Privacy Policy

Section 1

Who We Are

The Index Today ("we," "our," or "us") operates the website located at theindextoday.com (the "Site"), a financial and business news publication. We publish original journalism across markets, economics, technology, geopolitics, and related subjects.

This Privacy Policy applies to all visitors and registered users of the Site, including readers who purchase articles through our TimePay system. It does not apply to third-party websites, applications, or services that may be linked to from our Site.

If you have any questions about this policy, contact us at Manju.Devi@indextoday.com.

Section 2

Information We Collect

We collect information in three ways: information you provide directly, information collected automatically when you use the Site, and information from third-party services.

Information you provide

• Account registration. When you create a ZZAZZ account, we collect your email address and a password (stored as a hashed value — we never see your plaintext password).
• Payment information. When you purchase TPC credits or individual articles via TimePay, we collect payment details. Card data is processed by our payment provider and is not stored on our servers.
• Communications. If you contact us by email, we retain the contents of that correspondence to assist you and improve our service.

Information collected automatically

• Log data. Our servers automatically record your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, and timestamps when you access the Site.
• Article engagement. We track which articles you view, how long you spend on each page, and whether you complete a purchase. This data powers our article Signals (demand, confidence, median read time) and is aggregated — it is not linked to your identity in our public-facing Signals display.
• Device information. We collect information about the device and browser used to access the Site, including screen resolution and connection type, to optimise delivery.
• Cookies. We use cookies and similar technologies as described in Section 5 below.

Section 3

TimePay & TPC Credits

TimePay is our micropayment system that allows readers to purchase individual articles using TPC credits. To operate TimePay, we process and retain the following data:

• Transaction records. Each article purchase is logged with your account ID, article ID, TPC amount, timestamp, and execution price. This record is retained for the life of your account to support your library access and billing inquiries.
• TPC balance. Your current TPC credit balance is stored on our servers and linked to your account.
• TimePay earned. If you earn TPC credits through reading or engagement incentives, we log the source, amount, and date of each credit event.
• Auto-renewal preferences. If you enable or disable auto-renewal for credit packages, your preference is stored and actionable at any time from your account settings.

Section 4

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To provide and operate the Site. Serving articles, maintaining your library of purchased content, processing TPC transactions, and managing your account.
• To improve our journalism. Aggregated engagement data helps our editorial team understand which stories resonate and where our coverage can improve. We do not use individual reading data to influence editorial decisions about specific topics.
• To power article Signals. Purchase and engagement events are aggregated in real time to generate the demand, confidence, and median read-time signals displayed on each article.
• To communicate with you. Transactional emails (purchase confirmations, account alerts, billing notifications) and, if you opt in, editorial newsletters. We do not send marketing emails without your explicit consent.
• To detect fraud and maintain security. Log data and transaction patterns are analysed to identify and prevent fraudulent activity, unauthorised access, and abuse of the TimePay system.
• To comply with legal obligations. We may retain and disclose information where required by applicable law, court order, or regulatory authority.

We do not use your data to train machine learning models, build advertising profiles, or make automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you without human review.

Section 5

Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use the following categories of cookies on the Site:

• Strictly necessary cookies. Required for the Site to function. These include session authentication cookies that keep you logged in to your ZZAZZ account, and cookies that remember your TimePay library state. These cannot be disabled without breaking core functionality.
• Performance cookies. Anonymised analytics cookies that tell us how visitors navigate the Site — which pages are visited most, where users exit, and how fast pages load. We use this data to improve Site performance. No personally identifiable information is collected by these cookies.
• Functional cookies. Cookies that remember your preferences, such as your selected edition (U.S. or international) and display settings.
• Market data cookies. Short-lived cookies set by our third-party market data provider to deliver real-time price and index feeds. These cookies do not track you across other websites.

We do not use advertising tracking cookies, cross-site tracking pixels, or fingerprinting technologies. You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings. Disabling strictly necessary cookies will prevent you from accessing your account and purchased articles.

Section 6

Third-Party Services & Market Data

We work with a limited set of third-party service providers to operate the Site. Each is contractually bound to use your data only for the services they provide to us.

• Payment processing. Card transactions are handled by a PCI-DSS compliant payment processor. We receive a transaction confirmation and token — never raw card data.
• Cloud infrastructure. The Site is hosted on third-party cloud infrastructure. Our hosting provider may process IP addresses and log data as part of normal operations.
• Market data providers. Real-time and delayed price data displayed on the Site (equities, bonds, commodities, currencies, crypto) is supplied by licensed third-party data providers. Their data feeds may set short-lived technical cookies. This data is informational only and may be delayed up to 15 minutes; accuracy is not guaranteed.
• Email delivery. Transactional emails are sent via a third-party email service provider. They process recipient addresses and delivery metadata only.

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for their own marketing purposes. We do not share data with our advertisers beyond aggregate, non-identifiable Site traffic statistics.

Section 7

Advertising

The Index Today displays contextual advertising and sponsored placements. All sponsored content is clearly labelled. Our advertising model is based on contextual relevance — the section or topic of the page you are viewing — not on your personal profile or browsing history.

We do not share personally identifiable information with advertisers. Advertisers receive only aggregate, anonymised performance statistics (such as total impressions and click counts for their placements).

Advertisers have no influence over our editorial content and receive no advance notice of coverage related to their business or sector.

Section 8

Data Retention

• Account data. Retained for the life of your account and for 12 months after account deletion, to support billing dispute resolution and legal compliance.
• Transaction records. TimePay purchase records are retained for seven years in accordance with standard financial recordkeeping requirements.
• Server logs. Raw server log data (including IP addresses) is retained for 90 days, then deleted or anonymised.
• Email correspondence. Retained for up to 24 months from the date of last contact, unless a legal hold applies.
• Aggregated analytics. Anonymised, aggregated engagement data used for article Signals has no deletion schedule, as it contains no personal information.

When data is no longer required for its stated purpose and no legal obligation requires its retention, we delete or anonymise it.

Section 9

Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access. Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction. Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Deletion. Request deletion of your personal data, subject to our legal retention obligations. Deleting your account will remove access to your purchased article library.
• Portability. Request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection. Object to certain processing activities, such as direct marketing communications.
• Restriction. Request that we restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances.
• Withdrawal of consent. Where processing is based on your consent (such as marketing emails), you may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at Manju.Devi@indextoday.com with the subject line "Privacy Request." We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing the request.

If you believe we have handled your data unlawfully, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority in your jurisdiction.

Section 10

Children's Privacy

The Index Today is not directed at children under the age of 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child under 16 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete it promptly. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us at Manju.Devi@indextoday.com.

Section 11

International Transfers

The Index Today operates primarily from the United States. If you access the Site from outside the United States, your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States or other countries where our service providers operate. These countries may have data protection laws that differ from those in your jurisdiction.

Where required by law — for example, for transfers of data from the European Economic Area — we rely on appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses approved by the relevant authority.

Section 12

Security

We implement technical and organisational measures designed to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or alteration. These include encrypted data transmission (HTTPS), hashed password storage, access controls limiting which staff can access personal data, and regular security reviews.

No system is completely secure. In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and the applicable regulatory authorities as required by law.

Section 13

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For material changes — those that significantly affect your rights or how we use your data — we will notify registered users by email at least 14 days before the change takes effect.

Your continued use of the Site after the effective date of an updated policy constitutes acceptance of the revised terms. If you do not agree to the updated policy, you should stop using the Site and may request deletion of your account.