Privacy Policy

Last Updated: March 29, 2026

Effective Date: March 29, 2026

PrayerConnect (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the website at prayer.prayerconnect.church (the “Website”) and the PrayerConnect mobile application (the “App”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal information when you use our Website, App, and related services (collectively, the “Service”).

By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide

Account Information: Your name and email address when you register for an account. We do not collect or store passwords; authentication is handled through temporary email-based passcodes.
Prayer Request Content: The text of prayer requests you submit, which may contain sensitive personal, spiritual, or health-related information.
Prayer Updates: Follow-up updates you post on your prayer requests.
Organization Information: Organizations you create, join, or manage, including organization names, descriptions, and your membership preferences.
Notification Preferences: Your email notification settings for global and per-organization notifications.
Plus Code (Optional): A location Plus Code you may optionally provide on your profile.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

IP Address: Collected when you view prayers through the Prayer Display feature. We use a local IP geolocation database (IP2Location LITE) to derive approximate city-level location from IP addresses. No external geolocation service is contacted.
Device and Browser Information: Browser type, operating system, and device type parsed from your user agent string for session management and security purposes.
Prayer View Data: When prayers are viewed through Prayer Display, we log the viewer’s approximate location (city, region, country), the prayer viewed, and the timestamp. This data is shown to prayer authors as aggregate view statistics.
Session Data: Temporary session information stored in server memory (not in cookies or persistent storage) to maintain your authenticated state. Sessions expire after 24 hours of inactivity.

1.3 Information We Do NOT Collect

Passwords (we use passwordless email-based authentication)
Precise GPS or device location data
Contacts, photos, camera, or microphone data
Financial, payment, or billing information
Advertising identifiers or tracking cookies
Data from third-party social media accounts

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

Provide the Service: Create and manage your account, process and display prayer requests, facilitate organization memberships, and enable prayer support features.
AI-Powered Prayer Processing: Prayer request text is processed by a local AI language model to generate formatted prayer text and to check content for appropriateness. This processing occurs on our own servers; prayer content is not sent to external AI services.
Send Email Notifications: Deliver passcode emails for authentication, notify you when your prayers are processed, send prayer support digest summaries, and deliver organization notifications (new members, join requests) based on your notification preferences.
Display Prayer Statistics: Show prayer authors aggregate view counts, unique viewing locations, and support counts for their shared prayers.
Ensure Security: Detect and prevent unauthorized access, enforce rate limits, validate sessions, and protect against abuse.
Improve the Service: Analyze aggregate usage patterns to enhance platform functionality and user experience.

3. How We Share Your Information

3.1 Prayer Sharing (User-Controlled)

When you submit a prayer request, you choose whether it is shared with your organizations or kept private:

Shared Prayers: Visible on the Prayer Wall to members of your organizations, and on the Prayer Display for those organizations. The prayer text, your name, date, and any assigned tags are visible to other members.
Private Prayers: Visible only to you on your personal dashboard. Not shown to any other users.

You control this setting at the time of submission and can change it by editing your prayer.

3.2 Organization Membership

When you join an organization, your name and email address are visible to organization administrators. Your membership status is visible to other members of that organization.

3.3 Service Providers

We use the following third-party service providers who may process your data on our behalf:

Mailgun (email delivery): Your email address and email content are transmitted to Mailgun to deliver authentication passcodes and notification emails. Mailgun processes this data under their privacy policy and our data processing agreement.

We do not use any third-party analytics, advertising, tracking, or social media services.

3.4 We Do NOT Sell Your Data

We will never sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing, advertising, or any other commercial purpose.

3.5 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of PrayerConnect, our users, or the public.

4. Data Storage and Security

Encryption: Sensitive data is encrypted using AES-256 encryption at rest. All data in transit is protected by HTTPS/TLS encryption.
Authentication Security: We use passwordless authentication with cryptographically secure temporary passcodes. Session tokens use PBKDF2 hashing with 10,000 iterations.
Access Controls: API endpoints use constant-time key comparison. User sessions are validated against IP addresses and re-verified periodically.
Content Protection: HTML sanitization, input validation, rate limiting, and Content Security Policy headers protect against common web vulnerabilities.
Data Location: Your data is stored on servers located in the United States.

While we implement reasonable security measures, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. You acknowledge this risk when using the Service.

5. Data Retention and Deletion

Account Data: Your account information is retained as long as your account is active.
Prayer Requests: Prayer data is retained until you delete (archive) it, or until your account is deleted. Archived prayers are soft-deleted (marked as archived) and no longer displayed.
Prayer View Data: View logs and location data are retained indefinitely to provide ongoing statistics to prayer authors.
Session Data: Session data is stored in server memory and expires after 24 hours of inactivity.
Account Deletion: You may request complete deletion of your account and all associated data by contacting us at prayer@prayerconnect.church. Upon deletion, your prayers, organization memberships, prayer views, support records, and notification settings are permanently removed.

6. Your Rights and Choices

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Access and Export: You can view all your prayer data on your dashboard and export it in CSV or JSON format.
Edit: You can edit your name, profile information, and prayer requests at any time.
Delete: You can delete individual prayers or request complete account deletion.
Control Sharing: You choose whether each prayer is shared or private when submitting it.
Notification Preferences: You can control all email notifications through the Notification Settings page, including global settings and per-organization preferences.
Account Deletion: Contact prayer@prayerconnect.church to request permanent deletion of your account and all associated data.

7. Children’s Privacy

The Service is not intended for use by children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will take steps to delete such information. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal data, please contact us at prayer@prayerconnect.church.

8. Mobile Application

The PrayerConnect mobile application accesses the same Service and data described in this policy. Additionally:

Authentication Tokens: The App stores authentication tokens securely on your device using platform-native secure storage (iOS Keychain / Android EncryptedSharedPreferences).
Network Access: The App requires internet access to communicate with our servers. All communication uses HTTPS encryption.
No Additional Permissions: The App does not request access to your device’s camera, microphone, contacts, photos, location services, or other device features.

9. International Users

The Service is operated from the United States. If you are accessing the Service from outside the United States, please be aware that your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States. By using the Service, you consent to this transfer.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by posting the updated policy on our Website with a new “Last Updated” date. Your continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, contact us at:

Email: prayer@prayerconnect.church

Website: prayerconnect.church