Data Deletion Request

Rishis Foundation · WhatsApp & Personal Data

You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data held by Rishis Foundation — including WhatsApp conversations, contact details, consultation records, course history and account information. This page explains what we hold, how to request deletion, how we verify your identity, how long it takes, and the limited cases where the law requires us to keep certain records.

What personal data we may hold
Depending on how you have interacted with Rishis Foundation, we may hold some or all of the following.
  • WhatsApp conversation history and message metadata
  • WhatsApp contact profile (name, phone number, display name)
  • Email address, phone number and contact preferences
  • Account / portal profile (name, avatar, login history)
  • Library download history and free-resource lead records
  • Consultation bookings, birth details, notes and reports
  • Course enrollments, progress and quiz answers
  • Billing, payment and donation history
Identity verification

Before we delete any data, we must confirm the request is genuinely from you. Our process:

  1. You submit the form on this page with the email (and phone, if applicable) tied to your data.
  2. We send a verification email to that address with a unique confirmation link.
  3. If your request covers WhatsApp, we may also verify identity by sending a one-time code to the WhatsApp number on file.
  4. For sensitive records (payment or consultation data), we may request a government-issued ID matching the name and email on file.
  5. Once identity is confirmed, deletion begins. We never act on a request we cannot verify.
Processing time

We aim to complete verified deletion requests within 30 days. Typical timeline:

  • Day 1–2: Acknowledgement + verification email sent.
  • Day 2–7: Identity confirmed (may be faster via email-link).
  • Day 7–30: Data deleted across WhatsApp, database, backups.

Complex requests (multiple accounts or third-party data) may take up to an additional 30 days, during which we will keep you informed by email.

Legally required retention exceptions
Some records cannot be deleted even after your request, because Indian and US law require us to keep them.

We may retain the following, even when a verified deletion request is approved:

  • Financial & tax records (invoices, payment receipts, donations) — retained for 7–10 years under Indian Income Tax Act / US IRS record-keeping rules.
  • Anti-fraud & security logs — records needed to prevent fraud, abuse or unauthorized access may be kept for up to 24 months after deletion.
  • Legal holds — data subject to an active legal dispute or regulatory request is retained until the matter is resolved.
  • Backup residual data — deleted records are removed from live systems immediately; encrypted backups may retain a residual copy for up to 60 days until the backup cycle expires.

When we retain any of the above, we will tell you in our completion email which categories were retained and the legal basis for doing so.

Submit a deletion request
Use the email and phone number you used when interacting with Rishis. This helps us verify your identity quickly.

Select all categories you want removed. Choosing “All of the above” clears the others.

Prefer email? Write to support@rishis.org with the subject “Data Deletion Request”.