Privacy Policy

What we collect

Account information

When you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your:

• Email address — used to identify your account
• Display name — shown to your group members (you can change it anytime in Settings)
• Profile picture URL — optionally shown next to your name (from Google or Apple)

We do not receive your password. Authentication is handled entirely by Google or Apple.

Reading activity

• Reading progress — the percentage of each Bible chapter you've scrolled through each day. Your group members can see your weekly reading score.
• Chapter of the Day — which chapter was assigned each day (the same for everyone)

Your reading percentage is shared with members of the groups you belong to. It is never shared publicly or with anyone outside your groups.

Group data

• Groups you create or join — group name, invite code, members
• Discussion threads and comments you post in your group's weekly discussion
• Emoji reactions you add to comments
• Verse notes and highlights — personal annotations on Bible passages (shared only if you explicitly choose to share a note to the group discussion)

Device and notification data

• Push notification token — stored so we can send daily reading reminders and end-of-week summaries. You can turn these off anytime in Settings.
• Timezone — used to send notifications at the right local time

Technical data

If the app crashes, basic error information may be logged on our servers to help us diagnose and fix bugs. This does not include personal content.

What we do not collect

• Location data — we never request or store your location
• Contacts — we never access your address book
• Microphone or camera — we never request access to these
• Advertising identifiers — we do not use IDFA, GAID, or any advertising tracking

How we use your data

We use your data only to operate Gathered Together:

• Run your account — sign you in, display your name and avatar to group members
• Track reading progress — record daily reading percentages and calculate weekly scores
• Enable group features — show your progress on the Readerboard, facilitate group discussions
• Send notifications — daily reminders and end-of-week summaries, only if you enable them
• Improve the app — review crash logs and aggregate usage patterns to fix bugs and improve features

We do not sell your data. We do not use your data for advertising. We do not share your data with third parties except as described below.

Third parties we use

YouVersion provides Bible content through their developer platform. We do not share your personal information with YouVersion.

Donations

If you choose to support us with a donation, you are redirected to a Stripe or PayPal payment page. We do not process payment information in the app. We receive only a notification that a donation was completed — we do not receive your payment card details.

Data retention

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we delete your data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.

Reading logs, discussion posts, and group membership records are deleted when you delete your account. Group records continue to exist for other members if the group has other active participants; your contributions (comments, reactions) are removed from their view.

Deleting your account

To delete your account and all associated data, visit gatheredtogether.app/delete-account for instructions. We will confirm deletion within 30 days.

We plan to add an in-app deletion option in a future update.

Children's privacy

Gathered Together is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@gatheredtogether.app and we will delete it.

Security

Your data is stored on servers hosted by Linode (Akamai). We use HTTPS for all data in transit. Passwords are never stored — authentication is delegated entirely to Google and Apple. Access tokens are stored in secure device storage (iOS Keychain / Android Keystore).

No system is perfectly secure. If we discover a breach that affects your data, we will notify you by email within 72 hours.

Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. When we do, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For significant changes, we'll notify you via in-app message or email. Continued use of the app after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact us