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Privacy Policy

Last updated: 17 August 2026.

Ami Goans ("we", "us") is a community platform for Goans around the world. We collect and use only the personal information reasonably necessary to run, secure and improve the platform. This policy explains what we collect, why, and the choices you have.

What we collect

  • Account details: your name and email address, and a securely hashed password if you sign up directly (we never store your password in plain text).
  • Social sign-in: if you sign in with Google or Facebook, we receive your name, email address and profile photo from that provider, according to the permissions shown during sign-in.
  • Profile information: anything you choose to add to your profile, including an uploaded photo, mobile number, and SMS marketing preference.
  • Community contributions: anything you submit for publication, such as a business listing, job recommendation, story, recipe, photo, village landmark, or a correction, report, idea or issue you send us. Some of this is visible to other members or the public once approved see "Public contributions" below.
  • Newsletter: your email address, if you subscribe to updates.
  • Server access logs: every page request is logged with the visiting device's IP address, the page visited, the date/time, and browser information (user agent), for site security and operational purposes. If you're signed in when you visit, that visit is linked to your account.
  • Approximate location from IP: we resolve your IP address to an approximate city and country using a third-party lookup service (ip-api.com), both for internal traffic reporting and, once you're signed in, to personalize content such as nearby businesses and jobs. This is stored on your account, is never linked to advertising, and is not shared with any other third party. You can ask us to clear it at any time (see "Your choices and rights" below).
  • Precise location (only if you choose to share it): if you tap "Use My Precise Location" on your profile, your browser asks your permission to share your device's exact location. If you agree, we convert those coordinates to a place name using a third-party lookup service (nominatim.openstreetmap.org) and store it on your account in place of the IP-based estimate. You can clear this, or revert to the IP-based estimate, at any time from your profile.

What we do not want

Please do not submit passwords, bank login details, card information, PINs, identity-document numbers or other unnecessary sensitive or financial information through Ami Goans — we never ask for these, and have no need to store them.

How we use it

We use your data to run your account, show your profile within the community, publish contributions you ask us to publish, review and moderate submissions, personalize content such as nearby businesses and jobs using your approximate location, respond to requests, prevent fraud and misuse, keep the site secure, and, only with your explicit consent, send SMS offers from Ami Goans or its advertisers. We do not sell your data, and we do not share it with third parties for advertising purposes. Before we use personal information for a materially different purpose, we'll update this policy and give you any additional notice or choice the law requires.

Sharing and service providers

We do not sell member personal information, and we do not give it to advertisers to independently market to you. Some processing is handled by service providers necessary to run the platform, each only given the access they need to do their job:

  • Google and Facebook — if you choose to sign in with them.
  • Brevo — sends emails from community@amigoans.co.uk (e.g. welcome emails, admin replies).
  • Gmail (Google Workspace) — sends password-reset emails and delivers messages from the Contact Us form.
  • ip-api.com and nominatim.openstreetmap.org — resolve an approximate or, if you opt in, precise location, as described above.

Public contributions

Information you deliberately submit for publication a business listing, job post, story, recipe, photo, village landmark or public profile may be visible to other members or the public once approved. Please only submit personal information about another person where you have a lawful reason and their permission to do so.

Cookies and analytics

We use one essential cookie to keep you signed in, a CSRF security token on forms, and a cookie that remembers which region's content to show you on the homepage. We do not use advertising or third-party analytics cookies, and we do not track you across other websites. See the Cookie Policy below for details. Server access logs (above) are a separate, server-side record of requests to our own site not a cookie, and not shared with any analytics or advertising company.

Your choices and rights

You may have rights over your personal information, including to request access, correction or deletion and, in some cases, restriction, objection or data portability. You can update your profile at any time from My Profile, including clearing your saved location. To request a copy of your data, or to have your account and data deleted, email customerservices@amigoans.co.uk — we'll action deletion requests within 30 days.

Data retention

We keep your account data for as long as your account is active. Server access logs are kept for up to 12 months and then deleted. We won't keep information for longer than reasonably necessary for the purpose it was collected for, except where we need to retain it for security, legal compliance or dispute handling.

Privacy matters to us. Our aim is simple: collect only what we reasonably need, protect it appropriately, use it for clear purposes, and avoid unnecessary personal-data collection.

Cookie Policy

Ami Goans uses only the cookies necessary to run the site:

  • Session cookie: keeps you signed in between page visits. Deleted when you sign out or it expires.
  • CSRF token: a security measure to protect forms (like sign-up and profile updates) from being submitted by malicious third-party sites.
  • Region preference: remembers which region's content to show on the homepage (e.g. after using "Change region"), for up to a year. Not shared with anyone and not used for tracking.

We do not currently use advertising, analytics or third-party tracking cookies. (Our server does keep its own access logs, described in the Privacy Policy above — this is separate from cookies and isn't shared with any third party.)

Terms & Conditions

These Terms & Conditions set the basic rules for using Ami Goans. By accessing, joining or contributing to the platform, you agree to use it responsibly and lawfully.

1. Community purpose

Ami Goans is a community information and discovery platform intended to connect Goans, preserve Goan culture and heritage, share useful information, support Goan businesses and provide community-relevant opportunities.

