Global Munnurukapu Association (GMA) A 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation · EIN 99-0838356
Last updated: 26 September 2026
On this page
1. Who we are
The Global Munnurukapu Association ("GMA", "we", "us") operates gmaworld.org and the GMA mobile app. GMA is the controller of the personal data described here.
Contact us about privacy, or to exercise any right in §7:
- Email: president@gmaworld.org
- Helpline: 855-686-6878 (855-MUNNURU)
2. What we collect
2.1 When you register as a member
First name, last name, email address and phone number. Optionally: marital status, spouse name, native place, the chapter you belong to, how you heard about GMA, and the name of a referring member.
We assign you a Member ID. It identifies you in our records and is not recycled if your account is later removed.
2.2 If you create a matrimonial profile
This is the most sensitive data we hold, and it is entirely optional — you have to choose to create a profile.
It may include: date of birth, height, caste and gothram, education and profession, income range, family details, partner preferences, photographs, and a jathakam (horoscope) document.
You control two privacy choices per profile: whether photographs are visible before a mutual match, and whether income is. We honour those settings in the code that renders profiles, not merely as a promise.
2.3 If you use Careers
A résumé (stored as a file), work history, and work-authorisation status where you supply it.
2.4 If you use Classifieds, Academy or the News hub
Listings you post, messages you send to other members about a listing, saved searches, favourites, your course progress, and your chosen news topics.
2.5 Automatically
- Account activity — sign-in times, and an audit record of administrative actions taken on your account.
- Analytics — we use Google Analytics 4 to understand which pages are used. This sets cookies and shares usage data with Google. Signed-in administrators are excluded from analytics.
- Technical data — IP address and browser/device information in ordinary server request logs.
2.6 What we do NOT collect
- We never store payment card details. Where donations are processed, the payment provider handles the card; we hold only a record that a donation occurred.
- We do not sell personal data, and we do not share it with advertisers.
- We do not use your matrimonial, career or classifieds content to train AI models.
3. Why we use it
| Purpose | Data used |
|---|---|
| Create and administer your membership | §2.1 |
| Show you to other members in a service you opted into | §2.2, §2.3, §2.4 |
| Let members contact each other about a match or listing | Name, profile, messages |
| Send service emails (approval, password reset, removal) | Email address |
| Keep the platform safe and answer disputes | Audit records, reports |
| Understand and improve how the site is used | §2.5 analytics |
We rely on your consent for optional services (matrimonial, careers, classifieds) and on our legitimate interest in running the association for core membership administration and platform security.
4. Who can see your data
- Other members — only what the service you joined displays, subject to your own privacy settings. Matrimonial profiles are visible only to members granted matrimonial access, never to the public or to search engines.
- GMA volunteers holding an office — chairs and administrators see the data needed for their role. A Matrimonial chair sees matrimonial applications; a Careers chair does not. Administrative access to member records is logged.
- Nobody else by default. We do not publish member data, and matrimonial and careers content is excluded from public pages.
4.1 Service providers
We use a small number of processors:
- Google Cloud — hosting and backups (see §5).
- Google Analytics — site usage measurement.
- Google (Gemini API) — classifying *public news articles* for the News hub. Member data is not sent to it.
- Email delivery — to send you service emails.
5. Where your data is stored
Your data is stored in the United States. The platform runs on Google Cloud infrastructure in the us-central1 region (Iowa, USA). Encrypted backups are written nightly to Google Cloud Storage and retained for 14 days (daily snapshots) and 56 days (weekly snapshots).
GMA is a global association. If you are outside the United States — in India, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada, Australia, the UAE, Singapore or elsewhere — your personal data is transferred to and processed in the United States, which may not provide the same level of legal protection as your own country. By creating an account you consent to that transfer. You can withdraw consent at any time by asking us to delete your account (§7).
6. How long we keep it
- Membership records — for as long as you are a member.
- Matrimonial profiles, résumés and listings — until you remove them or your account is removed.
- Photographs and jathakam documents — deleted when the profile is deleted.
- Backups — 14 days (daily) / 56 days (weekly), after which they expire automatically. A deletion request is applied to live systems immediately; copies inside existing backups age out on that schedule.
- Administrative audit records — retained after an account is removed, as the record that an action was taken and who authorised it. These records keep your Member ID, the action, the date and the authorising administrator. They do not retain your name or email address.
7. Your rights
Whoever and wherever you are, you may ask us to:
- See the personal data we hold about you.
- Correct anything inaccurate — most of it you can edit yourself in your profile.
- Delete your account and personal data ("right to erasure"). We will remove your account, your matrimonial profile, your listings, your résumé and your uploaded files. See §6 for what is retained and why.
- Withdraw consent for an optional service — for example, delete your matrimonial profile while remaining a GMA member.
- Object to analytics. Your browser's "Do Not Track" or an analytics blocker will stop GA4; you can also ask us and we will confirm what is set.
- Export the data you gave us, in a portable form.
Email president@gmaworld.org. We aim to respond within 30 days.
If you are in the EU or UK you may complain to your data protection authority; if you are in India, to the Data Protection Board.
8. Children
GMA membership is for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. Academy content intended for children is delivered without collecting a child's personal data. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.
9. Security
We protect member data with: encrypted connections (HTTPS) for all traffic; role-based access so volunteers see only their area; private file storage for résumés and matrimonial documents, served only through access-checked links rather than public URLs; audit logging of administrative actions; and nightly off-site encrypted backups.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your personal data we will tell you and the relevant authority as required by law.
10. The mobile app
The GMA mobile app shows the same member portal as the website and follows this same policy. In addition:
- Signing in stores an authentication token on your device, in the device's secure keystore (iOS Keychain / Android Keystore). Signing out ends your session on our servers, not only on the device.
- Event reminders (push notifications). After you sign in, the app asks whether you want notifications. If you allow them, it registers a notification token for your device together with your device's timezone, platform (Android or iOS) and app version. We use these only to send reminders about GMA events, and never between 10 PM and 8 AM on your device's clock. The token is deleted when you sign out or delete your account, and you can turn notifications off at any time in your phone's settings.
- The app does not access your contacts, photos, location or microphone.
11. Changes
We will update this page when our practices change and revise the "last updated" date. Material changes affecting your rights will be notified to members by email.