Privacy Policy
What personal data The Algo Bench collects, why, and your rights under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
Last updated
This policy explains how The Algo Bench, a proprietorship of Satish Nagda (“The Algo Bench”, “we”), handles personal data when you use thealgobench.com, our newsletter and related channels. We act as the Data Fiduciary under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (the “DPDP Act”).
Short version: we collect as little as possible. No advertising trackers, no sale of data, and no cookies for analytics.
1. What we collect
| Data | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Email address (and name, if you give it) | You subscribe to the newsletter and confirm by clicking the link we email you (double opt-in) | To send the newsletter you asked for |
| Your message and email address | You email us | To reply to you |
| Purchase and billing details | You buy a paid product (future) | To deliver the product, invoice you and meet tax law. Card and UPI details are handled by the payment provider, not by us. |
| Technical data (IP address, browser type, pages requested) | You visit the site | Security, abuse prevention and aggregate traffic statistics |
| Anonymous feedback: your ♥ or 👍/👎 vote, an optional “What was missing?” note, a random ID stored in your browser, and a scrambled (one-way hashed) version of your IP address that changes every day | You vote on a post | To count votes once per reader, let you change your vote, and limit abuse. We never store your IP address itself, and we cannot work out who you are from these values. |
Our website analytics are cookie-less and aggregate. They tell us how many people read a page, not who you are.
Your vote is remembered in your own browser’s local storage (not a cookie) so the page can show your choice. Clearing your browser data removes it.
2. Legal basis
We process newsletter and enquiry data on the basis of your consent, which you give by subscribing or writing to us. Technical data is processed for the legitimate uses permitted under the DPDP Act, such as keeping the service secure.
3. Who processes data for us
We use a small number of service providers (Data Processors) to run The Algo Bench:
- Cloudflare, Inc.: website hosting, content delivery, security, analytics, email forwarding, storage of anonymous feedback votes, and the anti-spam check described below.
- Kit (ConvertKit LLC): storing subscriber emails and sending the newsletter.
Some of these providers may process data outside India, in line with the DPDP Act and any restrictions notified under it. We do not sell or rent personal data to anyone.
Anti-spam check (Cloudflare Turnstile)
When you vote or send feedback, we use Cloudflare Turnstile to check that the request comes from a person rather than an automated script. It runs invisibly in your browser and does not ask you to solve a puzzle. To do this, Cloudflare processes technical information about your browser and the request, as described in the Cloudflare Turnstile Privacy Addendum. Cloudflare’s use of this information is governed by that addendum and its own privacy policy.
4. How long we keep it
- Newsletter: until you unsubscribe, after which your address is removed or kept only on a suppression list so we don’t email you again.
- Emails to us: for as long as needed to deal with your enquiry, and up to 24 months after that.
- Purchase records: as long as tax and accounting law requires.
- Technical logs: for the short periods our hosting provider retains them.
- Feedback votes: for as long as the post is published. The scrambled IP value is only useful for one day (it changes daily) and is not linked to you.
5. Your rights
Under the DPDP Act you can:
- access a summary of the personal data we hold about you;
- correct, complete or update it;
- erase it, unless we must keep it by law;
- withdraw consent at any time; every newsletter has an unsubscribe link;
- nominate another person to exercise your rights if you die or become incapacitated;
- raise a grievance with us, and then with the Data Protection Board of India if you are not satisfied.
To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We will respond within the time required by law.
6. Grievance contact
Satish Nagda, [email protected]
7. Children
The Algo Bench is intended for adults. We don’t knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has subscribed, contact us and we’ll delete the data.
8. Security
We use reputable providers, encrypted connections (HTTPS) and limited access to subscriber data. No system is perfectly secure, and we will notify affected users and the Data Protection Board of a personal data breach as the law requires.
9. Changes
We’ll update this page if our practices change and note the date at the top. Significant changes will be announced in the newsletter.