Introduction

Bearing Fruit ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application and website.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide:

Email address (if you contact us or sign up for our email letters)
Support preferences and optional feature votes on the support page
If you use groups (Practice Together): the name you choose and your group activity. See Groups below.

Information Processed by Third Parties:

Payment information is processed by Apple or Google for in-app support purchases, and by Stripe for support given through the website
RevenueCat processes an anonymous app-user identifier and purchase or subscription status so the app can manage in-app support
Email letters and support emails are processed by Resend

Product and Usage Data:

Website analytics (via Vercel Analytics)
In-app anonymous usage analytics and crash reporting (configurable in app settings)
Anonymous app or device instance identifiers used to operate analytics, diagnostics, and in-app purchase services

Email Letters

If you sign up for our email letters on the website or in the app, we collect your email address. We then send you an email asking you to confirm your signup. You will not receive any letters unless you confirm.

Your email address is stored with our email provider, Resend, together with where you signed up (a page on the website, or the app), the date you signed up, the date you confirmed, and the letters you chose (for example, the monthly letter or an optional seasonal series). We use this information only to confirm your signup and to send the letters you chose.

Every letter includes an unsubscribe link, and you can unsubscribe at any time. You can also contact us to be removed from our email list.

Data Storage

Your spiritual formation content (for example prayers, reflections, and notes) is stored locally on your device. We do not use our website servers as a cloud sync for that spiritual content.

If you choose to use groups, a small amount of information is kept on our server so your group can see it: your name, the days you read, and prayer taps. Your prayers, reflections, and notes still stay on your device. Details are in the next section.

Groups (Practice Together)

Groups are optional. If you never start or join one, nothing in this section applies, and none of it leaves your phone.

What we keep on our server when you use groups:

The name you choose. We suggest a first name and never ask for your full name.
A random member ID that the app creates. There is no account, email, phone number, or password.
Which groups you're in, and when you joined.
The days you read. Only that you read that day, not what you read or wrote.
“I prayed for you” taps between members.
That you're 18 or older. We never receive your age or birth year.
Your app language and your phone's time zone offset, so “today” matches your day.
The people you hide, and reports you make or that are made about your name.

Who sees it. People in your group see your name, the prayer taps you send them, and, if “Show when I've read” is on, the days you read. Anyone with a group's invite link can see the reading path, its dates, how many people are in the group, and the name of the person who started it.

Religious beliefs. Being in an Advent or Lent group can suggest your religious beliefs. We use group information only to run your groups, and you agree to this when you start or join a group.

What we don't collect. Your journal, prayers, notes, or garden; your email or phone number; your contacts, photos, or location; or device or advertising identifiers. Our server uses your IP address briefly to limit abuse and keeps only a scrambled counter, which can't be traced back to your address once two days have passed. Our hosting provider, Cloudflare, may log IP addresses under its own terms. We don't send names, member or group IDs, or invite codes to our analytics or crash reporting.

How long we keep it:

A group and everything in it is deleted 30 days after the group's end date.
Leaving a group deletes what you shared in it right away. Leaving your last group, or using Settings › Practice together › Delete my group data (in newer versions: Settings › Community › Practice together › Delete my group data), deletes your member record and all your group data from our server right away.
Anyone with no group and no activity for 60 days is deleted automatically.
Reports are kept for up to 90 days after we resolve them, and for up to 180 days while they're open. An open report about a name stays even if that person deletes their data, so we can act on abuse. If you delete your data, you're removed from reports you made.

Reports. When someone reports a name, we receive an email, sent through Resend, with the name and the group and member IDs involved, so we can look into it.

Service providers. Our group server and database run on Cloudflare. Report emails go through Resend. We don't sell group information or use it for advertising.

Age. For now, groups are for adults (18 and older). The app checks your age once and keeps only an age range on your phone. Our server never receives your age or birth year. People under 18 can't use groups.

Sharing an Idea or Story

In the app (Settings › Community), you can send us a story of what Jesus has done in your life, or an idea for serving others. This is optional, and it is for adults (18 and older).

What we keep on our server when you send one:

What you wrote, whether it's a story or an idea, and the practice you picked, if any.
Your first name, only if you give one.
Your choice of how we may use it: share it with your first name, share it without your name, or keep it private.
That you confirmed you're 18 or older, your language, and when you sent it.
A scrambled copy of the key that lets you delete it. The key itself stays on your phone. What you send isn't linked to your groups, so deleting your group data doesn't delete it.

Who sees it. Nothing is posted until a person reads it. We email what you wrote to our moderator through Resend. If you allowed sharing, we may publish it on our website, sometimes shortened, and with other people's names left out. If you asked us to keep it private, it is never published, and we use it only to improve Bearing Fruit.

What we don't collect. We don't store your email, phone number, IP address, or device identifiers with what you send. As with groups, our server uses your IP address briefly to limit abuse and keeps only a scrambled counter.

How long we keep it:

Published stories and ideas stay until you delete them or we take them down.
Ones we decide not to publish are deleted 90 days after that decision, and ones we take down are deleted 30 days after.
Private ones are deleted 90 days after we've read them, or a year after you send them if we haven't. Shared ones we never get to are deleted after 180 days.

Deleting. In the app, open Settings › Community › What you've sent and tap Delete. Settings › Delete all data & restart onboarding deletes everything you've sent too. If it was published, it comes down within an hour. You can also write to us at [email protected].

Website Storage and Cookies

We also use Vercel Analytics for website analytics. At the time of this policy update, our website does not include advertising pixels or retargeting tools such as Meta Pixel or Google advertising tags.

Some third-party services that you intentionally use from the website, such as hosted payment flows, may use their own cookies or browser storage as part of providing that service.

How We Use Data

To provide and improve the website and mobile app experience
To process optional support payments
To send the email letters you sign up for and confirm
To monitor reliability, performance, and errors

Data Sharing

We do not sell personal data or use it for cross-app advertising. We disclose data only to service providers needed to run the product, such as Apple and Google (in-app purchases), RevenueCat (purchase status), Stripe (website payments), Resend (email), Cloudflare (the server for groups and community sharing), and analytics and error-reporting services.

How Disclosure Happens

Information is transmitted to our service providers through store purchase systems, hosted checkouts, forms, APIs, and analytics tooling. For example, in-app purchases are processed by Apple or Google and managed through RevenueCat, website support payments are submitted to Stripe, support emails and email letters are sent through Resend, and website analytics are processed through Vercel Analytics. If you use groups, the app sends your group information over an encrypted connection to our server, which runs on Cloudflare. We disclose only the information needed for those services to perform their role.

Security Practices

We use hosted infrastructure and encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) for the website and API traffic
Payment card details are processed by Apple, Google, or Stripe and are not stored on our servers
Your spiritual notes, prayers, and reflections remain stored locally on your device unless you explicitly export or share them
Environment secrets and third-party credentials are stored in managed deployment tools with access limited to authorized maintainers
We rely on established service providers such as Apple, Google, RevenueCat, Stripe, Resend, and Vercel to help safeguard the systems they operate for us

No online system is perfectly secure, but we aim to collect as little personal information as possible and to use service providers with strong security practices.

Your Choices

You can unsubscribe from our email letters at any time using the link in any letter
You can disable analytics and error tracking in app Settings
You can leave a group at any time, or delete all your group data at once in Settings › Practice together › Delete my group data (in newer versions: Settings › Community › Practice together › Delete my group data)
You can stop using the app and remove local data by uninstalling the app

Contact

Email: [email protected]