Privacy Policy

Effective Date: January 13, 2026 Last Updated: March 24, 2026

TL;DR

we don’t sell your data. your sermons, notes, and reflections are yours. we use them to make thatsermon work, nothing else.

what we collect:

  • email address and name (from sign in with apple)
  • sermon transcripts (text only — audio stays on your phone)
  • journal entries and notes
  • messages you send us
  • basic usage stats (which features you use, when)

what we do with it:

  • transcribe sermons on your device using apple’s speech framework
  • send transcript text to xAI (Grok) for analysis — themes, Bible references, insights
  • connect sermons, themes, and scriptures across your journey
  • search your sermons
  • charge your card via apple in-app purchase

what we don’t do:

  • sell or rent your data
  • train public ai models on your sermons (stays private)
  • share with advertisers
  • share your sermons with your church (unless you choose to)

your rights:

  • delete your account anytime
  • export your data
  • opt out of analytics

this is the friendly version. the legal stuff below is binding.

Overview

That Sermon (“ThatSermon,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) operates a spiritual growth application that records, transcribes, and analyzes sermons to help users deepen their faith journey (the “Service”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your information when you use our Service.

By using ThatSermon, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

Information We Collect

1. Information You Provide Directly

Account Information:

  • Email address (required for authentication)
  • First and last name
  • Profile information
  • Church affiliation (optional)
  • Small group memberships (optional)

Sermon & Content Data:

  • Sermon transcripts (text only — audio is processed on-device and never uploaded)
  • Journal entries and personal reflections
  • Bible verses you save or highlight
  • Sermon metadata (date, location, speaker, church)

Community & Sharing:

  • Insights shared with small groups
  • Discussion comments and replies
  • Family discussion notes
  • Shared sermon highlights

Communications:

  • Support messages and feedback
  • Feature requests
  • Bug reports

2. Information Collected Automatically

Usage Data:

  • Recording timestamps and duration
  • Features used and tools accessed
  • Search queries
  • App performance metrics
  • Error logs and debugging information

Device Information:

  • Device type and operating system
  • App version
  • Network type (WiFi/cellular)
  • Time zone and locale settings

AI Interaction Data:

  • Transcription requests
  • Analysis queries
  • Documents and sermons accessed during searches
  • Feature usage patterns

3. Information from Third Parties

Stripe (Payment Processor):

  • Billing information (processed by Stripe, not stored by us)
  • Subscription status and payment history
  • Customer ID (linked to your account)

Bible Reference Data:

  • Scripture text from third-party Bible APIs
  • Cross-reference information
  • Verse translations

How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

Provide and Improve the Service

  • Transcribe sermons on your device (audio never leaves your phone)
  • Analyze sermon transcripts to identify themes and Bible references
  • Generate summaries and insights
  • Connect sermons, themes, and scriptures across your journey
  • Enable search across your sermons
  • Provide Bible reference linking
  • Generate discussion questions and family guides

Personalize Your Experience

  • Remember your churches and preferences
  • Maintain sermon history and progress
  • Provide timezone-appropriate notifications
  • Suggest related sermons and themes based on your listening history

Communication & Support

  • Send service notifications and updates
  • Respond to support inquiries
  • Provide verification codes and security notifications
  • Share feature announcements

Analytics & Development

  • Monitor system performance and reliability
  • Analyze usage patterns to improve the service
  • Develop new features and capabilities

Legal & Security

  • Prevent fraud and abuse
  • Enforce our Terms of Service
  • Comply with legal obligations
  • Protect rights and safety of users

Data Sharing and Disclosure

We Share Your Information With:

Service Providers:

  • xAI (Grok): Sermon transcript analysis — generates summaries, themes, Bible references, and action items from your transcript text
  • Apple: In-app purchase processing and subscription billing
  • Cloud Hosting Providers: Secure hosting, storage, and database services

Note: Sermon transcription is performed entirely on your device using Apple’s Speech framework. No audio is sent to any third party.

These providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and use it only for specified purposes.

Small Groups & Community: If you join or create a small group:

  • Group members can view sermons and insights you choose to share
  • Group administrators can manage members and shared content
  • Sharing is always opt-in; your sermons remain private by default

Church Administrators (Premium Feature):

  • If your church has a verified account and you opt in, they may view aggregated, anonymized usage statistics
  • Churches never receive access to individual sermon recordings or transcripts unless you explicitly share them

Third-Party Integrations:

  • Bible reference services
  • Church management systems (if you connect your account)

We Do NOT:

  • Sell your personal information to third parties
  • Share your data with advertisers
  • Provide your information to data brokers
  • Share your sermon recordings or transcripts with churches without your consent
  • Use your data to train AI models for other companies

AI and Data Processing

How We Use AI

Sermon Analysis (xAI / Grok): We send your sermon transcript text to xAI’s Grok model to:

  • Identify key themes and topics
  • Extract Bible references
  • Generate summaries and insights
  • Create daily action items and reflection questions

Scripture Matching (self-hosted): We use a self-hosted embedding model (LaBSE) to:

  • Match your journal entries to relevant Bible verses
  • Build connections between sermons, themes, and scriptures

On-Device Transcription (Apple Speech):

  • Sermon audio is transcribed on your device using Apple’s Speech framework
  • Audio never leaves your phone — only the resulting transcript text is sent to our servers

Data Sent to Third-Party AI Providers:

  • Sermon transcript text is sent to xAI (Grok) for analysis
  • No audio is sent to any third party
  • No journal entries or personal data are sent to third-party AI providers

Data Retention by AI Providers:

  • xAI does not use your data to train their public models
  • Text is processed and not permanently retained by xAI beyond standard processing periods
  • We maintain sermon transcripts and analysis in our own secure database

Sermon Analysis:

  • Your sermons are processed and stored in a secure database
  • Analysis is performed on your data only (multi-tenant isolation)
  • Connections and insights are generated based on your personal sermon history

Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures:

Encryption:

  • Data in transit encrypted via TLS/SSL
  • Database encryption at rest
  • Audio files encrypted in storage
  • Secure credential storage

Access Control:

  • Role-based access for team features
  • Permission checks on every data access
  • Multi-tenant data isolation
  • Secure authentication and authorization

Audit Trails:

  • Comprehensive logs of data access
  • User attribution for all actions
  • Timestamp logging for security
  • Tamper-resistant audit records

Infrastructure:

  • Regular security updates
  • Automated encrypted backups
  • Intrusion detection
  • Rate limiting and abuse prevention

Authentication:

  • Email-based verification
  • Secure session management
  • Optional two-factor authentication

Data Retention

Active Accounts:

  • Sermon transcripts and analysis: Retained indefinitely (unless you delete them)
  • Journal entries and notes: Retained while your account is active
  • Search history: Retained for 1 year, then archived
  • Usage analytics: Aggregated and anonymized after 90 days

Inactive Accounts:

  • Accounts with no activity for 2+ years may be flagged for deletion
  • We will notify you before deleting inactive account data

Deleted Accounts:

  • Personal information deleted within 30 days
  • Sermon transcripts and analysis permanently deleted
  • Shared content in groups removed or anonymized
  • Billing records retained per legal requirements (typically 7 years)

You Control Your Data:

  • Delete individual sermons at any time
  • Export all your data in standard formats
  • Delete your entire account and all associated data

Your Rights and Choices

Access and Control

  • View your data: Access all your sermons, notes, and recordings
  • Update information: Correct your profile and preferences
  • Delete data: Delete individual sermons or your entire account
  • Export data: Download your sermons, transcripts, and analysis in portable formats

Communication Preferences

  • Notification settings: Control when and how we notify you
  • Email preferences: Opt in or out of feature announcements
  • Marketing: We don’t send marketing emails unless you opt in

Account Management

  • Delete sermons: Remove recordings and transcripts
  • Leave groups: Exit small group memberships
  • Close account: Delete your account entirely

To exercise these rights, email privacy@thatsermon.com or use in-app settings.

Children’s Privacy

ThatSermon is not intended for users under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover we have collected information from a child under 13, we will delete it immediately.

Parents may create accounts for teens aged 13-17 with parental supervision.

California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights:

Right to Know: What personal information we collect, use, and share Right to Delete: Request deletion of your personal information Right to Opt-Out: Opt out of sale of personal information (we don’t sell data) Right to Non-Discrimination: Equal service regardless of privacy choices

To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@thatsermon.com.

European Privacy Rights (GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), UK, or Switzerland:

Legal Basis for Processing:

  • Consent: You provide explicit consent via account creation
  • Contract: Processing necessary to provide the Service
  • Legitimate Interest: Improve service, prevent fraud, ensure security

Your Rights:

  • Access, rectification, erasure, and data portability
  • Restrict or object to processing
  • Withdraw consent at any time
  • Lodge a complaint with your data protection authority

Data Transfers: We use standard contractual clauses for international data transfers.

Respecting Church Rights

We respect the intellectual property rights of churches and pastors:

  • Sermon recordings you create are for personal use only
  • Churches can request to opt out of our service
  • If your church has opted out, you may not record their sermons using our app
  • We maintain a list of opted-out churches

Church Opt-Out Process: Churches or pastors may email hello@thatsermon.com to:

  • Request addition to our opt-out list
  • Provide list of service times and locations
  • Update their opt-out status

Fair Use: Our service is designed for personal, educational use under fair use doctrine. However, we respect churches that prefer not to have their sermons recorded and will honor opt-out requests.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes are effective when posted. We will notify you of material changes via email.

Last material change: Initial policy publication

Third-Party Services

Our Service integrates with third-party services that have their own privacy policies:

Key Third Parties:

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices:

Email: privacy@thatsermon.com Support: hello@thatsermon.com Mail: That Sermon, 1123 12TH AVE RD #352, NAMPA, IDAHO 83686-5738

For security issues: security@thatsermon.com

Compliance Certifications

We are committed to meeting industry standards:

  • GDPR compliance
  • CCPA compliance
  • Industry-standard security practices
  • Regular security audits

Summary: We collect sermon recordings, transcripts, and usage data necessary to provide sermon analysis and spiritual growth tools. Your data is used to transcribe sermons, identify themes, generate insights, and connect sermons, themes, and scriptures across your journey. We use AI to process audio and analyze content. Data is secured with encryption and access controls. You can access, update, or delete your information at any time. We respect church copyright and honor opt-out requests.