Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 4, 2024

About this Privacy Policy

Welcome to The Neo Vedantist!

The Neo Vedantist (the “Publication”) appreciates the fact that You care about how Your personal data is used and shared, and we take Your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy (the “Privacy Policy”) outlines how we collect, use, and share Your personally identifiable information (“Personal Data”) through our publication website (https://theneovedantist.com/). Please read it carefully.

Please remember that Your subscription to The Neo Vedantist is at all times subject to the Terms of Service, which incorporates this Privacy Policy.

We use Your Personal Data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, You agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

1. Definitions

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:

a) “Account” means a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service.

b) “Application” refers to the Substack iOS and Android mobile applications through which the Publication is made available on mobile devices.

c) “Publication” (referred to as either "the Publication", "We", "Us", "Our" or “Service”) refers to The Neo Vedantist.

d) “Cookies” are small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile device or any other device by a website, containing the details of Your browsing history on that website among its many uses.

e) “Country” refers to India.

f) “Device” means any device that can access the Service such as a computer, a mobile phone or a digital tablet.

g) “Personal Data” is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.

h) “Service” refers to the Publication made available through its Website hosted on Substack’s web platform and through its iOS and Android applications.

i) “Service Provider” means any natural or legal person who processes the data on behalf of the Publication. It refers to third-party companies or individuals employed by the Publication to facilitate the Service, to provide the Service on behalf of the Publication, to perform services related to the Service or to assist the Publication in analyzing how the Service is used.

j) “Substack” refers to the subscription network developed, managed and run by Substack Inc., the platform used for developing and publishing the Publication.

k) “Usage Data” refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).

l) “Website” refers to The Neo Vedantist publication website, accessible from https://theneovedantist. com/, hosted on Substack’s web platform.

m) “You” means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the Publication, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the Service, as applicable.

2. What Personal Data Do We Collect?

2.1. Information You Provide Us Directly and Voluntarily

The Personal Data we collect from and about You may vary depending on how You engage with our Services and the data You provide voluntarily. We may collect Personal Data directly from You or otherwise in connection with Your use of the Services, such as:

2.1.1. Contact Information

This includes Your name, contact details (such as postal address and email address), event or conference registration and related information, and communication preferences.

2.1.2. Inquiry Information

This includes information provided in messages sent through forms or surveys, to our email addresses, or via phone. This also may include information provided when You sign up for our newsletters.

2.1.3. Account Information

This includes name, username, Account ID, date of birth, contact information, profile information, saved, “liked”, or bookmarked items (e.g., articles), payment and purchase history information, and subscription information.

2.1.4. Financial Information

This includes credit and debit card information, bank account and routing number, and billing and shipping address.

2.1.5. Demographic Information

We may request information regarding age, gender, race, religion, income, occupation, and marital status.

2.1.6. Health or Fitness-Related Information

We may request information regarding exercise and activity levels, weight-loss objectives, dietary preferences, and other health and wellness information.

2.1.7. User-Generated Content and Privacy of Your Direct Messages.

This includes Personal Data You choose to provide about Yourself when You participate in forums or discussions on the Services, post comments or reviews, and participate in any Services. Please be aware that information You post may be viewed, used, or captured by anyone who visits the Services, and therefore You should avoid posting sensitive Personal Data that You would not want to be available to the public.

Since the Publication is hosted on and made available through Substack, it is important to understand how Your direct messages work. On Substack it is possible to send direct messages to other Substack users, and to receive messages from other Substack users. At this point in time, direct messages on Substack are not end-to-end encrypted, and are, therefore, not a substitute for other, more, secure messaging services. The contents of direct messaging are disclosed to their intended recipients. Recipients of direct messages may keep those messages even if You request their deletion, and even if You unsubscribe from the Publication and delete Your Substack account. Keep in mind that recipients of Your direct messages do not necessarily have any obligation to keep them private.

Substack will only disclose the contents of direct messages to people other than the intended recipients in very limited circumstances, where allowed or required by law, for example, in response to valid court orders or in emergency situations involving danger of death or serious physical injury. While Substack may maintain strict internal access controls on direct messaging content, keep in mind that Substack personnel may access the contents of direct messages to enforce its own Terms of Use, ensure the security of its platform, to provide user support, or as otherwise necessary to provide its services. Substack may also use automated means to ensure the safety of direct messaging content, including scanning for spam, malicious content, and child abuse material.

2.1.8. Inferences About Your Interests, Preferences, and Other Behavioural Data

This includes hobbies, interests, and characteristics, e.g., Your favourite foods, purchases, consuming tendencies, and health and fitness information.

2.2. Information Automatically Collected

2.2.1. General

As is true of many digital properties, we and our third-party partners may automatically collect information You provide to us information about Your device and use of the Service when You visit or interact with our Services. We, and our third-party partners, use cookies and other tracking technologies (e.g., pixels, SDKs, APIs, scripts, location-identifying technologies, and logging technologies) in connection with our Services to collect and store the information described in this section (and otherwise expanded upon in other sections) for our, and our third-party partners’ purposes.

The type of information automatically collected includes:

2.2.1.1. Device data

This includes internet protocol (IP) address, operating system, device type and version, browser type and version, browser ID, the URL entered, the referring page, date/time of visit, other user agent string data, the time spent on our Services, and any errors that may occur during the visit to our Services. Device data may overlap with other categories of data listed below.

2.2.1.2. Analytics/Usage Data

This includes the path taken to our Services, through our Services, and when exiting our Services, usage and activity on or in connection with our Services (e.g., pages visited, links clicked, videos watched), metrics on how many emails we send are actually opened and which attachments or links are opened, clicked, or viewed. We may also use third-party tools to collect information You provide to us or information about how You use the Services, including mouse movements, scrolling, clicks, and keystroke activity on the Services and other browsing, search, or purchasing behaviour. These tools may also record information You enter when You interact with our Services or engage in chat or other features through our Services.

2.2.1.3. Location Data

This includes geographic location we or our third-party providers may collect, such as via permissions within the application operating system or browser functionality.

2.2.2. Third-Party Sources

We also obtain Personal Data from third parties, which we often combine with Personal Data we collect either automatically or directly from an individual. For example, we may receive the same categories of Personal Data described above from the following third parties:

2.2.2.1. Other Users who Interact with our Services

We may receive Your information from other users who interact with our Services.

2.2.2.2. Social Media Networks

When an individual interacts with our Services through various social media networks, such as when someone logs in through a social network, “Likes” us on Facebook, or follows us or shares our content on Google, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), or other social networks, we may receive some information from those social networks including Your profile information and any other information You permit the social network to share with third parties. We use this information to allow You to log into Your Account, to communicate or interact with individuals on the social network, to better understand the demographics of our visitors, and to personalize content. Individuals should always review and, if necessary, adjust their privacy settings on third-party websites and social media networks and services before sharing information or linking or connecting them to other services.

2.2.2.3. Information We Receive from Authentication Services

Some parts of our Service may allow You to login through a third-party social network or authentication service such as Facebook or Google. These services will authenticate the individual’s identity and provide the option to share certain Personal Data with us, which could include a name, email address, address book and contacts, or other information. The data we receive is dependent on that third party’s policies and the individual’s privacy settings on that third-party digital property. We use this information to authenticate the individual’s Account, to provide our Services, to communicate with our users, and for advertising and marketing our own Services.

2.2.2.4. Service Providers

Our Service Providers that perform services on our behalf, such as payment processors or survey and third parties who conduct analytics activities on our behalf, collect Personal Data and may share some or all of this information with us.

2.2.2.5. Information Providers

We may, from time to time, obtain information from third-party information providers to correct or supplement Personal Data we collect. For example, we may obtain updated contact information from third-party information providers to reconnect with an individual or obtain demographic information (e.g., interests, preferences).

2.2.2.6. Other Sources

We may also collect Personal Data about individuals that we do not otherwise have from, for example, publicly available sources, third-party data providers, brand partnerships, or through transactions such as mergers and acquisitions.

