when the wording changes. If we ever start collecting something new, this page changes in the same breath — that is a rule we hold ourselves to in the code, not just an intention.