Areni-1 Cave

AreniCave Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how AreniCave (the “App”) handles information when you use the mobile application that provides a visitor guide for Areni-1 Cave in Armenia. The App is designed for phones running iOS or Android and does not require an account or subscription.

Scope: this policy covers the AreniCave mobile app only. The official website’s ticketing, donation, payment, and other external services have their own privacy notices.

1. Information we receive

Information you choose to submit

The App lets you submit a star rating and free-form written feedback. When you submit feedback, the rating and text are sent to our review service only so that the request can be processed. The review payload is not retained in a database, backup, application log, monitoring record, or user profile after the request is serviced. Please do not include names, contact details, health information, financial information, or other sensitive personal information in a review.

Camera access and QR scanning

The App requests camera access only to scan QR codes placed on cave artifacts or visitor stations. QR scanning is performed on the device. The App does not intentionally upload, save, or use camera frames as photographs. Camera access can be denied in device settings, but QR scanning will then be unavailable.

Information stored on your device

To support offline use, the App stores information locally on your device, including selected interface and audio languages, discovered artifact IDs, the last scanned room, downloaded guide content, images, and locally generated or cached audio. This local information is not an account and is not intentionally transmitted as a user profile. Deleting the App normally removes this local information.

Technical and service information

The App connects to our service to download guide content, language settings, images, and app-version information. Requests may include the app platform, app version, selected language, IP address, timestamps, and standard network or device metadata made available by the operating system and hosting infrastructure. We use this information to deliver content, keep the service secure and reliable, diagnose failures, and support mandatory version updates.

2. How we use information

• Provide and refresh the AreniCave guide and its media.
• Enable QR scanning and offline guide functionality.
• Process ratings and written feedback requests.
• Maintain service security, availability, and compatibility.
• Respond to privacy, support, or deletion requests.
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our rights.

3. Third-party services

The App uses third-party services to provide parts of its functionality:

• Google Maps Platform: the Contact section of both the iOS and Android versions uses a Google Maps SDK to display a map centered on Areni-1 Cave. Google may process technical information and map requests under its own policies. The SDK may declare technical, crash, device, performance, and product-interaction data for analytics or app functionality. This processing is not used by us for cross-app tracking. The App does not request or send your current device location to the map. See the Google Privacy Policy and Google Maps Platform Terms.
• Device services: when you tap a phone number, email address, map link, or Privacy Policy link, iOS or Android may open the relevant system or third-party application. Those services process information under their own privacy policies.
• Hosting and delivery providers: our API, media, and review service may be operated using hosting, storage, monitoring, or content-delivery providers acting on our instructions.

We do not intentionally sell personal information, use the App for targeted advertising, or use the App to track you across other companies’ apps or websites.

4. Reviews and public content

Ratings and feedback are used only to process the submitted request. They are not displayed publicly, used to create a user profile, or retained after the request is serviced. Review request and response bodies are redacted from the App’s iOS and Android diagnostics. The operator must ensure that server logs, monitoring systems, backups, and third-party processors follow the same short-lived processing rule.

5. Retention and deletion

Local guide data remains on your device until you delete it, clear the App’s data, or delete the App. Ratings and feedback are processed transiently and are not retained after the request is serviced. Standard security and infrastructure logs may still be created by the API or hosting provider and may contain technical request information; their retention is governed by the operator’s infrastructure practices.

Because ratings and feedback are not retained as user records, a deletion request normally cannot identify a stored review after processing. You may still contact us about a privacy request or a service log if applicable.

6. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information, including HTTPS for App-to-service requests in production. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. International processing

Our operator and service providers may process information in countries other than the country where you live. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards for cross-border processing.

8. Children’s privacy

The App is a general visitor guide and is not specifically directed to children. We do not knowingly request or collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has submitted personal information, contact us so that we can review and delete it where appropriate.

9. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to request access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, or a copy of personal information, and to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. You may also have the right to complain to your local data-protection authority. Contact us first and we will handle your request as required by applicable law.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when the App, its services, or legal requirements change. We will update the “Last updated” date and, where required, provide additional notice.

11. Contact us

For privacy questions, access requests, or deletion requests, contact: