PrayerMap

Introduction

PrayerMap ("we," "our," or "us") is a non-profit ministry platform that enables users to share prayer requests and support one another through a location-based map interface. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your information when you use our mobile application and website (collectively, the "Service").

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

Information We Collect

1. Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

• Email address — Used for account authentication and optional notifications
• Display name (optional) — Shown to other users unless you choose to post anonymously
• Profile photo (optional) — Displayed on your profile and with your prayers

If you sign in with Apple, we receive your Apple ID email (or a private relay email if you choose "Hide My Email"). If you sign in with Google, we receive your Google account email address and display name via OAuth 2.0.

PrayerMap also supports passwordless authentication via magic links. When you choose this method, a one-time sign-in link is sent to your email address. No password is created or stored.

2. Location Data

PrayerMap is a location-based service. We collect:

• Precise location — To place your prayers on the map and show prayers near you
• Location is required — The core experience of PrayerMap depends on knowing where prayers are located

You can choose whether to share your exact location or an approximate area when posting prayers.

2.1 Location Data Privacy Protection

To protect your privacy while maintaining map functionality, PrayerMap applies location protection measures:

• Geographic Offset — Prayers displayed on the map are shown with an approximate 1-kilometer spatial offset from your actual location
• Privacy Protection — This prevents precise identification of your home, workplace, or frequent locations
• Deterministic Consistency — The offset is applied consistently per prayer for reliable display
• Self-View Accuracy — Only you can see your prayer's exact location when viewing your own prayers

Important: While location fuzzing significantly reduces privacy risks, it is not absolute anonymization. Your approximate neighborhood or city may still be inferable.

2.2 Public Place Detection

PrayerMap uses Mapbox reverse geocoding to detect if you are at a public place (such as a church, park, hospital, or community center). When you are at a recognized public location:

• Your prayer may be displayed at the actual public place coordinates
• This is because public places do not reveal your private residence
• The detection is automatic and helps preserve location context for community prayers

2.3 Per-Prayer Location Consent

PrayerMap requires explicit consent each time you share your location on the map:

• Manual Opt-In — You must enable "Show on Map" for each individual prayer
• Default OFF — Location sharing is disabled by default
• No Automatic Sharing — There is no setting to automatically share all prayers
• Revocable — You can hide any prayer from the map at any time by editing it

3. User-Generated Content

When you use PrayerMap, we collect the content you create:

• Prayer requests — Text, audio recordings, or video recordings you submit
• Prayer responses — Your responses to others' prayer requests
• Messages — Private conversations with other users
• Reactions — Your "Amen" reactions and saved prayers

3.1 Anonymous Posting

When you post a prayer anonymously:

• Your identity is hidden from other users — Other PrayerMap users will see your prayer marked as "Anonymous"
• Your identity is visible to PrayerMap administrators — For safety, legal compliance, and content moderation purposes, our administrators can view the real identity behind anonymous posts
• Your location is still displayed — The general location of your prayer remains visible on the map

This "pseudo-anonymous" system protects your privacy from other users while allowing us to maintain a safe community and comply with legal requirements.

4. Device Information

We automatically collect device identifiers (for push notifications), device type and OS version, and app version.

5. Contact Data

With your permission, PrayerMap can access your phone contacts to help you find friends who are already using PrayerMap:

• One-Way Hashing — Phone numbers and email addresses are hashed using SHA-256 before leaving your device
• Per-User Salting — An additional per-user cryptographic salt is applied server-side for enhanced security
• Matching Only — Hashed contact data is used solely for friend matching and is never stored in plaintext
• Revocable — You can revoke contact sync and delete all hashed data at any time via Settings > Contacts > Revoke Sync

We never store, share, or sell your contact list.

5.1 Social Connections (Priends)

PrayerMap allows you to connect with other users as "Priends" (prayer friends). When you use this feature, we collect:

• Friend Requests — Records of friend requests you send and receive, including timestamps and status (pending, accepted, rejected)
• Friendships — A list of your confirmed connections with other users
• Block List — Users you have blocked are recorded to prevent unwanted contact

Your friends list is visible only to you. Other users can see your friendship status with them (e.g., whether you are connected) but cannot see your full friends list. You can remove any friend or block any user at any time.

6. Spiritual & Religious Preferences

PrayerMap collects your spiritual tradition preference (e.g., Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Catholic) to personalize content recommendations:

• Sensitive Personal Data — Religious beliefs are classified as special category data under GDPR Article 9
• Explicit Consent — We process this data only with your explicit consent, which you provide during the Spiritual Lens onboarding flow
• User Control — You may change or remove your tradition preference at any time via Profile > Spiritual Lens
• Limited Use — Your tradition preference is stored in your user profile and used solely for content personalization

Your spiritual preferences are never shared with third parties or used for advertising.

7. Push Notification Data

If you enable push notifications, we collect:

• Device push token — A unique identifier generated by Apple Push Notification service (APNs) to deliver notifications to your device
• Notification preferences — Your choices about which types of notifications to receive

Push notifications are processed through Expo's push notification service, which relays to Apple Push Notification service (APNs) for iOS delivery. We use push notifications to alert you about new prayer responses, messages, friend requests, and community activity.

7.1 Prayer Reminder Notifications

PrayerMap offers optional daily prayer reminder notifications. When you enable this feature:

• Scheduled Time — Your preferred reminder time (morning, afternoon, or evening) is stored locally on your device
• Local Notifications — Reminders are scheduled as local notifications on your device and do not require server communication
• Opt-In Only — Prayer reminders are not enabled by default; you choose to enable them during onboarding or in settings

8. Usage Data & Analytics

We collect information about how you use PrayerMap to improve the Service:

• App Interactions — Screen views, feature usage patterns, and navigation events
• Content Interactions — Plays, skips, completions, and search queries
• Crash Reports & Performance — Error logs and performance metrics

8.1 Behavioral Analytics

PrayerMap uses behavioral analytics to understand usage patterns and improve the user experience:

• Local Event Buffering — Usage events are temporarily buffered on your device before being sent to our servers
• Feature Flags — We use PostHog to manage feature availability and conduct A/B tests. PostHog receives anonymized usage events and device identifiers
• Automated Classification — Aggregated usage patterns may be processed by AI systems (Anthropic Claude) to identify opportunities for improving the user experience, such as suggesting relevant features or content. This processing uses aggregated behavioral patterns, not individual message content
• No Profiling for Ads — Behavioral data is used solely to improve the PrayerMap experience and is never shared with advertisers or used for ad targeting

9. Media Playback & Listening History

PrayerMap records your content interactions to improve recommendations:

• Content Interactions — Play, skip, and completion events for media content
• Playback Progress — Duration watched or listened for partially consumed content
• Listening History — A record of content you have played, stored in your user profile

This data is used for personalized recommendations, taste profile computation, and content ranking. You can view and manage your listening history in the app.

10. Groups & Community Features

When you participate in PrayerMap Groups, we collect:

• Membership Information — Group membership, roles (admin, moderator, member), and permissions
• Group Content — Messages sent within group channels (text, audio, video, images)
• Event Data — Event attendance and interest responses
• Moderation Logs — Audit logs are maintained for safety and community standards enforcement

Group content is visible to other group members according to the group's privacy settings (public or private).

10.1 Group File Attachments

PrayerMap allows users to share files within group channels:

• Uploaded Media — Images, videos, audio files, and documents you upload are stored in our cloud storage (Supabase Storage)
• Link Previews — When you share a URL, PrayerMap fetches the page's title, description, and thumbnail image (Open Graph metadata) to generate a preview. Only the metadata is stored, not the full page content
• File Retention — Uploaded files are retained for the lifetime of the group or until deleted by a group administrator

11. Voice & Video Communication

PrayerMap uses LiveKit for real-time voice and video rooms within Groups:

• Encryption — Audio and video streams are encrypted using AES-128 for media and TLS for signaling
• Real-Time Only — Voice and video data is transmitted in real-time and is NOT recorded or stored by PrayerMap
• Data Processor — LiveKit processes audio/video streams as a data processor under our instructions

For more information, see the LiveKit Privacy Policy.

12. College Hub Verification

For college-specific groups, PrayerMap verifies your .edu email address:

• Verification Process — A verification code is sent to your .edu email address
• Affiliation Link — Your verified college affiliation is linked to your account to grant access to your school's group
• Secure Storage — .edu email addresses are stored securely and used only for verification purposes

13. Apple Watch Companion App

PrayerMap offers an optional Apple Watch companion app that syncs data from your iPhone:

• Data Synced — Your groups, recent messages, prayer feed, and notification summaries are synced to your watch via Apple's WatchConnectivity framework
• On-Device Only — Data is transferred directly between your iPhone and Apple Watch over a secure, encrypted connection managed by Apple. No additional data is sent to PrayerMap's servers
• Location on Watch — The watch app may access your location independently for prayer placement and Qibla compass features, subject to the same privacy protections described in Section 2

14. AR Prayer Vision (Augmented Reality)

PrayerMap offers an optional AR Prayer Vision feature that displays prayer pins and connection lines in the real world through your phone's camera.

• Camera Use — The camera is activated only when you open AR Prayer Vision. The camera feed is processed entirely on your device by Apple's ARKit (iOS) or Google's ARCore (Android) for world tracking and surface detection
• No Image Collection — PrayerMap does not capture, record, store, or transmit any images or video from the AR camera feed. All camera processing occurs on-device
• Location in AR — AR Prayer Vision uses your device's GPS location (already collected per Section 2) to position prayers at their real-world coordinates. No additional location data is collected
• Existing Prayer Data — AR displays the same prayer pins and connection lines visible on the 2D map. No new data is collected for the AR experience
• Device Sensors — AR uses your device's accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass for spatial tracking. This sensor data is processed on-device and is not collected or transmitted

How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

1. Provide the Service — Display prayers on the map, enable prayer responses and messaging
2. Personalize your experience — Show nearby prayers based on your location
3. Personalize content — Recommend spiritual content based on your tradition preference, listening history, and content interactions
4. Send notifications — Alert you to new prayer responses, messages, and nearby prayers (with your permission)
5. Moderate content — Screen prayers and messages for inappropriate content
6. Improve the Service — Analyze usage patterns to enhance features

We do NOT sell your personal information, use your data for targeted advertising, or monetize your prayer content in any way.

Information Sharing

Service Providers

We share information with third-party services that help us operate PrayerMap:

Provider	Purpose
Supabase	Database, authentication, file storage
Mapbox	Map display and location services
Apple	Sign in with Apple authentication, push notifications (APNs), WatchConnectivity
Google	Google Sign-In authentication (OAuth 2.0)
Expo (Expo Application Services)	Push notifications, over-the-air updates
YouTube / Google (YouTube Data API v3)	Video content search and playback
LiveKit	Real-time voice and video communication in group rooms
Spotify	Music catalog search and metadata
SoundCloud	Audio content search
Podcast Index	Podcast search and RSS feed metadata
Apple Music (MusicKit)	Music catalog search and playback
TheHive.ai	Automated content moderation and safety screening
PostHog	Product analytics, feature flags, and A/B testing
Anthropic (Claude)	AI-assisted behavioral pattern analysis for user experience improvements
Vercel	Website hosting

YouTube API Services

PrayerMap uses YouTube API Services to discover and play spiritual content. By using PrayerMap, you are also bound by:

• YouTube Terms of Service — https://www.youtube.com/t/terms
• Google Privacy Policy — http://www.google.com/policies/privacy

You can revoke PrayerMap's access to your data via the Google security settings page at https://security.google.com/settings/security/permissions.

YouTube Data We Store

• Video metadata — Title, description, thumbnail URL, duration, channel name, and video ID are cached server-side to power content discovery and recommendations.
• User engagement data — When you interact with YouTube content (play, complete, like, save, skip, or share), those interactions are logged in your user_content_interactions record to improve personalization.
• Automated refresh — Cached metadata is refreshed every 6–48 hours via automated background jobs to keep content accurate and up to date.
• Data retention — YouTube content metadata that has not been refreshed for 30 days and is not part of an active collection is automatically deleted (see Data Retention below).

YouTube Data We Do NOT Access

• We do not access your YouTube account, subscriptions, watch history, or any personal Google data.
• Video playback is handled entirely through YouTube's embedded player — we do not download, cache, or re-host any video or audio content.

Data Retention

• Account data — Retained while your account is active, deleted within 30 days of account deletion
• Prayers and responses — Retained for 1 year after creation, or until deleted by you
• Messages — Retained until you delete them or delete your account
• Friend connections — Retained until you remove the connection or delete your account
• Group file attachments — Retained for the lifetime of the group or until deleted by a group administrator
• Voice/video room data — NOT stored; transmitted in real-time only
• Contact hashes — Retained until you revoke sync via Settings
• Usage analytics — Aggregated and anonymized after 90 days
• Behavioral analytics events — Raw events retained for 90 days, then aggregated
• College verification — Retained while your account is active
• Apple Watch data — Synced data on the watch follows the same retention as the source data on your iPhone
• AR camera data — NOT stored; processed on-device in real-time only
• YouTube content metadata — Automatically deleted 30 days after last refresh if not in an active collection

Your Rights

• Access — Request a copy of your data at contact@prayermap.net
• Data Export — Request a portable copy of your data in a machine-readable format at contact@prayermap.net
• Correction — Update your profile in the app
• Deletion — Delete your account via Profile > Settings > Delete Account
• Notifications — Manage push notification preferences in device settings or disable them entirely
• Consent Withdrawal — Revoke consent for sensitive data processing (religious preferences) at any time via Profile > Spiritual Lens

Sensitive Personal Data (GDPR Article 9)

PrayerMap processes certain categories of sensitive personal data with your explicit consent:

• Religious/Spiritual Preferences — Your tradition preference (e.g., Christianity, Judaism, Islam) is classified as special category data under GDPR Article 9
• Legal Basis — Processed only with explicit consent per GDPR Article 6(1)(a) and Article 9(2)(a)
• Right to Withdraw — You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before withdrawal
• No Automated Decision-Making — Your sensitive personal data will not be used for profiling or automated decision-making that produces legal effects

Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), PrayerMap processes your data based on:

• Explicit Consent (Article 6(1)(a)) — You provide consent via the per-prayer "Show on Map" toggle and during onboarding
• Explicit Consent (Article 9(2)(a)) — For processing special category data (religious beliefs) via the Spiritual Lens onboarding
• Legitimate Interest (Article 6(1)(f)) — For providing the core location-based prayer service

You have the right to withdraw consent at any time by hiding your prayers from the map, changing your spiritual preferences, or deleting your account.

California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act:

• Right to Know — Request disclosure of personal information collected about you
• Right to Delete — Request deletion of your personal information
• Right to Opt-Out — PrayerMap does not sell personal information
• Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information — PrayerMap allows you to limit how your sensitive personal information (including religious beliefs) is used via Profile > Spiritual Lens settings
• Non-Discrimination — Exercise your rights without discriminatory treatment

To exercise these rights, contact us at contact@prayermap.net.

Data Portability

You have the right to receive a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. To request data export, contact us at contact@prayermap.net.

Content Moderation

Automated Content Screening

To maintain a safe and respectful community, all user-generated content (text, images, audio, and video) is automatically screened using TheHive.ai's content moderation service. This screening:

• Detects potentially harmful, inappropriate, or policy-violating content
• Helps identify content that may indicate self-harm or crisis situations
• Runs automatically before content is published
• Does not store your content on TheHive.ai's servers beyond the screening process

User Reporting

PrayerMap allows users to report content that violates our community guidelines. When you submit a report:

• Your identity as the reporter is kept confidential from the reported user
• Our moderation team reviews all reports via our admin dashboard
• Reports of self-harm concerns include access to crisis resources (988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline)

Human Review

Our moderation team at admin.prayermap.net reviews flagged content and user reports to:

• Make final decisions on content that requires human judgment
• Respond to user reports and appeals
• Enforce our community guidelines
• Comply with legal obligations
• Protect the safety of our users

Data Security

We implement encryption in transit (TLS/HTTPS), encryption at rest, row-level security, and regular security audits.

Children's Privacy

PrayerMap is restricted to users 18 years of age or older, as indicated in our App Store listing. We do not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under 18. If we discover that a user is under 18, we will promptly delete their account and associated data.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Email: contact@prayermap.net
Website: https://prayermap.net

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