Terms and Conditions

Terms of Use Privacy Policy Copyright & Licensing Notice

Terms of Use

Effective Date: 1st April, 2021

This data collection and validation Web Application ("Website") is an open source application brought to you by the National Language Translation Mission (NLTM) - Bhashini, MeiTY. The Website has been developed to invite the people of India, to contribute data to develop Speech Recognition, Text-to-Speech, Machine Translation and Optical Character Recognition for Indian languages (“Purpose”).

Indians can contribute in the following way on the Website

  1. Record their voices on the Bolo India Website while reading prompted texts (“Voice Recordings”) to create an open database of diverse voice recordings that can be used to develop open source speech-to-text technology tools.
  2. Transcribe text on the Suno India Website while listening to the audio clips (“Transcribed Texts”) to create an open database of voice recordings and respective transcription that can be used to develop open source text-to-speech technology tools.
  3. Translate a text (“Translated Texts”) from one Indian language to another on the Likho India Website to create an open database of parallel translations.
  4. Label an image (“Labelled Images”) on the Dekho India Website while reading the text on the Image to create an open database of labelled images for optical character recognition.

The terms ‘you’, ‘your’ refer to anyone who accesses, uses or contributes to the Website (“User”). These terms of use, as amended, govern the usage of Website by its Users (“Terms”).

By using the Website, you have accepted and agree to be governed by these Terms, as may be amended from time to time.

1. Access and Use

  1. Users can contribute Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images on the Website.
  2. Anyone over the age of 18 can contribute to the Website. If you are below 18 years, you must have your parent or guardian’s consent and they must supervise your voluntary contribution to the Website.
  3. As a User you represent and warrant that you are of legal age and are legally competent to form a binding contract (or if not, you've received your parent's or guardian's permission to use the Website and they have agreed to these Terms on your behalf).
  4. As a User, you agree to adhere to these Terms when you access, use or contribute Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images on the Website. As a User, you will be responsible for all your actions and activities in relation to your usage of the Website.
  5. Your access and use of the Website may possibly be disrupted due to technical or operational difficulties, without prior notice of downtime.


2. Voluntary contribution of Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images
  1. Users shall contribute Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images on this Website and accept the terms of voluntary contribution in the Creative Commons for the use of their Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images without restrictions of any manner.
  2. Users shall ensure that Voice Recordings, Translated Texts and Labelled Images only contain the User reading out the text prompt displayed to them on the screen. Similarly, the Transcribed Texts will contain only the transcription of the text that the User hears while listening to the audio.
  3. Users shall not contribute Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts or Labelled Images that:
    1. Are unlawful or that a reasonable person could deem to be objectionable, offensive, pornographic, threatening, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or otherwise inappropriate;
    2. Are harmful to any person, including minors; or
    3. Include any personal information or sensitive personal data or information of the Users.
  4. Such Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images shall be discarded and will not form part of the Website dataset repository.
  5. If you can’t make these assurances, please do not contribute Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images on the Website.
  6. Users are entirely responsible for the Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images contributed on the Website.
  7. NLTM reserves the right to make the Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images available on a public database. Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images will be available under the CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication. That means that they will be public and NLTM has waived all copyrights to the extent NLTM can under law. If you participate by contributing your Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images, we require you to do the same. If you choose to provide Voice Recording, Transcribed Text, Translated Text and Labelled Image on the Website, you consent to NLTM offering your Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images to the public under the CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication.
  8. NLTM reserves the right to pre-screen or review Voice Recording, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images and to refuse to publish or delete any Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images which it deems does not fulfill the Purpose.
  9. After the Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images are made publicly available, users bear all risks associated with the use of any Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images including reliance on accuracy, completeness or usefulness of such Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images.


3. User Information & Privacy:
In order to contribute Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images, Users are not required to provide and the Website does not knowingly collect any personal information or sensitive personal data or information. Providing demographic metadata such as age group, gender and mother tongue is completely optional. If you do provide any demographic metadata on the Website, you consent to the collection and use of the same in accordance with the Privacy Policy. The IP address of a User is collected once for the limited purpose of determining your approximate location, i.e. your State. The IP address is not stored and the precise location of any User cannot be determined.


4. Changes in Policies:
These Terms (including any other Website policies), may be updated or modified from time to time and the revised Terms will be reflected herein. Your continued use of the Website constitutes acceptance of the then-current Terms. Hence, we encourage you to visit this page periodically to review any changes. We will post an effective date at the top of this page to make it clear when we made our most recent update.


5. Disclaimers:
The Website is available on an “As-Is” basis and there are no warranties or legal guarantees of any kind such as “merchantability”, “fitness for a particular purpose”, “non-infringement”. By using the Website and contributing Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images, you agree that NLTM will not be liable in any way for any inability to use the Website, or for any claim arising out of these Terms. NLTM specifically disclaims the following: indirect, special, incidental, consequential or exemplary damages, direct or indirect damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, lost profits, loss of data or computer malfunction. You agree to indemnify and hold NLTM harmless for any liability or claim that comes as a result of contributing Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images.


6. Infringement:
If you think that something on the Website infringes your right to privacy or intellectual property rights, including copyright or trademark rights, please contact us on support@bhashini.gov.in with details of the alleged infringement and your contact details.


7. Termination:
  1. If you violate any of these Terms, your permission to use the Website can be terminated or suspended. NLTM can also suspend or end anyone’s access to the Website at any time for any reason.
  2. The Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images you contribute on the Website may remain publicly available even if your access is terminated or suspended.


8. Governing Law:
These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the Indian law. Any dispute arising under these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Delhi, India.

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 1st April 2021

We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting the privacy of our Users.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully, to learn more about the ways in which the Website uses and protects your information and data. This Privacy Policy covers the information and data that is collected from its User(s). The terms ‘you’, ‘your’ refer to any User of the Website.

By using the Website and providing your information on the Website, you consent to the collection and use of the information you disclose by the Website in accordance with the Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the contents of this policy, please do not access or use the Website.

This Privacy Policy should be read in conjunction and together with the Terms of Use. Defined terms used but not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Terms of Use.

1. Data we collect, how it is used and who has access:
You understand, agree and acknowledge that the collection, storage and processing of your information or data on the Website is for a lawful purpose connected with the Purpose. Set out below are the types of data and information we collect, how it is used and who has access.

  1. Voice Recordings: Users may choose to contribute Voice Recordings on the Website. Voice recordings are used for the Purpose, including to develop speech-to-text technology and tools. Voice Recordings, along with your State, any optionally provided demographic metadata such as age group, gender and mother tongue, may be aggregated and made available publically available for public consumption, for use under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication. No personal metadata that can be used to identify a User or their voices will be collected or disclosed along with the Voice Recordings.

  2. Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images: Users may choose to contribute Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images. Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images are used for the Purpose, including to develop text-to-speech, machine translation and optical character recognition and speech-to-text technology and tools.

  3. Personal meta data and information: The Website does not mandate a User to provide any personal information or sensitive personal data or information. You do not need to create an account to use the Website or contribute Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images. You may choose to provide a username, which together with cookie will only be used to ensure uniqueness of the User and associated with your demographic and interaction metadata. Your username will not be shared to the public.

  4. Demographic metadata: You can optionally provide information such as your gender, age group, and mother tongue. Your IP address is collected once for the limited purpose of determining your approximate location, i.e. your State. The IP address is not stored and the precise location of any User cannot be determined. This will help NLTM and other researchers to understand the demographic distribution of the speakers in the dataset repository and to improve and create speech-to-text technology and tools. Aggregated and anonymised demographic data may be used for the purposes of analysis and may be shared to the public. Individual demographic data will not be shared to the public.

  5. Interaction data: We may use cookies to track de-identified information such as identifying the uniqueness of anonymous Users who contribute Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images, the number of Voice Recordings you record, the number of Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts or Labelled Images you contribute, interactions with buttons and menus, and session length. The cookie will be stored by the Website to identify anonymous users uniquely and hence, to provide you a personalized experience when you re-visit the Website. It can also be used to identify a unique speaker in some cases to their voices for a pure aggregated demographic view of all the consumers who have contributed to the dataset. You can delete the cookie anytime as per your discretion.

  6. Technical data: We may use cookies to track de-identified information such as the number of Voice Recordings you record or listen to, interactions with buttons and menus, and session length. We also collect the URL and title of the Website pages you visit. To consistently improve the Website experience, we collect information about browser type and version, viewport size, and screen resolution. This allows us to understand how people interact with Website so we can improve it. We also collect your location, and the language preference on the Website to make sure it looks right for you.



2. Storage of your data:
Your data will be stored in electronic form using Azure, Central India cloud services. NLTM may enter into agreements with third parties to store and process your information or data. These third parties will follow security standards to safeguard your information or data and the NLTM will, on a reasonable basis, require such third parties to adopt reasonable security standards to safeguard your information or data.


3. Data protection and security:
  1. We do not knowingly collect any personal information or sensitive personal data or information. However, while using the Website, you may choose to provide Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images, a username and certain demographic metadata on the Website. All your data and information will be encrypted and stored securely. Additionally, a variety of methods such as network and infrastructure security, secure sockets layer certificates, encryption and manual security measures are used to secure your information and data against loss or damage, to help protect the accuracy and security of your information and data, and to prevent unauthorised access or improper use.
  2. We use reasonable security measures as mandated under the (Indian) Information Technology Act, 2000 as amended and read with (Indian) Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011, to safeguard and protect your data and information.
  3. Although we strive to protect your data and information by using appropriate practices such as secure sockets layer certificates, we cannot guarantee the security of your data while it is being transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your data and information, we have reasonable procedures and security features in place to reasonably endeavor to prevent unauthorized access in accordance with Indian law.


4. Compliance with laws and law enforcement:
  1. NLTM cooperates with governments and law enforcement agencies or any third party by any order under law for the time being in force to enforce and comply with the law.
  2. Any information about you will be disclosed to the government or law enforcement officials or private parties as, in the sole discretion of NLTM, if we believe necessary or appropriate to respond to claims and legal process, to protect their property and rights or a third party, to protect the safety of the public or any person, or to prevent or stop any illegal, unethical or legally actionable activity. Your information or data may also be provided to various tax authorities upon any demand or request from them.
  3. You acknowledge that the Website can be accessed from anywhere in the world and it may have users from all over the world and therefore governments, judiciaries or law enforcement authorities in various parts of the world may have or assume jurisdiction over the Website and the Website may be subject to the laws, rules, regulations and judgments of various countries, states, municipalities or provinces where it may not have a direct presence to store, process, collect, use or keep your information or data. You acknowledge that government or law enforcement authorities in the countries where your data or information is stored may have the right to decrypt, collect, monitor or access your data or information, which actions are completely out of the control of NLTM. NLTM does not take any responsibility for such actions.


5. Deleting your information:
If you wish to have the data that you have provided deleted, you can always do so by sending an email request to support@bhashini.gov.in. You also agree and acknowledge that certain data or information cannot be deleted, because it cannot be uniquely identified as that of the requesting User, or may be prohibited to be deleted as required under any applicable law, law enforcement requests or under any judicial proceedings.

Copyright & Licensing Notice

Voice recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images along with any optionally provided demographic data, shall be available in the Website database for public consumption and use under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication.

Text prompts, Images and audio clips provided on the Website to create Voice Recordings, Transcribed Texts, Translated Texts and Labelled Images are selected from the following open source resource databases: -