Privacy Policy
Yakov is a siddur app made by Podium. We built it so it knows nothing about you that it doesn't need, and tells no one what it does know.
In short: No analytics, no ads and no tracking. You only need an account to add or fix shuls, minyan times and yahrzeits, or to send a picture, and your name is never shown to anyone. Your location stays on your phone.
What we collect
Yakov has no analytics, no ads and no tracking. Reading the siddur, zmanim, minyan times and yahrzeits needs no account, and we collect nothing about you while you do.
Your account, if you make one
To add or fix a shul, a minyan time or a yahrzeit, you sign in with Apple on iPhone or with Google on Android. We receive an ID that is unique to your account and, only if you choose to share it, your name. We never receive your password. On Android, Google also tells us your email address; the app's server checks it only to recognize the administrator and never stores it.
Shuls and minyan times you add or fix are shown to everyone right away. Changes to the shared yahrzeit list, and any picture you send, are first reviewed by the app's administrator and appear only once approved. Your name is never shown publicly. It is kept so that the app's administrator can see who made each change, undo mistakes and block abuse.
You can delete your account in Settings at any time. Deleting it removes your ID and name from our server. What you added stays on the list, with no link to you.
Minyan times and yahrzeits
Shuls, minyan times and the yahrzeit list come from Yakov's own server, hosted by Cloudflare. To show the shuls near you, the app sends that server only your general area, rounded to about a kilometer, without your account. The first list of shuls comes from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and is kept up by the people who daven there.
Yahrzeits you add "just for me" stay on your phone and are never sent to us.
Pictures
You can send a picture for a name on the yahrzeit list. Before it is sent, the app makes it smaller and saves it fresh, which drops hidden details such as where and when it was taken. Pictures are stored privately with Cloudflare and are not visible to anyone except the administrator until they are approved. Once approved, the picture is shown with that name to everyone. Please send only pictures you have the right to share. To have a picture taken down, contact us.
Location
With your permission, Yakov uses your location to calculate the zmanim, point the compass to Yerushalayim and choose the right tefillah. The calculation happens on your phone. Your exact location is never sent to us or to anyone else. Only the name of your city is looked up, through Apple's built-in map service on iPhone or Google's on Android.
On iPhone, the map of shuls is drawn by Apple Maps, and when you add a shul, the addresses suggested as you type come from Apple's map service. Those requests go to Apple under Apple's privacy policy.
On Android, the map of shuls is drawn with map tiles from OpenStreetMap, which receives the area of the map you are looking at, like any website showing a map. Addresses suggested when you add a shul come from Google's geocoding service built into Android, under Google's privacy policy.
When you open a page of Gemara in the Daf Yomi, Yakov downloads that page from Shas.org (pages from HebrewBooks.org). The request asks only for the page; nothing about you is included.
Reminders
Reminders are scheduled on your phone by iOS or Android. Yakov checks on your phone whether you already davened before it reminds you. Nothing is sent through a server.
Your settings
Your settings, reminders, davening streak, Tehillim bookmark and your own yahrzeits are saved only on your phone. Deleting the app deletes them.
Children
Yakov is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect information from children. Anyone can use it without an account.
Changes and contact
If this policy changes, the new version will appear on this page and in the app. For questions, contact us through podium.nyc.