Privacy notice

Last updated: October 2026.

Who we are

Real Antiques is a trading name of Aksan Enterprises, based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Aksan Enterprises is responsible for your personal data (the "data fiduciary" under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, and the "controller" under the EU and UK GDPR). Our contact details are at the end of this notice.

What we collect

• Your collector account — your name, email address and, if you sign in with Google, your Google profile name and picture. If you add them: your phone or WhatsApp number, your country, and whether you would like to hear from us about new pieces.
• Saved pieces — the pieces you save to your collection.
• Waiting lists — the pieces or categories you ask to be notified about, with any budget or note you add.
• Wish requests — descriptions of pieces you are looking for, with any budget and details you give. If you agree, an anonymised summary (never your name or contact details) may appear on our public wanted board.
• Enquiries — what you send us through our forms: enquiries to buy, offers to sell, school-visit requests and general messages, including your name, email, phone number, country and message, and for school visits your school's name, your role, approximate student numbers and preferred dates.
• Messages — emails and WhatsApp messages you send us.
• Sales records — if you buy from us, the details needed to complete and record the sale, such as your delivery address and payment records.
• Technical data — our servers record basic information such as your IP address, browser and the pages requested, which we use to keep the site secure and working, including limiting repeated form submissions.

We do not collect personal data from students during school visits.

Cookies and similar technologies

We use a strictly necessary cookie to keep you signed in. Your currency choice is remembered in your own browser's storage and is never sent to us. We do not use advertising cookies, and we do not currently use analytics cookies. If that changes, we will update this notice and ask for your consent where the law requires it.

Why we use it, and on what basis

• To run your account and the features you use (saves, waiting lists, wish requests) — because you asked us to (contract; under the DPDP Act, your consent and your voluntary provision of the data for this purpose).
• To answer enquiries and arrange sales, deliveries and school visits — to take steps at your request before and under a contract.
• To tell you when a piece you are waiting for becomes available — because you asked for it. You can leave a waiting list at any time.
• To send news about new pieces — only if you opt in. You can opt out at any time.
• To keep the site secure and prevent misuse — our legitimate interest in protecting the site and our customers.
• To keep business and tax records — to comply with Indian law.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use it for automated decision-making.

Who processes it for us

We use a small number of service providers, who process data only on our instructions:

• Website and database hosting — to run the site and store account and enquiry data.
• Sanity — the content management system for our catalogue and pages. It holds published content such as piece descriptions and photographs, not your account details.
• Resend — to send emails such as sign-in links, enquiry confirmations and waiting-list notifications.
• Google — only if you choose to sign in with Google, to confirm your identity.
• WhatsApp (Meta) — only if you choose to message us on WhatsApp, under WhatsApp's own terms and privacy policy.

Some of these providers process data outside India, including in the United States and the European Union. Where the GDPR applies, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses for these transfers.

How long we keep it

• Account data, saves, waiting lists and wish requests — until you delete them or close your account.
• Enquiries and messages that do not lead to a sale — for up to three years after our last contact, so we can follow up on past conversations, then deleted.
• Sales records — for as long as Indian tax and accounting law requires.
• Server logs — for a short period, typically a few weeks.

Your rights

Under the DPDP Act you can ask for a summary of the personal data we hold about you and how we use it; ask us to correct, complete, update or erase it; withdraw consent at any time (this does not affect anything we did before); nominate another person to exercise your rights if you die or become unable to; and raise a grievance with us. If we do not resolve your grievance, you can complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

If the EU or UK GDPR applies to you, you also have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, data portability and objection, and the right to complain to your local data protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office).

To exercise any of these rights, email us at the address below. We will respond within one month, and we may need to confirm your identity first.

Children

Collector accounts are for adults (18 and over). School-visit requests should be made by a member of staff.

Security

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), restrict access to personal data to those who need it, and choose providers with strong security practices. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your data, we will tell you and the relevant authorities as the law requires.

Changes to this notice

If we make significant changes, we will update the date at the top and, where appropriate, let account holders know by email.