Privacy policy

What we collect

We collect only the information we need to run the store and, for sellers, to quote for and buy your parts. That means:

• Order details. When you place an order — on the website or in the app — your name, phone number, email address and shipping address, so we can process, invoice and deliver it.
• Account. If you sign up or sign in, the email address on your account, so you can see your orders and the bench reports for parts you bought.
• App notifications. If you use the mobile app, a device push token so we can send you order and application updates. You can turn notifications off in your device settings at any time.
• Seller details. If you offer us a part — through this website or the app — the details you provide: your name, phone number, city, optionally your email address, what you’re selling, photos of the part, and how you’d like to be paid. We re-save your photos without their location data before we store them.
• Identity verification. If we go ahead with a purchase, one government ID at registration — a driving licence, passport or voter ID. We do not accept or ask for Aadhaar. See “Sellers and ID checks” below for exactly what happens to it.
• Basic technical logs. Like most services, our hosting and payment partners may log limited technical information (such as IP address and device type) to keep the service secure and working.

Sellers and ID checks

We buy parts outright, and we have to be sure the person selling us a part owns it. Second-hand PC parts are stolen and resold often enough that a buyer who doesn’t check is part of the problem. So before we make a firm offer, we verify your identity — and we do it holding as little of your data as we can manage.

What we ask for. One government-issued photo ID: a driving licence, passport or voter ID. We do not accept Aadhaar, and we will never ask you for an Aadhaar number. We ask for the ID for two reasons and no others: to confirm you are who you say you are before we send money for a part, and to confirm you are 18 or over, since we cannot lawfully buy from a minor.

What happens to the image. Your ID image is uploaded to private storage — it is never given a public web address and it is never linked from anywhere. When a member of our team reviews it, the image is streamed to their screen through our server over an authenticated admin session; it is not downloaded, not cached and not shared. The moment they record the verification, the image is permanently deleted. If nobody has reviewed it, it is deleted automatically anyway — no ID image survives more than 48 hours from upload, reviewed or not. We keep no backup and there is nothing to restore.

What we keep. Only a verification record: the type of document, its last four characters, that you are 18 or over, the date we checked, and who checked it. It looks like this: “DL verified · ending 4821”. We never write down the full document number — our admin screen has no field for one, so there is no path by which we could store it even by mistake. If we ever have to answer a lawful question about where a part came from, that record and your purchase agreement are what we can show. They are also all we can show.

Who sees it. Only PC Helper administrators, and only while your registration is being reviewed. Buyers never see it. Couriers never see it. It is never sold, never shared for anyone’s marketing, and never used to make an automated decision about you.

Your part’s photos. Photos of a part you send us stay with the part’s record. They may appear in the listing once we own it, but never with your name attached: from the moment we pay you, the listing, the invoice and the warranty carry the PC Helper name only.

Your payment details. You choose how we pay you when you register. If you choose UPI, we store your UPI ID and nothing else — no account number is involved. If you choose a bank transfer, we store the account holder’s name, the IFSC code and your full account number, because that is what a bank transfer needs and asking you for it again on payment day would be slower and more error-prone for both of us. We are telling you plainly rather than leaving you to assume otherwise.

We use it to pay you and for nothing else. It is never sent to the mobile app, never put in an email or a notification, and never shown on any screen that lists sellers — those show only the last four digits. The full number appears only when an administrator opens your individual record to make a payment. If you would rather we didn’t hold it at all, choose UPI.

How we use it

We use your information to:

• fulfil and deliver your orders and issue GST invoices;
• keep you updated on your order — and, for sellers, on your application and payments — by email and app notification;
• give you access to the bench report for each part you buy;
• answer your questions and handle support requests;
• meet our legal, tax and accounting obligations.

We do not use your information for advertising, and we don’t make automated decisions about you.

Payments

Payments are handled by our payment provider. Your card, UPI or netbanking credentials are entered with them, not with us — we never see or store your full payment credentials. We receive only a confirmation of payment and the details needed to match it to your order.

Sharing — and what we never do

We share your information only where it’s needed to run the store: with the courier delivering your parcel, with our payment provider to take payment, and with the service providers who host our systems, store our images and send our email and app notifications on our behalf. Those providers act on our instructions only, under contract, and some of them process data outside India. We may also disclose information where the law requires it — including to the police, if a part turns out to be stolen.

How long we keep it

We keep order and invoice records for as long as the law requires — India’s tax and accounting rules generally mean several years. Account and seller information is kept while your account or seller relationship is active. Push tokens are removed when they stop working or when you uninstall the app. You can ask us to delete information we are not required to keep.

ID images are the exception to everything above: they are deleted as soon as they have been checked, and in every case within 48 hours of upload, whether or not anyone has looked at them. The verification record that replaces the image — document type, last four characters, and the date — is kept with the purchase record for as long as tax and accounting law requires, because it is the evidence that we checked. If you offered us a part and we never bought it, you can ask us to delete the offer and your contact details and we will, since no tax record depends on them.

Your choices and contact

You can ask us to access, correct or delete your personal information — subject to records we must retain by law. You can also turn off app notifications from your device settings at any time.

Where we rely on your consent — offering us a part, and showing us an ID — you can withdraw it at any time, and we will stop and delete what we’re not required by law to keep. Withdrawing consent doesn’t undo a purchase we’ve already made and paid for.

To make a request, or to ask anything about this policy, contact us at contact@pchelper.store.

Grievance officer

In line with India’s Information Technology Act and the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, you can raise any privacy grievance with our grievance officer.