PRIVACY POLICY

Effective Date: 26 September 2026
Last Updated: 26 September 2026

Welcome to PothikTV.

PothikTV is a digital media, journalism, community, professional, learning, work, commerce and technology ecosystem operated through PothikTV Media Center and its associated websites, applications, services and digital platforms.

We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data in a lawful, fair, transparent and secure manner.

This Privacy Policy explains how PothikTV collects, uses, stores, processes, shares and protects personal information when you use PothikTV and its connected services.

This Privacy Policy applies to PothikTV services including, where applicable:

PothikTV.com
PothikNews
Pothik Sahitya
Pothik Learn
Pothik Work
Pothik Store
Pothik Education services
Pothik Verify and Fact-Check services
Pothik AI Studio
Pothik advertising services
Pothik Account and Single Sign-On services
Pothik mobile applications and Progressive Web Apps
Community, messaging and professional profile services
Other websites, applications and services operated under the Pothik ecosystem.

By creating an account, using our websites, applications or services, submitting information, or otherwise interacting with PothikTV, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. LEGAL FRAMEWORK

PothikTV processes personal data in accordance with applicable laws and regulations of Bangladesh, including, where applicable:

the Personal Data Protection Act, 2026;
the Cyber Security Act, 2026;
applicable provisions of the Constitution of Bangladesh concerning privacy and communications;
applicable consumer protection and digital commerce laws, rules and guidelines;
applicable telecommunications, electronic transactions and payment regulations;
lawful orders issued by courts or competent authorities; and
other applicable laws and regulations of Bangladesh.

Where our services are offered to persons outside Bangladesh, additional privacy requirements may apply depending on the location of the user.

2. WHO WE ARE

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, “PothikTV”, “Pothik”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to PothikTV Media Center and the Pothik ecosystem of services under its operation or control.

PothikTV provides services including digital publishing, journalism, social and professional networking, content creation, education, employment and freelance services, digital products, software, advertising, verification services and artificial intelligence-assisted tools.

A user may use one Pothik Account to access multiple connected Pothik services where Single Sign-On or integrated account services are available.

3. INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT

Depending on the services you use, we may collect the following categories of information.

3.1 Account Information

When you create or manage a Pothik Account, we may collect:

full name;
username;
email address;
mobile phone number;
profile photograph;
cover photograph;
password or securely protected authentication credentials;
account ID;
account creation date;
account status;
login and security information;
preferred language;
authentication provider information;
user role and permissions.

Passwords should be stored using industry-standard secure hashing mechanisms. PothikTV does not intend to store passwords in readable plain-text form.

4. PROFILE AND BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

PothikTV allows users to create public or restricted professional and personal profiles.

Depending on information voluntarily provided by you, a profile may contain:

name;
profile photograph;
biography;
professional title;
profession;
skills;
education;
employment history;
portfolio;
achievements;
awards;
publications;
books;
articles;
journalism experience;
professional organisation;
social media links;
personal website;
interests;
favourite books;
favourite authors;
personal goals or dreams;
family information that you voluntarily choose to provide; and
other information you choose to include in your profile.

You should not publish highly sensitive information in a public profile unless it is necessary and you understand that the information may become publicly accessible.

PothikTV may provide privacy settings allowing certain profile information to be public, visible to registered users, visible to followers/connections, or private.

5. USER-GENERATED CONTENT

When you use PothikTV community or publishing services, we may process content you create or upload, including:

posts;
news reports;
articles;
blogs;
stories;
diaries;
literary works;
comments;
reactions;
photographs;
videos;
audio;
polls;
events;
questions;
job posts;
portfolio content;
course materials;
reviews;
fact-check submissions;
advertisements; and
other user-generated content.

Content published as “Public” may be accessible to anyone on the Internet and may appear in search engines or be shared by other users.

You are responsible for reviewing your privacy and visibility settings before publishing content.

6. MESSAGES AND PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS

PothikTV may provide private messaging, chat or similar communication tools.

We may process information necessary to:

deliver messages;
maintain conversations;
prevent spam;
detect abuse;
protect users;
investigate reported misconduct;
maintain platform security; and
comply with lawful requirements.

Private messages are not intended to be publicly displayed.

PothikTV does not sell the content of private messages to advertisers.

Access to private communications by authorised personnel should occur only where reasonably necessary for security, abuse investigation, technical support, legal compliance or with the user’s permission.

7. LOGIN THROUGH GOOGLE OR OTHER THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

PothikTV may allow you to sign in using services such as Google or other supported identity providers.

If you use a third-party sign-in provider, PothikTV may receive information authorised by you and the provider, such as:

name;
email address;
profile photograph;
provider account identifier; and
authentication information.

PothikTV does not receive your Google, Facebook or other third-party account password through standard OAuth authentication.

Use of third-party login services may also be governed by the privacy policies of those providers.

8. TECHNICAL AND DEVICE INFORMATION

When you access PothikTV, certain information may be collected automatically, such as:

IP address;
browser type;
operating system;
device type;
device identifiers;
screen resolution;
application version;
referring page or website;
pages viewed;
approximate location derived from technical information;
login timestamps;
session information;
error logs;
security logs;
cookie identifiers; and
interaction and performance data.

We use such information for security, fraud prevention, analytics, troubleshooting and improving PothikTV.

9. LOCATION INFORMATION

Certain PothikTV services may offer location-related functionality.

Where precise location is required, we will seek appropriate device permission where required.

You may normally control location permission through your device or browser settings.

PothikTV should not collect precise location information when it is unnecessary for providing the requested service.

10. PAYMENTS AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION

PothikTV services may support payments for:

courses;
subscriptions;
advertisements;
software;
themes and plugins;
digital products;
education services;
marketplace purchases;
freelance services;
institutional services; and
other paid services.

Payments may be processed through external payment providers, banks, mobile financial services or payment gateways, including supported services such as bKash, Nagad or other authorised providers.

Depending on the transaction, we may process:

transaction ID;
amount;
payment method;
payment status;
billing information;
invoice information;
order history;
refund information; and
limited payment-related identifiers.

Where a payment is processed directly by an external payment provider, sensitive account credentials such as PINs, OTPs or complete payment authentication credentials should be handled by the payment provider and not stored by PothikTV.

11. POTHIK STORE AND DIGITAL COMMERCE

When you purchase software, themes, plugins, subscriptions or other products through Pothik Store, we may collect information necessary to:

process orders;
issue invoices;
generate licences;
validate licences;
provide software updates;
provide technical support;
process refunds;
prevent payment fraud; and
comply with accounting and legal requirements.

Purchase and licence records may be retained for the period reasonably required for contractual, accounting, fraud-prevention or legal purposes.

12. POTHIK WORK

If you use Pothik Work, we may process professional information such as:

employment history;
education;
skills;
CV or résumé;
portfolio;
job applications;
employer information;
freelance proposals;
project history;
work submissions;
ratings;
reviews;
payment or payout information; and
professional verification information.

Users should avoid publishing sensitive identification documents publicly.

Where identity verification is necessary, such information should be treated as restricted information and protected accordingly.

13. POTHIK LEARN AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

When you participate in Pothik Learn or related educational services, we may collect:

enrolment details;
courses;
learning progress;
assessments;
certificates;
payments;
mentor or teacher information;
submitted assignments;
communications; and
course activity information.

Institutions using Pothik education-management services may act independently in determining what student, teacher, guardian or employee information they enter into the system.

Where PothikTV processes such information on behalf of an institution, the respective institution may be responsible for determining the lawful purpose and authority for processing that information.

14. CHILDREN AND STUDENT DATA

Under applicable Bangladesh data protection law, special care is required when processing children’s personal data.

For purposes of this Policy, a child generally means a person under the applicable legal age, including persons under 18 where required under Bangladesh law.

Where PothikTV or an educational institution processes children’s information, appropriate safeguards, permissions or consent from a parent, guardian or authorised institution should be obtained where required by law.

