Privacy Statement

Last updated: 4 November 2026

This policy explains what personal data Aloka Publications (“we”, “us”), Ayodhya Nagar, N-7 CIDCO, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad), Maharashtra - 431003, India, collects through alokapublications.com and the Aloka Reader app, why we collect it, and your rights under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

What we collect

  • Account details: your name, email address, password (stored only in encrypted form), and, if you provide them, your affiliation, country, phone number and ORCID iD.
  • Orders: the items you buy, billing and delivery address, mobile number, institution and order notes.
  • Payments: payments are processed by Razorpay. We receive the payment status, amount, method type and a transaction reference. We never see or store your card number, UPI PIN or bank password.
  • Authors, editors and reviewers: proposals, manuscripts, CVs, reviews and correspondence, and the details needed for publishing agreements and royalty payments.
  • Reading: when you read a purchased eBook, we record which pages were opened and when, to provide your access and to protect the books against misuse. Your name is shown as a watermark on the pages you read.
  • Technical data: IP address, browser and device type, and pages visited, recorded in server logs and in anonymised usage statistics.

Why we use it

  • to create and manage your account, and to give you access to the books you have bought;
  • to process and deliver orders, issue receipts and handle refunds;
  • to review, edit and publish books, and to manage publishing agreements and royalties;
  • to answer your enquiries and send you messages about your orders or submissions;
  • to send news about new books, only if you have chosen to receive it (you can unsubscribe at any time);
  • to keep the website secure, prevent fraud and copyright infringement, and meet our legal, tax and accounting obligations.

We process your data on the basis of your consent, and for the legitimate uses allowed by law, such as completing a purchase you have asked for.

Who we share it with

We do not sell or rent your personal data. We share it only as needed with:

  • Razorpay, to process payments;
  • courier and postal services, to deliver paperbacks;
  • our website hosting and email providers;
  • reviewers (for authors' proposals and manuscripts, in confidence);
  • government authorities, where the law requires it.

Cookies

We use cookies that are needed for the website to work: to keep you signed in, remember your cart and protect forms against misuse. We do not use advertising cookies.

How long we keep it

We keep account data while your account is open. Order and payment records are kept for eight years to meet tax and accounting law. Manuscripts and review records are kept for as long as the book is in print and for a reasonable time after. Server logs are kept for up to 12 months.

Security

The website uses HTTPS encryption. Passwords are stored in encrypted form and access to personal data is limited to the staff who need it. eBooks are delivered online only, protected and watermarked.

Your rights

You may ask us to:

  • tell you what personal data we hold about you and how we use it;
  • correct or complete inaccurate data;
  • delete your data and close your account, except for records we must keep by law (deleting your account ends access to purchased eBooks);
  • withdraw your consent, for example to news emails;
  • nominate another person to exercise these rights on your behalf.

You can update most account details yourself under View Profile after signing in. For other requests, write to us as below. We will reply within 30 days.

Children

Our books are intended for students and professionals. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18 without the consent of a parent or guardian.

Grievance Officer

Questions or complaints about your personal data can be sent to our Grievance Officer at info@alokapublications.com (subject line “Privacy”), or by post to the address above. If you are not satisfied with our reply, you may complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

Changes to this policy

We will post any changes on this page and update the date at the top. Significant changes will be notified to registered users by email.