Privacy Policy

At SciTamil, your privacy and digital trust are foundational to our editorial mission. As an independent science publication dedicated to translating complex peer-reviewed research from global journals (such as Nature, Science, The Lancet, and Cell) into accessible, evidence-based Tamil and English reporting, we operate with absolute commitment to data minimization, ethical communication, and transparent governance.

This policy complies with applicable global data protection regulations, including the Indian Information Technology Act (and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, DPDPA 2023), the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR), the United Kingdom Data Protection Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA / CPRA), and Google Publisher Policy mandates.

Information We Collect

We collect information in two distinct ways to provide, secure, and enhance our science journalism services:

Information You Directly Provide

• Editorial Inquiries and Feedback: When you contact our editorial desk via email (info@scitamil.in), contact forms, or editorial submissions, we collect your name, email address, and the contents of your correspondence to assist you.
• Newsletter Subscriptions: When you voluntarily register for our weekly science briefings or specialized research updates, we collect your email address and delivery preferences.
• Reader Revenue, Subscriptions, and Contributions: When you support SciTamil through voluntary contributions, digital memberships, or Google Revenue Manager subscription features, we receive basic account confirmation details (such as your verified email address and active entitlement status) as authorized through your Google Account or payment provider.
• Community Comments and Discussions: If you post comments on published articles, we collect the submitted text, your provided display name, and associated verification metadata to prevent malicious spam and ensure constructive scholarly discussion.

Information Collected Automatically

• Server Log Files: Like most standard digital publications, our web servers automatically generate log files. These records include Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, browser family and version, Internet Service Provider (ISP), operating system, date and time stamps, referring and exit pages, and approximate geographic location at the country or city tier. IP addresses are analyzed in aggregated format to monitor site performance and defend against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) threats.
• Device and Performance Metrics: We collect technical parameters regarding your viewing screen resolution, device category (mobile smartphone, tablet, or desktop workstation), and connection speeds to deliver responsive typography and optimized WebP image rendering.
• Reading Engagement Analytics: We measure aggregated readership patterns, such as topic preferences, reading duration, and scroll progression, enabling our editorial board to understand which scientific topics best serve reader curiosity.

Google Revenue Manager and Reader Support

To sustain independent, evidence-grounded science reporting without intrusive paywalls or compromise in journalistic integrity, SciTamil utilizes Google Revenue Manager (including Google Reader Revenue Manager) and recognized financial partners to facilitate voluntary reader contributions, newsletter signups, and digital access subscriptions.

When you complete a subscription or voluntary contribution using Google Reader Revenue Manager:

• Google Authentication and Entitlement: Google authenticates your payment credentials securely within its own encrypted infrastructure. Google then notifies SciTamil of your subscription entitlement tier and supplies your verified email address to enable ad-free reading privileges, premium archives, or newsletter delivery.
• Subscription Management and Cancellation: You maintain complete autonomous control over your recurring digital subscriptions. You may inspect, modify, pause, or cancel your active subscription at any time by accessing your personal Google Account subscriptions dashboard at https://myaccount.google.com/subscriptions.
• Reader Contributions: One-time voluntary contributions made to support SciTamil science journalism are voluntary gifts dedicated to scientific education, research translation, and hosting infrastructure.

Google Advertising, AdSense, and Third-Party Cookies

SciTamil works with trusted third-party advertising networks, primarily Google AdSense and Google Ad Manager, to serve relevant digital advertisements to our audience.

• Third-Party Vendor Disclosures: Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies and tracking technologies to serve advertisements on SciTamil.
• DoubleClick and Advertising Cookies: Google and its advertising partners utilize cookies, including the DoubleClick cookie, to serve advertisements to readers based on their prior visits to SciTamil (scitamil.in) and other websites across the global internet.
• Contextual and Personalized Delivery: Depending on your regulatory location and privacy consent selections, advertisements may be customized to your browsing history or served purely on contextual relevance to the scientific article you are currently reading.
• Consumer Opt-Out Mechanisms: You possess the absolute legal right to opt out of personalized Google advertising at any time. You can customize or disable personalized ad preferences by visiting Google Ads Settings at https://adssettings.google.com.
• Industry Opt-Out Portals: You may also opt out of third-party interest-based advertising cookies from participating advertising networks by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) opt-out page at https://www.optout.networkadvertising.org or the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) portal at https://www.aboutads.info/choices. European readers can configure preferences through https://www.youronlinechoices.eu.

Cookies and Local Browser Storage

Cookies are small data files stored on your local computer or mobile device by your internet browser. SciTamil employs cookies and browser local storage mechanisms for the following functional purposes:

You can manage, restrict, or delete cookies at any time via your browser settings. If you choose to disable all cookies, please note that certain user interface customizations (such as Dark Mode preference or member login persistence) may require reconfiguration upon each visit.

How We Use Collected Information

We process collected data strictly under legitimate, lawful grounds for the following specified operational goals:

• Publishing and Content Delivery: Formatting, serving, and updating high-speed, mobile-responsive scientific articles, news summaries, and interactive infographics.
• Subscriber Service: Enabling reader authentication, facilitating voluntary contributions, delivering requested newsletters, and providing customer support.
• Technical Integrity and Security: Detecting, preventing, and combating spam comments, security breaches, unauthorized automated crawling, and fraudulent activity.
• Editorial Research: Evaluating reader interest across major scientific categories (Astrophysics, Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, Public Health, and Climate Science) to plan future investigative coverage.
• Statutory Compliance: Fulfilling applicable legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations established under regional and national authorities.

Data Sharing and Non-Sale Commitment

We do not sell, rent, lease, trade, or monetize your personal information to data brokers, commercial marketers, or unauthorized entities under any circumstances.

Personal data is shared strictly under confidential, restricted parameters with:

• Authorized Service Infrastructure: Trusted technical partners who provide cloud web hosting, content distribution networks (Cloudflare), newsletter dispatch systems, and security monitoring. These partners are legally bound by strict confidentiality agreements and data processing protocols.
• Google Revenue Manager & Payment Networks: Verified financial payment gateways for the exclusive purpose of authenticating memberships and processing voluntary reader support.
• Legal Mandates: Where disclosure is required by law, court order, formal governmental subpoena, or to protect the safety, legal rights, and physical security of SciTamil, our readers, or the general public.

Data Retention and Security Safeguards

We implement robust physical, administrative, and technical safeguards to preserve the confidentiality and integrity of reader information:

• Encryption in Transit: All web traffic between your browser and SciTamil servers is encrypted using modern Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3 / SSL 256-bit encryption), preventing eavesdropping or packet tampering.
• Access Restrictions: Administrative access to backend editorial panels is restricted through multi-factor authentication, principle-of-least-privilege permissions, and regular audit logs.
• Retention Schedules: Email correspondence and support inquiries are retained only for the duration necessary to resolve the inquiry, typically up to 12 months. Web server access logs are automatically rotated and purged on periodic cycles. Subscriber entitlement data is retained for the active lifecycle of your subscription.

Your Legal Privacy Rights

Depending on your geographic residency, you possess specific legal rights concerning your personal information:

European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom Readers (GDPR)

• Right of Access: You may request formal confirmation and copies of personal data we maintain concerning you.
• Right to Rectification: You may request prompt correction of incomplete, inaccurate, or outdated personal details.
• Right to Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): You may request that we delete your personal data where retention is no longer necessary for stated purposes.
• Right to Restrict or Object: You may object to data processing based on legitimate interests or request restriction of processing.
• Right to Data Portability: You may request receipt of your provided information in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to submit a formal complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.

California Residents (CCPA / CPRA)

• Right to Know and Access: You have the right to know the specific pieces and categories of personal information collected, sources, and commercial purposes.
• Right to Delete: You have the right to request deletion of personal information collected directly from you, subject to legal exceptions.
• Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing: SciTamil does not sell your personal data. We provide tools to opt out of cross-context behavioral advertising cookies.
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will never deny services, charge differing prices, or alter content quality because you exercised your statutory privacy rights.

Indian Residents (DPDPA 2023)

• Right to Information: You may request a summary of personal data processed by SciTamil and the identities of any data fiduciaries or processors with whom data has been shared.
• Right to Correction and Erasure: You may request correction of inaccurate data and erasure of data no longer required for the purpose for which it was collected.
• Right to Grievance Redressal: You have the right to contact our Grievance Officer regarding any privacy concern, with an assured resolution within statutory timelines.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection

Protecting the digital privacy of young children is of paramount importance to our editorial board. SciTamil publishes science education materials suited for general audiences, students, and educators. However, our digital platform is not structured or directed toward children under the age of 13 (or under 16 in applicable European jurisdictions).

We do not knowingly collect, request, or store personally identifiable information from children under 13 years of age. In the event that we learn that personal data of a child has been submitted without verifiable parental consent, we will take immediate steps to delete that information from our servers. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact our team immediately at info@scitamil.in.

External Scientific Citations and Third-Party Links

SciTamil articles routinely link directly to primary scientific literature, open-access academic repositories, university press releases, and research databases (including PubMed, arXiv, Crossref, NASA, and publisher DOI resolvers). These hyperlinks are provided for academic verification and scholarly transparency.

SciTamil exercises no control over the privacy architectures, cookie practices, or content policies of external platforms. Once you follow a link leading away from scitamil.in, we encourage you to review the privacy documentation of that external website.

Amendments and Policy Updates

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect technological advancements, new publisher features, enhancements to Google Revenue Manager integrations, or shifts in international data privacy statutes. When modifications occur, we will update the “Last Updated” date displayed at the top of this page. We encourage readers to review this page periodically to remain informed about our data protection standards.

Grievance Redressal and Contact Details

If you have any questions, comments, requests to exercise your legal privacy rights, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or our data processing practices, please contact our designated Grievance Desk: