Privacy Policy

Last updated: 11 October 2026

1. Introduction

Strategist’s Cut (“we”, “us”, “our”, “the Platform”) is an editorial publication covering fashion, technology, culture and law. We provide articles, commentary and other editorial content to readers through our website.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, how long we retain it, and the choices and rights available to you.

Our website allows visitors to read articles, create accounts, maintain a personal reading history, interact with editorial content, and receive newsletters where they have opted in. We use some reading activity to maintain your reading archive, calculate reading statistics, understand readership patterns and, where applicable, personalise content recommendations.

We seek to handle personal data transparently and responsibly, in accordance with applicable Indian law, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”) and its implementing rules as and when the relevant provisions become applicable, together with other applicable legal requirements.

By using the Platform, you acknowledge that you have had the opportunity to read this Privacy Policy. Where consent is required for a particular processing activity, we will seek that consent separately and will not treat access to this Policy alone as consent to every form of processing described below.

2. Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to anonymous visitors, registered readers, newsletter subscribers and individuals who interact with the Platform through comments, likes, sharing features or other available functions.

It applies regardless of whether you access the Platform through a desktop computer, mobile browser or another supported device.

This Policy does not govern third-party websites, applications or services that you access through links on our website. Where an article contains embedded content, such as an Instagram post or Reel, the relevant third party may process information about your interaction with that content under its own privacy policy.

3. Information We Collect

3.1 Information You Provide Directly

Depending on the features you use, we may collect:

Full name: to establish and identify your reader account.
Email address: to create your account, verify your email, facilitate login, send password-reset or other essential account communications, and respond to your requests.
Authentication information: passwords, if password-based authentication is offered, or authentication tokens and login information where passwordless or third-party sign-in is used. Passwords should be stored using an appropriate secure password-hashing mechanism, rather than in readable form.
Date of birth or age-verification information: to establish whether you meet the Platform’s minimum age requirement of eighteen (18) years.
Country of residence: to understand the geographical distribution of our readership and support relevant editorial or operational functions.
Optional interests: such as Fashion, Technology, Culture and Law, where you choose to provide them for personalisation.
Optional city: where you choose to provide it for potential localised content or event-related communication.
Optional referral information: information about how you discovered Strategist’s Cut, if you choose to provide it.
Newsletter preferences: whether you have subscribed to or unsubscribed from our newsletter and the status of your marketing consent.
Comment information: your name, email address and the content of any comment you submit, including comments submitted by guest users where guest commenting is enabled.
Other information you voluntarily submit: for example, a message sent to us through a contact or feedback facility.

We do not currently offer a paid subscription tier. We therefore do not collect payment information for paid subscriptions at present. If this changes, we will update this Policy and explain the relevant processing arrangements.

3.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit or use the Platform, we may collect certain technical and usage information, including:

IP address and basic network information.
Browser type, device type and operating system.
Pages and articles viewed.
Article opening and completion events, where technically supported.
Estimated reading time and reading-progress information.
Scroll depth and interaction events, where analytics functionality is enabled.
Dates and times of visits and article interactions.
Referring websites, campaign sources and other referral information.
Cookie identifiers, session identifiers and information about whether the anonymous article-access limit has been reached.
Login sessions and relevant security events.
Interactions with features such as likes, comments and social-sharing controls.

We collect only the information reasonably necessary for the relevant functionality, analytics, security or other disclosed purpose. The precise information collected depends on the features enabled on the Platform and the settings of the services we use.

3.3 Information from Third-Party Sign-In Services

If you register or sign in using a third-party provider, such as Google, we may receive information made available by that provider, including your name, email address and a provider-specific account identifier.

The information received depends on the permissions requested, your settings with the provider and the sign-in method implemented on the Platform.

The third-party provider independently processes information under its own privacy policy. We do not receive your third-party account password merely because you use that provider to sign in.

3.4 Information Associated with Your Reading Dashboard

Registered readers may access a personal reading dashboard containing a record of their reading activity.

Depending on the functionality available, this record may include:

Article title and article identifier.
Article thumbnail or its reference on the Platform.
Editorial category, including Fashion, Technology, Culture or Law.
Date and time an article was opened or read.
Estimated time spent reading an article.
Reading-progress or completion status, where supported.
Total recorded reading time.
Total articles read.
Distribution of reading activity across editorial categories.
Reading activity over time.
Optional reading preferences and recommendation settings.

