Privacy Policy

In short

Akaal is a free app for reading Gurbani, listening to Kirtan and learning Sikh history. Anyone can use it without an account, and then Akaal stores nothing about you on its servers. With an account, Akaal keeps only what it needs to run the app. Akaal has no advertising, does not sell personal information, and does not share it for advertising.

Children under 13 can have an account only after a parent or guardian approves it by email. Accounts for anyone under 18 keep a nickname only (no last name, photo or gender) and can't use Seva (volunteering), which is for adults.

Who runs Akaal

Akaal is run by Jatinder Sandhu, an individual based in Connecticut, USA ("Akaal", "we", "us"), who is responsible for the personal information described here. Contact: akaal.app.support@gmail.com. This is also the contact for privacy questions, requests and complaints (including as the grievance contact under India's data protection law).

Using Akaal without an account

Reading, listening, trivia and the calendar work without an account. Your progress, bookmarks, streaks, reminders, trivia results and settings are then kept only on your device. They are never sent to Akaal, and deleting the app or clearing its data removes them. From Profile you can save a copy of this progress to a file or copy it as text, and restore it on another device; that copy is created on your device and never sent to Akaal.

Even without an account, your device connects to the services that deliver the app and its content (see Services that help run Akaal), which see your device's IP address as part of normal internet traffic.

Accounts and age

When you create an account, Akaal asks for your birth month and year first. People 18 and over sign up with an email address and a password. Before you post a Seva or sign service hours, you verify your email by a link Akaal sends; Akaal records which address was verified and when, and keeps the link (only in a scrambled form) for a day. People under 18 sign up with a username and a password and give no email address (from 13, they can add one to post in the Sangat feed; it is used only for their account and never shown to others); Akaal doesn't ask for one, and without one a forgotten password can't be reset. The birth month and year decide what your account can use; they can't be changed in the app (email us if they're wrong). Akaal doesn't verify them. Accounts made before Akaal asked for a birth month and year keep the age range chosen at the time until a birth month and year are added.

Adults (18 and over) can add a first and last name, a profile photo and a gender (Singh, Kaur or prefer not to say), and can use Akaal AI and Seva.

Teens (13 to 17) have an account without a parent's approval. Their account keeps a username, a nickname and the birth month and year only: no last name, profile photo or gender. They can use Akaal AI but not Seva. Apart from what they post in the Sangat feed, nothing about them is shown to other people. To take part in a Seva, they go with a parent or guardian, who joins it on their own account.

Children (under 13): see Children's accounts below.

With any account, Akaal also stores the app language you choose and whether you've finished the welcome screens. Your password is stored only in a scrambled (hashed) form by our sign-in provider. Akaal does not store a history of where you sign in from.

Children's accounts (under 13)

Akaal follows the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and similar laws. When someone under 13 signs up, Akaal collects only a username, a password, their birth month and year, and a parent's or guardian's email address, and uses the parent's email only to ask for approval. Until a parent approves, the account can't be used and no other information is collected. If no parent approves within 14 days, the account and the parent's email address are deleted.

The parent gets an email explaining what Akaal collects, with a link to approve or delete the account. After approving, the parent gets a second email the next day confirming it, with a link to delete the account at any time.

Once approved, a child's account keeps: the username and password used to sign in (no email address), a nickname, the birth month and year, the app language, and, if notifications are turned on, a device identifier used to send them. A child's account has no photo or last name, isn't shown to other people, can't send messages to anyone, and can't use Akaal AI or Seva. Akaal does not ask a child for more information than this, does not show children advertising, and does not sell or share their information. Children's information is handled only by the service providers that host and run Akaal (Supabase, Cloudflare and, for notifications, OneSignal), under their own confidentiality and security terms; the Gurbani and audio services listed below see a device's IP address only to deliver what is being read or played.

