Welcome to aakashbaral.com (“Website”), the personal portfolio and professional website of Aakash Baral (“I”, “me”, “my”, or “Aakash Baral”).
This Privacy Policy explains what information may be collected when you visit or interact with this Website, how that information is used, how it may be stored or shared, and the choices and rights available to you.
By using this Website, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
Who I Am
This Website is operated by: Aakash Baral from India
The Website serves as my personal portfolio and may also be used to showcase and receive enquiries regarding freelance, consulting, marketing, or other professional services.
If you have a privacy-related question or would like to exercise a privacy right, you can contact me through the contact form available on this Website.
Information I Collect
I collect information in two primary ways: information you voluntarily provide to me and information that may be collected automatically when you visit the Website.
Information You Provide
When you submit an enquiry through my contact form, I may collect:
- First name
- Email address
- Message or enquiry details
- Any other information you voluntarily include in your message
The contact form is provided through Brevo.
I use this information to:
- Respond to your enquiry
- Communicate with you regarding the subject of your enquiry
- Follow up when reasonably necessary
- Discuss potential freelance, professional, or business opportunities
- Maintain records of communications where reasonably necessary
- Protect my legitimate business and professional interests
I do not currently operate a newsletter or general email subscription service through this Website.
Submitting an enquiry does not automatically subscribe you to a newsletter or marketing mailing list.
Information Collected Automatically
When you visit the Website, certain technical and usage information may be collected automatically through hosting infrastructure, WordPress, analytics services, and other technologies used on the Website.
This may include information such as:
- IP address
- Browser type and version
- Device type
- Operating system
- Approximate geographic location
- Pages viewed
- Time spent on pages
- Referring website or source
- General interaction and usage information
- Technical information relating to your visit
The specific information collected may vary depending on your browser, device, website configuration, and the services enabled on the Website.
Google Analytics
I use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors use my Website and to improve its content, structure, performance, and user experience.
Google Analytics may collect information such as visitor numbers, session information, approximate geographic information, browser and device information, and website interaction data. GA4 may also use first-party cookies, including cookies such as _ga, to distinguish users and sessions.
Google Analytics is used for analytical and performance-measurement purposes and is not intended to identify you personally.
Depending on the configuration of the Website and applicable consent requirements, analytics technologies may be used only after the appropriate consent has been obtained.
For more information about how Google handles information collected through its services, please refer to Google’s applicable privacy documentation.
Google Search Console
I use Google Search Console to understand how my Website appears in Google Search and to identify technical or performance issues affecting the Website.
Google Search Console is primarily used for website administration, search performance analysis, indexing, and technical diagnostics.
The information available through Search Console is generally aggregated or related to Website performance rather than being used by me to identify individual visitors.
Tags, Pixels and Similar Technologies
From time to time, I may use tags, pixels, scripts, or similar technologies for purposes such as:
Measuring website performance
Understanding visitor behaviour
Measuring marketing campaigns
Tracking conversions
Improving website functionality
Evaluating the effectiveness of professional or promotional activities
The specific technologies used may change over time depending on the requirements of the Website or a particular campaign.
Where a third-party technology processes personal data or uses cookies or similar technologies, its own privacy practices may also apply.
Where required by applicable law, I will seek the appropriate consent before using non-essential tracking or advertising technologies.
Cookies
This Website may use cookies and similar technologies.
Cookies are small files or pieces of information stored on your device that can help websites remember information, provide functionality, measure usage, or support security and analytics.
Cookies may be used by:
- WordPress and the Website itself
- Google Analytics
- Other services or technologies that may be added to the Website in the future
The exact cookies used may change depending on the Website’s configuration, plugins, analytics settings, and third-party services.
Google Analytics, for example, uses first-party cookies to distinguish users and sessions.
You can generally control or disable cookies through your browser settings. However, disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality or performance of some parts of the Website.
Where applicable law requires consent for non-essential cookies or similar technologies, appropriate consent mechanisms will be used.
Contact Form and Brevo
The Website uses Brevo to provide and process the contact form through which visitors can submit enquiries.
When you submit the form, the information you provide may be transmitted to and processed by Brevo on my behalf.
This information is used to receive, manage, respond to, and follow up on enquiries submitted through the Website.
Brevo may process information according to its own privacy and data-processing practices. You should review Brevo’s applicable privacy documentation for further information about how it handles personal data.
I do not currently use the contact form to automatically add visitors to a newsletter or general promotional mailing list.
How I Use Your Information
Personal information collected through the Website may be used for the following purposes:
- Responding to enquiries
- Communicating with you
- Discussing freelance or professional opportunities
- Following up on enquiries you have submitted
- Understanding Website performance
- Improving Website content and functionality
- Monitoring Website security and reliability
- Measuring marketing or promotional activity
- Maintaining appropriate records of professional communications
- Complying with applicable legal obligations
- Protecting against misuse, fraud, security threats, or other harmful activity
I will not use information submitted through the contact form for an unrelated purpose without an appropriate legal basis or, where required, your consent.
Legal Bases for Processing
Depending on the circumstances and the applicable law, I may process personal information based on:
- Your consent
- The need to respond to a request or enquiry you have made
- Steps taken at your request before entering into a professional relationship
- Legitimate interests, where permitted by applicable law
- Compliance with legal obligations
- Other lawful grounds available under applicable privacy legislation
Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent where applicable.
Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that occurred before the withdrawal.
How I Share Information
I do not sell your personal information.
Personal information may be shared with or processed by service providers that are necessary to operate the Website or provide its functionality.
These may include:
- Brevo — contact form and communication services
- Google — analytics and search-related services
- Hostinger — Website hosting and infrastructure
- Other technology providers where reasonably necessary to operate, secure, maintain, or improve the Website
Information may also be disclosed where required by law, legal process, governmental request, or where reasonably necessary to protect the rights, safety, security, or property of myself, visitors, or others.
Third-party service providers may process information in countries other than your own. Their respective privacy policies and contractual obligations may govern their processing of personal information.
The Website may contain links or redirects to my LinkedIn profile or other LinkedIn pages.
Following such a link will take you away from this Website.
Once you leave this Website, your interaction with LinkedIn is governed by LinkedIn’s own terms, privacy policy, cookies, and other applicable policies.
I do not control how LinkedIn collects or processes information once you interact with its services.
Data Retention
I retain information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including responding to enquiries, maintaining professional records, protecting legitimate interests, resolving disputes, and complying with legal obligations.
At present, I do not routinely delete enquiry information after an enquiry has been completed.
However, retention periods may be reviewed and changed as my Website, professional activities, legal obligations, and data-management practices develop.
Where applicable law requires personal information to be deleted, restricted, or otherwise handled differently, I will take appropriate steps to comply with those requirements.
Data Security
I take reasonable measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, loss, misuse, or destruction.
These measures may include appropriate website security, access controls, secure hosting, HTTPS encryption, and security practices provided by the third-party services used by the Website.
However, no method of transmission or electronic storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
Therefore, while I take reasonable steps to protect information, I cannot guarantee absolute security.
Your Privacy Rights
Depending on where you live and which privacy laws apply to you, you may have rights relating to your personal information.
These may include the right to:
- Know whether personal information about you is being processed
- Request access to personal information held about you
- Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
- Request deletion of your personal information
- Request restriction of processing
- Object to certain processing
- Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
- Request portability of certain information
- Request information about how your personal information is processed
- Lodge a complaint with an applicable data-protection authority
For individuals protected by the GDPR, these rights may include access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection, subject to the conditions and exceptions provided by applicable law.
Rights available under India’s applicable data-protection framework may also apply depending on the circumstances and the nature of the processing. India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 establishes requirements concerning lawful processing, notice, consent, and data-principal rights.
To exercise a privacy right, please contact me through the contact form on this Website and clearly describe your request.
I may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests in order to protect personal information from unauthorised disclosure.
International Visitors
This Website is available to visitors worldwide.
If you access the Website from outside India, your information may be processed in India or in other countries where my service providers operate.
Different countries may provide different levels of legal protection for personal information.
Where applicable, I will take reasonable steps to handle personal information in accordance with the privacy requirements that apply to the relevant processing activity.
Children's Privacy
This Website is intended for a general audience and is not specifically directed towards children.
I do not knowingly request or intentionally collect personal information from children for the purpose of establishing accounts, subscriptions, or similar services.
If you believe that a child has provided personal information through the Website, please contact me so that the situation can be reviewed and appropriate action can be taken.
Third-Party Websites
This Website may contain links to third-party websites, including professional and social platforms such as LinkedIn.
I am not responsible for the privacy practices, content, security, or policies of third-party websites.
You should review the privacy policy of any third-party website before providing personal information to it.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
I may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to:
- The Website
- The services used by the Website
- My professional activities
- Data-processing practices
- Applicable laws or regulations
- Privacy and security requirements
When changes are made, the “Last updated” date at the top of this page will be updated.
You are encouraged to review this page periodically for the latest information.
Contact
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, want to understand how your information is being used, or wish to exercise an applicable privacy right, please contact me through the contact form available on this Website.
Website: aakashbaral.com
Privacy contact: Contact form available on the Website
Data controller: Aakash Baral
Location: India
Acceptance
By using this Website, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
Where applicable law requires consent for a particular type of processing, such processing will be carried out on the appropriate legal basis and, where required, only after obtaining the necessary consent.