Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 29, 2026

Short version: L'chaim does not require an account, does not ask for your name or email, and does not sell or share your data. The most personal thing we know about your device is a random identifier we use to count poll votes once per phone.

Who we are

L'chaim ("the app") is a daily Jewish learning app published by Zachary Rivkin ("we", "us", "our"). You can reach us anytime at support@lchaimstudio.com.

This policy describes what information the app collects, why, where it goes, and what your rights are. It applies to L'chaim on iOS.

What we collect

Anonymous device identifier

The first time you launch the app, we generate a random identifier (a UUID) and store it on your device. We send this identifier to our server only when you cast a poll vote, and only so we can count one vote per device per question and let you change your mind later. The identifier is not tied to your name, email, phone number, Apple ID, or any other personal information. We cannot use it to identify you as a person.

Your in-app preferences

Your selected generation (for jokes), your active track (Torah or Talmud), your reading history, and similar app settings are stored on your device using the operating system's standard local storage. They are not transmitted to us.

Poll responses

When you vote on a daily question, we record which option you chose alongside the anonymous device identifier described above, on our backend (a Cloudflare Worker with a SQLite database). We use this only to compute and display vote tallies. We do not see who you are; we cannot link votes back to a person.

Crash and update telemetry

The app uses Expo Updates to deliver improvements over the air. When the app starts, it asks our update server whether a newer JavaScript bundle is available. This request includes basic, non-identifying information such as your app version, runtime version, and the platform (iOS). It does not include personal information.

We may use a crash reporting tool to receive automatically generated diagnostic data when the app crashes (such as the line of code that failed and your iOS version). This data is not tied to your identity.

What we do not collect

Your name, email address, phone number, or postal address.
Your contacts, photos, microphone, or camera.
Your precise or approximate location.
Your Apple ID or any login credentials (the app has no accounts).
Advertising identifiers (we do not run ads or track for ad targeting).

How we use what we collect

Everything described above is used for one of three purposes:

To make the app work: displaying the right reading, remembering your preferences, and showing accurate poll tallies.
To improve the app: diagnosing crashes, fixing bugs, and shipping updates.
To prevent abuse: the per-device identifier prevents a single phone from casting a poll thousands of times.

We do not use any of this information for advertising, marketing, or sale to third parties.

Where the data lives

Poll responses and the anonymous device identifier are stored on Cloudflare's infrastructure, which we use to host our backend. Update and crash data, if any, are stored with the relevant service providers (Expo for over-the-air updates, and any crash reporting tool we use, listed below). Each of these providers has its own privacy practices; we share only the minimum information described in this policy.

Third parties we rely on

Cloudflare — hosts our backend (the polls service and content sync).
Expo — delivers over-the-air JavaScript updates to the app.
Sefaria — when you tap "Read the full text on Sefaria", you are sent to their public website. We do not share data with them; you are simply opening a link.
Apple — distributes the app and may collect basic install and crash information per its own policy.

If we add or remove third-party services, we will update this list and the "last updated" date above.

Children

L'chaim is rated 4+ and is suitable for all ages. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children. Because the app does not require an account or any personally identifying information, no special children's data process is necessary.

Your rights

Because we don't know who you are, we can't email you a copy of "your data" — we don't have it. What you can do:

Reset your identifier: uninstalling and reinstalling the app generates a new random device identifier; the old one becomes orphaned and unused.
Delete poll history for your device: write us at support@lchaimstudio.com with the device identifier shown in Settings (under "About"), and we will delete the associated rows from our database.
Stop using the app: simply delete it. Local data goes with it.

If you live in a jurisdiction with specific privacy rights (for example the EU/UK under GDPR, or California under CCPA), those rights apply. Contact us and we'll do our best to honor them.

Security

We use HTTPS for all network traffic between the app and our backend. We keep only the minimum data necessary, and only for as long as needed. No system is perfectly secure, but our exposure surface is intentionally small: there are no passwords to leak and no profiles to breach.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy in any meaningful way, we will update the "last updated" date above and, where appropriate, surface a notice in the app the next time you open it. Continuing to use L'chaim after a change means you accept the new terms.

Contact

Questions, concerns, or corrections? Email support@lchaimstudio.com. We read every message.