We Never Sell Your Data
Your reading habits, personal email, phone numbers, and author manuscripts are never sold or rented to third-party ad brokers.
Secure OTP Authentication
We use passwordless, cryptographic One-Time Passwords (OTP) to prevent credential stuffing and protect your account.
Complete User Control
You can view, update, export, or request permanent deletion of your reading profile and submitted manuscripts at any time.
DPDP Act Compliant
Our privacy architecture complies with India's Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act 2023 and modern encryption benchmarks.
1Overview & Scope
This Privacy Policy applies to all digital services offered by AKAM Digital (“AKAM”, “we”, “our”, or “us”), including our website (akam.in), authoring studio, reader accounts, serialized story channels, and the Masika digital publication edition.
By accessing our platform, registering an account, or submitting literary works, you consent to the data collection and processing practices described herein.
2Information We Collect
A. Information You Provide Directly:
- Account Credentials: Full name, email address, and verified phone number during passwordless OTP login.
- Author Profile Data: Pen name, biographical note, profile avatar photo, and social links.
- Literary Submissions: Manuscript text, story titles, category classification, chapter installments, and embedded cover art.
- Reader Engagement: Reader reviews, star ratings, bookmarks, reading lists, and public comments.
B. Information Collected Automatically:
- Device & Usage Telemetry: Browser type, operating system version, page view timestamps, and story reading progress (to remember your bookmark location).
- IP Address & Session Tokens: Anonymized network identifiers used solely for security audits, rate-limiting, and fraud prevention.
3How We Use Your Information
We process your information strictly for legitimate literary, editorial, and platform operations:
- To authenticate your identity securely via SMS and email OTP.
- To format, index, and distribute your approved manuscripts across the AKAM digital library.
- To facilitate editorial communication regarding submission status, copyediting queries, or publication approvals.
- To process and manage reader subscriptions, renewals, and digital access passes.
- To personalize your reading experience, including chapter bookmarks and curated story recommendations.
- To protect against plagiarism, unlawful scraping, malicious bot activity, and terms violations.
4Cookies & Local Storage
AKAM Digital uses minimal, essential cookies and browser LocalStorage items to ensure seamless reading and secure sessions:
Retains your encrypted session token so you stay logged in while switching between chapters.
Saves your preferred reading layout, font size, and flipbook view settings locally on your device.
5Data Sharing & Third-Party Services
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We only share information with trusted third-party service providers bound by strict confidentiality and security agreements:
- Payment Processors: Authorized, PCI-DSS compliant Indian payment gateways for processing Masika Pass subscriptions. We do not store credit/debit card numbers on our servers.
- Cloud Infrastructure: High-security cloud hosting providers with end-to-end data encryption in transit and at rest.
- Legal Compliance: We may disclose data if required by applicable Indian law, court order, or governmental authority.
6Your Privacy Rights (DPDP Act)
Under the Indian Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act and recognized international standards, you hold clear rights regarding your personal data:
Right to Access & Summary
Request a summary of your personal data processed by AKAM.
Right to Correction & Update
Update inaccurate or incomplete profile and author details at any time.
Right to Data Erasure
Request complete deletion of your user account and personal identifiers.
Right to Grievance Redressal
Escalate any privacy concern directly to our Grievance Officer.
7Data Security & Retention
We implement industry-standard administrative, physical, and technical safeguards, including HTTPS (TLS 1.3 encryption), parameterized database queries, and restricted access controls to prevent unauthorized access, alteration, or disclosure.
We retain personal data only for as long as your account remains active or as required to fulfill our legal, taxation, or editorial archiving obligations.
8Grievance Officer & Privacy Contact
To exercise any of your data rights or if you have questions regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact our designated Grievance Officer: