Legal
Cookie Policy
Last Updated: July 15, 2026
This Cookie Policy explains how VakilSOS (“VakilSOS”, “we”, “us”) uses cookies, local storage and session storage on the VakilSOS website, AI Legal Assistant, complaint drafter and related services (the “Services”). It is issued together with our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.
1. What These Technologies Are
Cookies are small text files a website places in your browser. Local storage and session storage are similar mechanisms that let a web application remember information between page loads on your device. VakilSOS relies almost entirely on local and session storage rather than traditional third-party cookies.
2. What VakilSOS Uses
a. Strictly essential
- Reporter identity — the role you pick on the assistant gate (affected person, parent, witness, teacher, advocate, NGO, anonymous). Stored locally so the assistant does not ask you again on every interaction.
- Session context — your active issue, quick-reply choices and detected legal categories, kept for the active session so the assistant remains consistent across turns.
- Complaint drafter state — the fields you have filled in a draft, kept on your device so you do not lose progress on reload.
- Authentication session (only if you sign in) — a secure token issued by our backend so protected pages load without repeated logins.
- Security & abuse prevention — operational cookies set by our hosting and infrastructure providers for load balancing, rate limiting and bot mitigation.
b. Preferences
- Interface preferences such as theme, dismissed banners and last-used tab, stored locally on your device.
c. Analytics
We use limited, privacy-respecting analytics to understand aggregate usage (for example, which pages are loading slowly or failing). We do not use third-party advertising analytics, retargeting pixels or cross-site trackers.
d. What we do not set
- No advertising or retargeting cookies
- No cross-site tracking pixels
- No third-party analytics that profile individual users
- No social-network share pixels
3. Third-Party Storage
Where the Services embed or link to third parties (for example, WhatsApp Business by Meta Platforms, or government portals such as cybercrime.gov.in), those parties may set their own cookies governed by their respective policies. VakilSOS does not control those cookies.
4. Legal Basis (DPDPA, 2023)
Strictly essential storage is processed under Section 7 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 as a “certain legitimate use” — namely, providing the Services you have voluntarily requested. Preference and analytics storage is processed on the basis of your continued use of the Services and can be disabled by clearing site data.
5. Controlling & Clearing Storage
- Clear browsing data / site data in your browser settings to erase everything VakilSOS has stored on your device.
- Use private / incognito mode to prevent persistent storage between visits.
- Sign out to invalidate the authentication token.
- On the AI Legal Assistant, choose “Reset identity” to clear the reporter role.
Blocking essential storage will break the assistant, the complaint drafter and any feature that depends on remembering who is reporting or what the active matter is.
6. Retention
- Session storage — cleared when you close the tab.
- Local storage (reporter identity, preferences, draft state) — kept until you clear site data or reset from the assistant.
- Authentication tokens — expire on the schedule set by our backend and rotate on refresh.
- Operational cookies from infrastructure providers — short lifetimes, typically the length of a session.
7. Changes to This Policy
We will update this Policy whenever we add or remove a stored value. The date at the top always reflects the most recent change. Material changes will be highlighted on this page.
8. Contact
- Grievance Officer: contact@vakilsos.in
- Founder’s office: founder@vakilsos.in
- Bengaluru, India
- Response window: within 30 days