Privacy policy
Privacy Policy
Effective Date: 7 September 2026
Last Updated: 9 October 2026
Welcome to ShikheeCares (“Website”, “Site”, “we”, “us”, “our” or “ShikheeCares”).
ShikheeCares is a personal website and digital journal through which Shikhee shares her thoughts, experiences, stories and perspectives across different aspects of her life, including motherhood, family and roots, beauty and skincare, travel, work, leadership, facilitation, personal experiences and other subjects that interest her.
We respect the privacy of every person who visits this Website. We also recognise that, because this is a personal website, some of the content published on it may relate not only to Shikhee herself but also to her family members, children, friends, colleagues and other individuals who may appear in stories, photographs or other content.
This Privacy Policy explains how information relating to visitors and users of the Website may be collected, used, stored, protected and disclosed.
It also specifically addresses the protection of personal and family-related information and photographs appearing on ShikheeCares.
By accessing or using the Website, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. Where consent is required by applicable law for a particular processing activity, such processing will be carried out on the basis required by applicable law.
1. About ShikheeCares
ShikheeCares is primarily a personal content, storytelling and personal-brand website.
The Website may contain:
Personal essays and reflections;
Stories and experiences relating to motherhood and family life;
Family history, roots, traditions and memories;
Travel stories and experiences;
Beauty, skincare and self-care content;
Professional experiences and perspectives;
Leadership and workplace-related writing;
Information about Shikhee's professional activities;
Photographs, videos and other visual material;
References to people, places, experiences and events; and
Information and content that Shikhee chooses to share as part of her personal digital presence.
The Website is not intended to function as a public database of personal information about Shikhee or any other individual.
2. Information We May Collect
Depending on how you interact with the Website, we may collect or receive different categories of information.
2.1 Information You Voluntarily Provide
You may voluntarily provide information when you:
Contact Shikhee through the Website;
Send an email;
Submit an enquiry or message through a contact form;
Sign up on the Website to hear about Shikhee's events (see section 17.1); or
Otherwise communicate with Shikhee or the Website.
Such information may include your:
Name;
Email address;
Telephone or mobile number, where provided;
Organisation or professional details;
Location, where voluntarily provided;
Message or communication;
Preferences or interests that you choose to disclose; and
Any other information that you voluntarily include in your communication.
You are not required to provide more personal information than is reasonably necessary for the particular interaction.
2.2 What the Website's forms record
When you send the enquiry form on the Facilitation page, the Website records your name, your email address, your mobile number if you give it, your message, the date and time, and, to help stop misuse of the form, your IP address and the description your browser gives of itself (its type, version and operating system). Section 17.2 explains who receives an enquiry and how long it is kept.
When you sign up to hear about events, the Website records the details described in section 17.1.
3. Information Collected Automatically
When you visit the Website, the server it runs on automatically records each request in its access log. No analytics service is used.
For every page, picture or other file your browser asks for, the access log records:
IP address;
Date and time of access;
The address of the page or file requested, including any words typed into the Website's search;
Whether it was delivered, and its size;
The referring page (the page you came from), where your browser passes it on; and
The description your browser gives of itself: browser type and version, device type and operating system.
If something goes wrong, the server's error logs may also record the IP address and the address requested, with technical details of the error.
The access logs are kept on the server for up to about four months: the current month's log, then a compressed monthly copy that the server's control panel is set to delete after 90 days. The server's general error log is not cleared on a schedule; it is cleared when it reaches a set size.
The server's control panel also produces summary statistics from the access logs (for example, the number of visits to each page and the countries visitors came from) using standard tools on the same server. These statistics, which include monthly lists of IP addresses, are kept on the server and are not shared with anyone.
This information is generally used in aggregate or technical form to operate, secure, maintain and improve the Website.
Where technically possible, reasonable measures may be used to minimise the identification of individual visitors from such information.
3.1 Visit statistics
To understand which stories and pages readers find useful, the Website can keep its own basic visit statistics, which can be switched on or off. While they are switched on, for each page viewed it records only which page it was, the day, and, where your browser passes this on, the website you came from (its name only, for example linkedin.com) or the page of this Website you came from.
These statistics do not identify you. They include no IP address, no browser or device details, no time of day and nothing that could tell one visitor from another. They use no cookies. They are counted by the Website itself, not by an analytics company, and are not shared with anyone.
We keep them for 12 months and then delete them. They are separate from the technical information described above that the Website's hosting may record.
4. Cookies and Similar Technologies
ShikheeCares uses two small cookies that are strictly necessary for the Website to work: one keeps your visit and its forms working, and one protects the forms against misuse. Both expire two hours after the last page you open. The Website uses no pixels, no local storage and no other tracking technology, and no other company places cookies through it.
Further information is provided in the Cookie Policy of ShikheeCares.
You may also control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of parts of the Website.
5. How We Use Information
Information collected through or in connection with the Website may be used for purposes including:
Operating and maintaining ShikheeCares;
Responding to enquiries and communications;
Providing information requested by visitors;
Telling people who have signed up about Shikhee's events;
Understanding Website usage;
Improving content, functionality and user experience;
Maintaining Website security;
Detecting, preventing or investigating misuse, abuse, fraud or security incidents;
Maintaining technical records;
Complying with applicable legal obligations;
Protecting the rights, privacy and safety of Shikhee, her family and other individuals; and
Any other purpose that is reasonably connected with operating and maintaining the Website or that is disclosed to you at the time information is collected.
We do not intend to use information collected from visitors for purposes that are materially inconsistent with the purpose for which it was provided, except where permitted or required by applicable law.
6. Our Approach to Personal Information
ShikheeCares is a personal website and is not intended to operate as a data-harvesting or data-brokerage platform.
We do not intend to sell, rent or commercially trade visitors' personal information to third parties.
We will generally only share personal information where:
You have requested or authorised us to do so;
It is necessary to provide a service or functionality you have requested;
It is necessary for Website operations;
It is required by law or legal process;
It is necessary to protect the Website, Shikhee, her family, visitors or another person's rights or safety;
It is necessary to investigate suspected unlawful activity or misuse; or
It is otherwise permitted under applicable law.
7. Protection of Shikhee's Personal and Family Information
This section is particularly important to ShikheeCares.
Because ShikheeCares is a personal website, some published content may contain information relating to Shikhee's personal life, family, children, relatives, friends and other people connected with her.
Such information may include:
Names;
Family relationships;
Personal stories;
Family histories and memories;
Photographs;
Videos;
Voice recordings;
Personal experiences;
Travel experiences;
Celebrations and occasions;
Educational or professional references;
General information about locations;
Other contextual information appearing in stories or photographs.
The fact that information or an image appears on the Website does not mean that the information is intended to be freely collected, reproduced, copied, republished, redistributed, commercially exploited or used for another person's purposes.
Personal and family-related content published on ShikheeCares remains subject to the applicable intellectual-property, privacy, personality, publicity and other legal rights of the relevant individuals.
Visitors are expected to respect these rights.
8. Photographs and Images of Shikhee and Her Family
ShikheeCares may contain photographs and other visual material featuring:
Shikhee;
Her children;
Family members;
Friends;
Colleagues;
Other identifiable or potentially identifiable individuals;
Places associated with personal or family experiences; and
Personal events, journeys and occasions.
These photographs are part of the personal storytelling and editorial content of ShikheeCares.
8.1 No implied permission
Viewing an image on ShikheeCares does not grant you permission to:
Download it for personal or commercial use;
Reproduce it;
Republish it;
Upload it elsewhere;
Use it as profile or promotional material;
Use it in advertising;
Alter or manipulate it;
Use it for artificial intelligence training or dataset creation;
Use facial recognition or biometric analysis;
Create derivative works from it; or
Otherwise exploit the image.
Any use beyond ordinary private viewing of the Website requires appropriate permission from the relevant rights holder.
9. Protection of Children's and Minors' Information
Some stories and photographs on ShikheeCares may involve children or other minors, particularly in connection with the Motherhood and family-related content.
We recognise that information concerning children requires particular care.
ShikheeCares does not operate as a service specifically directed at children and does not intentionally seek to collect personal information directly from children through the Website.
Where children appear in photographs, stories or other content published by Shikhee, such content is presented as part of Shikhee's personal and family storytelling.
Visitors must not:
Attempt to identify, locate or contact a child appearing on the Website;
Collect or compile information about children appearing in Website content;
Repost photographs of children from the Website;
Use children's images for commercial, promotional or advertising purposes;
Use such images for facial recognition, biometric profiling or AI dataset creation;
Attempt to establish a child's school, residence, routine, location or other sensitive information from Website content; or
Use Website content to harass, threaten, target or otherwise endanger a child or family member.
We reserve the right to remove, modify or restrict access to any content involving minors where we believe doing so is appropriate for privacy, safety or other legitimate reasons.
10. Location and Travel Information
ShikheeCares may contain travel stories, photographs and references to locations.
Such content may identify:
Cities;
Countries;
Hotels or accommodation;
Restaurants or attractions;
Events;
Places visited;
Travel experiences; or
General geographic information.
Because travel and personal stories may sometimes contain information about where Shikhee or her family have been, we take reasonable steps to avoid intentionally publishing information that would unnecessarily expose sensitive personal details such as private residential addresses, real-time whereabouts, private contact information or other information that could create an unreasonable safety or privacy risk.
Travel stories may also be published after the relevant event rather than in real time.
However, readers should understand that publicly available content can sometimes be combined with information from other sources. No online publication can completely eliminate the possibility of such inference.
11. Information About Other People Appearing in Stories
Shikhee may occasionally write about experiences involving friends, relatives, colleagues, mentors, professional contacts or other individuals.
Where another person is mentioned or appears in content:
Information will generally be shared because it forms part of the relevant story or experience;
Shikhee may use names, photographs or contextual details where she considers their inclusion appropriate;
Sensitive personal information will not intentionally be published merely for curiosity or unnecessary exposure; and
Where appropriate, identifying details may be omitted, changed, generalised or otherwise limited.
If you believe that a story, photograph or other content on ShikheeCares identifies you in a manner that creates a genuine privacy or safety concern, you may contact us using the contact information provided below.
Requests will be reviewed reasonably and in good faith, although removal may not always be possible where content is necessary to preserve the integrity of an editorial, historical, professional or personal account, or where there is another legitimate reason for retaining it.
12. Publicly Available Content Is Not the Same as Publicly Reusable Content
An important distinction applies throughout ShikheeCares:
Content being accessible on the public internet does not mean that it is free for unrestricted reuse.
Articles, photographs, graphics, videos, personal stories and other materials published on ShikheeCares may contain copyright, personality rights, privacy rights, moral rights, trademarks or other legally protected interests.
Accordingly, users must not assume that Website content can be copied, scraped, archived, republished, monetised or incorporated into another website, publication, database, AI system or commercial service merely because it can technically be accessed.
Additional provisions concerning content and image usage may be set out in the Website's Content & Image Usage Policy.
13. Third-Party Services
ShikheeCares uses these service providers to help operate the Website:
Hosting: the server that runs the Website, and holds its database and logs, is rented from BigRock;
Email: email to info@shikheecares.com, including every enquiry sent through the Website, is handled by Google Workspace, and a copy of each enquiry goes to Shikhee's own Google (Gmail) mailbox; and
Backups: a copy of the whole Website, including its database and logs, is made every night and kept on the server and with Backblaze, an off-site backup provider.
The Website does not use analytics, advertising, embedded video or image services, social-media widgets or monitoring services.
Such providers may process certain information as necessary to provide their services.
Where a third-party service operates independently from ShikheeCares, its own privacy policy and terms may apply.
We encourage visitors to review the privacy practices of third-party services before interacting with them.
14. Social Media and Embedded Content
The Website may contain links to or integrations with social-media platforms, including platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
The Website currently provides links to Shikhee's social profiles, and each story ends with buttons to share it on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and LinkedIn (and, on some devices, your device's own Share option). These are ordinary links: nothing is loaded from those platforms unless you choose to follow one.
Clicking on such links may take you outside ShikheeCares.
Third-party platforms may collect information about your interaction with their content according to their own policies. ShikheeCares does not control the privacy practices of such external platforms.
The Website does not embed videos, posts, widgets or other content from these platforms.
15. External Links
ShikheeCares may contain links to third-party websites, products, services, publications, organisations, destinations or other online resources.
These links may be provided for convenience, reference, storytelling or informational purposes.
We do not control the privacy practices of third-party websites.
Visiting an external website is subject to that website's own privacy policy, terms and practices.
You should exercise appropriate caution before providing personal information to any third-party website.
16. Professional, Beauty, Skincare and Lifestyle Information
ShikheeCares contains personal perspectives and experiences relating to subjects including beauty, skincare, motherhood, travel, work, leadership and other areas of life.
Information collected through the Website is not intended to be used to create individual profiles about visitors based on their health, beauty, parenting or lifestyle preferences.
Where visitors voluntarily provide such information in a message or enquiry, we will handle it with reasonable care and use it primarily for the purpose for which it was provided.
Visitors should avoid sending highly sensitive personal information through ordinary website forms or email unless specifically requested and appropriate safeguards have been provided.
