This policy explains what personal data News Pillar ("we", "us") collects when you use our website at newspillar.live, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have. It follows India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the rules made under it.

1. When you read our stories

You can read News Pillar without an account. When you open a story, we record:

  • your IP address, your browser's description of itself (its "user agent"), and whether you use a phone, tablet or computer;
  • the website that sent you to us (only its domain, such as google.com), and any campaign tags in the link, such as utm_source;
  • your account, if you are signed in.

We use this to count each reader once per story, to see which stories and links bring readers, and to protect the website from abuse. These records are deleted automatically 12 months after your first visit to that story. Our staff see totals only, never individual readers.

2. Your account

You need an account only to comment, react, vote in polls or save stories for later. You can sign in:

  • with your Indian mobile number: we send you a 6-digit code by SMS, which works once and expires after 5 minutes; or
  • with Google or Facebook: they give us your name, your email address (if they have verified it) and a link to your profile picture.

We keep your name, mobile number, email address (if you give one), profile picture link, the ID of your Google or Facebook account, and when you last signed in. You can change your name and email on your profile page. Your mobile number is never shown publicly. If you sign in with your number only, your name starts as "Reader" followed by the last four digits of your number, until you change it.

To comment, react, vote or save stories, your mobile number must be verified with a code.

3. Comments, reactions, polls and saved stories

  • Comments. We keep what you write with your account. Your name is shown next to your comment, or "Anonymous" if you choose; our moderators can still see who wrote an anonymous comment. Moderators also see your name and mobile number so they can deal with abuse. A comment appears once a moderator approves it. We also record who liked or reported a comment.
  • Reactions and poll votes. We keep one reaction per story and one vote per poll with your account. Only the totals are public.
  • Saved stories. If you are signed in, your saved stories are kept with your account. If not, they are kept only in your browser.

4. Newsletter

If you subscribe, we keep your email address, how often you want the newsletter (daily, weekly or monthly) and your language. We first send a confirmation email, and send nothing else until you confirm. Every newsletter has an unsubscribe link; unsubscribing deletes your address from our list. We do not track whether you open our emails or click their links.

5. Breaking news alerts

If you allow notifications, your browser gives us an address at its push service (run by your browser's maker, such as Google, Mozilla or Apple) and the keys needed to send to it. We keep these with your language, and your account if you are signed in. We send only breaking news headlines. To stop alerts, turn off notifications for newspillar.live in your browser's site settings. We delete the address once the push service tells us it no longer works.

6. Cookies and storage on your device

  • Sign-in cookie. When you sign in, we set one cookie, refresh_token, which keeps you signed in for up to 30 days. Scripts cannot read it, and it is removed when you log out.
  • Preferences. Your browser's local storage keeps your light or dark theme, text size, stories saved without an account, recently used emoji, and whether you have closed the newsletter or alerts prompts. These stay on your device (saved stories move to your account when you sign in).
  • Offline copies. To load faster and work offline, your browser may keep copies of recent stories for up to 7 days and of photos for up to 30 days.

Other companies set their own cookies when their services appear on our pages: Google (advertising and Google sign-in), Facebook (Facebook sign-in) and YouTube (videos in stories). See sections 7 and 8.

7. Advertising

We show two kinds of ads. For our own ads we count only total views and clicks, never linked to you. We also use Google AdSense: Google and its partners may use cookies and similar technology to show you ads based on your visits to this and other websites. To learn how Google uses this data, see policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. You can turn off personalised ads at myadcenter.google.com.

8. Who we share data with

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with:

  • Service providers who work for us: our SMS provider, MSG91 (your mobile number and the sign-in code); our email provider (your email address, to send the newsletter); and the companies that host our servers and files.
  • Google and Facebook, when you choose to sign in with them; and Google AdSense and YouTube, through their own cookies on our pages.
  • Your browser's push service, to deliver the alerts you asked for.
  • Authorities, when Indian law requires it, for example under a court order or a lawful request from a government agency.

We never send your comments or account details to translation services; only our own stories are translated.

9. How long we keep data

  • Story view records: 12 months.
  • Your account, comments, reactions, votes and saved stories: until you ask us to delete your account.
  • Newsletter subscription: until you unsubscribe.
  • Alert subscriptions: until you turn alerts off.
  • Records of actions taken by our staff (which can include your account, for example if it is blocked): 12 months.
  • Server logs, which record the pages requested and the address they came from: only as long as needed for security and fixing problems.

10. How we protect your data

Our website uses HTTPS. Sign-in codes are stored only in hashed form, expire after 5 minutes and can be tried only a few times. Staff passwords are protected with strong hashing, staff can use two-step sign-in, and each staff member sees only what their role needs. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your data, and if a breach happens we will inform you and the authorities as the law requires.

11. Your rights

Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 you can:

  • ask for a summary of the personal data we hold about you and how we use it;
  • ask us to correct or update it (you can change your name and email yourself on your profile page);
  • ask us to delete your account and your personal data, unless the law requires us to keep it;
  • withdraw your consent, for example by unsubscribing from the newsletter or turning off alerts;
  • nominate someone to use these rights for you if you die or become unable to;
  • complain to us and, if you are not satisfied, to the Data Protection Board of India.

To use these rights, write to info@newspillar.live and mention the email address or mobile number linked to your account. We reply within 30 days.

12. Children

News Pillar is a general news website. You must be 18 or older to create an account, or have your parent's or guardian's consent. If you believe a child has given us personal data without that consent, write to us and we will delete it.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when our services or the law change. We will change the date at the top, and for important changes we will also tell you on the website.

14. Contact and Grievance Officer

Grievance Officer, News Pillar
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Email: info@newspillar.live

We acknowledge every complaint within 24 hours and resolve it within 15 days.