Privacy
Policy

At Padippakam, your privacy matters to us. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect when you use our digital library, how we use it, and the choices you have over your information.

Padippakam is a platform dedicated to preserving and sharing Tamil literary heritage. As part of delivering that service, we collect certain information to provide you with a personalised reading experience, improve the platform, and keep your account secure.

By using Padippakam, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. This policy applies to all visitors, registered users, and contributors of the platform.

We collect information in the following ways:

Information you provide directly

• Account registration: name, email address, and password when you sign up
• Profile information: optional bio, profile picture, and language preferences
• Content submissions: works, translations, or annotations you upload as a Contributor
• Support communications: messages you send us via the contact form or email

Information collected automatically

• Usage data: pages visited, search queries, content viewed, reading duration
• Device information: browser type, operating system, screen resolution, language settings
• Log data: IP address, access timestamps, referring URLs, error logs
• Cookies and similar technologies: session tokens, preference cookies, and analytics identifiers (see Section 05)

Information we do not collect

We do not collect payment information (Padippakam is free), government-issued identifiers, or sensitive personal data such as race, religion, or health information.

We use collected information to:

• Create and maintain your account and authenticate your identity
• Personalise your reading experience and remember your preferences
• Display your reading history, bookmarks, and saved content
• Process and review content submissions from Contributors
• Send transactional emails (account verification, password resets, important policy updates)
• Send optional newsletter updates — only if you have subscribed
• Analyse platform usage to improve features and fix bugs
• Detect and prevent fraudulent or abusive activity
• Comply with legal obligations

We rely on legitimate interests and contractual necessity as our legal bases for processing. Where we send marketing communications, we rely on your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We may share it only in the following limited circumstances:

Service providers

We engage trusted third-party vendors to operate the platform — including cloud hosting (AWS / Wasabi), email delivery, and analytics. These providers access your data only to perform services on our behalf and are contractually bound to protect it.

Legal requirements

We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or governmental authority, or if we believe disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Padippakam, our users, or the public.

Business transfers

If Padippakam is involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset transfer, your data may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your data becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Padippakam uses cookies and similar browser technologies to operate the platform and understand how it is used. We use three categories of cookies:

You can control non-essential cookies via your browser settings or our Cookie Preference centre (accessible from the footer). Disabling analytics cookies does not affect your ability to use the platform.

We do not use advertising cookies or share cookie data with ad networks.

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy:

• Account data: retained for the lifetime of your account, then deleted within 90 days of account closure
• Reading history & bookmarks: retained until you delete them or close your account
• Support correspondence: retained for 2 years
• Server logs: retained for 90 days for security and debugging purposes
• Analytics data: anonymised and aggregated after 12 months

Published contributor content may remain on the platform after account closure unless you explicitly request its removal, subject to our content review process.

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Rectification: correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Erasure: request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
• Restriction: ask us to limit how we process your data
• Portability: receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Objection: object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Withdraw consent: unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@padippaham.net. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing the request.

We take the security of your data seriously and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction:

• All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted using TLS (HTTPS)
• Passwords are hashed using industry-standard algorithms and are never stored in plain text
• Access to personal data within our team is restricted on a need-to-know basis
• We conduct regular security reviews and dependency audits
• Data is stored in SOC 2-compliant cloud infrastructure

No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. If you discover a security vulnerability, please report it responsibly to info@padippaham.net.

Padippakam is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at info@padippaham.net and we will delete that information promptly.

Users between 13 and 18 years of age should review this policy with a parent or guardian before using the platform.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will:

• Update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page
• Notify registered users by email
• Display a prominent notice on the platform

We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of the platform after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us:

We aim to respond to all privacy-related inquiries within 30 days.