Last updated: 20 October 2026

This is a personal website, payalchawla.com, run by Payal Chawla (“I”, “me”). I collect as little personal data as possible. This page explains what is collected, why, and what you can do about it.

What is collected

• Comments: if you leave a comment, your name, email address, website (if given), the comment itself, your IP address and browser details. Your email is never published.
• Previous messages: if you previously used this site’s contact form, your name, email address and message.
• Site statistics: anonymised, aggregate information about visits (pages viewed, country, referring site), used to understand what readers find useful. It does not identify you.

Email subscriptions

If you subscribe by email, your email address and subscription preferences are used to send you new articles and podcast updates. WordPress.com and Jetpack (Automattic) manage this service and may process technical information, such as your IP address and browser details, to set up and manage your subscription. You can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link in each email.

Why it is used

Only to publish and moderate comments, reply to messages, send email updates you request, keep the site secure and free of spam, and understand overall readership. I do not sell, rent or trade personal data, and I do not use it for advertising.

Third-party services

The site runs on WordPress.com and Jetpack (Automattic), which provide hosting, email subscriptions, statistics and spam filtering (Akismet). Comment profile pictures may come from Gravatar. Podcast videos are embedded from YouTube, and some fonts load from Google Fonts. These services may receive your IP address and set their own cookies, under their own privacy policies.

Cookies

If you comment, you may choose to have your name and email remembered in a cookie for a year. Embedded videos and sharing buttons may set their own cookies. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings.

How long data is kept

Comments stay published until removed. Messages are kept only as long as needed to respond.

Your rights

Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and other applicable law, you can ask to see, correct or erase personal data I hold about you, or withdraw consent.

Use of content

All writing, podcasts and other content on this site are © Payal Chawla. They may not be reproduced, scraped, or used to train artificial intelligence or machine-learning systems without my prior written permission.

Changes

I may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows the latest version.