We seek to limit the collection of children’s information to what is reasonably necessary for legitimate educational or service purposes.

Children should not publicly disclose:

home addresses;
personal phone numbers;
financial credentials;
identification documents; or
other sensitive information

without appropriate supervision.

15. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SERVICES

PothikTV may provide artificial intelligence-powered services, including:

News Draft Assistant;
headline generation;
rewriting;
proofreading;
summarisation;
translation;
photo captions;
social captions;
hashtag suggestions;
SEO assistance;
interview question generation;
press-release conversion;
notes-to-draft tools;
fact-check assistance; and
other AI-supported services.

Information you submit to an AI feature may be processed to generate the requested output.

Where external AI infrastructure or technology providers are used, necessary information may be transmitted to those providers subject to contractual, technical and legal safeguards.

Users should not submit unnecessary sensitive personal data, passwords, private financial information, confidential source identities or protected documents into AI tools unless the particular service is specifically designed and authorised to process such information.

AI-generated output may contain errors. Users, journalists and editors remain responsible for reviewing content before publication.

16. JOURNALISM AND PUBLIC-INTEREST PROCESSING

PothikTV operates journalism, news reporting, publishing, archival and fact-checking services.

Certain personal information may therefore be processed where reasonably necessary for:

journalism;
news reporting;
investigation;
fact-checking;
public-interest reporting;
editorial activities;
historical records;
archives;
literary or artistic activities; or
protecting freedom of expression and access to information.

Where Bangladesh law permits processing for journalism or public-interest publication without ordinary consent requirements, PothikTV may rely on those provisions.

However, journalism-related processing does not mean that PothikTV disregards privacy, security, accuracy, proportionality or other applicable legal obligations.

Editorial decisions may consider the public interest, journalistic relevance, accuracy, privacy, potential harm and applicable law.

A request to delete information contained in a legitimate journalistic report may therefore require a different assessment from deletion of ordinary account information.

17. FACT-CHECKING AND VERIFICATION

Users may submit claims, documents, links, images or other evidence through Pothik Verify or related services.

Information may be used to:

verify claims;
investigate misinformation;
review submitted evidence;
communicate with submitters;
prepare fact-check reports; and
maintain editorial records.

Information identifying confidential sources should receive appropriate protection.

We may restrict public disclosure of source-identifying information where necessary for safety, confidentiality, journalism or legal reasons.

18. HOW WE USE PERSONAL DATA

We may use personal data where necessary to:

create and maintain user accounts;
authenticate users;
provide Single Sign-On;
provide Pothik services;
display user profiles;
publish user-authorised content;
deliver messages and notifications;
process payments and orders;
administer subscriptions and licences;
provide courses and education services;
facilitate job and freelance services;
operate advertising services;
provide AI-powered features;
personalise the user experience;
maintain platform security;
detect spam, abuse and fraud;
enforce our Terms and community standards;
investigate reports;
improve our websites and applications;
provide customer support;
conduct analytics;
maintain business and accounting records;
comply with legal obligations;
respond to lawful government or court orders;
protect PothikTV, our users and the public;
conduct legitimate journalism and editorial activities; and
perform other purposes disclosed to you at the time information is collected.

19. LAWFUL GROUNDS FOR PROCESSING

Depending on the circumstances, PothikTV may process personal data on one or more lawful grounds, including:

your consent;
performance of a contract or service requested by you;
compliance with a legal obligation;
protection of rights and safety;
legitimate and lawful operational purposes;
establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims;
public-interest purposes;
journalism, publishing, research or archival purposes where permitted by law; and
other grounds recognised under applicable law.

Where processing relies on consent, you may withdraw consent where permitted by law.

Withdrawal does not necessarily affect processing lawfully performed before consent was withdrawn.

20. SENSITIVE PERSONAL DATA

Certain categories of information may require additional protection.

PothikTV seeks to avoid collecting sensitive personal information unless it is necessary for a clearly identified service, legal requirement or other lawful purpose.

Where sensitive information is processed, we intend to apply safeguards proportionate to the nature and risk of that information.

Users should not publicly publish sensitive personal data unless they knowingly choose to do so and publication is lawful.

21. COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

PothikTV may use cookies, local storage, session storage, pixels or similar technologies.

These technologies may be used for:

login sessions;
authentication;
security;
preferences;
language settings;
analytics;
performance;
advertising;
remembering settings; and
preventing fraud.

Where legally required, users may be provided options to manage non-essential cookies.

Blocking certain essential cookies may prevent some services from functioning correctly.

22. ANALYTICS

We may use analytics services to understand how visitors interact with PothikTV.

Analytics information may include page visits, approximate location, device type, referral source, session duration and interaction information.

Where third-party analytics providers are used, their processing is also subject to their applicable privacy terms.

PothikTV should configure analytics in a privacy-conscious manner and avoid transmitting unnecessary personal information.

23. ADVERTISING

PothikTV may operate its own advertising platform or use third-party advertising technologies.

Advertising services may process information including:

ad views;
clicks;
campaign interaction;
device information;
approximate location;
interests inferred from platform activity; and
advertising identifiers.

PothikTV does not intend to sell users’ private messages, passwords or confidential account credentials to advertisers.

Advertisers should receive only information reasonably required for advertising, campaign measurement and reporting.

Where required, users will be provided appropriate controls regarding personalised advertising.

24. WHEN WE MAY SHARE INFORMATION

PothikTV does not sell personal data merely for the purpose of trading people’s identities.

We may share information with carefully selected parties where reasonably necessary, including:

Service Providers

Companies that assist us with:

hosting;
cloud infrastructure;
email;
SMS;
authentication;
analytics;
security;
payment processing;
content delivery;
AI infrastructure;
customer support;
backups; and
software services.

Payment Providers

Information necessary to process transactions may be shared with authorised payment gateways, banks and mobile financial services.

Institutions and Employers

Information may be shared where a user intentionally applies for a job, course, educational institution, freelance project or similar opportunity.

Legal Authorities

Information may be disclosed where required by:

applicable law;
lawful court order;
competent regulatory authority; or
other legally valid process.

We may also disclose information where legally permitted and reasonably necessary to protect the rights, safety or security of PothikTV, users or others.

25. WE DO NOT SELL PRIVATE USER DATA

PothikTV does not intend to sell confidential personal information such as:

passwords;
private messages;
private documents;
confidential account credentials;
payment PINs; or
security authentication codes.

Where PothikTV introduces any materially different commercial use of personal information, users will be informed and consent will be obtained where required by law.

26. PUBLIC INFORMATION

Certain information is inherently public when you choose to publish it.

This may include:

public profiles;
public posts;
comments;
news reports;
articles;
public photographs;
videos;
professional profiles;
portfolio information;
reviews;
public job posts; and
other content designated by you as public.

Public information may be:

indexed by search engines;
viewed without a PothikTV account;
shared outside PothikTV;
quoted or referenced by other users; and
retained temporarily by third-party search engines or archives.

Deleting content from PothikTV may not immediately remove copies previously indexed or independently stored by third parties.

27. DATA RETENTION

PothikTV will seek to retain personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected or for another lawful purpose.

Retention periods may vary depending on:

account status;
type of information;
transaction requirements;
legal obligations;
security requirements;
dispute resolution;
fraud prevention;
journalism and archival requirements;
licence management; and
contractual obligations.

Information that is no longer required should be securely deleted, anonymised or otherwise handled in accordance with applicable law.

Some information may need to be retained after account deletion where required for:

compliance with law;
financial and accounting records;
security;
fraud prevention;
dispute resolution;
legal claims;
legitimate journalistic archives; or
preservation of records required by law.

28. DATA SECURITY

PothikTV seeks to implement reasonable technical and organisational safeguards appropriate to the nature of the information being processed.

These may include:

encrypted communications using HTTPS/TLS;
password hashing;
access controls;
user-role permissions;
secure authentication;
database security;
server security;
security logging;
backups;
software updates;
malware protection;
restricted administrative access;
monitoring for suspicious activity;
vulnerability remediation; and
incident-response procedures.

No online service can guarantee absolute security.

Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their passwords and authentication information.

You should immediately notify PothikTV if you believe your account has been compromised.

29. PERSONAL DATA BREACHES

If PothikTV becomes aware of a personal-data breach, we will assess the nature, scope and potential impact of the incident.

Where applicable law requires notification, PothikTV will take reasonable steps to notify the relevant authority and affected persons in the legally required manner and timeframe.

We may also take measures including:

securing affected systems;
resetting credentials;
restricting compromised access;
investigating the incident;
preserving relevant evidence; and
implementing measures to reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

30. INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS

Some technology, cloud, email, analytics, authentication, AI or infrastructure providers used by PothikTV may operate outside Bangladesh.

Where personal information is transferred outside Bangladesh, PothikTV will seek to comply with applicable Bangladesh law governing cross-border personal-data transfers.

Such transfers may be based on:

user consent where required;
performance of a service requested by the user;
legally permitted contractual arrangements;
permitted destinations or infrastructure;
appropriate safeguards; or
other lawful grounds.

Sensitive or restricted information will receive additional protection where required.

31. YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS

Subject to applicable law and valid exceptions, you may have rights regarding personal data held by PothikTV.

These may include the right to:

Access Your Data

Request information about personal data PothikTV processes about you.

Data Portability

Request your personal information in an appropriate format where portability rights apply.

Correct Your Information

Request correction of inaccurate, outdated, misleading or incomplete personal data.

Update Your Information

Users may update certain information directly through their Pothik Account or profile settings.

Withdraw Consent

Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent in accordance with applicable law.

Object to Certain Processing

You may object to certain processing where the law provides such a right.

Request Deletion

You may request deletion of eligible personal data.

Deletion rights may be limited where information must lawfully be retained, including for legal obligations, financial records, security, fraud prevention, journalism, archives or legal claims.

Restrict Certain Uses

Where applicable, you may request limitations on certain processing activities.

Exercise Rights Relating to Automated Decisions

Where applicable law provides such rights, you may object to or seek review of certain automated processing or decisions.

32. ACCOUNT DELETION

PothikTV should provide a reasonable mechanism through which registered users can request deletion or closure of their accounts.

Upon a valid account deletion request:

public profile visibility may be removed;
eligible personal information may be deleted or anonymised;
content may be removed where appropriate;
information subject to lawful retention requirements may remain restricted in our records.

Deleting an account does not automatically require deletion of every independently published journalistic article, public-interest record, transaction record or lawful archive associated with the person.

Such requests will be assessed according to applicable law and the nature of the information.

33. CORRECTION REQUESTS

If personal information held by PothikTV is inaccurate or incomplete, you may request correction.

Where appropriate, we may ask for reasonable verification before changing information to protect your account from unauthorised requests.

PothikTV will seek to respond to legitimate correction requests within the period required under applicable law.

34. IDENTITY VERIFICATION FOR PRIVACY REQUESTS

To prevent unauthorised access to personal data, we may need to verify your identity before processing requests for:

access;
correction;
data portability;
deletion;
account recovery; or
other privacy rights.

We will seek to collect only information reasonably necessary for such verification.

35. THIRD-PARTY LINKS AND EMBEDDED CONTENT

PothikTV may contain:

YouTube videos;
Vimeo videos;
social media embeds;
external news links;
third-party payment services;
advertisements;
maps;
third-party software; and
external websites.

When you interact with an external service, that provider may independently collect information under its own privacy policy.

PothikTV is not responsible for the privacy practices of websites or services that we do not control.

36. NOTIFICATIONS, EMAIL AND SMS

PothikTV may send:

security alerts;
account verification messages;
password-recovery messages;
service notifications;
order notifications;
course notifications;
application updates;
editorial notifications;
payment notifications;
platform announcements; and
promotional communications where permitted.

Users may be able to control certain optional notifications through account settings or unsubscribe mechanisms.

Essential account, security, legal or transactional messages may continue even if marketing communications are disabled.

37. SECURITY AND MODERATION

To maintain a safe platform, PothikTV may use automated systems and authorised personnel to detect:

spam;
fake accounts;
hacking attempts;
malicious activity;
impersonation;
fraud;
illegal content;
harassment;
threats;
account abuse; and
violations of our Terms or Community Standards.

Information may be reviewed when content or an account is reported to PothikTV’s moderation or editorial team.

Moderation activity should be proportionate to platform safety and applicable law.

38. LEGAL REQUESTS FROM AUTHORITIES

PothikTV may receive requests for information from law-enforcement agencies, courts or government authorities.

We will assess requests according to applicable law.

Where legally permitted, we seek to disclose only information reasonably necessary to respond to a valid legal requirement.

Nothing in this Policy prevents PothikTV from complying with a binding lawful order.

39. OWNERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY FOR USER CONTENT

Users retain rights in content they create to the extent provided by applicable law and PothikTV’s Terms of Service.

By publishing or uploading content, users may grant PothikTV permissions reasonably necessary to host, reproduce, display, distribute and technically process that content for operation of the service.

Users must respect the privacy, intellectual-property and other rights of other individuals when publishing content.

40. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

PothikTV may update this Privacy Policy when necessary to reflect:

changes in law;
new platform features;
security requirements;
technology changes;
changes to business operations; or
regulatory requirements.

The updated version will display a revised “Last Updated” date.

Where a change materially affects how personal data is processed, PothikTV may provide additional notice through the website, application, account notification, email or other appropriate means.

Where new consent is legally required, we will seek such consent.

41. PRIVACY BY DESIGN

PothikTV seeks to follow privacy-by-design principles when developing new services.

This means that privacy and data protection should be considered during:

feature design;
software development;
account architecture;
database design;
AI integration;
advertising development;
payment integration;
education systems;
analytics deployment; and
third-party service integration.

Access to personal information should be limited to users, employees, contractors and service providers who reasonably require such access for authorised purposes.

42. DATA MINIMISATION

PothikTV seeks to collect personal information that is reasonably relevant and necessary for the service being provided.

Users should not be required to provide unnecessary sensitive personal information merely to access ordinary platform functions.

Optional information should be identified as optional wherever reasonably practical.

43. USER RESPONSIBILITIES

To protect your privacy, you should:

use a strong password;
never share your OTP or password;
review profile visibility settings;
avoid publicly posting sensitive documents;
log out from shared devices;
keep account contact information updated;
immediately report suspicious account activity;
carefully review information before publishing it publicly; and
avoid sending confidential information to unknown users.

44. COMPLAINTS

If you believe PothikTV has improperly processed your personal information, you may first contact PothikTV through its official privacy, support or contact channel.

We will seek to review legitimate privacy complaints and take appropriate corrective action where necessary.

Nothing in this Policy prevents a person from exercising any right to make a complaint to a competent data-protection, judicial or regulatory authority where such a right exists under Bangladesh law.

45. CONTACT US

For questions, concerns, complaints or requests concerning this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact:

PothikTV Media Center
Website: https://pothiktv.com
Privacy & Support: Through the official PothikTV Contact/Support service
Location: Bangladesh

For privacy requests, please provide sufficient information to identify your account and clearly describe the request.

Never send your password, PIN, OTP or other authentication secret when making a privacy request.

46. FINAL STATEMENT

Privacy is an important part of the PothikTV ecosystem.

Our goal is to give journalists, writers, creators, students, educators, professionals, businesses and other users the ability to connect, create, publish, learn, work and participate in the digital economy while respecting their personal information and legal rights.

PothikTV is committed to continuously improving its privacy, security and data-governance practices in accordance with applicable laws of Bangladesh and the evolving needs of our community.

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