17. Communications and Newsletters
ShikheeCares does not send a newsletter. The only list the Website keeps is the event sign-up described in section 17.1.
17.1 Event updates
If you sign up on the Website to hear about events, we collect your email address and, only if you choose to give it, your name. With them, the Website records the date and time and, to help stop misuse of the form, your IP address and the description your browser gives of itself. We use your email address and name for one purpose: to tell you about Shikhee's upcoming talks, workshops and events.
We do not share this information with anyone else, we do not sell it, and we do not use it for anything else.
We keep it until you choose to unsubscribe. You can do that at any time using the link included wherever we contact you, or by writing to us using the details in the Contact Us section of this Privacy Policy, in which case we will remove it within 30 days.
17.2 Enquiries sent through the Website
When you send the enquiry form, your enquiry is kept in the Website's database and sent by email to info@shikheecares.com (a Google Workspace mailbox), with a copy to Shikhee's own Google (Gmail) mailbox, so that she can reply. The email's subject line includes your name, and the server's mail log keeps a record of each email it sends (its sender, recipients and subject) for about five weeks.
We keep the enquiry in the Website's database for 24 months and then delete it automatically. The period is the one stated on the form when you send it.
Deleting an enquiry from the Website, automatically or at your request, does not delete the emails already sent about it; those remain in the mailboxes that received them until they are deleted there.
18. Data Sharing and Disclosure
We do not sell or rent your personal information.
Information may be disclosed to third parties only where reasonably necessary for purposes such as:
Service providers
We use the providers named in section 13, which assist with:
Hosting;
Email; and
Off-site backups.
Legal requirements
Information may be disclosed where we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to:
Comply with applicable law;
Respond to a lawful governmental or regulatory request;
Comply with a court order or legal process;
Protect against fraud or unlawful activity; or
Protect the rights, safety or property of Shikhee, her family, visitors or others.
Business or structural changes
If the Website or its underlying operations are reorganised, transferred, merged or otherwise changed, information may be transferred as part of that process, subject to applicable law and appropriate safeguards.
19. We Do Not Sell Personal Information
ShikheeCares does not intend to sell, rent, lease or otherwise commercially trade personal information collected through the Website.
We also do not intend to provide visitor databases to advertisers, data brokers or unrelated third parties for their independent marketing purposes.
If our practices materially change in the future, this Privacy Policy will be updated accordingly and, where required, appropriate notice or consent will be provided.
20. Data Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures intended to protect personal information against:
Unauthorised access;
Accidental loss;
Misuse;
Unauthorised disclosure;
Alteration;
Destruction; and
Other reasonably foreseeable security risks.
These measures may include appropriate access controls, secure hosting practices, software updates, authentication controls and other security measures appropriate to the nature of the information.
However, no internet transmission or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
Accordingly, while we take reasonable precautions, we cannot guarantee absolute security of information transmitted to or through the Website.
21. Special Protection of Personal Photographs and Family Content
Because photographs and personal stories are an important part of ShikheeCares, we treat them differently from ordinary website content from a practical privacy perspective.
We may take reasonable measures to:
Avoid unnecessarily publishing private contact information;
Avoid unnecessarily publishing private residential addresses;
Avoid publishing sensitive real-time location information where doing so could create a safety concern;
Limit unnecessary identifying information about children;
Remove or modify content where a genuine privacy or safety concern is identified;
Restrict access to administrative areas containing unpublished personal material;
Use reasonable technical safeguards for stored media; and
Review requests relating to personal or family photographs in good faith.
However, once content has been intentionally published on the public internet, it may be copied, cached, indexed, screenshotted or otherwise reproduced by third parties without our permission.
We therefore cannot guarantee that removal of content from ShikheeCares will automatically result in removal from every third-party search engine, archive, social-media platform, website or other location.
22. Data Retention
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, unless a longer period is required or permitted by applicable law.
Retention periods may depend on:
The nature of the information;
The reason it was collected;
Whether an ongoing relationship exists;
Legal or regulatory requirements;
Security and dispute-resolution requirements; and
Legitimate operational needs.
Where personal information is no longer reasonably required, appropriate steps may be taken to delete, anonymise or securely dispose of it.
