Policy & disclaimerYour privacy, in writing.

Shelter Detectives (“Shelter”, “we”, “us”) is a private investigation agency based in Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

This policy explains what personal data we collect through this website and when you contact us, why we collect it, how long we keep it and what you can ask us to do with it. It also sets out how we keep investigations confidential, and the limits of what we do.

Under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (the “DPDP Act”), we are the Data Fiduciary for the personal data you share with us: we decide why and how it is used, and we are responsible for protecting it. You are the Data Principal.

Questions about this policy can go to [email protected] at any time.

When you send an enquiry

Only your name and phone number are required. Everything else is up to you.

Saved automatically with an enquiry

When you submit the form, a few technical details are saved with it:

When you call, WhatsApp or email us

We receive your number or email address and whatever you choose to tell us. We note only what we need to help you — usually your name, number and a short summary — and treat it exactly like a form enquiry. We do not record calls.

WhatsApp’s own privacy policy covers how WhatsApp handles your messages; we see only what you send us.

What we don’t collect

• No tracking cookies, analytics or advertising data — see the next section.
• No raw IP addresses alongside enquiries.
• No location data from your device.
• No documents or photographs through the website. If your case needs them, we’ll agree a secure way to share them.

This site sets no tracking cookies. There is no analytics software, no advertising pixel, no social media widget and no third-party tracking of any kind. Our fonts are served from our own server, so opening a page doesn’t contact Google or any other font service.

One small note is kept in your browser: the first page you visited and how you arrived (the referrer and any campaign tags). It sits in your browser’s session storage, disappears when you close the tab, and reaches us only if you submit the enquiry form — as the “How you found us” details above.

Like every website, our hosting provider’s servers briefly process your IP address to deliver pages and protect the site from attacks. Those technical logs are not linked to enquiries and are kept only for a short period.

If we ever add analytics or cookies, we will update this policy first and, where the law requires it, ask for your consent.

We use your details only to:

• Reply to your enquiry the way you asked, and arrange a consultation if you want one.
• Prepare a written plan and fixed quote, if you decide to go ahead.
• Keep the enquiry form free of spam and abuse.
• Understand, in aggregate, which pages help people find us, so we can improve the site.
• Meet our legal obligations — for example, keeping invoices if you become a client.

We never sell your data, use it for advertising, add you to a mailing list or contact you about anything other than your enquiry without asking first.

When you send us an enquiry, you give us your details voluntarily and for a clear purpose: so we can respond. The DPDP Act allows personal data given voluntarily for a specified purpose to be used for that purpose — and that is the only purpose we use it for.

Where we need your consent for anything beyond that — for example, before we begin an investigation for you — we ask for it clearly and in writing, and explain exactly what it covers.

You can change your mind at any time. Email us or tell us on a call, and we’ll stop using your details and delete them, unless the law requires us to keep something (see “How long we keep it”). Withdrawing consent doesn’t affect anything done lawfully before you withdrew it.

We may also process personal data without consent where Indian law requires or permits it — for example, to comply with a court order.

We keep personal data only as long as we need it for the purpose you gave it for, then delete it.

If the law or an ongoing legal matter requires us to keep something longer, we keep only what is required, for only as long as it is required.

We don’t sell, rent or trade personal data, and we never tell the person you’re asking about that you contacted us. We share data only:

• With the people handling your enquiry — the investigator who responds and, if you become a client, the investigators assigned to your case, on a need-to-know basis.
• With service providers who run the systems we use: Google, whose Gmail service handles our email (including the notification each enquiry sends us), and our website hosting and database providers. They handle it to provide their service to us, under their own terms and privacy policies.
• When the law requires it — for example, a court order or a lawful demand from an authority entitled to make it. Where we are allowed to, we will tell you first.
• With your agreement — for example, sending a report to your advocate when you ask us to.

Some service providers may store data on servers outside India — Google, for example, may process email in other countries. We use only providers in countries to which the Government of India has not restricted transfers, as the DPDP Act requires.

