Privacy Policy · Bahá'í Songs

1. Data controller

Responsible for data processing within this app:

Vahid Enayati (address: see Imprint)

2. General

This privacy policy explains which personal data is processed when you use the iOS app Bahá'í Songs, for what purpose and on what legal basis.

Most features of the app work without an account, and much of your data stays on your device only (section 3.1). The app contains no advertising, does not read the advertising identifier, does not track you across other apps or websites and does not request your location.

Legal bases: Processing is based on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and the German Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG). For each processing activity we state the basis:

Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR: providing the features you use (terms of use).
Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR: our legitimate interest, for example in operating the app securely and improving it.

3. What data is processed?

3.1 Data stored only on your device

The app stores the following data locally only:

cached content (songs, songbooks, blog, legal texts)
your own songs, favourites, studio texts and songbooks you created
playlists and playlist covers while you are not signed in
settings and recently opened songs

If you share a songbook or playlist as a link without an account, the content (name and songs) is contained in the link itself.

Purpose: offline use and personal settings.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Storage period: until you delete the data in the app or uninstall the app.

3.2 Loading content

When songs and other content are loaded, your IP address and the time of the request are necessarily processed.

Purpose: delivering content and operating securely.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.
Recipient: our hosting provider (section 4).
Storage period: server logs are deleted automatically after at most 7 days.

3.3 User account (optional)

You need an account for cloud playlists, song submissions, correction suggestions and hosting live sessions. It is the same account as on the website Bahá'í Songs (www.bahaisongs.com). You sign in by email, with a password, with Google or with Apple.

Data: email address, name, optionally a profile picture, the profile data you release when signing in with Google or Apple, and sign-in data to protect your account (e.g. device, IP address, time).
Purpose: sign-in and account management in the app and on the website.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Recipients: the website operator and its sign-in service (section 4).
Storage period: until you delete your account – at any time in the app under Profile → Account & Security.

Your name is not linked to the usage statistics (section 3.8).

3.4 Cloud playlists

When you are signed in, your playlists are stored with your account so that they are the same in the app and on the website.

Data: title, description and songs of the playlist.
Sharing: anyone who knows a playlist's link can view it.
Purpose: storing, syncing and sharing your playlists.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Recipient: the website operator (section 4).
Storage period: until you delete the playlist. How long the website operator keeps data after an account is deleted is governed by its own privacy policy at www.bahaisongs.com.

3.5 Playlist covers

When you are signed in, the app stores the covers of your cloud playlists on our server so that they appear on all your devices. Only you can retrieve them.

Purpose: showing the cover on all your devices.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Recipient: our hosting provider.
Storage period: until you delete the cover or the playlist. If an account's covers are not retrieved for 12 months – for example because the account was deleted – they are deleted automatically. On request by email we delete them immediately.

3.6 Submitting songs

As on the website, you submit new songs to the website operator, who reviews and approves them. Approved songs appear publicly on the website and in the app.

Data: the song with the details you provide (e.g. lyrics, chords, contributors, source), your message to the reviewers and the review status. Reviewers see your name, and you see the reviewers' names.
Purpose: reviewing and publishing community content.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Recipient: the website operator.
Storage period: according to the website operator’s rules (see its privacy policy at www.bahaisongs.com). Published songs remain public as part of the catalogue.

Submissions from the previous app version (with a device identifier and, if provided, your name) are stored by us for as long as they are being processed.

3.7 Correction suggestions for songs

When you report an error in a song while signed in, we store:

Data: your suggestion and any later additions, our replies, the song concerned, and device model, iOS and app version and the app language. The suggestion belongs to a random identifier for this installation, not to your account: we do not send your name, email address or account ID. This identifier is different from the one used for the usage statistics (section 3.8), so the two cannot be combined.
Purpose: reviewing and applying the correction, and asking you in the app if needed.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (an accurate song catalogue).
Recipient: our hosting provider.
Storage period: while the suggestion is being handled; it is deleted automatically 6 months after it has been resolved.

3.8 Usage statistics

To make the song library better for everyone – for example by showing which songs are missing – the app collects usage data – without an account and without your name, under a random identifier for this installation.

