Privacy Policy

Last updated: 22 September 2026 Effective date: 22 September 2026

At HorrorStory.in (“we”, “us”, “our”, or “the website”), accessible from https://horrorstory.in/, the privacy of our visitors is one of our main priorities. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have.

This policy applies only to our online activities and to information shared by visitors on HorrorStory.in. It does not apply to information collected offline or through any other website or channel.

By using our website, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the website.

This policy should be read together with our [Terms & Conditions], [Disclaimer], and [DMCA & Copyright Policy].

1. Who We Are

HorrorStory.in is a Hindi-language website that publishes original horror fiction, retellings of Indian folklore, and reader-submitted experiences for entertainment and literary purposes.

For the purposes of applicable data protection laws, HorrorStory.in is the party responsible for deciding how your personal data is processed on this website.

Website: https://horrorstory.in/
Email: 0008@horrorstory.in
Alternate email: thinkerr0008@gmail.com
Owner / Editor: [Real name]
Location: [City, State], India

2. Information We Collect

We aim to collect as little personal information as possible. The information we collect falls into the following categories.

2.1 Information you provide to us directly

Contact form or email: If you contact us, we may receive your name, email address, the content of your message, and any attachments you choose to send.
Story submissions: If you submit a story or personal experience, we collect your name (or pen name), email address, and the content you submit.
Comments: If you leave a comment on a story, we collect the name, email address, and website (optional) you enter, along with the comment itself.
Newsletter or email updates: If you subscribe to receive new stories by email, we collect your email address. [Remove this point if you do not offer email subscriptions.]

You are never required to provide personal information to read stories on our website.

2.2 Information collected automatically

When you visit HorrorStory.in, certain information is collected automatically by our servers and by third-party services we use:

Log files: Like most websites, we use standard log files. These may include your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, device type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date and time of your visit, referring and exit pages, and the number of clicks. This information is not linked to anything that personally identifies you and is used for analysing trends, administering the site, tracking movement around the site, and gathering general demographic information.
Device and usage information: Pages viewed, time spent on pages, scroll behaviour, approximate location (city or country level, derived from IP), and screen size.
Cookies and similar technologies: See Section 4 below.

2.3 Comments and Gravatar

When visitors leave comments, we collect the data shown in the comment form, as well as the visitor’s IP address and browser user-agent string, to help with spam detection.

An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture (if any) is visible to the public in the context of your comment. [Remove this section if comments or Gravatar are disabled.]

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

operate, maintain, and improve the website;
understand how readers use the website, which stories are popular, and how we can improve our content;
respond to your messages, questions, and feedback;
review, edit, and publish story submissions (with your consent);
display and moderate comments;
send you new-story updates if you have subscribed (you can unsubscribe at any time);
detect and prevent spam, fraud, abuse, and security issues;
display advertisements that help keep the website free to read (see Section 5);
comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms.

We do not sell your personal information to anyone.

4. Cookies and Web Beacons

4.1 What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your web browser when you visit a website. They help websites remember your preferences and understand how visitors use the site.

4.2 Types of cookies we use

Type	Purpose	Examples
Strictly necessary	Required for the website to function, such as security and remembering your cookie choices.	WordPress core cookies, consent cookies
Preference	Remember choices such as your name and email in the comment form, so you don’t have to re-enter them.	WordPress comment cookies (stored for up to one year)
Analytics	Help us understand how visitors use the site, in aggregate.	Google Analytics
Advertising	Used by advertising partners, including Google, to serve and measure ads, and in some cases to personalise ads.	Google AdSense / DoubleClick cookies

4.3 Managing cookies

You can choose to disable cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies. Instructions are usually available in the “Help” or “Settings” section of your browser. Please note that disabling cookies may affect how some parts of the website work.

Where required by law (for example, for visitors from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland), we will ask for your consent before placing non-essential cookies, using a consent banner. You can change your choices at any time using the [cookie settings link in the footer]. [Edit to match your consent tool.]

5. Advertising — Google AdSense

HorrorStory.in uses, or may use, Google AdSense to display advertisements. Advertising helps us cover the cost of running the website and keep our stories free for readers.

Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to this website or other websites.
Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visits to our site and/or other sites on the internet.
Users may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings at https://adssettings.google.com (or https://myadcenter.google.com).
You can also opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalised advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info/choices (and, for users in Europe, www.youronlinechoices.eu).
To learn more about how Google uses information from sites that use its services, please visit https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
For more information about how Google uses cookies in advertising, see https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads.

If you opt out of personalised advertising, you may still see ads, but they will be less relevant to your interests (for example, based on the content of the page you are reading).

Third-party ad servers or ad networks use technologies like cookies, JavaScript, or web beacons in their advertisements and links that appear on HorrorStory.in, which are sent directly to your browser. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. These technologies are used to measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and/or to personalise the advertising content you see.

HorrorStory.in has no access to or control over the cookies used by third-party advertisers. Please consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices and for instructions on how to opt out.

6. Analytics — Google Analytics and Google Site Kit

We use Google Analytics (connected through the Google Site Kit plugin for WordPress) to understand how visitors find and use our website. Google Analytics collects information such as pages visited, time on page, device type, approximate location, and how you arrived at our site. This information is collected in aggregate and helps us improve our content.

Google’s Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
You can prevent Google Analytics from collecting your data by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

We also use Google Search Console to understand how our website appears in Google Search results. Search Console provides us with aggregate data and does not identify individual visitors.

7. Other Third-Party Services

We may use the following additional third-party services, each of which has its own privacy policy:

Web hosting provider: [Hosting company name] — stores website files and server logs. [Link to their privacy policy]
Content delivery / security: [e.g. Cloudflare] — protects the website from attacks and speeds up loading. [Link]
Email / newsletter service: [Service name, if any] [Link]
Anti-spam service: [e.g. Akismet] — checks comments for spam. [Link]

[Edit this list to match the plugins and services actually installed on the website. Remove any that are not used.]

8. Sharing and Disclosure of Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may share information only in the following situations:

Service providers: With trusted third-party services (listed above) that help us operate the website, only to the extent necessary for them to perform their services.
Advertising and analytics partners: As described in Sections 5 and 6, through cookies and similar technologies.
Published content: If you submit a story or comment, the name or pen name you choose and your content will be publicly visible on the website.
Legal requirements: If required to do so by law, court order, or a valid request from a government authority, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of HorrorStory.in, our readers, or others.
Business transfer: If the website is sold or transferred, visitor information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this Privacy Policy.

9. Data Retention

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy:

Contact emails and messages: Retained for up to [24] months, or until the matter is resolved, whichever is later.
Story submissions: Retained for as long as the story is published, and for up to [12] months after a submission is rejected.
Comments: Retained indefinitely along with their metadata, so that we can recognise and approve follow-up comments automatically, unless you ask us to delete them.
Newsletter subscriptions: Retained until you unsubscribe.
Analytics data: Retained according to the settings in Google Analytics [e.g. 14 months].
Server logs: Retained according to our hosting provider’s standard practices.

10. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including:

serving the website over a secure HTTPS connection;
keeping WordPress, themes, and plugins updated;
limiting administrative access to the website;
using security and anti-spam tools.

However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

11. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights regarding your personal data:

Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Correction: Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Erasure: Ask us to delete your personal data, subject to legal exceptions.
Withdraw consent: Where we process data based on your consent (for example, newsletters or non-essential cookies), you may withdraw consent at any time.
Objection / restriction: Object to or ask us to restrict certain types of processing.
Portability: Request your data in a portable format, where applicable.
Grievance redressal: Raise a complaint with us, and, where applicable, with a data protection authority.

11.1 Users in India

We are committed to handling personal data in line with India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) and the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the rules made under them, as applicable. Under the DPDP Act, you may have the right to access information about your personal data, to request correction and erasure, to grievance redressal, and to nominate another person to exercise your rights in the event of death or incapacity.

11.2 Users in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have the rights listed above under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or UK GDPR. Our legal bases for processing include your consent (for non-essential cookies and personalised advertising), our legitimate interests (to operate, secure, and improve the website), and legal obligations. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

11.3 Users in California (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information is collected, to request deletion, to correct inaccurate information, and to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising. We do not sell personal information for money. To opt out of personalised advertising, please use Google’s Ads Settings as described in Section 5.

To exercise any of these rights, please email us at 0008@horrorstory.in (or thinkerr0008@gmail.com). We will respond within a reasonable time and in any case within the period required by applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

12. Children’s Information

Protecting children’s privacy online is important to us. Our content deals with horror and supernatural themes and is intended for readers aged 13 years and above, as explained in our [Disclaimer].

We do not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13.
We do not knowingly collect personal data from users under 18 through comments, submissions, or subscriptions without verifiable consent from a parent or guardian, as required by applicable law, including India’s DPDP Act, 2023.
If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided personal information on our website, please contact us immediately at 0008@horrorstory.in, and we will make best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.

13. Links to Other Websites

Our stories and articles may contain links to other websites. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that site. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites. We strongly advise you to review the privacy policy of every site you visit.

14. International Data Transfers

HorrorStory.in is operated from India. Some of our service providers, including Google, may process data on servers located outside India, including in the United States and other countries. Where data is transferred internationally, it is handled in accordance with the privacy policies of those providers and applicable law.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, or legal requirements. When we make changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. For significant changes, we may also place a notice on the website. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Your continued use of the website after any changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

16. Consent

By using our website, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its terms.

17. Contact Us and Grievance Officer

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us:

Email: 0008@horrorstory.in
Alternate email: thinkerr0008@gmail.com
Website: https://horrorstory.in/
Contact page: [Link to Contact Us page]

Grievance Officer (India):

Name: [Real name]
Email: 0008@horrorstory.in
Response time: We aim to acknowledge complaints within 48 hours and resolve them within 30 days.

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1. Who We Are

2. Information We Collect