A parent or guardian can at any time see what Akaal keeps for their child's account, have it deleted, or refuse any further collection, by using the link in Akaal's emails or by emailing akaal.app.support@gmail.com from the email address they gave. Deleting the account stops all further collection.

Children at a Seva with an adult

An adult who joins a Seva can say which children are coming with them, giving each child's first name only; the host sees the first names so they know who is coming. After a Seva, the adult can ask the host to sign service hours for each child by choosing one of those first names, and can add the child's school. The child's signed form shows the first name, the school if one was added, and the adult's name, and anyone with the form's verification code can see them together with the town the Seva was in (not its street address). The adult can write the child's full name on a printed copy; Akaal doesn't store it. The first names and school are kept with the adult's account and are deleted with it.

Seva (adults only)

If you use the Seva tab, Akaal also stores what you create and do there: Sevas you start (title, description, date and time, address and meeting point, getting-there notes, and the contact details you choose to give); Sevas you join or ask to join, the role you pick, items you offer to bring, whether you are going, and the first names of any children coming with you; chat messages and images you send in a Seva's chat; photos you add to a Seva; optional reflections you write; check-ins recorded by a host; reports you file; and the people you follow or block.

Who can see what: the title, description, time, general area and host's name of a Seva are visible to anyone using Akaal, with or without an account. The exact address, meeting point, getting-there notes and contact details are visible only to the host and to people the host has approved to join; if a host chooses to show the exact location publicly, the address (never the contact details) is visible to anyone using Akaal. If you host a Seva at a home, its address is shown to the people you approve. Chat messages and chat images are visible only to the host and approved participants. Photos added to a Seva are a public record of it: all signed-in adults can see them, and anyone who has a photo's link can open it. Your profile photo is shown to people in the Sevas you take part in, and anyone who has its link can open it. The name shown to others in a Seva is the name on your profile. Your email address is never shown to other users. When someone shares a Seva link, the page it opens is public: anyone with the link, signed in or not, sees only the Seva's title and day, never its place, host, description or contact details. Links to a Hukamnama or a line of Gurbani open a public page that shows that Gurbani.

Akaal's administrators can view Seva content, including private details and chat, only to review reports and keep the community safe. Actions taken on reports are recorded in an activity log.

A Seva you are in the middle of writing is kept as a draft on your device only, never sent to Akaal, until you post it, start over, or 30 days pass. If you tap Use my location, your device's location is used to find nearby Sevas and is sent to Akaal only to run that search; it is not stored. A place you choose to look for Sevas near, what you type in that box, and your Seva search filters are kept on your device only, so they are still there when you come back; they are sent to Akaal or OpenStreetMap only to run the search. In the Gurdwaras tab, the town you choose stays on your device in the same way, and if you tap Use my location, your device's location is sent to Akaal only to find the nearest gurdwaras; it is not stored. Which gurdwaras you follow is kept with your account and only you can see it. A correction or a missing gurdwara you suggest is kept with your account so Akaal's administrators can check it, and is deleted if you delete your account. If you ask to manage a gurdwara's page, Akaal keeps your request (your role at the gurdwara, the gurdwara phone or email you give, and any note) so Akaal's administrators and that gurdwara's page managers can check it; page managers see each other's names and roles. Sangat feed: what you post there (posts, comments and Ardas requests) is visible to signed-in members aged 13 and over, shown with your first name, the first letter of your last name, and your profile photo if you have one. Before a post or comment appears, Akaal AI (Anthropic) checks it against the Sangat guidelines, and the result of the check is kept with it for Akaal's administrators. Reports you make are seen only by Akaal's administrators; the person reported isn't told who reported them. If Akaal's administrators remove something you posted or stop you posting, the app tells you why. Whom you follow in the Sangat feed is kept with your account. An Ardas request you send to a gurdwara is also seen by that gurdwara's page managers; if you send it only to the gurdwara, nobody else sees it. Ardas requests leave the feed after 30 days, or sooner when you mark them done, and stay on your own profile, where only you see them. Programs a gurdwara posts are public, like the rest of its page. When a gurdwara's page manager pastes in the gurdwara's email about its programs, or the gurdwara sends that email to its Akaal address, Akaal AI (Anthropic) reads it to find the programs. The email itself is not kept: Akaal keeps the sender's address, the subject and the programs found, for the page managers to check, and deletes them 30 days after they are handled.

Akaal AI (13 and over)

If you use Akaal AI, the message you type (and the earlier messages of that conversation) is sent to Anthropic, the maker of Claude, to write a response grounded in Gurbani. Akaal does not store your messages or the responses; it keeps only a count of how many questions you asked each day, for daily limits, and deletes these counts after 7 days. Anthropic may keep messages for a limited time (currently up to about 30 days) to detect misuse, and does not use them to train its models. Please don't type private details about yourself or other people.

If you tap a line of Gurbani and choose Explain this line, Akaal sends that line (found by Akaal in BaniDB, with its published translations and teekas) to Anthropic to write an explanation. Nothing about you is sent. The explanation is saved on Akaal's servers without any link to you, so it can be shown to everyone who asks about that line; it is deleted only if Akaal removes it.

If you tap the text of an Itihaas entry or a Guru's page and choose Tell me more, Akaal sends that entry's text (from Akaal's own content) to Anthropic to write a short background note. Again nothing about you is sent, and the note is saved without any link to you so it can be shown to everyone who asks about that entry.

Service hours

If a host signs your volunteer hours, the signed form records your name as it appears in Akaal, the Seva's title, date, location, hours and description, and the host's name and contact details. Each form has a verification code. Anyone who has the code, such as a school, can look the form up at akaalapp.com/verify without signing in, and will see those details. If you delete your account, your forms (including any you requested for children who came with you) and their codes are deleted. If a host deletes their account, the forms they signed stay with the volunteers, including the host's name and contact details as written on the form. Akaal's administrators can mark a host as verified and record the organization they host for, which the verification page shows; notes administrators keep about how a host was verified are private. When you ask for hours, Akaal emails the host with a link to the Seva (a reply goes to your account email), and when the host signs, Akaal emails you. Akaal doesn't see or keep the messages you and the host send each other after that; anything more personal goes directly between you.

Services that help run Akaal

Akaal uses these service providers. Each gets only what it needs for its part of the app:

Supabase (United States): stores account data, Seva data and uploaded files, and handles sign-in. Cloudflare (United States, with servers worldwide): hosts the app and Kirtan audio, runs a short automatic check (Turnstile) when you sign in, create an account or reset your password, and sends Akaal's emails (account emails, host email verification, parent approval and service hours). OneSignal (United States): delivers push notifications you turn on; it stores a device push token and device details such as model, operating system, language, time zone and approximate location from your IP address. Turning notifications off stops new ones; the device record remains with OneSignal. Anthropic (United States): Akaal AI, for adults only. BaniDB: Gurbani text for banis and the daily Hukamnama is loaded from BaniDB's servers. SGPC: the daily Hukamnama audio streams from SGPC's server (hs.sgpc.net). Google Maps Platform (United States): while a host starts a Seva, the text typed in the address box and the country are sent to Google Places to suggest addresses, and the map where the host confirms the spot is a Google Map, which loads from Google and so sees the device's IP address. The map in the Gurdwaras tab is also a Google Map and loads only when you choose Map. Akaal keeps the address the host chooses and the pin they confirm, not Google's lists of suggestions. OpenStreetMap: the list of gurdwaras in the Gurdwaras tab comes from OpenStreetMap's public data (Akaal fetches it once a month; nothing about you is sent). GeoNames: the town names and time zones in the Gurdwaras tab come from GeoNames' public data, stored by Akaal. OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service: the country you pick and the text you type (a city or town when looking for Sevas near a place, and an address when Google is not available), to find matching places. Google Calendar: only if you tap Add to Google Calendar, your browser passes the Seva's title, time, description and location to Google; Akaal sends nothing to Google on its own.

To prevent abuse, Akaal counts requests to some features (such as Akaal AI, address search, parent approval and the verification page) using a scrambled form of your IP address, never the address itself. Our hosting providers also keep short-lived technical logs, which can include IP addresses, to keep the service running and secure.

Why Akaal uses your information

To provide the app and the features you choose (needed to provide the service you asked for); to keep Akaal safe, prevent abuse and enforce the terms, including moderation and rate limits (Akaal's legitimate interest in a safe service); for push notifications, Use my location and Akaal AI (your consent, given by turning them on or using them, which you can withdraw at any time); for children's accounts (a parent's consent); and to meet legal obligations. Akaal doesn't use your information for advertising or profiling, and doesn't make decisions about you by automated means, except that a Seva reported by three established accounts is hidden automatically until an administrator reviews it, and requests over a rate limit are refused.

Using a Sikh app, or joining a Seva, may indicate your religious beliefs. Akaal treats all account information with care for that reason, and uses it only to provide the app.

How long Akaal keeps information

Account information: until you delete your account (a username account has no email address to store). Seva content: until it or your account is deleted (a hosted Seva is deleted with its host's account). Signed service-hours forms: as described under Service hours. Children's accounts no parent approves: 14 days. Akaal AI daily counts: 7 days. Abuse-prevention counters: 2 days. Reports: until the reported content or account is deleted; the administrators' activity log is kept to show how reports were handled. Technical logs: a few days. Deleted data may remain in our database provider's backups for up to about a week before those backups are overwritten. Emails you send us are kept as long as needed to answer them.

Where information is stored

Akaal's data is stored and processed in the United States (and by Cloudflare on servers worldwide), so it may be processed outside your country. Where the law requires it, our providers' standard data protection terms (such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK Addendum) apply to these transfers.

Security

Information is encrypted in transit. Every table in Akaal's database has access rules so people can see only what they're allowed to, files are limited in type and size, and administrator access is limited and logged. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your information, Akaal will tell you and the relevant authorities as the law requires.

Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example the UK, the EU, Canada, India, California and other US states, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand), you have the right to ask for a copy of your information, to correct it, to delete it, to receive it in a portable form, to object to or restrict its use, and to withdraw consent. You can delete your account yourself at any time (see Deleting your account). For anything else, email akaal.app.support@gmail.com from your account's email address; Akaal replies within 30 days. You can also complain to your data protection authority, such as the Information Commissioner's Office (UK), the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, or the Data Protection Board of India. Akaal will not treat you differently for using these rights.

Keeping the community safe

Adults in Seva can report a Seva, a person or a message, and block people. Reports are reviewed by an Akaal administrator, who may remove content, cancel a Seva, remove someone from a Seva, or suspend an account. Blocking someone hides their Sevas and messages from you and stops them from joining Sevas you host; they are not told that you blocked them. To ask for a photo of your child to be removed, report the photo's Seva or email us.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account at any time from Profile, Delete account. This permanently removes your profile and the Seva content tied to you, including Sevas you hosted, your messages, photos, reflections, participation, your service-hours forms, and reports other people made about you, along with the uploaded files. Forms you signed as a host stay with the volunteers they belong to, as described under Service hours. Without the app, see akaalapp.com/delete-account or email akaal.app.support@gmail.com from your account's email address.

Advertising and tracking

Akaal has no advertising, no ad trackers and no cross-site tracking, and does not sell or share personal information for advertising. Because Akaal doesn't track you across sites, there is nothing for browser Do Not Track signals to change.

Changes to this policy

The date at the top shows when this policy last changed. Before an important change takes effect, Akaal will show a notice in the app (and, for changes that affect children's accounts, email the parents who approved them and ask for their consent again where the law requires it).