We use this information to maintain your reading archive, calculate your reading statistics, display relevant reading-progress information and support personalisation features where applicable.

For example, your dashboard may show the articles you have read, the categories you have explored, your estimated cumulative reading time and suggested articles based on your selected interests or previous reading activity.

Reading history is an indicator of recorded activity. It does not establish that you read every word, understood the material or acquired a particular level of knowledge. Any reading-time or completion measure may be an estimate based on the functionality implemented.

3.5 Anonymous Reading and the One-Article Limit

Anonymous visitors may read one article in full before being prompted to create a free account to continue reading additional articles.

To administer this limit, we may use a first-party cookie, local session identifier or similar browser-based mechanism to record that the free article allowance has been used.

For this purpose, the identifier is intended to track the reading limit on a particular browser or device and is not necessarily associated with a name or email address while the visitor remains anonymous. Technical information, such as an IP address, may nevertheless be processed through ordinary website operations or security systems.

If you create an account, your subsequent reading activity may be associated with your account to provide your reading archive, statistics and applicable personalisation features. Where technically supported, the record of the first article read anonymously may be associated with your account so that your reading history is not unnecessarily interrupted.

Cookie-based access limits may not function consistently if cookies are disabled, blocked or deleted, or if you switch browsers or devices. We do not represent this mechanism as a guaranteed means of uniquely identifying every anonymous reader.

3.6 Likes

When you like an article, we may record the article identifier, the relevant account identifier or, where supported, a session identifier, together with the interaction.

We use this information to maintain accurate like counts, prevent repeated likes where technically possible, and understand readership preferences.

Like activity may also inform editorial decisions about which articles are popular and which less-read articles should receive renewed visibility. Where this information contributes to recommendations or other personalisation, it will be used for that disclosed purpose.

3.7 Comments

If you submit a comment, we collect the information required by the commenting feature, which may include your name, email address and comment text.

Your email address will not be displayed publicly as part of the comment unless you have expressly chosen a feature that makes such disclosure clear.

Comments may be held in a moderation queue before publication. Our editorial team may approve, reject, moderate, edit where appropriate, or remove comments in accordance with our Community Guidelines and applicable law.

We may use your contact details to respond to a comment-related enquiry, communicate a moderation decision where necessary, or address a reported violation.

3.8 Social Sharing

The Platform may offer controls for sharing articles through services such as WhatsApp, Instagram, X, LinkedIn or Facebook.

When you activate a sharing control, information may be passed to the selected service or the service may open separately, depending on the implementation. The third-party service will then process information in accordance with its own terms and privacy policy.

Where sharing analytics are enabled, we may record that a share control was activated and which destination was selected. This helps us understand how articles are distributed.

A share-button click does not necessarily establish that an article was successfully shared. We will not describe such an event as a confirmed share unless the technical implementation can verify it.

3.9 Embedded Instagram Content

Some articles may contain embedded Instagram posts or Reels. Embedded content may load directly from Instagram or its associated infrastructure.

When this occurs, Instagram or its service providers may receive technical information, including information about your browser or interaction with the embedded content. This processing is controlled by the relevant third party and may occur independently of our own analytics.

Where technically feasible, we may configure embedded content to load only after an appropriate user interaction or consent choice. The availability of this control depends on the implementation.

We encourage you to review the relevant third-party privacy policy if you have concerns about embedded content.

3.10 Analytics and Editorial Research

We may use analytics tools, including Google Analytics, to understand how readers use the Platform.

Depending on the configuration, analytics may involve article views, reading time, scroll depth, referral sources, device information and interactions with website features.

We use this information to understand readership patterns, improve the website and inform editorial decisions. For example, we may identify trending articles while deliberately bringing less-read articles back into visibility so that editorial exposure is not determined solely by popularity.

We distinguish between:

Aggregate readership analytics, used to understand overall patterns across the publication.
Account-level reading activity, used to maintain an individual reader’s archive and calculate that reader’s reading statistics.
Personalisation data, used where applicable to tailor article recommendations or presentation to a reader’s stated interests or recorded activity.

