Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy outlines how Archer International Publications collects, processes, protects, and retains personal data in connection with scholarly publishing, manuscript submissions, customer accounts, and book purchases.
1. Identity of the Data Controller
Archer International Publications ("Archer", "AIP", "we", "us", or "our") operates the academic publishing platform, catalog, and e-commerce services accessible at archerpublications.com.
For the purpose of applicable Indian data protection laws, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act, 2023) and the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011, Archer International Publications acts as the Data Fiduciary (Data Controller) regarding personal data processed through this platform.
Our registered institutional secretariat is located at Academic Publishing Complex, Technology Corridor, Chennai, Tamil Nadu - 600113, India. Editorial communication and privacy inquiries may be directed to our designated Grievance Officer at editorial@archerpublications.com.
2. Categories of Personal Data Collected
We collect only the personal information strictly necessary to fulfill academic publishing contracts, manage customer accounts, deliver physical books, and communicate with authors and researchers.
A. Account & Profile Information
When you register an account as a reader, scholar, or author, we collect your full name, email address, contact phone number, chosen role (reader or author), and default dispatch address. Passwords are never stored in plaintext; they are hashed cryptographically using modern industry-standard algorithms managed through Supabase Authentication.
B. Manuscript Submission Data
When authors submit monographs or edited volumes for editorial evaluation, we collect the author’s name, institutional affiliation, email address, primary phone number, WhatsApp contact number (for editorial updates), postal address, book/manuscript title, and the uploaded manuscript document (PDF, DOC, or DOCX formats).
C. Order & Transaction Data
When purchasing physical monographs or paying for confirmed publication packages, we record customer delivery details, street address, city, state, postal code (PIN code), country, order items, transaction amounts in Indian Rupees (INR), order identifiers, and payment status.
- Crucial Security Notice: Archer does NOT store, process, or transmit your credit card numbers, debit card numbers, UPI PINs, net banking passwords, or CVV codes on our servers.
- All online payments are securely collected directly by our Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-authorized payment partner, Razorpay Software Private Limited, in accordance with PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance standards.
D. Enquiries & Direct Communications
When submitting general inquiries, service requests, or chapter proposals through our contact forms, we collect your name, email, phone number, subject area, and the contents of your message.
E. Technical System Logs & Rate Limiting
To protect the platform from automated abuse, brute-force attacks, and spam, our server infrastructure processes network identifiers. When processing public forms, IP addresses are cryptographically salted and hashed prior to being evaluated against rate-limiting thresholds; raw IP addresses are not permanently retained in customer profile databases.
3. Purposes and Legal Basis for Processing
We process your personal information strictly for legitimate, declared academic and business purposes under applicable law:
- Performance of Contract: Processing book purchases, fulfilling orders, shipping physical volumes, providing publication package deliverables, and managing user account access.
- Editorial Evaluation: Reviewing author submissions, assessing academic suitability, conducting plagiarism and similarity checks, and communicating editorial determinations.
- Statutory & Tax Compliance: Retaining mandatory financial transaction records, GST invoices, and order logs required under Indian commercial, accounting, and taxation statutes.
- Platform Security & Integrity: Protecting against unauthorized access, payment fraud, malicious file uploads, spam, and denial-of-service attempts.
- Legitimate Editorial Interest: Responding to academic inquiries, sending transactional notices, delivery status updates, and tracking numbers.
4. Third-Party Service Providers (Data Processors)
Archer does not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to advertisers or commercial data brokers. We engage carefully vetted, industry-leading infrastructure providers (Data Processors) solely to operate our platform under strict confidentiality agreements:
A. Database & Identity Management (Supabase)
User authentication, profile records, catalog data, and transactional tables are hosted on Supabase (PostgreSQL) with strict Row Level Security (RLS) policies enforcing zero cross-tenant access.
B. Manuscript & Media Storage (Cloudinary)
Public media (such as published monograph covers) is delivered via Cloudinary CDN. Author manuscript files uploaded through the submission portal are stored in private, authenticated Cloudinary storage. Manuscripts are NEVER publicly accessible; download URLs are generated dynamically with short-lived cryptographic signatures accessible only to authorized editorial personnel and the verified author.
C. Payment Gateway (Razorpay)
Online financial transactions are processed via Razorpay Software Private Limited. Razorpay processes payment credentials under strict PCI-DSS regulatory standards. Archer receives only transaction tokens, order identifiers, and payment settlement confirmations.
D. Transactional Communications (Resend)
System emails (order confirmations, manuscript tracking codes, and password reset instructions) are dispatched via transactional email infrastructure. Unsent emails are queued in a database outbox to ensure reliable delivery during network anomalies.
5. Technical & Organizational Data Security
Archer implements comprehensive security practices to safeguard customer and author records:
- Encryption in Transit: All data exchanged between your browser and our platform is encrypted using modern Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3 / HTTPS).
- Database Access Controls: Production databases enforce PostgreSQL Row Level Security (RLS). Server Actions execute using least-privilege principles, preventing client-side privilege escalation.
- Private Document Access: Manuscripts are strictly segregated from public media assets. Public URLs are disabled for all manuscript storage folders.
- File Integrity & Signature Verification: Uploaded documents are validated against binary magic bytes to prevent masqueraded executable files or malformed archives.
- Session Integrity: Authentication cookies are flagged with HttpOnly, Secure, and SameSite attributes to resist cross-site scripting (XSS) and request forgery (CSRF).
Realistic Security Assurance
While Archer employs modern, industry-standard controls, no online platform can guarantee absolute immunity from unforeseen systemic disruptions. We maintain systematic audit logging and incident response protocols to respond swiftly to potential security events.
6. Data Retention and Account Deletion
We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the declared purposes or satisfy statutory obligations:
• Active Account Records: Retained throughout the duration of your registered account. You may request account closure at any time through our support desk.
• E-Commerce & Financial Records: In accordance with Indian tax laws, Companies Act regulations, and GST compliance, completed order details and invoice records are retained for the statutory retention period (typically 7–8 years).
• Unaccepted Manuscript Submissions: Manuscripts that are declined or withdrawn by the author are purged from our active review systems following the completion of the evaluation cycle, unless retention is required for verified dispute resolution or copyright verification records.
• Published Author Records: Monograph metadata, ISBN assignment archives, and legal deposit records are maintained permanently in national library archives and Crossref registries as part of the immutable permanent scholarly record.
7. Your Rights Under Data Protection Law
In alignment with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you hold the following rights regarding your personal data processed by Archer:
- Right to Access: You may request a summary of personal data held about you and processing activities undertaken.
- Right to Correction & Updating: You can update your profile, contact numbers, and delivery addresses via your Account Profile page or by contacting support.
- Right to Erasure: You may request the deletion of your account and personal information, subject to mandatory statutory tax and legal deposit requirements.
- Right to Grievance Redressal: You have the right to register complaints regarding data processing practices with our Grievance Officer.
8. International Authors & Cross-Border Data Transfers
Archer serves academic authors and institutional libraries internationally. If you access our platform from outside India, your information will be transferred to and processed on secure cloud servers situated in India and global cloud data regions operated by our verified processors (Supabase, Cloudinary, Vercel).
By registering an account, submitting manuscripts, or placing orders, you acknowledge this necessary operational transfer.
9. Grievance Officer & Official Inquiries
In compliance with Rule 5(9) of the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 and Section 12 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the designated Grievance Officer for Archer International Publications is:
Designation: Grievance & Data Protection Officer Organization: Archer International Publications Secretariat: Academic Publishing Complex, Technology Corridor, Chennai - 600113, Tamil Nadu, India Dedicated Email: editorial@archerpublications.com Support Phone: +91 98765 43210 Operational Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM IST
We acknowledge grievance communications within forty-eight (48) working hours and strive to redress verified concerns within thirty (30) business days from receipt.
Related Legal & Editorial Policies
Terms & Conditions
These Terms and Conditions govern your access to the Archer International Publications website, book catalogue purchases, author services, publication package requests, and manuscript submissions.
Refund & Cancellation Policy
Clear, business-specific terms governing order cancellations, damaged book replacements, returns, publishing service refund eligibility, and Razorpay reversal workflows.
Shipping & Delivery Policy
Official shipping timelines, domestic postal coverage, free delivery terms across India, physical monograph packaging standards, and tracking procedures.
Manuscript Submission & Copyright Policy
Definitive academic publishing policy governing author copyright retention, submission evaluation rights, peer review standards, plagiarism screening, and formal publishing contracts.
Cookie & Tracking Policy
Detailed audit of browser cookies, local storage mechanisms, and security tokens utilized by the Archer website, confirming our strict no-advertising-tracker standard.