Data: app opens and usage time, opened and viewed songs, search terms without results, use of individual features (e.g. transposing), app language, device model, iOS and app version.
Turning it off: at any time in the app under Profile → About This App → Privacy (switch “Share Usage Statistics” at the very bottom). The app then stops sending statistics.
Purpose: improving the app and the song catalogue.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. You can object at any time – with the switch or by email.
Recipient: our hosting provider. No disclosure to advertising or analytics services.
Storage period: 14 months, then deleted automatically.

3.9 Live sessions

In a live session, one device shows the others which song is currently being played.

Hosting: account required. We store the join code, the song shown and the link to your account. A session ends after two hours at the latest.
Joining: no account needed, via code or QR code.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Recipient: the website operator.
Storage period: according to the website operator’s rules (see its privacy policy at www.bahaisongs.com).

3.10 Data transfer by code

When moving from the previous app, it uploads your favourites, playlists, own songs and settings (without your name) to our server. The new app retrieves them with a code.

Purpose: transferring your data to the new app.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.
Recipient: our hosting provider.
Storage period: 14 days, then deleted automatically. To prevent abuse, we store an obscured form of your IP address for 2 days with each redemption attempt.

3.11 Contact and feedback in the app

Under Profile → Contact & Feedback you can write to us directly in the app; the reply appears there as well.

Data: your messages and our replies with their time, plus device model, iOS and app version and the app language. The conversation belongs to a random identifier for this installation, not to your name or account – even when you are signed in, we do not send your name, email address or account ID. This identifier is different from the one used for the usage statistics (section 3.8).
Purpose: answering your question or feedback and improving the app.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR or Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (handling your request).
Recipients: our hosting provider.
Storage period: you can delete individual messages (long press) or a whole conversation (three-dot menu) yourself at any time; the text is removed, and for individual messages only a note remains that a message was there. Otherwise it is deleted automatically 12 months after the last message.

If you email us instead, we process the data you provide (email address, message) until your request has been handled, then possibly until statutory retention periods expire.

3.12 Embedded content (YouTube, SoundCloud)

You can play recordings from YouTube and SoundCloud for a song. The player is only loaded when you tap "Listen" – no connection to these services is made before that. YouTube runs in privacy-enhanced mode.

Once the player is loaded, these services may collect data (e.g. IP address, device information), including in the USA. We have no influence on this.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (you open the recording yourself); for access to your device, Section 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG.
Privacy policies: YouTube/Google, SoundCloud

3.13 Microphone, camera and photos

Microphone: only for the tuner. Audio is analysed only on the device, not recorded and not transmitted.
Camera: for live session QR codes and for playlist covers.
Photos: the app only receives the photo you select.
The app uses the camera and microphone only after you allow it in iOS; you can revoke this at any time in the iOS settings.

4. Recipients

Hosting provider: Supabase Inc. operates our server; the data is stored in the EU.

Operator of the website Bahá'í Songs (www.bahaisongs.com): the app shares your account, cloud playlists, song submissions and live sessions with the website. It is not operated by us but by the team behind www.bahaisongs.com; their details are available there. The website operator is itself responsible for processing this data on its platform – the app transmits it there on your behalf. The operator uses Clerk Inc. (sign-in) and Convex Inc. (database, stored in the EU).

Apple: downloads and updates of the app are handled through the App Store; Apple is responsible for this.

Transfers to third countries: Supabase (Singapore), Clerk and Convex (USA) may access data even though it is stored in the EU. For Clerk the basis is the EU-US Data Privacy Framework; for Supabase it is the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. The website operator is responsible for transfers to Convex.

We do not sell personal data or disclose it for advertising. Beyond this, we only disclose data where we are legally required to do so.

5. Your rights

You have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18) and data portability (Art. 20). You can object to processing based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR – for example the usage statistics (Art. 21). You can also lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77).

You can delete your account yourself in the app: Profile → Account & Security. For anything else, write to: vahid@enayati.net

6. Data security

The connection to the servers is encrypted (HTTPS/TLS). We protect your data with technical and organisational measures against unauthorised access, loss and manipulation.

7. Changes

We update this privacy policy when the app or the law changes. The current version is available in the app under Profile → About This App → Privacy.