Privacy
Privacy Policy
Last updated: 25 October 2026
In short
This is a personal research website. There are no user accounts, no payments, no ads and no cookies. The only personal data I receive is what you choose to send me through the contact form or by email. I use it only to reply to you. I never sell it, rent it or use it for marketing.
Who is responsible for your data
Khuswant Sharma, New Delhi, India, runs this website and decides how its data is used. Under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 that makes me the “Data Fiduciary” (the “controller” under the GDPR). For any question about your data, write to me at sharmakhuswant16@gmail.com. I am the person who answers these questions.
What I collect, why, and for how long
| Where | What data | Why | Legal basis | How long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contact form | Your name, email address and message | To read and reply to your message | You chose to send it to me for that purpose | At least one year, then deleted (see below) |
| Email you send me directly | Your email address, name and whatever you write | To read and reply to your email | You chose to send it to me for that purpose | At least one year, then deleted (see below) |
| Visiting any page | Anonymous page-view statistics: page, referring site, country or region, browser, operating system and device type. No cookies, no IP address stored | To see which pages are read and fix what does not work | My legitimate interest in running a useful website | Vercel discards the daily visitor hash after 24 hours; only totals remain |
| Page speed | Anonymous loading-speed measurements for each page | To keep the website fast | My legitimate interest in running a useful website | Aggregated by Vercel; no personal identifiers |
| Hosting | Technical request data, such as your IP address and browser, which every web server receives | To deliver the pages to you and protect the site from abuse | Necessary to run the website securely | Short-lived server logs held by Vercel under its own policy |
Please do not send sensitive information, such as bank or card details, passwords, ID numbers or health details, through the form or by email. I do not need it, and I will delete it if it arrives.
Cookies and tracking
This website sets no cookies and uses no advertising, social-media or cross-site trackers. The page-view statistics come from Vercel Web Analytics, which counts visits without cookies and without storing your IP address; it recognises a visit using a hash that it discards after 24 hours. Because nothing is stored on your device, there is no cookie banner.
Who else handles your data
These services process data for me, only to provide the functions described above:
- Formspree (contact form delivery and storage). Formspree privacy policy
- Vercel (website hosting, Web Analytics and Speed Insights). Vercel privacy policy
- Google (Gmail, where messages arrive and replies are sent from). Google privacy policy
These providers may store data on servers outside India, including in the United States. India’s DPDP Act allows this unless the Government restricts transfers to a particular country, and I will follow any such restriction. I do not share your data with anyone else, except where Indian law requires it.
How long I keep it
India’s DPDP Rules, 2025 require that personal data and related logs are kept for at least one year. I keep contact-form messages and emails for one year from the date I receive them. I review them every three months and delete anything older than one year, unless we are still in conversation or the law requires me to keep it longer. You can ask me to delete your message sooner; I will do so where the law allows.
How I protect it
The website is served only over encrypted HTTPS, with strict browser security settings. The Formspree, Vercel and email accounts that hold messages are protected with strong passwords and two-step verification, and only I can access them.
If a data breach ever affects your personal data, I will tell you without delay, explaining what happened, what it could mean for you and what I am doing about it. I will also report it to the Data Protection Board of India as the law requires.
Your rights
You can ask me, at any time and free of charge, to:
- tell you what personal data I hold about you, how I use it and who it was shared with;
- correct, complete or update it;
- delete it;
- stop using it, if you no longer want me to reply or keep it (withdrawing consent is as easy as giving it);
- nominate another person to exercise these rights for you if you die or become unable to;
- if you are in the EU, the UK or a similar region: restrict or object to its use, or receive a copy in a portable format.
To use any of these rights, email sharmakhuswant16@gmail.com with the subject “Privacy request” from the address you used to contact me, so I can confirm it is you. I will reply within 30 days, and any grievance will be resolved within 90 days at the most, as the DPDP Rules require.
Complaints
If you are not satisfied with my reply, you can complain to the Data Protection Board of India once its complaint process is open; under the DPDP Act you should first raise it with me. If you are in the EU or the UK, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Children
This website is meant for adults. If you are under 18, please do not use the contact form or send me personal data without a parent or guardian. If I learn that I have received personal data from a child without a parent’s consent, I will delete it.
Changes to this policy
If the way this website handles data changes, I will update this page first and change the date at the top. For a significant change, I will add a note on this page explaining it.
Contact
Khuswant Sharma, New Delhi, India. Email: sharmakhuswant16@gmail.com. See also the Terms of Use and Disclaimer.