The legally required bit, but written by a human
This is the part of the website where we stop pretending the internet is magical and admit it runs on cookies, forms, and the occasional bot trying to sell you something questionable. Privacy policies are about as exciting as watching paint dry in slow motion, but apparently, we need one. So I’ll keep it simple.
The basics
Who are you?
Sid Balachandran, the mostly human behind I Wrote Those. Website address: iwrotethose.com. Not to be confused with any other Sids who may or may not write things.
What personal data do you collect, and why?
In short: enough to make the site work properly, understand what people read, and stop the comment section turning into a spam festival.
This site uses a few third-party tools/plugins for things like performance, analytics, SEO and forms, including: Jetpack, Google Analytics, Yoast SEO, and contact forms. In short: enough to make the site work properly, understand what people read, and stop the comment section turning into a spam festival.
Here’s what that can involve:
Cookies:
No, not the edible kind. (Sadly). Cookies are used for basic site functionality and convenience. For example:
- If you leave a comment, you can choose to save your details so you don’t have to retype them next time. Those cookies last one year.
- If you log in (if accounts are enabled), the site uses cookies for login/session and screen preferences.
- If you edit/publish an article (admin side), an extra cookie may be set and expires after one day.
You can turn off cookies any time through your browser settings – but parts of the site may behave slightly less smoothly
TL;DR If you leave a comment, your browser might remember your name and email so you don’t have to type them again next time. Revolutionary stuff, really. These hang around for about a year unless you clear them out.
Contact forms:
If you use a contact form, the details you submit are used only so I can respond. The form submission may also capture your IP address for reference/security
Comments:
If you leave a comment, the site stores what you enter in the comment form, plus your IP address and browser user agent. This helps with spam detection and basic site administration.
If you use Gravatar, that service has its own privacy policy (Automattic/Gravatar).
Analytics:
I use Google Analytics to see which posts people actually read (spoiler: it’s usually the ones about parenting disasters). This helps me know what works and what doesn’t.
Embedded content from other websites:
Some posts may include embedded things (videos, images, articles, etc). If you interact with embedded content, it behaves as though you visited that other site directly — and those sites may collect data, use cookies, and track interaction (especially if you’re logged in there).
Media uploads:
Right now, visitors can’t upload images. If that ever changes, please avoid uploading images with location data (EXIF GPS), because location data can sometimes be extracted.
How long do you keep my data?
- Comments and their metadata are kept indefinitely. This helps recognise and approve follow-up comments automatically, instead of trapping everything in a moderation queue forever.
- If user accounts are enabled in future, any profile information provided would be stored and users would be able to view/edit/delete their personal information (with the usual exception that usernames can’t typically be changed).
Your rights over the data
If you have an account on this site or have left comments, you can request:
- an exported file of the personal data held about you, and/or
- that personal data be erased.
This doesn’t include data that must be kept for administrative, legal, or security reasons.
Do you send my data anywhere?
Not in the “selling your data” sense. No.
However, visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service — because spam is a plague and we all deserve peace.
The simple version
I don’t sell your data, I don’t spam you, and I don’t do anything dodgy with your information. This website exists to share stories about everyday chaos, not to harvest personal details for nefarious purposes.
This policy might change if I need to update the technical bits, but I’ll let you know if that happens.
Questions? Email me: balachandransid@gmail.com
Last updated: February 2026