Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how The Ancient Way (“we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, discloses, and safeguards your information when you visit Shalom App at www.shalom.app (the “Service”). By using the Service, you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please discontinue use of the Service.

1. Who we are

Shalom App is a free, informational web application published by The Ancient Way. The Service displays the weekly Torah portion (the parsha), festival readings, and related calendar information. It is a static website served by our hosting provider; we do not operate accounts, logins, payments, or e-commerce, and we do not knowingly ask you for personal information in order to use the Service.

2. Information we collect

Information you provide voluntarily

We collect personal information only when you choose to give it to us — for example, if you email us at hello@theancientway.org. In that case we receive your email address and whatever information you include in your message, and we use it solely to respond to you.

Information collected automatically

Like most websites, the Service and our hosting and analytics providers automatically collect certain technical information when you visit, which may include:

• Your IP address (which may be truncated or anonymized — see Analytics below) and approximate, city-level location derived from it;
• Your browser type and version, device type, operating system, and screen size;
• The pages you view, the date and time of your visit, time spent on pages, and the referring website or link you arrived from;
• Server log data and basic diagnostic information.

We use this information in aggregate to understand how the Service is used, to maintain its security and performance, and to improve the content we offer. We do not use it to identify you personally.

3. Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by a website. The Service itself does not set advertising or tracking cookies for its own functionality, and it does not store personal preferences in your browser. However, our analytics provider (see below) sets cookies to measure usage.

Cookies set through Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, which sets first-party cookies to distinguish visitors and sessions. These typically include:

• _ga — used to distinguish unique users; expires after about 2 years.
• _ga_<container-id> — used by Google Analytics 4 to persist session state; expires after about 2 years.
• _gid — used to distinguish users; expires after about 24 hours (where applicable).

Managing cookies

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings, and you can set most browsers to refuse cookies or alert you when one is set. Disabling cookies will not break the Service, because none of its core features depend on them. You can also opt out of Google Analytics specifically — see Section 4.

4. Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC (“Google”), to understand how visitors interact with the Service. Google Analytics uses cookies and similar identifiers to collect the technical and usage information described above and processes it on our behalf to generate aggregate reports. Depending on your region, IP addresses may be anonymized or truncated before storage. Information generated about your use of the Service may be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers that may be located outside your country of residence.

You can opt out of Google Analytics by:

• Installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on;
• Blocking analytics cookies in your browser or via a privacy extension;
• Enabling a Global Privacy Control (GPC) or “Do Not Track” signal in your browser, which we honor as an opt-out where required by law.

For more information about how Google collects and processes data, see Google’s Privacy Policy and “How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.”

5. How we use information

We use the information described above to:

• Operate, maintain, secure, and improve the Service;
• Understand usage trends and measure the reach of our content;
• Respond to messages you send us;
• Detect, prevent, and address technical issues, fraud, or abuse;
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Use.

6. Legal bases for processing (EEA/UK visitors)

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we process your information on the following legal bases: your consent (for analytics cookies, where required); our legitimate interests in operating, securing, and improving the Service; and compliance with legal obligations. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time by adjusting your cookie or browser settings.

7. How we share information

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We disclose information only as follows:

• Service providers who process data on our behalf, such as our hosting provider and Google Analytics, under terms that limit their use of the data;
• Legal and safety disclosures when required by law, subpoena, or other legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of The Ancient Way, our users, or the public;
• Business transfers in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, in which case we will provide notice before your information becomes subject to a different policy.

8. Data retention

We retain automatically collected analytics data only as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy, subject to the retention controls offered by our analytics provider. Email correspondence is kept only as long as necessary to address your inquiry and for reasonable record-keeping.

9. International data transfers

Our hosting and analytics providers may process and store data in the United States and other countries. Where required, such transfers are governed by appropriate safeguards, such as the contractual measures offered by those providers.

10. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights regarding your personal information, including the right to access, correct, or delete it, the right to opt out of certain processing, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

U.S. state privacy rights (including California)

We do not sell or “share” personal information as those terms are defined under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA) or other U.S. state privacy laws. Residents of California and other states with comparable laws may request access to or deletion of personal information we hold. To exercise any right, contact us using Section 13.

EEA/UK rights

If you are in the EEA or UK, you may have the rights to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or object to processing of your personal data, and to data portability. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

11. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Some browsers offer “Do Not Track” (DNT) or Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals. Where required by applicable law, we treat a recognized GPC signal as a valid request to opt out of analytics on your device.

12. Children’s privacy

The Service is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

13. Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect the limited information we handle, including serving the Service over HTTPS. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

14. Third-party links

The Service contains links to third-party websites (for example, Hebcal.com, the source of our calendar data). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date above. Material changes will be posted on this page. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

16. Contact us

Questions or requests regarding this Privacy Policy can be sent to The Ancient Way at hello@theancientway.org.