In particular:
Enquiries are kept in the Website's database for 24 months, then deleted automatically (section 17.2);
Event sign-ups are kept until you unsubscribe (section 17.1);
The record linked to the session cookie is deleted two hours after the last page you open;
The server's access logs are kept for up to about four months (section 3);
The server's mail log is kept for about five weeks (section 17.2);
Visit statistics, while switched on, are kept for 12 months (section 3.1); and
The nightly backups of the whole Website, which contain all of the above, are kept for up to about three months (daily copies for 7 days, weekly copies for 4 weeks and monthly copies for 3 months), on the server and with Backblaze. Something deleted from the Website can therefore remain in a backup until that backup is removed.
23. Your Privacy Choices and Rights
Subject to applicable law, you may have rights concerning your personal information, including rights to:
Request information about personal data processed about you;
Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
Request deletion of personal information where applicable;
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
Opt out of certain communications;
Raise a complaint regarding processing of your personal information; and
Exercise other rights available under applicable data-protection law.
Requests may be subject to reasonable verification requirements to protect against unauthorised requests.
Certain rights may be limited by law or may not apply in every circumstance.
24. Requests Concerning Photographs or Personal Content
If you believe that a photograph, story or other content on ShikheeCares:
Contains your personal information that should not reasonably be publicly available;
Creates a genuine safety or privacy concern;
Contains an image of you that you believe has been published inappropriately;
Contains information about a child that you believe should be removed or restricted; or
Has been reproduced without appropriate permission,
you may contact us at:
Please provide:
Your name;
The URL of the relevant page, where available;
A description of the photograph, story or information concerned;
The nature of your concern; and
Any information reasonably necessary for us to evaluate the request.
We will review genuine privacy and safety requests in good faith and take appropriate action where warranted.
We may request reasonable information to verify the identity of the person making a request, particularly where the request involves removal or modification of personal information.
25. Children's Privacy
ShikheeCares is not designed as a service for children.
We do not knowingly seek to collect personal information directly from children for the purpose of creating accounts, profiles or marketing databases.
If a parent, guardian or other authorised person believes that a child has directly provided personal information to the Website without appropriate consent, they may contact us.
Separately, children may appear in photographs or stories published by Shikhee as part of her personal and family content. The protection provisions described above apply to such content.
26. International Visitors
ShikheeCares may be accessible from countries outside India.
If you access the Website from another country, information collected through your interaction with the Website may be processed or stored in India or in another jurisdiction where our service providers operate.
By using the Website, you acknowledge that data-protection laws may differ between jurisdictions.
Where required by applicable law, appropriate safeguards will be applied to relevant cross-border processing.
27. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.
Changes may be made to reflect:
Changes to the Website;
New features or technologies;
Changes in the way information is processed;
Changes in legal or regulatory requirements;
Changes in third-party services; or
Improvements to our privacy practices.
The updated version will be published on this page with a revised “Last Updated” date.
Where required by applicable law, we will provide additional notice or obtain consent for material changes.
28. No Waiver of Legal Rights
Nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to remove, restrict or waive any privacy, data-protection, copyright, personality, publicity or other legal rights that may apply to Shikhee, her family members, Website visitors or other individuals.
Nothing in this policy limits any rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under applicable law.
29. Governing Law
This Privacy Policy shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of India, subject to applicable mandatory provisions of law.
Any dispute relating to this Privacy Policy or the handling of personal information shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the competent courts and authorities having jurisdiction under applicable Indian law.
30. Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, requests or complaints relating to this Privacy Policy or the privacy practices of ShikheeCares, please contact:
ShikheeCares
Email: info@shikheecares.com
For privacy-related requests concerning photographs, family information or other personal content, please clearly mention “Privacy Request” in the subject line of your communication.
We will make reasonable efforts to review and respond to genuine privacy requests within a reasonable period, subject to the nature and complexity of the request and applicable law.
31. Important Notice Regarding Personal and Family Content
ShikheeCares is intentionally personal.
Some of the most meaningful content on the Website may involve memories, photographs, stories and experiences relating to Shikhee's family and personal life.
Such content is shared for storytelling and personal expression. It should be understood in that context.
Access to such content is not permission to appropriate, reproduce, commercially exploit, profile, identify, track or otherwise use Shikhee or her family members as subjects of third-party activity.
In particular, the photographs and personal information of children and family members appearing on the Website should be treated with the highest degree of respect and should not be copied, redistributed, republished, used for AI training, facial recognition, advertising, commercial profiling or any other unrelated purpose without appropriate permission.
ShikheeCares reserves the right to take appropriate action, including requesting removal, reporting misuse to relevant platforms, and pursuing available legal remedies, where its content or the privacy rights of Shikhee or her family are misused.
© 2026 ShikheeCares. All rights reserved.