3. How do We Use Your Personal Data?

We may use Your data for various purposes, including:

3.1. To fulfil Your requests and provide Services to You. This includes:

3.1.1. Making our Services available to You.

3.1.2. Coordinating access to Your Account.

3.1.3. Responding to requests, suggestions, questions, and comments, and providing other types of user support.

3.1.4. Fulfilling Your payments and transactions.

3.1.5. Sending You service/transaction-related messages, such as changes to Your Account.

3.1.6. Saving Your reading lists or other searches.

3.1.7. Communicating about, administering Your participation in, events, conferences, programs, contests, surveys, polls, panels, questionnaires, and other offers or promotions.

3.2. To personalize Your experience on our Services.

This includes providing You with content or other products or services You might be interested in and de-emphasize content You’ve already read or viewed.

3.3. For marketing purposes.

We may send You communications about new features, updates, products, and special offers with regard to our own Services. We do not, and will not, sell or share Your Personal Data with external advertisers.

3.4. To communicate with You.

For example, we may communicate with You about Your Account activities, such as by providing You transaction confirmations or alerting You when a subscription is up for renewal. If You register with us, we will enrol You in our email newsletters or other periodic electronic communications and may also send You user surveys and promotional communications. We may communicate with you by email, postal mail, telephone, text message, or other means. We may use push notifications on applications to Your mobile device.

3.5. To monitor, improve, and develop our Services.

We may use Your information to understand our users and to tailor or optimize our Services. For example, we may analyse statistics and trends to make our Services better and to develop or better personalize the Services or new services or features.

3.6. To protect the security and integrity of our business, comply with legal requirements and obligations, or as otherwise permitted by law.

We may use Your information to protect our Services and our customers. We may also use information in order to comply with laws, regulations, court orders, or other legal obligations or to assist in an investigation, protect and defend our rights and property, or the rights or safety of third parties, enforce our Terms of Use, this Privacy Policy, or agreements with third parties, detect and prevent fraud or for crime-prevention purposes, or for any other reason permitted by law. We may take part in or be involved with a corporate business transaction, such as merger, acquisition, joint venture, or financing or sale of our assets and may use information in connection with or as an asset in such a corporate business transaction. Personal Data may also be used in the event of insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership.

3.7. For any other purposes with Your consent, at Your direction, or where notice is provided.

We may use Your Personal Data for any other purposes with Your consent, at Your direction, or where notice is otherwise provided.

4. How Do We Share Your Personal Data?

We may disclose Your Personal Data to third parties including:

4.1. Third Parties at Your Request.

You may choose to share Your activities on the Services with Your friends through email, text, or on various social media networks.

4.2. Strategic Business Partners.

We may share Your Personal Data with business analytics partners for purposes such as informing business analytics.

4.3. The Public.

When You provide feedback or post user content on our Services (e.g., if You post a comment on an article or comment on our social media handles), Your information (e.g., Your first name, last initial, place of residence, and Your comments may be displayed on our Services or on our social media handles. When You engage with us on social media, we may tag Your social media account or the social media account of others (e.g., to give a photo credit to another user).

4.4. With Your Consent, At Your Discretion, or Where Notice is Provided.

In addition to the sharing described in this Privacy Policy, we may share Your Personal Data with third parties whenever You consent to or direct such sharing or where notice is otherwise provided.

4.5. Service Providers and Advisors.

Your Personal Data may be shared with third party vendors and other service providers who perform services for us or on our behalf. This may include analytics providers, email service providers, payment processors, data enhancement services, fraud prevention, and web hosting services.

4.6. Purchasers and Third Parties in Connection with a Business Transaction.

Personal Data may be disclosed to third parties in connection with a corporate transaction, such as a merger, sale of any or all of our assets or shares, reorganization, financing, change of control or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by an affiliate or third party, or in the event of a bankruptcy, or related or similar proceedings.

4.7. Law Enforcement, Regulators and Other Parties for Legal Reasons.

Personal Data may be disclosed to third parties, as required by law or subpoena, or if we reasonably believe that such action is necessary to (a) comply with the law and the reasonable requests of law enforcement, (b) to enforce our Terms of Use or to protect the security or integrity of our Services, or (c) to exercise or protect the rights, property, or personal safety of our organization, our visitors, or others.

In connection with any of the above, we may share Personal Data with others in an aggregated or otherwise anonymized form that does not reasonably identify You.

5. What Controls Do I Have Over My Personal Data?

You may control Your Personal Data in the following ways:

5.1. Access to, Modification of, or Deletion of Your Data.

You have the right to request access to Your Personal Data, amendment/correction of inaccurate Personal Data, or deletion of Your Personal Data. In order to better protect the security of Your Personal Data, we will seek to confirm Your identity as part of our processing of any request. Under certain circumstances, we may not fulfill Your request, such as where we, in our discretion, deem that Your identity has not been reasonably verified or that such Data is subject to legal/regulatory, internal audit, recordkeeping, or other requirements or legal exceptions such that the request not reasonably be granted (or should be granted in part). In any event, we will respond to Your request within a reasonable timeframe. In order to make such a request of us, please contact us by emailing at rahul@theneovedantist.com, indicating in the subject line the type of request (e.g., access, modification, or deletion).

5.2. Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies.

To manage cookies, an individual may have the ability to change their browser settings to (for example): (i) notify them when they receive a cookie, so the individual can choose whether or not to accept it; (ii) disable existing cookies; or (iii) automatically reject cookies (or certain types of cookies, such as cookies set by third parties). Note that similar controls may exist for other tracking technologies, such as pixels, and SDKs. Please check Your device or browser settings and related documentation for more information.

Further, please note that restricting the use of these technologies might negatively impact Your experience of using our Services, as some features or offerings may be less personalized or may not work as otherwise intended. Depending on Your device and operating system, You may not be able to delete or block all cookies or other tracking technologies described in this Privacy Policy. In addition, if You want to reject cookies across all browsers and devices, You will need to do so on each browser and device You use. You may also have options within Your email client to prevent the automatic downloading of images that may contain technologies that would allow us to know whether You have accessed our email and performed certain actions with respect to such emails (e.g., URL clickthroughs).

6. How Do We Protect Your Personal Data?

We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the Personal Data You provide against accidental, unlawful, or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure, or use. That said, no security system is impenetrable, and we cannot always guarantee the security of our systems. Thus, You assume some risk with regard to the security of Data You provide through any digital property, including our Services.

7. What About Links to Third Party Websites or Services?

Our Services may provide links to other digital properties that are controlled by third parties. Linked digital properties may have their own privacy notices or policies, which we suggest You review. We are not responsible for the content, usage, terms, or privacy policies of digital properties that we do not own or control.

8. What’s Our Policy with Respect to Children’s Personal Data?

Our Services are not designed or intended for use by children, and we do not knowingly collect or solicit Personal Data from children under the age of 13 (or the equivalent age of a child in Your jurisdiction) on the Services. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected Personal Data from a child under the age of 13 (or the equivalent age of a child in Your jurisdiction), we will endeavour to delete any such Data promptly. If You believe that we may have collected Data from a child under the age of 13 (or the equivalent age of a child in Your jurisdiction), please contact us using the contact information below.

9. Retention of Personal Data.

We will retain Your Personal Data only for as long as necessary for the purposes it was retained, such as to enable You to use the Services. In some instances, we may retain data for longer periods in order to comply with applicable laws (including those regarding document retention), resolve disputes with any parties, and otherwise as necessary to allow us to conduct our business.

10. Transfer of Your Personal Data.

Since the Publication is hosted on Substack, it is noted here, for the purposes of this Privacy Policy, that Substack is established in the US and uses service providers established in the US and in other countries to process Personal Data as described in this Privacy Policy. As such Your Personal Data may be shared internationally. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by Your submission of such information represents Your agreement to such transfer/sharing.

11. How Will We Inform You About Changes to This Privacy Policy?

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes to our privacy practices. If we make any material changes to our privacy practices, we will indicate at the top of the Privacy Policy the date when it was most recently updated and You shall be bound to such changes when accessing the Services that are linked to the updated Privacy Policy. We may also provide notice of such material changes in other manners at our discretion. We encourage You to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.

12. How Can You Contact Us?

If You have questions about this Privacy Policy or about our privacy practices, You may contact us by emailing rahul@theneovedantist.com.