Privacy Policy

This policy explains what the All Pakistan Music Conference (“APMC”, “we”), Lahore, Pakistan, collects on the APMC Portal and why.

Contact: office@apmc-pakistan.org.

1. What we collect

Account — your email address (or the basic profile shared when you sign in with Google or Facebook) and, if provided, a phone number. Competitor identity — the identity document you upload (CNIC, B-Form, passport or school ID) and the details read from it: names in English and Urdu, father/guardian name, date of birth, gender, document number; plus a photo of the competitor, contact details, city, and for under-18s a guardian’s name and phone. School & teachers — the institution you claim and the music teachers you list. Entries & payments — your contest entries and payment records, including the bank-slip images you upload as proof. Representatives — school reps and team applicants also submit an ID card (and, for reps, an authority letter). Technical — a session cookie to keep you signed in, and error reports if something breaks.

2. How we use it

We use this information to run the competition: verifying identity and age eligibility, managing entries and payments, scheduling, judging, publishing results and awarding; maintaining a verified competitor identity across competition editions; preserving APMC's competition and historical records; sending service emails about your registration (entry received, payment verified, review results and reminders); and keeping the event safe and honest.

Photographs, audio and video from the competition may also be used for event documentation, APMC's archive and, where promotional consent has been given, promotion as described in the Terms & Conditions. We do not sell personal data and we do not use advertising trackers.

3. How ID scanning works

When you upload an identity document, its image is sent to Anthropic’s Claude service solely to read the printed fields; the reading is then checked by you and, where needed, by the organisers. Anthropic states that inputs and outputs submitted through its commercial API are not used to train its models by default and are ordinarily deleted from its backend within 30 days, subject to its applicable terms and limited exceptions.

Document images are stored with restricted access and are available only to the competitor and authorised APMC organisers. APMC may retain the document image and the verified details across competition editions to maintain a consistent verified competitor identity, support future registrations, verify age and eligibility, prevent duplicate or fraudulent registrations, and maintain the integrity of its competition records. APMC may ask for a new or updated document where necessary.

4. Who sees what

Authorised APMC admins and managers whose roles require access can see registration data, including identity documents. Access to identity documents is restricted to organisers who need it for verification, administration or authorised record management. Judges see a competitor’s name, photo and entry — never their school, which is deliberately hidden from judging to keep marking fair. Your school’s confirmed representatives see their own students’ registration status. Other competitors may see your name (and school or city) when searching for duet/group partners. Published results name the competitor, placing and institution.

5. Services we rely on

The portal runs on Vercel (hosting) with data stored on Neon (database) and Cloudflare R2 (files). Anthropic reads ID documents. Google provides sign-in and delivers our emails. Meta provides the optional WhatsApp group and Facebook page you may choose to join. Sentry receives technical error reports. Each processes data only to provide its service.

6. Children

The competition welcomes competitors under 18. They may participate with the knowledge and consent of a parent or legal guardian, whose contact details we collect, or through an authorised representative of their confirmed school. The person registering or approving a minor’s registration confirms that they have authority to do so.

A parent or legal guardian may contact APMC regarding their child’s registration and may exercise the choices described below on their child’s behalf. Photography and recording of minors is handled as described in the Terms & Conditions, including separate consent for promotional use.

7. Retention

Competitor registration and identity-verification records may be kept across competition editions. This includes identity documents, the details verified from them, competitor photographs and other information needed to maintain the competitor’s verified profile. We retain these records so that returning competitors can participate in future editions without unnecessary re-verification, to determine age and eligibility, to prevent duplicate or fraudulent registrations, and to maintain accurate competition records.

The competition record itself — including entries, marks, advancement decisions, results and awards — is part of APMC’s permanent historical record and survives account deletion.

Payment records and supporting information may be retained as part of APMC’s financial and administrative records.

APMC may delete or archive information that is no longer required for these purposes and may require updated information or documents from a returning competitor where necessary.

8. Your choices

You can view and correct your details on your dashboard, or ask the organisers to correct information read from your documents. You may also ask us to close your portal account and remove contact information that is no longer required, at office@apmc-pakistan.org. Closing a portal account does not automatically delete the competitor’s identity-verification record or historical competition record, which APMC may retain as described in §7. If identity information changes or is incorrect, APMC may require supporting documentation before changing a verified record. Joining the WhatsApp group or Facebook page is optional and governed by those platforms’ own terms.

9. Changes

We may update this policy; material changes will be visible here with an updated date.

See also the Terms & Conditions and the competition rules.