Privacy Policy

Effective Date: [04/08/2026]

Welcome to Vaikom Vartha. We respect your privacy and aim to be clear and
honest about what information we collect and how we use it.

1. Information You Provide to Us

If you choose to create a free reader account, sign up for our newsletter,
or register through one of our reader engagement prompts, we collect:

• Your email address
• Your name, if you provide it
• Any comments you post on articles, which are linked to your account

Creating an account or subscribing is entirely optional. You can read all
news content on Vaikom Vartha without registering.

2. Information Automatically Collected

When you visit Vaikom Vartha, basic technical information is collected
automatically to keep the site secure and help us understand readership:

• Usage Data: your IP address, browser type, operating system, and the
  articles you view
• Device Data: whether you're browsing on mobile, tablet, or desktop

This data is used for internal purposes such as understanding which local
stories are most read and protecting the site from abuse. We do not
currently use Google Analytics or any third-party advertising/tracking
cookies.

3. Local Storage on Your Device

Certain features, such as our floating Vaikathukaran character widget,
save small pieces of information directly in your browser's local storage
(for example, its on-screen position, and whether you've seen its latest
post). This information stays on your device, is never sent to our
servers, and cannot identify you personally.

4. Third-Party Services We Use

To operate the website, certain pages load resources from these
third-party providers, each governed by their own privacy policy:

• Google Fonts — to display text correctly
• Google Publisher Center / Reader Revenue Manager — powers our
  newsletter sign-up and reader registration prompts; if you use these,
  Google processes the information you submit on our behalf
• OpenWeatherMap — provides the local Vaikom weather shown on our site
  (this uses a fixed location, not your personal location)
• Font Awesome and Swiper (via their content delivery networks) — used
  for icons and image sliders on the site
• YouTube — if you view embedded videos, YouTube's own privacy policy
  applies to that interaction

5. Advertisements

Advertisements shown on Vaikom Vartha (video and image banners) are
hosted directly on our own website and are not served through third-party
ad networks. We do not use these ads to track you across other websites.

6. Social Media Sharing

Our site includes sharing buttons for WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and
Instagram. Using these buttons does not give Vaikom Vartha access to your
social media account. When you share a link, you're interacting directly
with that platform, and its own privacy policy applies.

7. Your Rights

Under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you have the
right to know what personal data we hold about you, request its
correction, or request that we delete your account and associated data.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at editor.vaikomvartha@gmail.com.

8. Disclosure of Information

We do not sell or rent your personal information. We may share
information with:

• Trusted service providers who help run our website and reader
  engagement tools (including Ghost and Google, as described above)
• Authorities, if required by law or legal process

9. Security

We use standard administrative and technical measures to protect the
data we hold, including account information and comments.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as our website, features, or legal
obligations change. Continued use of the site after changes take effect
means you accept the updated policy.

11. Contact Us

For any questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, contact us at:
Email: editor.vaikomvartha@gmail.com
Address: 1st Floor, Archdiocese Building, 16/158, W Gate Rd,
Vaikom, Kothanalloor, Vaikom, Kottayam, Kerala 686141