Last updated: 8 September 2026
Amdavad Gully (“Amdavad Gully”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is a hyperlocal digital news and features publication covering Ahmedabad, published at amdavadgully.com. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect when you read the site, subscribe to our newsletters, send us a story tip, or otherwise get in touch — and what we do with it.
This policy covers amdavadgully.com and our newsletters. It does not cover third-party websites or social media platforms we link to, which have their own policies.
We are an independent publication and can be reached at amdavadgully@gmail.com. For the purposes of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”), Amdavad Gully is the Data Fiduciary for the personal data described below, and you are the Data Principal.
If you don’t agree with this policy, please don’t use the site or subscribe to our newsletters.
1. What we collect
Information you give us
- Name and email address — when you subscribe to our newsletter.
- Email address, and anything you choose to include in your message — when you write to us with a story tip, a letter to the editor, a correction request, a pitch, or a general enquiry.
- Name, email and comment text — if you post a comment on an article.
- Business or organisation details — when founders or teams pitch themselves for coverage in our Hustle section.
We ask for the minimum we need. You don’t have to give us a phone number, and you don’t need an account to read the site.
Information collected automatically
When you visit amdavadgully.com, our hosting provider and analytics tools record technical information: your IP address, the approximate city it maps to, browser and device type, operating system, which pages you viewed and for how long, the page that referred you, and the date and time of your visit.
We use this in aggregate — to see which stories people actually read, to fix things that break, and to spot abuse or spam. We do not use it to build individual profiles of readers.
What we don’t collect
We do not run paid subscriptions or take payments through the site, so we never collect card or bank details. We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal data such as caste, religion, health information or biometric data. Please don’t send us such details through our forms unless they are genuinely relevant to a story you are sharing with us.
We do not sell your personal data to anyone.
2. Cookies and similar technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies for two purposes:
- Essential functions — remembering that you have dismissed the newsletter prompt or accepted a notice, and keeping the site working correctly.
- Analytics — understanding overall traffic and reading patterns.
In addition, articles that embed content from YouTube, Instagram, X or similar platforms may allow those platforms to set their own cookies when the embed loads. We don’t control those cookies.
You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. Blocking essential cookies may stop parts of the site from working.
3. How we use your data
We use personal data to:
- Send you the newsletters you have subscribed to.
- Reply to your emails, tips, pitches, complaints and correction requests, and follow up where a story needs it.
- Publish and moderate comments.
- Operate, maintain, secure and improve the website.
- Understand what our readers find useful, so we can commission better journalism.
- Detect and prevent spam, fraud and abuse of the site.
- Comply with our obligations under Indian law, including the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the rules made under it.
4. Our legal basis
We process personal data on the basis of:
- Your consent — for newsletters and any other editorial or event emails. You may withdraw consent at any time; withdrawal does not affect processing already carried out.
- Legitimate uses under the DPDP Act — where you have voluntarily given us data for a clear purpose, such as emailing us a tip, and for compliance with law or the orders of a court or authority.
5. Who we share it with
We share personal data only with:
- The service providers who run our infrastructure — our website host, email newsletter platform, form and comment tools, and analytics provider. They may process your data only to provide those services to us.
- Legal and regulatory authorities — where disclosure is required by law, a court order, or a valid legal request.
- A successor publisher — if Amdavad Gully is transferred to another entity, your data would move with the publication, and this policy would keep applying until it is replaced by one you are told about.
Some of these providers store data on servers outside India. Where that happens, we transfer data in line with the DPDP Act and any restrictions notified by the Central Government.
We do not share reader data with advertisers or sponsors. Where we report on our audience for commercial purposes, we do so only in aggregate, non-identifying form.
6. Protecting our sources
If you send us a news tip, a document or a story lead, we treat the identity of confidential sources as a matter of journalistic privilege and will not disclose it voluntarily.
That said, ordinary email is not a secure channel, and no publication in India can promise absolute protection against a lawful compulsion to disclose. If what you are sharing is sensitive, write to us first without the details and we will suggest a safer way to send them.
7. Your rights
Under the DPDP Act, you have the right to:
- Access — ask for a summary of the personal data we hold about you and how we are processing it.
- Correction and erasure — ask us to correct data that is inaccurate or incomplete, or delete data we no longer need for the purpose it was collected for.
- Withdraw consent — unsubscribe using the link at the foot of every newsletter, or write to us to withdraw consent for any other processing.
- Grievance redressal — complain to us first, and escalate to the Data Protection Board of India if you are not satisfied.
- Nominate — nominate someone to exercise these rights on your behalf in the event of your death or incapacity.
To exercise any of these, email amdavadgully@gmail.com with “Data Request” in the subject line. We will respond within 30 days, and sooner where the law requires it. We may ask you to confirm your identity before we act on a request.
One clarification: erasure rights do not extend to published journalism. If you want an article corrected, updated, anonymised or taken down, write to us and we will consider it on its editorial merits under our corrections process — that is a separate matter from this policy.
8. Children
Amdavad Gully is written for a general adult readership. In line with the DPDP Act, we do not knowingly process the personal data of anyone under 18 without verifiable consent from a parent or lawful guardian, and we do not carry out behavioural tracking or targeted advertising aimed at children.
If you believe a child has given us personal data, write to amdavadgully@gmail.com and we will delete it.
9. How long we keep it
- Newsletter subscribers — until you unsubscribe, after which we keep your email on a suppression list only so that we don’t accidentally email you again.
- Tips, pitches and correspondence — for as long as the story or matter is live, and thereafter as part of our editorial archive.
- Comments — for as long as the article is published, unless you ask us to remove yours.
- Analytics data and server logs — up to 14 months.
Where the law requires us to retain something for a minimum period, we keep it for that period and delete it afterwards.
10. Security
We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards to protect personal data — HTTPS across the site, restricted access to our accounts and systems, and established third-party providers for hosting and email. No system is perfectly secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a personal data breach occurs, we will notify affected readers and the Data Protection Board of India as required by law.
11. Links and embeds
Our articles link to and embed content from other websites, social platforms and video services. We are not responsible for how those services handle your data. Read their policies before sharing anything with them.
12. Changes to this policy
We will update this policy as the publication grows or as the law changes. The revised version will be posted here with a new “Last updated” date, and we will tell newsletter subscribers by email about any material change.
13. Grievances and complaints
In accordance with the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and the DPDP Act, complaints about this policy, about how we have handled your data, or about published content — accuracy, fairness or right of reply — may be sent to:
Grievance Officer, Amdavad Gully Email: amdavadgully@gmail.com
We acknowledge complaints within 24 hours of receipt and aim to resolve them within 15 days. If you are not satisfied with our response on a data protection matter, you may escalate it to the Data Protection Board of India.
14. Contact
For anything else, write to us at amdavadgully@gmail.com.
Amdavad Gully — amdavadgully.com — Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India