This policy covers the BhaktiVerse website, bhaktiverse.com, and the BhaktiVerse Android app. From version 2.0 the app opens this same website, so everything below applies to both. BhaktiVerse is run by Anitesh Shaw (“we”, “us”).
In short
- There are no accounts, no sign-in and no ads.
- We don't use Google Analytics or any other tracking or advertising tools, and BhaktiVerse sets no cookies.
- Your jap counts, saved prayers and settings stay on your device.
- We only receive what you choose to send us (a contact message, a question to SarthiAI, a report) and anonymous counts such as how many times a page has been opened.
- We never sell your information or share it for advertising.
1. What stays on your device
Some features remember things in your browser's storage on your phone or computer. These are never sent to us:
- your Jap Mala counts and lifetime total, and the sankalps you have joined;
- prayers you write or speak during an online puja, if you choose to keep them;
- your choices, such as the language for voice prayers, and which darshan you saw last;
- the date you first opened the site, used only to count a new visitor once;
- small markers so that one visit is counted only once.
You can delete saved prayers in the prayer sheet, and remove everything by clearing this site's data in your browser (or the app's storage in Android settings).
2. What we collect, and why
Anonymous counts. When a page is opened, or someone lights a diya, completes a mala or joins a sankalp, the site adds one to a shared counter. That is how a page can show “1,204 views” or a sankalp can show how many devotees have joined. A visit is also counted with a broad source (for example Google, YouTube, WhatsApp, the BhaktiVerse app, or direct) and whether it is the first visit from that device. No name, account, device ID or IP address is stored with these counts, so they cannot be linked to you.
Contact form. If you write to us, we receive your name, email address and message, with the time. We use them only to reply to you.
Reports of SarthiAI answers. If you tap “Report” under an answer, we receive that question and answer, the page it was on and the time, so we can review it and make SarthiAI safer. A report contains nothing else about you.
Questions to SarthiAI. SarthiAI is our AI spiritual guide. Your question, with the last few messages of the conversation for context, is sent to our server (run on Cloudflare) and to Groq, an AI service, which check that it is a question SarthiAI should answer and write the reply. We don't store these conversations; Groq processes them under its own terms. The conversation exists only on your open page and is gone when you reload or leave. Please don't include personal details in your questions.
Voice features. Jap Mala voice counting and speaking a prayer use your browser's built-in speech recognition. They only start after you tap the microphone and allow access. In Chrome, the audio is recognised by Google's speech service and may be processed on Google's servers. BhaktiVerse never receives or stores your voice: the page only uses the recognised words to move the mala or write your prayer, and the prayer stays on your device.
Technical logs. Like any website, our hosting providers receive standard details with each request, such as your IP address, browser type and the time. These are Google (Firebase Hosting) for the website and Cloudflare for SarthiAI, and they may keep these logs for a short time for security and reliability. SarthiAI also uses your IP address briefly to limit how many questions can be sent per minute; we don't store it.
3. What we don't do
- We don't ask for or use your location.
- We don't create profiles, track you across other sites or apps, or show ads.
- We don't sell personal information or share it with anyone for advertising.
- The Android app asks for no Android permissions of its own. Chrome asks for the microphone only if you use a voice feature.
4. Videos and other sites
Videos play in YouTube's embedded player, in its privacy-enhanced mode where possible. When you play a video, YouTube may set cookies and collect information under Google's privacy policy. Links to YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or WhatsApp take you to those services, which have their own policies.
5. The Android app
BhaktiVerse 2.0 for Android shows this website full-screen through Chrome (a “Trusted Web Activity”), so it collects nothing beyond what is described above. Google Play and Chrome install and update the app, and Google may collect information for that under its own policies, such as anonymous crash statistics it shares with app developers.
The earlier app (versions 1.x). The first BhaktiVerse app let you sign in and used Firebase Analytics. If you signed in to it, we still hold what it saved: your name and email address, your location (latitude and longitude) if you allowed it, and any wishes you saved. The new app doesn't use this data. Email mybhaktiverse@gmail.com and we will delete it.
6. Who can see your information
Only BhaktiVerse's owner can read contact messages and reports. The companies that store or process data for us are Google (Firebase Hosting and Cloud Firestore), Cloudflare (the SarthiAI server) and Groq (SarthiAI answers). We will disclose information to authorities only if the law requires it.
7. How long we keep it
- Contact messages and reports: until we no longer need them to reply or review. You can ask us to delete yours at any time.
- Anonymous counts: kept as running totals.
- SarthiAI conversations: not kept by us.
- Earlier-app accounts: until you ask us to delete them.
8. Security
Everything between your device and BhaktiVerse travels over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. Messages and reports are kept in a database that only the owner can read. No method of storage or transfer is completely secure, but we work to protect what you share.
9. Children
BhaktiVerse is for a general audience and its content is suitable for all ages, but it is not directed at children under 13 and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If a child has sent us a message, write to us and we will delete it.
10. Your choices and rights
- You can use BhaktiVerse without the contact form, SarthiAI or the voice features.
- You can clear everything stored on your device, as described in section 1.
- You can ask to see, correct or delete the information we hold about you by emailing mybhaktiverse@gmail.com.
11. Changes to this policy
If what BhaktiVerse collects changes, we will update this page and the date at the top before the change takes effect.
12. Contact
Questions about privacy: mybhaktiverse@gmail.com.