Privacy policy
We want as little of your data as possible. Here is exactly what we keep, why, and how to have it removed.
Our starting point is unusual and simple: we want as little of your data as possible.
What we collect
Nothing, if you read without an account. Reading is anonymous. With an optional account: your email or phone number (for sign-in), your bookmarks, streak, and preferences (city, language, text size). Technical basics required to serve pages: your IP address in transient server logs, retained 30 days for security.
Counting readers, anonymously
To know whether our editions are read, we count opens: a short random identifier kept on your device, the section, the hour, and your city, worked out from your IP address, which is then discarded. No profile of any person is built from this, and these counts are kept for 90 days.
Google Analytics, only with your yes
If you tap Allow on our first-visit notice, Google Analytics also counts your visits: pages opened, time spent, device type and approximate area. Google sets its own identifier on your device and processes this on our behalf. Google signals and ad personalisation are switched off, so it is not used to show you ads. If you tap No thanks, nothing from Google loads. You can change your answer at any time in Settings.
If you give us your email
If you leave your email for the launch offer (ACTIV NEXT and The Verandah free until 30 November 2026) or for the daily email, we keep it only to give you that access or to send you that email. You can ask us to remove it at any time.
What we never do
No advertising. No sale or sharing of personal data. No tracking across other apps or websites. No profiling of your reading to target you. No third-party analytics without your yes.
Why we process data (DPDP Act 2023 basis)
With your consent, to provide sign-in, sync, and notifications you asked for; and as legitimately necessary to secure the service.
Where it lives
On our own servers in Bengaluru, India; pages reach you through Cloudflare's network. Payment data for paid products is handled by Stripe; we never see or store card or UPI credentials.
Your rights (DPDP Act 2023)
Access, correction, and erasure of your data; withdrawal of consent; grievance redressal (see Grievance); nomination as provided by law. Exercise any of these at [email protected] or Settings → Account. We respond within 30 days.
Deleting your account
Delete your account in Settings → Account → Delete, or by writing to [email protected]. Deletion removes your identifier, bookmarks, streak, and preferences from live systems immediately and from backups within 30 days, except records we must retain under law (for example, payment records, kept for the period required by Indian tax law). Reading the app never required data, so a deleted reader loses nothing but sync.
Children
Reading requires no account and no data. Accounts require the user to be 18+, or to have verifiable parental consent as the DPDP Act requires. We do not knowingly process children's personal data beyond this, and we build the product to be safe for young readers regardless.
Data Protection contact / Grievance Officer
Dr. R. Nagesh, [email protected], No. 8, 19th Cross, Ittamadu, Banashankari 3rd Stage, Bengaluru 560085, Karnataka, India.