Privacy Policy

Effective: 2026-10-02

Want to request deletion of your Tarkman account or data? Go to account and data deletion

What this site is

Tarkman is a free tool that helps clergy and parish staff of the Armenian Church publish live services and explanations. This site is the admin backend. Visitors can follow a live service or read published explanations without signing in. ("We" refers to the project maintainer, Fr. Mesrop Ash — see Contact below.)

What we collect from visitors who are not signed in

Even without an account, the server records the following when you use the site:

  • Web request logs. Every page load writes a standard Rails request log line — the URL, the time, your IP address, and your browser's User-Agent string — to disk for debugging and abuse prevention. Retention is governed by our hosting provider's log policy; we do not share or use these logs for advertising.
  • Service views. When you follow a live service, the server creates a SessionView row recording the session ID, the current time, and your IP address. We use this to compute per-session analytics (such as approximate unique viewers) and to detect abuse. The row is not shared.
  • Explanation views. When you open an explanation while following a service, the server creates an ExplanationView row recording the explanation ID, the session ID, the viewing time, and how long the page was open. We use this to compute explanation analytics. The row is not shared.

We do not set tracking cookies, run analytics scripts, or load third-party advertising or retargeting pixels on this site.

What we collect when you create an account

Clergy and parish staff accounts store:

  • Email address (used for sign-in and password reset; stored in the database and indexed for lookups).
  • Password (stored as a one-way bcrypt hash; never in plain text).
  • Time-zone preference (so service times display correctly for you).
  • Sign-in timestamps and IP addresses (Devise :trackable), used to flag unfamiliar sign-ins during account-security review.
  • Profile fields you add on your profile page: first name and last name; church name; church mailing address (street, city, state, ZIP); and a profile avatar image. The church address is geocoded by our servers to derive latitude and longitude; those coordinates are used to place your church on the "Find a nearby church" list and are derived data, not directly entered.
  • Editorial content you author: services, explanations, ratings, and display links — stored under your account.

We do not collect payment information; Tarkman is free.

How we use error reports

The website sends crash reports to Sentry, a third-party error-monitoring service. Sentry events from this site are tagged:

  • For signed-in users, your internal user ID (an integer) and a coarse role tag (admin, editor, or user). Email, name, and IP address are not attached to events.
  • For anonymous visitors, no user identifier; the event is tagged authenticated: false.

We do not enable Sentry's default PII collection (SENTRY_SEND_DEFAULT_PII is false), so request headers and cookies are not attached either. Events do not include screenshots.

The iOS and Android apps also report errors to Sentry under the same configuration; the apps do not enable screenshot capture.

Location and camera on the mobile apps

The Tarkman iOS and Android apps use your device location only if you tap the "Find a nearby church" feature. The lookup runs on the device against the church list we publish (which contains coordinates derived from each church's profile address); your location is never sent to our servers or stored anywhere.

The mobile apps use the camera only if you tap "Scan QR code" while following a service. The image is decoded on the device; no photos or video are uploaded.

Apple TV (tvOS)

The Tarkman Apple TV app is a read-only way to follow live services and show a saved church display that follows the church's current service. It has no sign-in, account creation, or service-control features.

  • Network requests and server logs. The TV app requests public service text and state, the church/display directory, and display settings, and subscribes to live updates. Requests include the service or church identifier, a display-link token when using a saved display, any church-name search you enter, and the device's time zone for service-date lookups. Our servers receive your IP address and keep operational request logs, including request URLs and times, for debugging and abuse prevention. Saving a display does not create a viewer account or upload a preference record.
  • Service and explanation analytics. The current TV app's service requests are excluded from the service-view analytics described above. Its current screens do not request explanations or create explanation-view analytics records. Operational request logs still apply.
  • Error and performance reporting. The TV app does not initialize Sentry or send app-level performance reports to it. Our servers can still send errors, request logs, and sampled performance information about TV requests to Sentry under the server's monitoring configuration, without a signed-in TV user.
  • App updates. The TV app uses Expo's update service to check for and download app updates. Expo receives your IP address, an installation identifier, and platform, app/runtime version, update-channel, and update identifiers. Update requests can also include recent failed-update identifiers and fatal error text to help recover from a failed app launch. Operational logs and diagnostics are retained according to the hosting and monitoring providers' settings; the TV app does not set a fixed server-side retention period. Contact us below with questions about these records.
  • Saved church and display. If you save a church display, the app keeps the church ID, name and locality, the display ID, title and public launch token, and the save time in the Apple TV's Keychain. Tarkman does not sync this choice between TVs. The choice is kept across launches until you replace or reset it; an unavailable display link is not automatically erased. Other display and interface-language choices are held in memory while the app runs. A saved display uses settings published by its church.
  • Resetting the saved choice. Choose Reset this TV in Settings or the display's Back menu and confirm to erase the saved church/display choice. Choosing and saving another display replaces it. Do not rely on deleting and reinstalling the app to erase Keychain data. Resetting the saved choice does not erase operational server logs, Expo's installation identifier, or update diagnostics.

The Apple TV app does not request device location or use a camera to scan QR codes. The location and camera features described above apply only to the mobile apps. A TV display may show a QR code for viewers to scan with another device. The TV app has no advertising or advertising trackers.

No tracking, no advertising

We do not run ad networks, retargeting pixels, or third-party tracking on this site. We do not sell or share any data for advertising purposes, and we never have.

Account and data deletion

To request deletion of your Tarkman account and its associated sessions, explanations, ratings, display links, and profile data, email pastor@stjohnarmenianchurch.com with the subject "Tarkman account deletion". Include the email address used for the account. We will verify that you control the account, review the requested scope and any retention obligations, and explain the available actions and timing before proceeding. Never send us your password.

Current self-service and administrator account controls deactivate access; they do not permanently delete account or content records. Deactivation retains account details and existing public services and display links. Tell us if you also need public profile information or display access withdrawn. Permanent deletion requests require a separate review and an approved removal process; we will explain any data that must be retained and why. We will not report deactivation as completed deletion.

Changes to this policy

If we change what we collect, we will update this page and bump the effective date above.

Contact

Privacy questions: pastor@stjohnarmenianchurch.com (Fr. Mesrop Ash, Tarkman maintainer).