Privacy policy

Last updated: 31 October 2026 · Version 2026-10-27

In short: we collect only what the app needs, we keep it in India (Mumbai), your what you really felt about an answer ("What I really felt") is only ever seen by you, profile photos are optional and checked automatically, notifications never show questions or answers (book notifications show the friend's nickname; Rune Key notifications never show any name), and you can delete your account any time from Profile → Delete my account.

1. Who we are

Yaarnama ("we") is a digital slambook app run by Saurav Kumar Sinha, New Delhi, India. Contact: yaarnama.slambook@gmail.com. We follow India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) and the IT Rules, 2021.

2. What we collect

Data	Why
Your Google account email and name (when you sign in with Google)	To sign you in. Your email is never shown to other people.
The name and @username you choose, your date of birth, your language	So friends can find and recognise you; date of birth only to check you are 18 or older.
What you create: books, questions, answers, About-me page, thank-you notes, pen colours and stickers	To show them to the people they are meant for.
Your private feelings on answers ("What I really felt")	Shown only to you. Never to your friend, never printed.
Your yaar list: the people you exchanged books with, scanned QR codes with, accepted as yaars, or whose Rune Key was revealed / synced with yours (their name, @username and avatar), and yaar requests	So you never need to ask for usernames and can pick a yaar quickly. The list is private: only you see it. There are no public counts or followers.
Your avatar choice, and an optional profile photo	So friends recognise you. Every photo is checked automatically by Google Cloud Vision (SafeSearch) before anyone sees it; adult, violent or racy photos are deleted at once. Photos are shrunk to 256 × 256 on your phone.
Your "Let friends of friends find me" setting	To decide whether people who share a yaar with you can find you by name.
Who you have exchanged books with, people you blocked, reports you made	For "who can send me books", safety and moderation.
Rune Keys: the key, its meaning card, a few tap answers (relationship, how long, where, energy, love language) and one hint line built from them	To make and show Rune Keys, the Sync score, clues and the Twin Rune. The typed answers you give while forging and the optional secret number are never stored.
A notification token for your phone	To send notifications you allowed.
An optional password (if you add one)	To log in without Google. Stored by Google Firebase Authentication; we never see it.
App usage events and crash reports (Firebase Analytics, Crashlytics); device checks (App Check)	To find bugs and see which features work. No advertising ID is collected and nothing is used for ads.
Only if you order a printed book (when available): name, phone number, delivery address, location (only if you tap "use my location") and your payment reference (UTR)	To print and deliver your order. We never see your UPI PIN or bank details.

We do not sell your data.

3. Consent

When you sign up you agree to this policy on the consent screen. You can withdraw consent at any time by deleting your account. If we change this policy in a way that needs fresh consent, the app will ask you again.

4. Who sees what

A friend sees your name (and your @username in their Inbox), your questions, your About-me page and your thank-you notes.
You see what your friend wrote in the book you made for them.
Your email is never shown to anyone.
Your profile photo is seen only by your yaars and by people you send a book to. Everyone else, including people who find you in search, sees your avatar. A Rune Key you haven't revealed never shows your photo or name.
Your yaar list is seen only by you. A name search only shows people who share at least one yaar with you (name, avatar and the number of shared yaars); you can switch this off in Privacy. An exact @username search works for everyone.
Notifications never show questions, answers, relationships or Rune meanings. Book notifications show the first name or nickname of the person involved (for example "Rajju left something for you 👀"). The person who receives a Rune Key never sees who forged it in a notification until they guess right or the forger reveals themselves; the person who forged it may see the receiver's first name (they already know who it is for).
Until they guess right or the forger reveals themselves, the receiver of an anonymous Rune Key sees it as ✱✱✱✱✱✱ with one hint line; the full key, its meanings and the forger's first name are not sent to their phone before that. A Twin Rune shows only after someone has forged 3 Rune Keys and received 3, and the other person's first name on it only after they guess right. Rune Key meanings are visible only to the two people involved.
Gifts and treats in Rune Keys are free and just for fun; Yaarnama never handles money for them.
The Yaarnama team sees reported content when reviewing a report.

5. Where your data is kept

On Google Firebase (Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage for profile photos, and Cloud Functions) in the asia-south1 (Mumbai, India) region. Google acts as our data processor. Analytics and crash reports are processed by Google Firebase.

6. How long we keep it

Your account and content: until you delete them or your account.
Deleted accounts: erased right away, at the latest within 30 days.
Inbox items: 180 days. Resolved safety reports: 180 days. Wrong-key attempt records: 1 day.
Analytics data: up to 14 months (Google's setting).

7. Deleting your account

In the app: Profile → Delete my account. Your profile, @username, email, the books you made (with their answers and feelings), the Rune Keys you forged, your profile photo, your yaar list (and you from your yaars' lists) and all links to your account are erased.

Answers you wrote in other people's books stay in those books, like a message you sent stays in the other person's chat – but detached from you: no @username, no profile, no way to contact you. The book's owner sees the nickname they gave you and a small "left Yaarnama" note. If you want them gone too, tick "Also remove my answers from my friends' books" when deleting (your right to erasure); the owner then sees "This page was removed by the writer". A kept answer can still be reported and removed, and kept answers stay in printed books. See how to delete your account.

8. Your rights

Under the DPDP Act you can ask to access, correct or erase your personal data, and to have your complaints heard. Most of this you can do in the app (Profile). For anything else, email the grievance officer below.

9. Age

Yaarnama is only for people aged 18 and over. If you believe someone is under 18, report their profile in the app; the account is put on hold until we review it.

10. Security

Data is encrypted in transit and at rest by Google. Security rules make sure people can only read and write what is theirs (for example, a friend can never read your private feelings). Book keys are checked on our server, with a limit on wrong tries. The "This might hurt – still send?" check on answers runs on your phone; the text is not sent anywhere for it. Profile photos are checked automatically before anyone sees them, and reports are reviewed within 24 hours. "Lock my books" uses your phone's own screen lock (fingerprint, face or PIN): the phone only tells the app yes or no, and the app never sees or stores your fingerprint or face.

11. Grievance officer

Saurav Kumar Sinha · yaarnama.slambook@gmail.com · New Delhi, India.
We acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and resolve them within 15 days.