Privacy Policy

Effective Date: June 11, 2025
Last Updated: October 1, 2026
App Package: com.nishkam.app
Developer: The Aighth (an@theaighth.com)

1. Introduction

Welcome to Nishkam ("we," "our," or "us"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our Android mobile application ("App"). Please read this policy carefully. If you disagree with its terms, please discontinue use of the App immediately.

We are committed to protecting your privacy. Nishkam is built on an offline-first, privacy-by-design architecture — meaning we deliberately avoid collecting personal data unless strictly necessary for the App to function.

2. Applicability

This Privacy Policy applies to:

• All users of the Nishkam Android application
• All versions of the App available on the Google Play Store

It does not apply to third-party websites, services, or applications that may be linked to or from the App, which have their own privacy policies.

3. Information We Collect

3.1 Information We Do NOT Collect

Nishkam does not collect, transmit, store on external servers, or share any of the following:

We do not use advertising SDKs, analytics SDKs, or tracking SDKs of any kind.

3.2 Information Collected When You Sign In With Google

Nishkam requires you to sign in with your Google account to use the App. When you sign in:

• We use Google's official google_sign_in library to authenticate you directly with Google. We do not use Firebase Authentication or any other intermediary — your credentials are handled entirely by Google's own sign-in flow.
• We request only the email OAuth scope, solely to complete the sign-in handshake with Google.
• We store only your Google account's display name locally on your device, to personalize greetings and the shareable verse poster. Your email address itself is never stored by the App, before or after sign-in.
• Google's handling of your account data during this process is governed by Google's own Privacy Policy.
• You can sign out at any time from Settings; doing so returns you to the sign-in screen and clears your locally stored display name and date of birth.
• You can delete your account at any time from Settings → Delete account & data (see Section 7).

3.3 Information Stored Locally on Your Device

Beyond your Google account sign-in above, Nishkam stores the following data exclusively on your device using Android's local app-private storage (SharedPreferences). This data never leaves your device:

None of this data is transmitted to us, our servers, or any third party.

3.4 Encrypted App Content

The Bhagavad Gita verse content bundled within the App is stored in an encrypted format (assets/data/gita.enc) using AES-256 encryption with HMAC-SHA256 integrity protection, and is decrypted only on your device. This is a content-protection measure to protect our intellectual property — it is not a mechanism to collect or access your data.

4. How We Use the Information

We do not use any information for profiling, advertising, or any commercial purpose. The locally stored preferences listed in Section 3.3 are used solely to:

• Display your progress and greet you by name within the App
• Deliver your daily verse reminder notification at your preferred time
• Customize the verse takeaway (Student, Professional, or Grihastha perspective) in your chosen language
• Pre-fill your name in the downloadable verse poster

5. Sharing of Information

We do not sell, trade, rent, or otherwise transfer any information about you to any third party.

5.1 User-Initiated Sharing

The App includes a feature to export a verse as an image ("Liquid Glass Poster") and share it via Android's system share sheet. When you use this feature:

• The image is generated entirely on your device and written only to the App's private, sandboxed cache directory — no separate storage permission is needed or requested.
• The image is then handed to Android's built-in share mechanism — you choose where to send it (WhatsApp, Instagram, email, etc.).
• We do not receive, intercept, or log any information about what you share or where you share it.

5.2 No Third-Party Tracking SDKs

Nishkam does not embed any third-party SDKs that independently collect or transmit data, including:

• No Google Analytics / Firebase Analytics
• No Facebook SDK
• No Crashlytics or Sentry
• No advertising networks (AdMob, etc.)

5.3 Google Sign-In

As described in Section 3.2, Google Sign-In is implemented using Google's official google_sign_in library, which communicates directly with Google's authentication servers (the only network communication this App performs). No Firebase product is used for this feature.

6. Permissions Requested

We do not request access to contacts, camera, microphone, location, phone state, storage, or any other sensitive permission.

Device time zone: if — and only if — you set a daily reminder, the App reads your device's time zone name (for example Asia/Kolkata) so the reminder fires at the hour you actually chose rather than at that hour in UTC. This is read on-device at scheduling time, is never stored by the App, and is never transmitted anywhere. It requires no permission and is not location data.

7. Data Retention and Deletion

All data described in Section 3.3 is stored exclusively on your device and is kept only until you delete it. We hold no copy on any server.

7.1 Deleting your account

You can delete your Nishkam account and all associated data at any time:

1. In the App (instant): Settings → Delete account & data → Delete. This permanently erases everything listed in Section 3.3, cancels your daily reminder, and revokes Nishkam's access to your Google account.
2. Without the App: email an@theaighth.com with the subject "Nishkam account deletion" from the Google account you signed in with. We will reply within 7 days. You can also revoke Nishkam's access yourself at myaccount.google.com/connections.

Nothing is retained after deletion, and there is no retention period. Your Google account itself is not affected. Step-by-step instructions: https://github.com/itsaakashn/NishkamApp/blob/main/delete-account.md.

7.2 Deleting some data without deleting your account

• Signing out (Settings → Logout) clears your stored name and date of birth while keeping your reading progress on the device.
• Clearing app data (Android Settings → Apps → Nishkam → Storage → Clear data) or uninstalling the App erases all local data.

Because we never hold your data, we cannot recover it after deletion.

8. Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)

Nishkam's content is appropriate for all ages, but the App is intended for users aged 13 and older (see our Terms of Service), and a Google account is required to use it. We do not separately collect or verify age — account eligibility is governed entirely by Google's own age requirements and parental-supervision tools (such as Google Family Link) for account holders. We do not knowingly collect personal information beyond what is described in Section 3.2 from any user, consistent with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

If you believe a child has used the App in a manner inconsistent with COPPA, please contact us at the address below.

9. International Users and GDPR

Nishkam minimizes personal data processing wherever possible. For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, and other jurisdictions with data protection laws:

• Legal basis for processing: Signing in with Google is necessary to provide the App's core functionality (performance of a contract at your request). For all other locally stored preferences, the basis is the same — performance of the App's core functionality you have requested.
• Data subject rights (access, rectification, erasure, portability): All data resides on your own device, so you have full, direct control of it. You can exercise erasure at any time via Settings → Delete account & data (Section 7).
• Data Protection Officer (DPO): Not required given the limited scope of data processed.

10. Security

We employ the following technical safeguards:

• All app content is AES-256 encrypted at rest within the App bundle.
• Local preferences are stored in Android's private app data directory, inaccessible to other apps on non-rooted devices.
• The App performs a device integrity check in production builds to detect compromised (rooted) environments where local data could be at greater risk.
• We do not operate any servers or databases that hold your personal data.

Your data's security on the device depends on your device's security measures. We strongly recommend using a strong screen lock (PIN, pattern, or biometric).

11. Links to Third-Party Services

The App may contain attribution links or references to third-party websites (e.g., our GitHub repository, Play Store listing) and uses Google Sign-In as described above. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those third-party services. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before engaging with them.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. When we do:

• The "Last Updated" date at the top of this document will be revised.
• If the changes are material, we will include a notice within the App on next launch.
• Continued use of the App after the revised policy takes effect constitutes your acceptance of the new policy.

We recommend reviewing this policy whenever you update the App.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us:

Email: an@theaighth.com
GitHub Issues: github.com/itsaakashn/NishkamApp/issues

We aim to respond to all privacy-related inquiries within 30 days.

This Privacy Policy was written to be clear, complete, and free of legal jargon. If any section is unclear, please reach out — we're happy to explain.