PRIVACY POLICY

1. Introduction & Scope

TipForge ("we", "us", "our") operates a tipping, alert overlay, and community engagement platform tailored for live-stream creators in India and globally. This Privacy Policy details how we collect, process, share, protect, and handle data when creators and donors use our website, tipping portals, dashboard, and widgets. We are committed to safeguarding personal data in accordance with applicable information security standards and laws.

2. Information We Collect

To operate our features, we collect several categories of information depending on whether you are a Creator (registered account holder) or a Donor (tipping user):

• Account Identity Information: E-mail address, display name, profile avatar, and credentials obtained through OAuth login providers (e.g., Google or YouTube authentication channels).
• Tipping Transaction Data: Donor name (or anonymous identifier), donation amount, transaction status, selected payment method (UPI, net banking, cards), and the custom message text attached to the tip.
• Audio Settings & Media: Custom alert sound choices, text-to-speech configuration settings, and dynamically rendered audio speech files (processed server-side) triggered by tips.
• Integrations Tokens: Encrypted authentication tokens, account identifiers, and server configuration details for linked third-party providers (including Discord server details for role mapping, and YouTube moderation channel settings).
• Technical Metadata: IP addresses, browser user-agent details, device characteristics, operating system versions, and usage cookies to ensure platform stability and protect dashboard integrity.

3. Google & YouTube User Data Disclosures (OAuth)

Our application accesses and processes Google user data (specifically YouTube account and stream details) when you connect your YouTube channel to use our live stream bot, chat widgets, and tipping overlays.

• What Google User Data is Collected: We access and collect your Google/YouTube email address, display name, profile avatar image, unique Google/YouTube account identifiers, and your YouTube channel ID. When the chat bot or moderation features are active, we also read public live stream chat messages, sender display names, and sender channel IDs to monitor community compliance.
• How We Use Google User Data: We use your Google and YouTube data solely to provide and improve the user-facing functionality of our Platform. Specifically, this includes displaying tipping alerts and notifications on your live stream overlay, rendering real-time chat widgets in OBS overlays, responding to custom commands, and performing automated moderation (warning or timing out users who violate community guidelines). We do NOT use this data for targeted advertising, creating databases, training artificial intelligence (AI) models, determining credit-worthiness, or lending purposes.
• With Whom We Share or Disclose Google User Data: We do NOT sell, rent, trade, lease, or transfer Google/YouTube user data to third parties, data brokers, ad networks, or information resellers under any circumstances. We only disclose or transfer information as required to facilitate payments (through Razorpay) or when explicitly requested/configured by you (such as broadcasting alert messages to your linked Discord server).
• Data Protection & Encryption: We employ strict administrative, technical, and physical security procedures to protect the confidentiality and integrity of Google user data. All database storage is secured, and authentication credentials/tokens retrieved from Google OAuth are encrypted at rest using industry-standard cryptographic keys.
• Data Retention & Deletion Policies: We store Google/YouTube user data for a period of time that is consistent with our active business purposes (providing overlay and bot services). We will retain this information for the length of time needed to fulfill the services unless a longer retention period is required by law. You can disconnect your YouTube or Google integration from your dashboard settings page at any time to halt data access. To request complete account termination and the permanent deletion or destruction of all associated Google credentials and tipping logs, please contact our support team at support@tipforge.site.

4. Processing & Core Services

We process your personal information to fulfill our terms of service. Specifically, this includes:

• Synchronizing incoming donor tips and messages in real-time with creator OBS browser overlay widgets.
• Compiling tipping metrics, total cleared earnings, and time-series analytics charts in the creator dashboard.
• Managing Discord role assignments for tipping tiers and broadcasting YouTube moderation bot updates in live chats.
• Enforcing keyword auto-moderation settings on incoming messages to screen for offensive language or spam.
• Facilitating settlement disbursement records and tracking payout withdraw history.

5. Data Security & Third-Party Gateways

We implement comprehensive technical and organizational safeguards to protect data from unauthorized access, loss, or alteration. All database data is stored securely using Turso/libSQL databases, and integration credentials/tokens are fully encrypted at rest.

Payment Processing Security: All financial transactions are managed by our secure payment gateway partner, Razorpay. TipForge does NOT collect, handle, or store raw credit card credentials, UPI PINs, or bank passwords on our servers. Razorpay leverages advanced fraud protection technologies to screen device markers, transaction histories, and risk parameters to prevent chargebacks and block malicious behavior.

6. Cookies & Local Browser Storage

We use secure session cookies, local browser storage, and related identifier technologies to preserve active creator login states, record theme preferences (such as dark/light/OLED mode presets), save developer settings, and prevent Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attempts. Users can adjust browser cookie preferences, but blocking cookies may disable login and session-dependent dashboard features.

7. Your Rights & Data Deletion

You have the right to inspect, correct, update, or request the erasure of your personal data stored on our platform. Registered creators can purge their profiles, disconnect social integrations, and modify dashboard values at any time. To request complete account termination and the permanent deletion of associated tipping records, please contact our privacy compliance team.

8. Changes to this Policy

We may revise this Privacy Policy from time to time to accommodate new features, services, or regulatory requirements. We will update the "Last updated" timestamp at the top of this document whenever a revision is made. Continued use of our dashboard or tipping pages following an update signifies your acceptance of the terms.