2. Your content and licence

You must provide accurate information when creating an account or submitting a business, event, job, story, photo, recipe or other listing, and you're responsible for having the right to share anything you post. Content you submit remains yours — you grant Ami Goans a licence to display it on the platform. We may review, edit, decline, suspend or remove submissions where necessary.

3. External and reference information

Some informational pages begin with material compiled or summarised from external reference sources such as Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, government bodies, tourism organisations and other public sources where reuse is permitted. Sources and licences are acknowledged where required. Community members are encouraged to help improve and update this information.

4. Business listings & advertising

Ami Goans may allow genuine Goan-owned, Goan-operated or Goan-relevant businesses to publish directory listings or advertisements. Basic listings are currently free where stated. In the future, as the platform develops, we may introduce optional paid advertising and enhanced listing features any price, included features, payment period, renewal terms and other applicable conditions will be clearly displayed before a business chooses a paid option, and no business will be charged without choosing that service.

A listing or advertisement on Ami Goans does not amount to a guarantee, endorsement or certification of a business, its owners, products, services, prices, qualifications or claims. Businesses are responsible for ensuring their listings are accurate, lawful and not misleading. Any agreement, purchase or service arrangement is between the user and the business concerned users should carry out their own checks before paying for goods or services. Where credible concerns are reported, we may review, correct, suspend or remove a listing.

5. Jobs and opportunities

Job recommendations are provided for community information. Ami Goans does not guarantee employment, salary, working conditions, immigration status, employer legitimacy or the accuracy of a third-party vacancy. Verify opportunities independently before providing personal information or accepting employment.

6. No financial-transfer service

Ami Goans does not operate a money-transfer, currency-exchange, investment, lending, escrow, gambling, cryptocurrency or banking service. Do not use the platform for fraud, money laundering or other unlawful financial activity.

7. Respectful and lawful use

Follow the Community Guidelines. Do not use Ami Goans to harass others, distribute hate speech, impersonate people, commit fraud, spread malicious software, violate privacy, infringe intellectual-property rights or carry out unlawful activity.

8. Moderation and verification

We may review submitted or reported content to protect the community and improve accuracy. A report doesn't automatically mean content is wrong material may be checked, corrected, temporarily hidden, restricted or removed as appropriate. Verification helps improve quality but doesn't guarantee that every published fact is complete, current or error-free.

9. Availability and future changes

Ami Goans is a developing community service. Features, categories, eligibility requirements, advertising options and content may change over time. Where a change affects a paid service, you'll be given clear information about the price and terms before agreeing to purchase or renew it. Parts of the platform may occasionally be unavailable for maintenance, security or technical reasons.

10. Limitation of platform role

Ami Goans provides a platform for community information and discovery. You remain responsible for decisions you make based on third-party businesses, advertisements, job opportunities, links, recommendations and community content. Nothing in these Terms is intended to exclude or restrict any right or liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted.

11. Reporting concerns

If you believe content is inaccurate, abusive, unlawful, misleading or inappropriate, please report it or contact us and explain the concern clearly. Where the concern relates to accuracy, please provide the corrected information or supporting evidence where reasonably possible.

Ami Goans works best when every member helps protect the accuracy, respect and trust of the community.

Community Guidelines

Ami Goans should feel welcoming, useful and respectful to every member of the community. These guidelines apply to profiles, stories, photographs, businesses, jobs, festivals, village contributions and every other submission.

Respect comes first

Treat other members with dignity. Harassment, bullying, threats, hate speech, discriminatory abuse, personal attacks and deliberately offensive content are not welcome.

Contribute what is genuine

Share stories, photographs, recipes, village information and other material that is genuinely yours, in the public domain, appropriately licensed, or that you have permission to share. Do not knowingly submit copied material in breach of copyright, or claim another person's work as your own.

Keep listings real and relevant

Business, event and job listings should be genuine, and Goan-owned, Goan-operated, Goan-relevant or genuinely useful to the Goan community. Spam, misleading promotions, fraudulent opportunities and false listings may be rejected or removed.

Help us correct information, not simply criticise it

Ami Goans welcomes corrections. If something is wrong, incomplete or outdated, please let us know and be as specific as possible what you believe is incorrect, what the corrected information should be and, where possible, a reliable source, photograph, document or first-hand explanation that can help us verify the change.

A report doesn't automatically mean content is wrong. Reported material may be reviewed, temporarily hidden, corrected or removed depending on the evidence available.

Community moderation

New or edited community content may be reviewed before publication, and published material may be reviewed again if concerns are raised. Ami Goans may decline, edit, suspend or remove content that is inaccurate, unsafe, abusive, unlawful, misleading, irrelevant or inconsistent with these guidelines.

Protect people's privacy

Do not publish another person's private address, phone number, email address, identification documents, financial information or other sensitive personal information without a lawful reason and their permission.

A community, not a marketplace for financial transfers

Ami Goans does not provide money-transfer, currency-exchange, investment, lending, cryptocurrency, escrow or money-laundering services. Never use the platform to arrange suspicious or unlawful financial activity.

Please disagree constructively. Our goal isn't to win an argument it's to make the information more accurate and useful for the whole Goan community.

Something concerning you? Contribute a correction or contact us directly.