1 Who We Are

This Privacy Policy applies to all websites and web pages operated by Social Research and Development Organization (SRDO), a non-governmental organization registered and based in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.

Our websites include:

• https://srdo.pk — main organizational website
• https://rates.srdo.pk — live forex rates and market data portal

When this policy says "we", "us" or "SRDO" it refers to Social Research and Development Organization. When it says "you" it refers to any visitor or user of our websites.

2 What Information We Collect

2.1 Information you provide directly

SRDO does not require you to create an account or log in to use any of our websites. If you contact us via email or our contact form, we collect your name, email address and the content of your message. This is used only to respond to your enquiry.

2.2 Information collected automatically

When you visit our websites, the following information is collected automatically by our servers and third-party services:

• IP address — used for approximate geographic location (country/city level)
• Browser type and version
• Operating system
• Pages visited and time spent
• Referring URL — the page you came from before ours
• Device type — desktop, mobile or tablet

2.3 Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your browser. Our websites use cookies for the following purposes:

• Essential cookies — required for the website to function correctly
• Analytics cookies — to understand visitor behaviour in aggregate
• Advertising cookies — placed by Google AdSense to show relevant advertisements (see Section 4)
• Third-party API cookies — placed by Frankfurter and Alpha Vantage when fetching live market data

You can control and delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect website functionality.

3 How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Operate and improve our websites
• Respond to enquiries you send us
• Display relevant advertisements through Google AdSense
• Analyse website traffic and usage patterns
• Ensure the security of our websites
• Comply with legal obligations under Pakistani and international law

We do not use your information to send unsolicited marketing emails, build individual user profiles for commercial purposes, or sell your data to any third party.

4 Google AdSense & Advertising

We participate in the Google AdSense programme, operated by Google LLC. This programme allows Google to display advertisements on our pages.

4.1 How Google AdSense works

Google AdSense uses cookies — including the DoubleClick cookie — to serve ads relevant to you based on your browsing history. When you visit a page on our site that shows an AdSense ad, Google may set or read cookies on your browser.

4.2 Interest-based advertising

Google may use data about your visits to our site and other sites to show you advertisements for products and services you may be interested in. This is sometimes called "interest-based" or "personalised" advertising.

4.3 How to opt out

You have several options to control advertising cookies:

• Visit Google Ads Settings to manage or opt out of personalised ads from Google
• Visit youronlinechoices.com to opt out from multiple advertising networks
• Install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on
• Use your browser settings to block or delete all cookies

4.4 Google's Privacy Policy

Google's use of advertising cookies is governed by Google's own Privacy Policy: policies.google.com/privacy.

5 Third-Party Services

5.1 Frankfurter API (ECB Exchange Rates)

Our live rates page fetches foreign exchange data from frankfurter.app, which provides European Central Bank (ECB) data. This service does not collect personal data from visitors.

5.2 Alpha Vantage (Commodity Prices)

Commodity price data (Gold, Silver, Oil, etc.) is sourced from Alpha Vantage. These requests do not transmit your personal information. See Alpha Vantage Privacy Policy.

5.3 Google Fonts

Our websites load fonts from Google Fonts (fonts.googleapis.com). When your browser requests these fonts, Google may log your IP address. See Google's Privacy Policy.

5.4 Google Analytics

We may use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our websites. It collects anonymous, aggregate data and does not collect personally identifiable information. Opt out with the Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on.

5.5 External Links

Our pages contain links to external organisations including the Asian Human Rights Commission and A Safe World for Women. Clicking these links takes you to their sites, which have their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for the content or practices of external sites.

6 Data Sharing & Disclosure

SRDO does not sell, trade or rent your personal information to any third party.

We may share information only in these limited circumstances:

• Legal requirements: If required by Pakistani law, court order or government authority
• Protection of rights: To protect the rights, property or safety of SRDO, our users or the public
• Service providers: With trusted providers who assist in operating our websites, under strict confidentiality agreements

All third-party advertising is handled entirely by Google AdSense. SRDO does not have access to or control over cookies placed by Google.

7 Data Retention

We retain personal data only as long as necessary:

• Contact form submissions — up to 12 months, then permanently deleted
• Server logs — up to 90 days for security monitoring, then deleted
• Analytics data — aggregate, anonymised form for up to 26 months
• Cookies — expire according to each cookie's individual expiry period

8 Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Correction — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Deletion — ask us to delete your personal data ("right to be forgotten")
• Restriction — ask us to restrict how we process your data
• Objection — object to our use of your data for specific purposes
• Data portability — request your data in a machine-readable format
• Withdraw consent — where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 13. We will respond within 30 days.

8.1 Rights under Pakistan law

Pakistani residents are protected under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA) and applicable data protection provisions. SRDO is committed to compliance with all applicable Pakistani laws.

8.2 Rights for EU/EEA visitors (GDPR)

If you are in the European Union or EEA, you have additional rights under GDPR. Our lawful basis for processing is legitimate interest (analytics and security) and consent (advertising cookies). You may lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

9 Children's Privacy

Our websites are not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. SRDO works extensively with child rights issues in its NGO programs — however, our websites are informational resources intended for adults, researchers, journalists and policymakers.

If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately and we will delete it.

10 Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including:

• HTTPS encryption on all our websites
• Regular software updates and security patches
• Restricted access to personal data within our organisation

No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. We encourage you to use strong passwords and keep your devices updated.

11 Links to Other Websites

Our websites contain links to external websites including news organisations, human rights bodies and partner NGOs. Once you click a link and leave our site, this Privacy Policy no longer applies. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites.

12 Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology or legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.

Continued use of our websites after a policy update constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy. Previous versions are available upon request.

13 Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us: