This policy explains what personal data this website collects, why, and what rights you have. It applies to sanjayiyer.in in English and German.
1. Who is responsible
The person responsible for personal data processed through this website is:
Sanjay Iyer
c/o Iyer & Sellmer Consulting Private Limited
44, Backary Portion, 2nd Floor, Regal Building, New Delhi G.P.O., New Delhi 110001, India
Email: sanjay@scholarwarrior.in
Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) I am the “controller”. Under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) I am the “Data Fiduciary”. This is a personal website, and I am not required to appoint a data protection officer. You can write to me in English or German.
2. What this website collects
I collect only what is needed to run the website, answer messages and send articles to subscribers.
When you visit the website. The hosting provider’s servers automatically record technical information for security and operation: your IP address, the date and time of the request, the page requested, the referring page, and your browser and operating system.
When you subscribe. Your email address, your first name if you give it, the language you choose (English or German), and the date and time you signed up and confirmed your address.
When you use the contact form. Your name, your email address, the subject you choose and your message. If you write to me directly by email, I receive the details you include.
I do not ask for sensitive personal data, I do not buy personal data, and I do not use it for profiling or automated decisions.
3. Purpose and legal basis
Sending new articles by email. I use your email address, first name and language to send you new articles in the language you chose. Before you are added, you receive an email asking you to confirm your address (double opt-in), so no one can sign you up without your knowledge. GDPR: your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)). DPDP Act: your consent (section 6).
Measuring whether emails are read. The emails are sent through Brevo, which records whether an email was delivered and opened and which links were clicked. This helps me see which articles readers find useful. GDPR: your consent, given when you subscribe (Art. 6(1)(a)). DPDP Act: your consent (section 6). You can end this at any time by unsubscribing.
Answering your message. I use the details you send through the contact form or by email to reply to you. GDPR: steps you ask for (Art. 6(1)(b)) and my legitimate interest in answering enquiries (Art. 6(1)(f)). DPDP Act: personal data you have voluntarily provided for this purpose (section 7(a)).
Operating and securing the website. Server logs let the website be delivered and protected against misuse. GDPR: legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)). DPDP Act: legitimate uses permitted by the Act.
You can withdraw your consent at any time, without giving reasons, through the unsubscribe link in every email or by writing to sanjay@scholarwarrior.in. Withdrawal does not affect processing that took place before it.
4. Where the data is processed
I am based in New Delhi, India, and this website is hosted by Hostinger on servers in India. If you visit or contact me from the European Union, your personal data is therefore received and processed in India. Because the website is offered to readers in the EU, the GDPR applies to that processing, and I apply GDPR-standard protection to it.
The European Commission has not issued an adequacy decision for India. Where a service provider transfers personal data from the EU to a country outside the EU, it relies on appropriate safeguards under Article 46 GDPR, such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.
The subscriber list is held by Brevo, a company based in France, in the EU.
5. How long the data is kept
Subscribers: for as long as you stay subscribed. When you unsubscribe, your address is removed from the website’s subscriber list. Brevo keeps the address on a block list only so that you are not emailed again.
Unconfirmed sign-ups: if you do not click the confirmation link, your details are deleted automatically after 30 days.
Contact messages: for as long as needed to deal with your message. The copy kept by the website is deleted automatically 24 months after it was received. Copies in my mailbox are deleted when they are no longer needed.
Server logs: for a limited period set by the hosting provider, and longer only where needed to investigate a security incident.
6. Service providers
These providers process personal data on my behalf under their data-processing terms. They may use it only on my instructions.
Hostinger (Hostinger International Ltd) hosts this website, its database and the server logs, and provides the mailbox sanjay@scholarwarrior.in. Contact-form messages and the subscriber list are stored in the website’s database; contact-form messages are also emailed to that mailbox, and confirmation emails are sent from it.
Brevo (Sendinblue SAS, Paris, France) stores the list of confirmed subscribers and sends the emails with new articles.
I do not sell personal data and do not share it with anyone for their own marketing. I disclose personal data to public authorities only where the law requires it.
7. Your rights under the GDPR
If the GDPR applies to your personal data, you have the right to:
- access the data I hold about you and receive a copy (Art. 15);
- have inaccurate data corrected (Art. 16);
- have your data erased (Art. 17);
- restrict how it is used (Art. 18);
- receive it in a portable format (Art. 20);
- object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21);
- withdraw consent at any time (Art. 7(3));
- complain to a supervisory authority (Art. 77, see section 10).
To exercise any of these rights, write to sanjay@scholarwarrior.in. I may ask you to confirm your identity, and I will reply within one month.
8. Your rights under the DPDP Act, 2023
If India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 applies to your personal data, you have the right to:
- a summary of the personal data processed about you and of the processing (section 11);
- have your personal data corrected, completed, updated or erased (section 12);
- withdraw your consent as easily as you gave it (section 6);
- have a grievance redressed (section 13, see section 9 below);
- nominate another person to exercise your rights in the event of your death or incapacity (section 14).
9. Grievance officer
Questions and grievances about the processing of your personal data can be sent to:
Sanjay Iyer
c/o Iyer & Sellmer Consulting Private Limited
44, Backary Portion, 2nd Floor, Regal Building, New Delhi G.P.O., New Delhi 110001, India
Email: sanjay@scholarwarrior.in
Please describe your grievance and include the details needed to identify you. I will acknowledge it promptly and resolve it as soon as possible, and in any case within ninety days.
10. Complaints to a supervisory authority
I would prefer you to raise any concern with me first, and I will try to resolve it.
In the European Union, you have the right to complain to a data-protection supervisory authority, in particular in the member state where you live, where you work or where the alleged infringement took place. In Germany, this is the data-protection authority of your federal state.
In India, if you are not satisfied with the grievance officer’s response, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.
11. Cookies and external content
This website does not set cookies for visitors. Cookies are set only when an authorised administrator logs in to manage the site. There are no analytics, advertising, social-media or tracking cookies, so there is no cookie banner.
The fonts are served from this website’s own server, so no data is sent to external font providers. Links to LinkedIn, X, Medium, Instagram and other websites are plain links. No data is sent to those sites unless you click them, and their own privacy policies then apply.
If non-essential cookies, such as analytics, are ever introduced, I will ask for your consent first and update this policy.
12. Changes to this policy
I will update this policy when the website or the law changes. The current version always applies.
Last updated: 18 October 2026