Bhakti Sakha

Bhakti Sakha ("the App") is a Vaishnava spiritual companion app providing a calendar, song book, daily inspirational quotes, notes, events, prayer circle, devotee service directory, to-do lists, alarms, and other devotional tools. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your data.

1. Information We Collect

a) When you sign in with Google, we collect:

• Google account name — to personalise your experience
• Email address — as your unique account identifier
• Google user ID — to associate your cloud data with your account
• Profile photo URL — displayed in the app header

b) When you use the app, we store the following in the cloud (Firebase Firestore):

• Notes — personal notes and journal entries you create, organized in folders
• Custom Events — occasions, appointments, and personal events you add to your calendar
• To-Do Items — tasks, projects, spiritual goals, due dates, priorities, and recurring schedules
• Prayer Circle Requests — prayer requests you submit, including title, description, and category. These are visible to other users of the app after admin approval.
• SevaKart Listings — service listings you create, including business name, description, category, city, contact details, and images. These are visible to other users of the app after admin approval.
• App Settings — your notification preferences, location setting (city name), and color theme
• FCM Device Token — a device identifier used to deliver push notifications

c) Data stored locally on your device only (not sent to any server):

• Alarms — Japa, Aarti, and Reading alarm schedules (stored in Android SharedPreferences)
• Daily Muse shuffle order — which quotes you have seen (stored in browser localStorage)
• App theme preference — your selected color theme (stored in localStorage and SharedPreferences)

d) Data we do NOT collect:

• GPS / precise location — the app uses a city name you enter manually, not device GPS
• Contacts, photos, camera, microphone — we do not access any of these
• Financial or payment information — the app is completely free with no purchases

2. How We Use Your Information

• To sync your notes, events, to-do items, and settings across devices when you are signed in
• To send you spiritual reminders and calendar notifications you have opted into
• To display your prayer requests to other devotees in the Prayer Circle (after admin review)
• To display your service listings to other devotees in SevaKart (after admin review)
• To restore your data if you reinstall the app or switch devices
• To calculate sunrise, sunset, and Vedic timings based on your entered city location

We do not sell your data. We do not use your data for advertising. We do not share your data with any third party except Google (Firebase/Firestore) which provides our cloud storage infrastructure.

3. Data Visible to Other Users

Most of your data is private and only accessible to you. However, the following data may be visible to other users of the app:

• Prayer Circle requests — your prayer request title, description, and category are visible to all users after admin approval. You may choose to post anonymously.
• SevaKart listings — your service name, description, category, city, and contact details are visible to all users after admin approval.
• SevaKart reviews — star ratings and written reviews you leave on other listings are visible to all users.

All publicly visible content is reviewed by admins before being published. You can delete your own submissions at any time.

4. Data Storage

Your data is stored securely in Google Firebase Firestore. Firebase is governed by Google's Privacy Policy. All data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and at rest (Google Cloud encryption). Each user's private data (notes, events, to-dos) is isolated — only you can access it when signed in.

5. Push Notifications

If you enable notifications, we store your device's FCM (Firebase Cloud Messaging) token to send you spiritual reminders such as Ekadashi alerts, festival reminders, Gayatri/Sandhya times, Rahu Kalam alerts, and To-Do task reminders. You can disable notifications at any time from the app's Settings section. Disabling notifications removes your device token from our system.

6. Google Drive Sync

The app optionally uses Google Drive to sync your data across devices. If you grant Drive access, we create a single file in your Google Drive's app-specific folder containing your notes, events, songs, to-do items, and app settings. We only read and write this one file. We do not access any other Drive content.

7. Third-Party Services

The app uses the following third-party services:

• Google Firebase (Firestore, Cloud Messaging, Hosting) — for data storage, push notifications, and app hosting
• Google Sign-In — for authentication
• Google Drive API — for cross-device data sync

Each of these services is governed by Google's Privacy Policy. No other third-party services are used.

8. Data Retention and Deletion

Your data is retained for as long as your account is active. To delete your data:

• Individual items: Delete specific notes, events, to-do items, prayer requests, or SevaKart listings from within the app at any time
• Sign out: Signing out clears all local data from your device
• Full account deletion: Email us at bhaktisakhaapp@gmail.com to request permanent deletion of all your cloud data

We will process deletion requests within 30 days.

9. Children's Privacy

Bhakti Sakha is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by updating the date at the top of this page. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

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