Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 9, 2026

Who we are

UnitedSewa is an independent community platform for the US-based Nepalese diaspora — news, forum, classifieds, and events. It is operated as an independent venture from the United States. This policy covers everything we publish at unitedsewa.com.

How our content is produced

Some of what we publish — such as news summaries and the first drafts of guides — is produced with the help of automated tools, including artificial intelligence (AI). News is synthesized from cited sources with uncertainty labeled, sensitive stories get human review, anything uncertain is held rather than published, and early-draft guides are labeled as such. We cite sources and label uncertainty. We disclose this here for transparency and legal completeness; it does not change how we handle your personal data, and it is not professional (legal, financial, medical, immigration, or tax) advice.

What we collect

When you simply read

• Standard server access logs: IP address, browser type, pages visited, referrer, time of visit. Used for security, error diagnosis, and aggregate traffic stats. Retained for up to 90 days.
• Cookies for session continuity, preferences (language, theme), and analytics — see Cookies below.

When you create an account or post content

• Forum, comments, classifieds, events: Username, email address, profile fields you fill in (display name, location), and the text/images you submit. Public-facing content is visible to all readers; your email is private.
• Classifieds and event listings: Contact info you choose to display (phone, email, organization). This is public by your choice — only include what you're comfortable sharing.
• Authentication: Hashed passwords (we never see or store them in plain text). If you sign in via a third party (Google, Facebook), we receive only the basic profile they share.

When you contact us

• Name, email address, and the message you send via the contact form or by emailing us directly. Used only to respond and to track the conversation.

What we don't collect

• Payment information — UnitedSewa does not process payments. If a future feature does, this policy will be updated and a separate processor (e.g., Stripe) will handle payment data per their own policy.
• Sensitive personal data — Social Security numbers, government IDs, financial account numbers, biometric data, or health information. Precise device location is opt-in only; see Location data below.
• Tracking across other websites — we don't run cross-site fingerprinting or identity-graph trackers.

Location data

UnitedSewa is a community directory. Showing you classifieds, events, and businesses near you is core to what makes the site useful. We handle location data carefully:

Approximate location (silent fallback)

We may look up your approximate city and state from your IP address to show nearby content. This is accurate to the city level only — never your home or device — and you can clear it anytime via the location chip in the site header.

Precise device location (only if you grant permission)

If you choose “use my exact location,” your browser asks permission to share GPS coordinates. We use them only to sort and filter content by distance — never shared with third parties, never a movement profile. You can decline (you'll get the approximate location instead).

Public coordinates on directory listings

Business directory listings include the coordinates of the business's publicly-listed address (from the business's own website), shown on the listing map and in the structured data we publish — the same level of disclosure as Google Maps or Yelp. It reflects the business's public address, not anyone's personal location.

Why we collect it

• Run the site: Show you content, let you post, keep accounts secure.
• Understand readership: Aggregate, city-level stats for editorial decisions — never individual targeting.
• Communicate: Reply to your messages, send transactional + opted-in notifications (opt-out always available).
• Comply with the law: Respond to lawful requests, enforce our Terms, prevent abuse.

We do not sell your data, share it for marketing, or run individualized profiling for advertisers. If we ever introduce advertising it will be contextual (based on the page topic, not on you), and this policy will spell out what changes.

Email handling

Email you send us (contact form, listing messages, event inquiries) reaches our operator inbox; we reply from the same address and don't share your message with third parties. Email we send out (account verification, claim-listing invitations, contact-form replies, digests, alerts) always comes from our own domain — we never spoof another sender. Bulk/opt-in emails include a one-click unsubscribe (per Gmail's bulk-sender rules) and a visible unsubscribe link. We keep a short log of recent sends (recipient, subject, time, status) for deliverability + audit only.

Notification preferences. Manage every subscription — topics, digest cadence, alert thresholds — from your preferences, and unsubscribe from everything at any time. You can ask us to delete your preferences data via the contact form.

Cookies + analytics

• Session cookies — keep you logged in.
• Preference cookies — remember small choices (dismissed notices, theme). Stored locally; never sent to a third party.
• Active location — the city (and, if granted, coordinates) used to show nearby content. Cleared anytime via the location chip.
• Analytics — Google Analytics 4 loads only after you select Accept or if you have already accepted in this browser. If you select Decline, it does not load. The site stores your choice in this browser when browser storage is available.

Third-party services

Some functionality requires third parties, each with its own privacy policy:

• WordPress + hosting — site infrastructure + server logs + outbound email dispatch.
• Google reCAPTCHA — invisible bot detection on public submission forms (when enabled).
• Approximate IP geolocation — city/state level, cached briefly, to show nearby content.
• OpenStreetMap / Photon — address autocomplete + geocoding; receives only what you type.
• Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) — daily USD→NPR reference rate; we only fetch from NRB, sending no user data.

We add or remove third parties over time; when one materially changes how data flows, we update this policy.

Your rights

Wherever you live, you can access, correct, delete, or export your data, and object to analytics or notifications. Most fields are editable in your account; for the rest, email us or use the contact form. We aim to respond within 30 days.

How long we keep data

• Account info — while your account is active; deleted on request.
• Public posts — until you delete them or close your account (threaded forum posts may be preserved without identifying details).
• Server logs — up to 90 days, then aggregated.
• Outbound email log — recent sends only, auto-pruned.
• Notification preferences — until you ask us to delete them or after long inactivity.
• Backups — encrypted snapshots up to 30 days for disaster recovery only.

Children

UnitedSewa is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact us and we will delete the account promptly.

International users

UnitedSewa is operated from the United States. If you read from outside the US, your data is processed in the US under US law. We honor reasonable access, correction, and deletion requests regardless of where you live.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Use the contact form. See also: Terms of Use.