• The site is served only over an encrypted connection (HTTPS).
• Enquiries are stored in a database that is not publicly accessible, and only the people who handle enquiries can read them.
• Your IP address is stored only as a salted, one-way hash.
• Case files carry a case number and codename, not your name, and are stored encrypted.
• We collect as little as we can: the less we hold, the less there is to protect.

No system is perfectly secure. If a personal data breach affects you, we will tell you and the Data Protection Board of India, as the DPDP Act requires — with what happened, what we are doing about it and what you can do.

As a Data Principal, you have the right to:

How to use them

Email [email protected] with the subject “Privacy request”, or call us on +91 98989 39153. Tell us which right you want to use and give us the phone number or email address you contacted us from, so we can find your enquiry.

We may need to confirm it’s really you before acting, and we will never ask for more than we need to do that. We’ll acknowledge your request within 7 days and complete it within 30 days. There is no charge.

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal data, contact our Grievance Officer:

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Data Protection Board of India. The law asks you to come to us first, so we have the chance to put things right.

This site and our services are for adults. We don’t knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you are under 18 and need help, please ask a parent, guardian or another adult you trust to contact us — or call the national child helpline, 1098, free, at any hour.

When a parent or guardian asks us to help with a case involving a child — tracing a missing child, for example — we use the child’s information only for that case and handle it with particular care. If we learn that we hold a child’s data without a parent’s or lawful guardian’s consent, we delete it.

Everything above covers the data this website and our enquiry channels collect. If you become a client, your case is also governed by your written engagement agreement — and by these commitments:

• NDA on request. We sign a non-disclosure agreement before you share anything, if you would like one.
• Codenamed case files. Your file carries a case number and codename, never your name. Reports refer to people by initials.
• Encrypted storage. Notes, photographs and reports are stored encrypted and shared only through channels you agree to.
• Need-to-know access. Only the investigators on your case see your file. Field teams are told what to observe, never who is asking.
• No contact with the subject. In covert cases we never approach the person being investigated, and never reveal who we act for.
• Destroyed when you ask. After closure, we delete your file within 30 days of a written request and confirm it in writing — except records the law requires us to keep, such as invoices.

Information about other people in your case — including the person you are asking about — is gathered only by lawful means, used only for that case and protected exactly as your own is.

We work within Indian law

Shelter Detectives is a private agency. We are not the police or a government body, and we have no powers beyond those of any private citizen. Every method we use is lawful, and we turn down work that isn’t. We will never:

• Tap phones, intercept calls or obtain call detail records (CDRs)
• Get into anyone else’s phone, email, WhatsApp or social media accounts
• Install spyware, or fit GPS trackers to follow anyone
• Place hidden cameras or recorders in homes, hotel rooms or any private space
• Obtain bank statements, medical records or other confidential records
• Pose as police, government officials or anyone in authority

Anyone offering these is putting you at legal risk as well as themselves — and evidence gathered that way can undo your case.

No guaranteed outcomes

What an investigation can establish depends on the facts, and facts can’t be promised in advance. We tell you honestly what is realistic before you commit, report what we find — including when we find nothing — and mark anything unconfirmed as such. We do not guarantee any particular result.

Evidence and the courts

Our reports record how, when and where each finding was obtained, so your advocate can assess it. Whether any material is admissible in court, and how much weight it carries, is for the court to decide.

Not legal advice

Nothing on this website is legal advice. For advice about your situation — a divorce, a dispute, a police complaint — please consult a qualified advocate. We are glad to work alongside yours.

About this website

The case files on this site are illustrative: composites written to show typical cases and how we work them, not records of real clients, and the people in them are invented. We work to keep this site accurate, but it is general information and may change without notice.

We will update this page when the way we handle personal data changes, or when the law does. The date at the top always shows the current version.

If a change significantly affects how we use data you have already given us, we will tell you — by the contact method you chose — before it takes effect.

For anything about this policy or your personal data: