Church App Privacy Policy

1. Who operates the app

The church or organization named in the app (“the church”) chooses its content, features, forms, and connected services. MyChurchWebsite (“we,” “us,” or “our”) provides the ChurchAppBuilder software and technical services.

The church manages information submitted to its forms and services. We may host, transmit, store, or support that information as part of operating the platform. An embedded church website or independent service may also have its own privacy policy. Contact the church about its use of your submissions, or contact us for questions about the platform.

2. Information processed when you use the app

Technical information and installation statistics

When the app connects to our services, our systems and hosting providers process information such as IP address, request time, requested resources, browser or app version, operating system, and device type. Technical logs may retain this information to operate the service, investigate problems, and protect against misuse.

AppBuilder may generate a random installation identifier and store it on your device. The platform can record this identifier with the app identity, platform, installation source, installation or launch timestamps, and browser information to count installations and understand basic usage. This identifier is not your name or email address, but it can distinguish one installation from another and should not be treated as completely anonymous.

Information you choose to submit

If you use an optional contact, prayer, signup, or other form, the church and its form provider receive the fields you submit. Depending on the form, these may include your name, email address, phone number, selected responses, and written message. A form provider may also record submission time, IP address, and browser information for delivery, security, and spam prevention.

Viewing a form does not by itself submit its contents to the church. You may leave the form without submitting it. Technical requests to load the form and its provider’s own storage or security features may still occur.

3. Optional contact and prayer requests

You are not required to use contact or prayer forms to read public church content, view events, or use other unrelated features.

Information submitted through these forms is used to deliver your message, respond to you, provide the assistance or prayer you request, and manage the church’s related records. The church determines which staff, ministry leaders, or prayer-team members receive a request, taking account of the form’s stated audience and any sharing choice you make.

Please review any confidentiality or sharing choices on the form. A request intended for a prayer group may be shared with that group. Ask the church directly if you are unsure who will receive it. Avoid including information about another person without their permission or sensitive details that are unnecessary for your request.

A prayer request or message can contain personal or sensitive information that you voluntarily provide. Do not use these forms for emergencies or urgent medical or safety assistance.

4. How information is used

Information covered by this policy is used to:

• Display church content and operate the app and its connected features.
• Deliver and respond to forms or requests you submit.
• Measure installations and basic app usage.
• Provide technical support, maintain reliability, and prevent spam, fraud, and abuse.
• Deliver church notifications when that feature is enabled and you permit them.
• Meet applicable legal obligations and handle legitimate disputes or security incidents.

We do not sell personal information collected through AppBuilder. AppBuilder’s installation statistics are not used by us to target advertising across other companies’ apps or websites. Optional submissions are not a blanket agreement to receive unrelated marketing. Any separate church mailing-list subscription or other use should be explained when you choose it.

5. Push notifications, when enabled

Some churches enable push notifications through OneSignal and Apple’s or Google’s notification services. Other apps do not enable this feature.

Where integrated, the notification service may process device or installation identifiers, push tokens, IP address, operating-system information, permission status, and notification delivery or interaction information. This supports device registration, message delivery, troubleshooting, and notification statistics. An integrated notification SDK may process technical registration information before notification permission is granted.

Your phone or browser controls notification permission. Installing an app does not by itself grant permission to display notifications. You can decline the permission request or turn notifications off later in your device or browser settings and continue using unrelated app features. Turning permission off stops notification display; contact the church or us if you also want retained subscription records deleted.

See OneSignal’s privacy policy for its information practices.

6. Embedded content, giving, and connected services

A church may include video players, livestreams, calendars, forms, online giving, or links to other websites. Services available in one church’s app may differ from those in another.

When embedded content loads or you use a connected service, that provider may receive your IP address, device and browser information, cookies or similar identifiers, and information about your interaction. An embedded service can process information even if you have not filled in a form. Data handling also depends on the provider’s settings and privacy policy.

For example, video services may include YouTube or Vimeo. Their policies are available at Google Privacy Policy and Vimeo Privacy Policy. Consult the actual service shown in the app for other providers.

If you choose to give online, the church’s giving or payment provider processes the details you enter under its own privacy policy. The church may receive donor and transaction records. AppBuilder itself does not require you to enter payment-card details to browse public content. Contact the church or payment provider about donations, payment accounts, or financial records.

We use service providers for hosting and technical operation. Information shared for those purposes is limited to the work they perform for the service. Independent services selected by the church may process data under their own terms and policies; the church can identify those providers for you.

7. Device storage and permissions

The app or browser may store preferences, cached content, installation identifiers, notification settings, and session information on your device. Embedded websites may use additional cookies or storage. You can manage browser storage and permissions through your browser, and native-app permissions through your device settings. Clearing storage may reset preferences or create a new installation identifier.

AppBuilder’s standard browsing features do not request precise GPS location or access to your address book. An optional connected feature may request additional access, such as a file you choose to upload. Review the feature and any device or browser permission request before allowing access.

8. Who may receive information

Information may be received by the church and the people it authorizes to handle your request; MyChurchWebsite personnel providing hosting or support; and providers needed to deliver an enabled feature. The information shared depends on the feature you use and any audience or sharing choices displayed to you.

Information may also be disclosed where required by law, to respond to a valid legal request, or where reasonably necessary to protect people, systems, or legal rights. If operation of the platform is transferred, relevant records may be transferred to the successor for continued operation, subject to applicable privacy obligations.

9. Retention, deletion, and security

We retain technical records and platform information for as long as reasonably needed to operate and secure the service, provide support, meet legal obligations, and resolve disputes. Church form submissions and donation records may be retained separately by the church or its providers according to their recordkeeping needs and obligations.

You may request deletion using the contact details below. Where deletion applies, information is removed from active systems or de-identified; some records may need to be retained for legal or security reasons. Backup copies may remain until replaced through the backup cycle. Deleting an app from your device does not automatically delete information already submitted or retained by a server, the church, or another provider.

We use measures such as encrypted connections, access restrictions, and server protections to reduce unauthorized access. No online service can guarantee complete security.

10. Your choices and privacy requests

• Browse public content without submitting optional contact or prayer forms.
• Decline or disable notifications through your phone or browser settings.
• Review an embedded provider’s privacy settings before using its services.
• Ask the church to explain, correct, restrict, or delete information you have submitted.
• Contact us to request access to, correction of, or deletion of platform information associated with you.

Depending on your location, applicable law may give you additional rights, including objection, portability, withdrawal of consent, or a complaint to a privacy regulator. Where processing relies on consent, withdrawing it does not affect processing that occurred before withdrawal. We may need information to verify your request and identify the relevant records. An installation identifier alone may not allow us to identify you by name.

If a connected service offers a separate account, manage or delete that account through that provider. We can help identify the appropriate church or provider, but may not be able to delete records in systems we do not operate.

11. Children’s privacy

The platform is not designed to solicit personal information from children under 13 without appropriate parental involvement. Parents or guardians should supervise optional form submissions by children. If you believe a child has submitted personal information without the required permission, contact the church or us so the matter can be reviewed and appropriate deletion or other action taken.

12. Where information is processed

The platform and its providers may process information in the United States and other countries where their systems operate. Those countries may have different privacy laws from your location. Applicable legal requirements govern any safeguards required for international transfers. Contact us or the relevant provider for information about processing locations and applicable safeguards.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when the platform or its information practices change. The revised policy will be posted here with an updated date. Where applicable law requires notice or consent for a material change, the relevant notice or consent process will apply. A church may provide additional information for features or services it enables.