Analytics information may be processed by third-party service providers under their applicable terms and settings. We do not assume that analytics data is anonymous merely because direct identifiers have been removed. We configure and use analytics tools according to their available privacy controls and the applicable requirements.

We do not use reading history to make decisions about a reader’s legal rights, eligibility for essential services or other high-impact matters.

3.11 Newsletter Sign-Up

If you choose to subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address and record your subscription preference.

Newsletter subscriptions may be offered through a dedicated sign-up form or another clearly identified subscription prompt.

Marketing or newsletter consent is separate from acceptance of the Terms of Service and acknowledgement of this Privacy Policy. The marketing opt-in checkbox will not be pre-selected.

You may unsubscribe at any time through the unsubscribe link provided in newsletter emails. We may retain the minimum information necessary to record your unsubscribe preference and prevent further unwanted marketing emails.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To create, authenticate and maintain reader accounts.
To verify email addresses and facilitate password resets or passwordless login.
To apply the Platform’s minimum age requirement.
To administer the one-article anonymous reading limit.
To maintain your reading archive and display previously read articles.
To calculate and display estimated reading time, reading activity and category-based statistics.
To personalise editorial recommendations where applicable and in accordance with your preferences and available controls.
To operate article likes, comments and social-sharing features.
To moderate comments and enforce our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.
To send essential service communications, including verification, security and account-related messages.
To send newsletters or marketing communications where you have separately opted in.
To understand aggregate readership trends and improve editorial planning.
To maintain the visibility of articles across our editorial categories, including by rotating less-read content back into prominence.
To maintain website functionality, security and performance.
To detect and address technical errors, abuse, fraudulent activity and unauthorised access.
To respond to requests, complaints and enquiries.
To comply with applicable legal obligations and respond to lawful requests from competent authorities.

We will not use personal data for a materially different purpose without providing any notice or obtaining any consent required by applicable law.

5.1 Account Registration

To create an account, we may ask for your full name, email address, authentication information, date of birth and country of residence. Optional fields may include city and areas of editorial interest.

We collect this information to create your account, facilitate access to the Platform and provide the features described in this Policy.

We will not require optional profile information merely because it may be useful for future marketing or editorial planning.

5.2 Terms of Service and Privacy Notice

During account creation, you will be asked to accept the Terms of Service and acknowledge the Privacy Policy through a clearly worded mandatory control.

This control does not constitute blanket consent to every possible use of personal data. Where a particular processing activity requires consent, the relevant purpose will be explained and consent will be sought separately.

5.3 Marketing Consent

The newsletter or marketing opt-in will be presented as a separate, optional checkbox that is not selected by default.

Declining marketing consent will not prevent you from creating an account or accessing the ordinary reading features of the Platform.

You may withdraw marketing consent at any time through the unsubscribe mechanism or by contacting us.

5.4 Age Verification

Strategist’s Cut is intended for readers aged eighteen (18) and above. During registration, we may request your date of birth to establish whether you meet this age requirement.

We use age information for age verification and related account administration. We do not intend to use it to build a detailed demographic profile of readers.

Where technically feasible, we will retain only the age-verification outcome or the minimum information necessary for this purpose rather than retaining a full date of birth indefinitely.

If we become aware that a person under eighteen has registered, we may restrict or terminate the account and take appropriate steps concerning associated personal data, subject to applicable law.

The age restriction is a Platform policy. It should not be understood as a statement that the DPDP Act generally requires every website to restrict access to adults. The Act and its implementing provisions concerning children must be applied according to their applicable scope and commencement.

6. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies, local storage, session identifiers and similar technologies to operate the Platform and support its features.

These technologies may be used for the following purposes:

Strictly necessary functionality: Maintaining login sessions, protecting account security, remembering essential settings and administering the anonymous article-access limit.

Functional preferences: Remembering selected settings, such as editorial interests or display preferences, where this functionality is enabled.

Reading history: Maintaining or supporting article-progress and session information necessary to provide reading-related features.

Analytics: Understanding website usage, readership patterns and article performance through tools such as Google Analytics, subject to the relevant configuration and applicable requirements.

Third-party embedded content: Enabling content such as Instagram posts and Reels, which may involve technologies controlled by the relevant third party.

Where required by applicable law, we will provide appropriate information and obtain consent before using non-essential cookies or similar technologies.

You can manage cookies through your browser settings and any cookie controls made available on the Platform. Blocking or deleting certain cookies may affect login sessions, reading-limit tracking and other functionality.

A separate Cookie Policy, where provided, will describe the specific technologies used, their purposes and their applicable durations.

We do not currently intend to use third-party advertising or behavioural advertising cookies. If this changes, we will update the relevant disclosures and provide any controls or notices required by applicable law.

We do not sell personal data to third parties.

We may disclose or make personal data available in the following circumstances:

7.1 Service Providers

We may use third-party providers for website hosting, infrastructure, authentication, email delivery, security, analytics and other technical services necessary to operate the Platform.

These providers may process information on our behalf or under their own applicable terms, depending on the service. We seek to limit the information shared to what is necessary and to use appropriate contractual and technical safeguards.

Our current or planned services may include website hosting and Google Analytics. The actual providers used will depend on the Platform’s deployed configuration.

7.2 Editorial and Moderation Operations

Our editorial team may access information reasonably necessary to administer accounts, moderate comments, investigate reports, maintain the publication and respond to reader enquiries.

Access to account-level reading histories should be limited to authorised personnel and legitimate operational purposes. Reading histories will not be publicly displayed or disclosed to other readers.

7.3 Third-Party Sign-In

Where you use a third-party sign-in service, the relevant provider processes your authentication activity under its own privacy policy. We receive only the information made available through the implemented sign-in arrangement.

7.4 Embedded Content and Social Platforms

When you interact with embedded third-party content or share articles through external services, those services may independently collect information about your interaction.

We do not control their independent processing practices.

7.5 Legal Requirements

We may disclose personal data where required by applicable law, a valid court order, or a lawful request from a competent governmental or regulatory authority.

7.6 Business or Infrastructure Changes

If the Platform undergoes a restructuring, transfer or similar business change, relevant personal data may be transferred where legally permitted and subject to appropriate safeguards and notices where required.

We do not disclose reading histories, profile information or other personal data to third parties for unrelated purposes merely because the information may have commercial value.

8. Reading History, Personalisation and Your Choices

Your reading dashboard is intended to provide a useful record of your engagement with Strategist’s Cut.

It may show the articles you have read, their thumbnails and categories, your estimated reading time and a summary of your reading activity across Fashion, Technology, Culture and Law.

We may use this information to suggest related articles or help you rediscover material you have previously read. Where recommendations are based on your activity, we will use the information for that purpose as described in this Policy.

We aim to keep these features proportionate to the publication’s editorial purpose. We do not intend to infer sensitive personal characteristics from your reading history or use the history to make high-impact decisions about you.

Where personalisation controls are made available, you may adjust your preferences or disable optional personalised recommendations. Disabling personalisation may affect recommendations but need not remove the basic reading archive feature.

You may also request deletion of your account and associated reading history, subject to applicable retention obligations.

9. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, subject to applicable legal obligations, security needs and the resolution of disputes.

Retention depends on the type of information and the purpose for which it is processed.

Account information: Retained while your account remains active and for any additional period reasonably necessary to complete account closure, resolve outstanding matters or meet legal obligations.

Reading history and dashboard statistics: Retained while associated with your active account to provide the reading archive and related features, unless you request deletion or a shorter retention period applies. Following account deletion, this information will be deleted or de-linked where appropriate, subject to applicable legal requirements and technically necessary safeguards.

Age-verification information: Retained only for as long as reasonably necessary to administer the age restriction and address any relevant legal or security requirements. Where feasible, the full date of birth will not be retained indefinitely.

Authentication and security logs: Retained for a proportionate period necessary to maintain account security, investigate misuse and address technical issues.

Anonymous reading identifiers: Retained according to the relevant cookie or session duration and the technical requirements of the anonymous reading-limit feature.

Comments: Retained while published or otherwise required for moderation, record-keeping or legal purposes, unless removal is requested and can appropriately be completed.

Newsletter records: Retained while you remain subscribed and for the minimum additional period necessary to maintain evidence of consent, record your preferences and prevent further marketing after you unsubscribe.

Analytics information: Retained according to the settings and retention periods configured for the relevant analytics service. Where account-level and aggregate analytics are used, their retention arrangements may differ.

Backups and technical copies: Information may remain in protected backup systems for a limited period before being overwritten or deleted in accordance with the applicable backup cycle.

We will not claim that information has been immediately and permanently erased if it remains in a backup, log or other system. Where complete deletion cannot occur immediately, we will handle the information according to the applicable retention policy and legal requirements.

You may request account deletion as described in Section 13.

10. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, loss or destruction.

These measures may include secure transmission, appropriate password hashing, access restrictions, administrative safeguards, security monitoring, controlled access to account records and measures to protect stored information.

We seek to restrict access to personal data to those who need it for legitimate operational purposes. Reading histories and account information should not be exposed through public article pages or made accessible to unauthorised users.

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We therefore cannot promise absolute security.

If a personal data breach occurs, we will take appropriate steps to investigate, contain and address it and provide any notifications required by applicable law.

11. International Data Transfers

Some technology providers used to operate the Platform may store, access or process information outside India.

The location of processing depends on the providers, infrastructure and service arrangements in use. Where personal data is transferred or processed internationally, we will take account of applicable Indian law and any relevant restrictions, requirements or directions governing such transfers.

We will update this Policy if material changes to our infrastructure or service providers require additional disclosure.

12. Children's Privacy

Strategist’s Cut is intended for individuals aged eighteen (18) and above.

We do not knowingly intend to register individuals under eighteen or maintain accounts for them. The age restriction is part of our approach to the Platform’s audience and data handling.

If you believe that a person under eighteen has created an account or that we have collected personal data from such a person, please contact us at strategistscut@gmail.com.

Where we identify an account that does not meet the age requirement, we may restrict access and take appropriate steps to delete or otherwise handle the associated information, subject to applicable law.

Our age restriction does not remove any obligations that may apply under child-protection or data-protection law. We will comply with the provisions applicable to the Platform and the relevant processing activity.

13. Your Privacy Rights and Requests

Subject to applicable law and the commencement of the relevant statutory provisions, you may have rights concerning your personal data, including the ability to:

Request information about the personal data we process about you.
Request correction or updating of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
Request erasure of personal data that we are no longer required or permitted to retain.
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
Manage your newsletter subscription and marketing preferences.
Request assistance with concerns about the handling of your personal data.
Exercise any other rights available to you under applicable law.

You may also request deletion of your reader account and associated reading history. Account deletion may affect access to saved reading records, dashboard statistics and other account-linked features.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request, particularly where the request concerns access to or deletion of an account.

Some information may need to be retained for a limited period where required by law, necessary for security, or needed to resolve a legitimate outstanding matter. Where a request cannot be fulfilled in full, we will handle it in accordance with applicable law.

To exercise a right or make a privacy request, contact strategistscut@gmail.com.

Where statutory remedies or complaint mechanisms are available under applicable law, you may use them in accordance with the relevant requirements.

14. Grievance Redressal and Contact

Questions, requests or complaints relating to this Privacy Policy or our handling of personal data may be sent to:

Email: strategistscut@gmail.com

Strategist’s Cut is currently operated by its founding editor. Privacy enquiries and complaints should therefore be directed to the email address above.

We will review complaints and respond within the timeframes required by applicable law and any applicable published grievance procedure. We aim to acknowledge complaints within fifteen (15) days, although the time required to resolve a complaint may depend on its nature and complexity.

If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may pursue any remedies available under applicable law, including approaching the relevant authority where the applicable statutory mechanism is available.

15. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may revise this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our website, account features, analytics practices, service providers, retention arrangements or applicable law.

The updated version will be published on this page with a revised “Last Updated” date.

Where a change materially affects how we process personal data, or where applicable law requires it, we will provide additional notice or seek fresh consent as appropriate.

We encourage readers to review this Policy periodically, particularly when new account, personalisation, newsletter or analytics features are introduced.

16. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of India, subject to applicable data-protection and other mandatory legal requirements.

Subject to any mandatory statutory remedies or jurisdictional rules, disputes arising in connection with this Policy shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the competent courts at New Delhi, India.

17. Contact Us

For questions about this Privacy Policy, your account, reading history, newsletter preferences or the handling of your personal data, contact: