PreachPal

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PreachPal Privacy Policy

Last updated: November 7, 2026

PreachPal (“we,” “our,” “the App”) is provided by David Sánchez Guido, an individual developer, who is responsible for the data described in this policy. You can reach us at support@preachpal.app. This Privacy Policy explains what data PreachPal handles, how your sermon data is stored, and which third-party services are involved in delivering the App’s features.

1. Plain-Language Summary

PreachPal does not ask for your name, email or an account. There is no account to create, no login, and no tracking. The App does use an anonymous identifier for crash reports, and the services it connects to receive standard connection data such as your IP address (see §2). Your sermon data stays on your device. On iPhone and iPad it also syncs to your own private iCloud container, which we cannot access. PreachPal does not save audio files. Cloud features (Deepgram transcription, OpenAI analysis) start only after you consent by tapping Get Started during onboarding. When they are on, your live sermon audio is sent from the App to Deepgram to be transcribed, and the transcript text is sent to OpenAI to build your journal. Using PreachPal without a network connection keeps that sermon on your device while the device stays offline. It is not sent to Deepgram or OpenAI, and iCloud cannot sync it, until the device is online again. The App has no switch to turn cloud processing off; to stop it, stop using the App or delete it (see §6). We don’t sell your data, and we don’t use it to train AI models; we also set our providers’ options to exclude it from model training where they offer one.

2. Information We Handle

PreachPal has no user accounts, no login, no email capture, no phone number capture, no location tracking, and no advertising identifiers. PreachPal does not operate its own servers for your sermons: your sermon content is stored on your device and in your own iCloud.

PreachPal does handle some information that privacy laws can treat as personal information, even though it does not name you:

  • An anonymous installation identifier that Sentry uses for crash and diagnostic reports, with technical details about the App and your device (§4.4). You can turn this off (§4.4).
  • Standard connection data, such as your IP address, which every online service the App connects to receives when the App contacts it.
  • Sermon audio and transcript text, sent to Deepgram and OpenAI only when cloud features are on (§4.1, §4.2). Because sermons and your notes can reflect your faith, we treat them as sensitive and use them only to provide the App’s features.
  • Free-allowance usage counts: numbers that track how much of your free cloud allowance you have used. They contain no sermon content and are kept on your device and, if you use iCloud, in your own iCloud account.

2.1 Data stored on your device

The following data is stored locally on your device in a database protected by iOS file-level encryption:

  • Sermon transcripts (text)
  • Detected Bible verse references
  • Sermon highlights and quotes
  • Your personal notes
  • Sermon metadata (title, date, optional preacher name, optional topic)
  • Subscription state cached from Apple StoreKit

PreachPal does not save audio files.

2.2 Data synced on iPhone and iPad: your private iCloud container

If you are signed into iCloud and have iCloud Drive enabled for PreachPal, the same data above is automatically synced to your own private CloudKit container. Apple manages this sync. The developer cannot access your private CloudKit data.

3. How We Use Your Data

We do not use your data for any purpose beyond delivering the App’s features and keeping the App stable. Apart from the automated processing by the service providers in §4 that delivers those features, we do not read, analyze, aggregate, sell, or share your sermon content, and we do not use it for advertising or profiling. The only exception is limited sermon details that can appear in crash and diagnostic reports in version 1.2, which we look at only to fix problems (§4.4).

4. Third-Party Service Providers (Subprocessors)

To deliver PreachPal’s features, we use the following third-party services. Cloud-dependent services start only after you consent by tapping Get Started during onboarding; that one consent covers both Deepgram (§4.1) and OpenAI (§4.2). See Your Rights (§6) for how to stop cloud processing.

4.1 Deepgram (cloud transcription)

  • What is sent: Real-time audio frames from your microphone during an active sermon, sent directly from the App to Deepgram for transcription only
  • What is NOT sent: Your name, account, device ID, or location. Like any online service, Deepgram receives standard connection data such as your IP address.
  • Retention: PreachPal does not save audio files. Every request tells Deepgram not to use the audio to improve its models. Deepgram says that, for requests opted out this way, it keeps the audio and transcript only for the time needed to process the request. Under its published policy, request metadata and usage logs, which contain no audio, text or transcripts, are kept for 90 days, and summarized usage data is kept longer. PreachPal does not have a separate zero-retention agreement with Deepgram.
  • Training: Every request opts out of Deepgram’s Model Improvement Program, so under Deepgram’s policy your audio is not used to train its models.
  • Jurisdiction: United States
  • When active: After you consent during onboarding, cloud transcription runs whenever you have available cloud quota and a network connection.
  • To stop it: See §6. Using PreachPal offline keeps that sermon from being sent to this provider.
  • Terms: deepgram.com/terms · deepgram.com/privacy

4.2 OpenAI (transcript text analysis)

  • What is sent: Finalized text transcripts of your sermon (segments) and text derived from them, for journal synthesis, quote extraction, Bible verse citation detection, and Pro features such as sermon outlines. For the Kids-Friendly outline (Pro), the App also sends a text prompt to OpenAI’s image generation service to create an illustration for that outline
  • What is NOT sent: Raw audio, your name, account, device ID, or location. Like any online service, OpenAI receives standard connection data such as your IP address.
  • Training: OpenAI’s API data is NOT used to train OpenAI models (OpenAI API Data Usage Policy, effective since March 2023).
  • Retention: OpenAI retains API request content for up to 30 days solely for abuse monitoring, after which it is automatically deleted. This retention does not apply to training.
  • Zero Data Retention (ZDR): PreachPal may pursue OpenAI’s optional Zero Data Retention arrangement. If granted, this disclosure will be updated.
  • Jurisdiction: United States
  • To stop it: See §6. Using PreachPal offline keeps that sermon from being sent to this provider.
  • Terms: openai.com/policies/api-data-usage-policies

4.3 API.Bible (additional Bible translations for Pro subscribers)

  • What is sent: Bible version ID + book + chapter + verse identifiers only
  • What is NOT sent: Sermon content, audio, your identity, device ID, or any user-generated text
  • Retention: Subject to API.Bible terms; no user content is transmitted
  • When enabled: Only with PreachPal Pro and an API.Bible-backed translation selected
  • Attribution: Credited in Preferences (called Settings from version 1.3) → Privacy & Legal → Bible Translation Licenses and on our Bible Licenses page
  • Terms: api.bible/terms-and-conditions

4.4 Sentry (crash reporting & diagnostics)

PreachPal uses Sentry (Functional Software Inc., San Francisco, CA) to automatically capture crash reports and non-fatal diagnostic events to improve app stability.

  • What is sent: Device model, iOS version, App version and build, your language setting, your subscription tier (free or Pro), a random sermon identifier (not the sermon’s content), and an anonymous per-app installation identifier. Reports also include a log of the technical events that lead up to an error. In version 1.2 this log can include a sermon’s title or topic and Bible references detected in it, and in rare cases an error report can include a session title or notes you wrote; from version 1.3 it contains event type names and technical details only, with no sermon content. Sentry receives standard connection data such as your IP address. Sentry is set not to store it, or any location derived from it. Reports received before November 2, 2026 may keep the IP address and an approximate location derived from it until they are deleted (see Retention below).
  • What is NOT sent: Email, name, advertising identifier (IDFA), device-unique identifier (IDFV), or your sermon audio, transcript or outline text
  • Retention: Sentry keeps crash reports for up to 90 days, then deletes them automatically.
  • Role: Sentry processes this data under our instructions as a data processor
  • Opt out: Preferences (called Settings from version 1.3) → Data Management → Help Improve PreachPal

4.5 iOS Platform Services (Apple)

  • CloudKit (private database) — Your sermon data syncs to your own iCloud container. Apple manages the data. The developer cannot access it.
  • StoreKit — Subscription purchase and verification. The developer sees subscription status only, not payment details.
  • Speech Recognition (on-device) — Audio is processed locally on your device using Apple’s Speech framework. Nothing is sent to Apple.
  • Translation (on-device) — Text is translated locally on your device using Apple’s Translation framework. Nothing is sent to Apple.

Apple’s use of your data is governed by Apple’s Privacy Policy.

4.6 Analytics

PreachPal relies on App Store Connect analytics for product metrics — aggregate install, crash, and performance data supplied by the App Store itself, not a third-party tracking SDK we integrate. No behavioral-analytics or advertising SDK (Firebase Analytics, Mixpanel, and similar) is included. Sentry (§4.4) is mainly a stability and diagnostic tool. It also records a few app events, such as when the upgrade screen opens or a purchase starts or fails, so we can find and fix problems in those steps. We do not use it for advertising, tracking or profiling. You may opt out of Sentry crash reporting in Preferences (called Settings from version 1.3) → Data Management → Help Improve PreachPal. PreachPal uses no advertising ID and no tracking.

5. How We Protect Your Data

  • On-device encryption at rest — All on-device sermon data is protected by iOS file-level encryption.
  • Keychain-stored API keys — Third-party API keys are rotated into the iOS Keychain at first launch.
  • HTTPS/TLS for all network traffic — Enforced by iOS App Transport Security.
  • Optional biometric app lock — Face ID or Touch ID can be required to open PreachPal. The control is labeled Require Face ID, and it is off unless you turn it on.
  • App backgrounding privacy curtain — When Require Face ID is turned on, sermon content is covered in the iOS app switcher. The curtain stays off unless that lock is on.

6. Your Rights

You can:

  • Access your data: Your sermons and notes are on your device in the App itself.
  • Export your data: Use the export feature: View Full Sermon Notes → Share. Export files are made on your device and leave it only where you send them.
  • Delete your data: Preferences (called Settings from version 1.3) → Data Management → Clear Local Data deletes all sermons from your device and syncs the deletion to your iCloud copy. As of version 1.3, deleting a sermon also removes the files PreachPal made for sharing it; copies you already shared or saved elsewhere (for example in Files, iCloud Drive or Mail) aren’t affected.
  • Stop cloud processing: The App has no in-app switch for cloud processing. To stop it, stop using the App or delete it. Using PreachPal without a network connection keeps that sermon on your device while the device stays offline. It is not sent to Deepgram or OpenAI, and iCloud cannot sync it, until the device is online again.
  • Stop crash reporting: Preferences (called Settings from version 1.3) → Data Management → Help Improve PreachPal.
  • Anything else: For data held by our service providers (§4), or any other request, write to support@preachpal.app. Because the identifiers PreachPal uses are anonymous and not visible to you, we may not be able to match them to you.

7. Data Retention

  • On-device data — Retained until you delete it via Clear Local Data or by uninstalling the App.
  • iCloud (CloudKit) data — Retained in your private iCloud container until you delete it from any device.
  • Free-allowance counts (iCloud) — If you use iCloud, the counts of how much of your free cloud allowance you have used are also kept in your iCloud key-value storage. They contain no sermon content. This copy is not removed when you delete the App: it stays in your iCloud.
  • Subprocessor data — Deepgram: audio only as long as needed to transcribe it (§4.1). OpenAI: up to 30 days for abuse monitoring. API.Bible: no user content transmitted. Sentry: crash reports for up to 90 days, then deleted automatically (§4.4).

8. California Privacy Rights (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information is collected, to delete it, to correct it, to limit the use of sensitive personal information, to opt out of its sale or sharing, and to non-discrimination.

PreachPal handles these categories of personal information:

  • Identifiers: an anonymous installation identifier for crash reports (§4.4), and standard connection data such as IP addresses received by our service providers.
  • Audio information: live sermon audio sent to Deepgram for transcription when cloud features are on. PreachPal does not save audio files.
  • Sensitive personal information: sermon transcripts and text derived from them, which may reveal religious beliefs, sent to OpenAI only to provide the App’s features (§4.2).
  • Device and diagnostic information: device model, iOS version, App version, language setting, crash data and technical event logs, which in version 1.2 can include a sermon’s title or topic and Bible references detected in it and, rarely, your notes (§4.4).
  • Commercial information: your subscription status, cached on your device from Apple StoreKit. Your subscription tier (free or Pro) is also sent to Sentry with crash and diagnostic reports (§4.4).

We do not sell or share personal information, and we use sensitive personal information only to provide the App. To exercise these rights, contact support@preachpal.app.

9. European Privacy Rights (GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the General Data Protection Regulation may give you rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection, and the right to complain to your data protection authority. Your sermons and notes are on your device and in your own iCloud, where you can access, export and delete them in the App (§6). For data held by our service providers (§4), write to support@preachpal.app.

Cloud transcription and analysis rely on the consent you give during onboarding. Our legal basis for processing crash and diagnostic data is legitimate interest in maintaining app stability and quality (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)). Sentry participates in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. You may opt out of crash reporting at any time in Preferences (called Settings from version 1.3) → Data Management → Help Improve PreachPal (§4.4), or request deletion of any diagnostic data by contacting support@preachpal.app.

10. Children’s Privacy

PreachPal is intended for users 13 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from users under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has used PreachPal, please contact support@preachpal.app.

11. International Data Transfers

Because PreachPal uses subprocessors located in the United States (Deepgram, OpenAI, API.Bible, and Sentry), audio, transcript, and diagnostic data sent to these services is transferred to and processed in the United States. By using cloud features, you consent to this transfer.

12. This Website

This website (preachpal.app) sets no cookies, uses no analytics, stores only your theme and language preference for the current browser tab session (if your browser is set to Spanish, the language preference is saved automatically when you are sent to the Spanish site), and makes no third-party requests — fonts and imagery are served from our own domain. What you read here stays between you and your browser.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top. Material changes will be communicated through an in-app notice. If the provider of PreachPal changes, we will update this policy to name the new provider before the change takes effect.

14. Contact

For privacy questions, data rights requests, or any concerns, contact: support@preachpal.app

We designed PreachPal around a simple principle: your spiritual journey is yours. We handle only what the App needs to work. We don’t sell it, and we don’t use it to train AI models; we also set our providers’ options to exclude it from model training where they offer one.