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The Journal of Historical and Mythical Tales

TALES FROM TIME

Ancient and medieval history and myth, from primary sources, saying plainly where the evidence runs out.

Privacy Policy

Data Protection & Governance

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 4 October 2026

Tales From Time is run by one person. I am Saurav Sinha, I am based in New Delhi, India, and I am the person responsible for personal data on this site. This policy covers everything that happens to your data here, and it is short because the site collects very little.

It applies to this website only, not to anything collected offline or through other channels.

What I collect

  • Contact form: The name, email address and message you send. Used only to reply to you.
  • Comments: The name and email address you enter, your comment, your IP address and your browser user agent string. The IP and user agent are stored because they are what spam filtering works on.
  • Newsletter: The name and email address you give when you subscribe. Used only to send the newsletter. Every email carries an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing removes your address from the list.
  • Analytics: I use Google Analytics through Google Site Kit. It records IP addresses, browser and device type, referring and exit pages, and which pages were read for how long. I use it to see which articles people actually finish. The reports I look at are aggregate and do not identify individual readers, but the underlying service does process IP addresses, and I would rather say that than claim otherwise.
  • Server logs: The hosting server records IP addresses and request details automatically, as all web servers do.

I do not collect anything else. There are no accounts, no profiles, and nothing you have to sign up for to read an article.

Cookies

This site uses cookies for security, for analytics, and, once advertising goes live, for advertising. The full list, with what each one does and how long it lasts, is on the cookie policy page.

Advertising

Tales From Time does not currently display advertising. I have applied to the Google AdSense programme. When advertising goes live, Google and its approved partners will serve the ads and will use cookies to do so, this section will be updated with the date that started, and the cookie policy will list the specific cookies.

Advertising (Google AdSense)

If approved, Tales From Time may display advertisements through Google AdSense. At present no advertising is shown. If advertisements are displayed, third-party vendors, including Google, will use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to Tales From Time or other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to users based on their visit to Tales From Time and/or other sites on the Internet. You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings at https://adssettings.google.com. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalised advertising at https://www.aboutads.info/choices. To learn how Google uses information from sites that use its services, visit https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use Tales From Time. Google Analytics collects information such as pages visited and time spent, in aggregated form. You can opt out with the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Consent banner

If you are visiting from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, a consent banner appears on your first visit. Advertising and analytics cookies are not set until you accept them. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time using the Manage Cookie Preferences link in the footer, and withdrawing is as easy as giving consent was.

How long I keep things

I keep personal data only as long as there is a reason to. These periods are ones I can actually check and honour, not aspirations.

  • Contact form messages: 24 months from my last reply, then deleted from the inbox and from the form entries stored in the site database.
  • Comments: A published comment and the data recorded with it stays as long as the article it belongs to is published. Spam comments are deleted automatically after 30 days. You can ask me to remove your comment at any time.
  • Newsletter subscriptions: Until you unsubscribe. Unsubscribing deletes your address.
  • Server logs: 30 days on a rolling basis, then overwritten. Used to diagnose faults and spot abuse, nothing else.
  • Analytics: Event-level data is retained for 14 months, which is the setting I use. After that Google deletes it.

Security

The whole site is served over HTTPS, so what you send is encrypted in transit. Administrative access to WordPress and to the hosting account is mine alone, protected by a unique password, and the software and plugins are kept updated. Comment spam is filtered before it reaches the site.

I do not sell, rent or trade personal data, and I do not pass it to anyone other than the service providers named in this policy, who process it on my behalf. No website can promise perfect security and I will not pretend otherwise, but I hold as little data as I can and I delete it on the schedule above.

Children

Tales From Time writes about history and mythology for a general adult readership. The site is not directed at children, it has no features made for children, and I do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13, which is the threshold set by the United States Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 sets a higher bar. It treats anyone under 18 as a child and requires verifiable parental consent before a child’s personal data may be processed. I do not knowingly process the personal data of anyone under 18, I do not carry out tracking or behavioural monitoring directed at children, and I do not target advertising at children. I ask that readers under 18 do not leave comments or send contact form messages.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has given me personal information, write to sauravsinha@talesfromtime.com with enough detail for me to find it, such as the name used or the article commented on. I will delete it and confirm to you that it is gone, normally within a few days and in any case within 30 days.

Your rights under India’s DPDP Act 2023

Tales From Time is published from India, so the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 applies. Under that Act I am the data fiduciary for this site and you are a data principal.

  • Notice: You are entitled to know what is collected and why before you give it. This policy is that notice, and I update it whenever what I do changes.
  • Consent: I take personal data only where you choose to give it. You may withdraw consent at any time, and it is as easy to withdraw as it was to give.
  • Access: You may ask for a summary of the personal data I hold about you, what I am doing with it, and who I have shared it with.
  • Correction: You may ask me to correct anything inaccurate, complete anything missing and update anything out of date.
  • Erasure: You may ask me to delete your personal data. I will, unless the law requires me to keep it, and I will tell you if that is the case.
  • Nomination: You may nominate someone to exercise these rights on your behalf if you die or become unable to act for yourself.
  • Grievance redressal: If you are unhappy with how I have handled your data or your request, raise it with me directly and I will work to put it right.

I am the point of contact for any request or grievance under the Act. Write to sauravsinha@talesfromtime.com and I will reply within 30 days. Because this is a one-person site there is no separate data protection officer and I am not registered as a consent manager. If my answer does not satisfy you, you may take the matter to the Data Protection Board of India.

Your rights under the GDPR and UK GDPR

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, the EU GDPR and UK GDPR apply. My lawful basis is your consent where you leave a comment, subscribe, or send me a message, and for advertising and analytics cookies. Where I use server logs to keep the site running and secure, my basis is legitimate interest in a working, unabused website.

  • Access to the personal data I hold about you, and a copy of it.
  • Rectification of anything inaccurate or incomplete.
  • Erasure where there is no good reason for me to keep it.
  • Restriction of processing while a dispute about accuracy or grounds is sorted out.
  • Objection to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing or personalised advertising.
  • Portability: a copy of the data you gave me, in a commonly used machine-readable format.
  • Withdrawal of consent at any time, without affecting anything done before you withdrew it.
  • Freedom from decisions made solely by automated means with legal or similarly significant effect. I do not make any.
  • A complaint to your supervisory authority. In the UK that is the Information Commissioner’s Office. In the EEA it is the data protection authority for your country.

To exercise any of these, write to sauravsinha@talesfromtime.com. I will respond within 30 days and there is no charge. I may ask for enough information to be sure the request is genuinely yours.

On international transfers: the site is run from New Delhi and uses international service providers, so your data may be processed outside the EEA and the UK. Google’s data processing terms for Analytics and AdSense include the standard contractual clauses approved for such transfers. Data I hold myself, such as contact form messages and comments, is handled in India under the DPDP Act 2023.

Your rights under CCPA and CPRA

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, gives you the following rights:

  • To know what personal information is collected, where it comes from, why, and who it is disclosed to.
  • To access a copy of the personal information held about you.
  • To have inaccurate personal information corrected.
  • To have your personal information deleted, subject to the exceptions the law allows.
  • To opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising.
  • To limit the use of sensitive personal information. I do not collect sensitive personal information as the CPRA defines it.
  • Not to be treated differently for exercising any of these rights. I do not withhold content, change quality or otherwise penalise readers who ask.

I do not sell personal information and receive no payment for disclosing it. Advertising cookies set by Google on this site may count as sharing for cross-context behavioural advertising under the CPRA, so you can switch off personalised advertising at google.com/settings/ads and opt out of third-party vendor cookies at aboutads.info/choices. For anything else, including a request made through an authorised agent, write to sauravsinha@talesfromtime.com. I will respond within 45 days, which is the period the law allows, and will tell you if I need more time.

Changes to this policy

I update this policy whenever what the site does changes. Changes are posted here with a new date at the top. If you have questions, write to sauravsinha@talesfromtime.com.