About this policy
Cultivate Faith is created and operated by Jonathan Belloit, publishing under the name Preparing Soil. In this policy, “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Jonathan Belloit as the operator of the app and the person responsible for your information. This policy explains what the app collects, where it is stored, who processes it, and the control you have over it.
We have written this to be specific rather than general. Where something leaves your device, we say so plainly.
The essentials
At a glance
- Your written reflections stay on your device. They are stored in an encrypted local database and are not saved to our servers.
- They are sent for processing each time you generate guidance. Your answers are transmitted over an encrypted connection to our AI provider to produce Scripture recommendations and a prayer. They are not stored by us afterwards.
- That request carries no identifier—not your name, email address, or account ID. Nothing in it links the reflection back to you.
- We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising.
- There is no advertising or tracking software in the app: no ad networks, third-party analytics SDKs, advertising identifiers, or cross-app tracking.
- You can use the app without an account by continuing as a guest.
Information we collect
Content you write
Your answers to the daily reflection questions are stored on your device in a local database, encrypted at rest. Only derived material is saved to your cloud account: a short summary of your reflections, the topics identified in them, and the guidance generated for you—the prayer, Scripture references, and explanation. The original text of your answers is not written to our servers. Anything you explicitly save, including Scripture passages and prayers, is stored in your account so it is available across your devices.
Account information
Your email address and password if you create an account; passwords are handled by Google Firebase Authentication and we never see or store them. We also collect your display name, if you provide one. Guest accounts carry no email, no name, and no personal identifier—only an anonymous account ID.
Personalization you choose to provide
All optional, all skippable, and used to shape the tone and content of your guidance: your first name, your tradition or denomination, the names you prefer to use for God, where you are in your faith journey, and your current focus. Your first name is used only inside the app and in your own account. It is not included in anything sent to our AI provider.
Preferences
Theme, text size, Bible translation, daily reminder settings, and your data-storage choice.
Personal memory profile
So that guidance develops over time rather than restarting each day, the app keeps a short profile of recurring themes from your reflections and a list of passages you have already been given, so you are offered breadth instead of the same few texts. This is held on your device and mirrored to your account only if you have cloud backup enabled.
Service and reliability records
The number of generations you make per day, the AI model used, processing time, and token counts are recorded against your account ID to enforce your daily limit and monitor cost and performance. When the app cannot reach our service and falls back to generic content, we record that it happened, why, when, and your platform and app version so we can measure and reduce failures. Neither record contains any of your written content. If you subscribe, our payments provider records the transaction and subscription status; card details are handled entirely by Apple or Google and are never seen by us.
What we do not collect
- No advertising identifiers, and no advertising or tracking SDKs of any kind.
- No location data, contacts, photos, camera, or microphone access.
- No third-party analytics on the iOS or Android apps.
- No push notification tokens. Daily reminders are scheduled locally by your own device, which means we cannot send you unsolicited notifications.
How your reflections are processed
This is the part most worth understanding clearly.
When you tap generate, your answers are sent over an encrypted (TLS) connection to our server, which forwards them to our AI provider, OpenAI, to produce your Scripture recommendations and prayer. Requests are authenticated, and our provider credentials are held on our server, never in the app.
What that request contains
Your reflection answers for the day and—where you have provided them—your tradition, your faith journey stage and current focus, plus the recurring themes in your memory profile. That context is what makes the guidance yours rather than generic.
What it does not contain
Your name, your email address, or your account ID. The request is not linked to your identity in any way. The only way identifying information reaches our AI provider is if you write it into a reflection yourself.
Two important details
- Choosing on-device storage does not prevent this transmission. That setting governs where your data is stored, not whether it is processed. Generating personalized guidance requires sending your answers for processing. If you would prefer your reflections never leave your device, the app cannot generate guidance from them.
- We send only what is needed, and we do not retain your answers on our servers after generating the response. Our AI provider's own handling of the request is governed by our agreement with them.
Where your data is stored, and your control over it
In Settings → Account you can choose between Cloud backup, where derived content is stored in your account and available on any device you sign in to, and On this device only, where that content is copied to your device and removed from the cloud. Your reflections remain local either way.
Switching to device-only does not delete the service and reliability records described above, because those contain no written content and are needed to operate the service.
Service providers
We use a small number of providers, each for a specific purpose and each bound by their own contractual obligations: Google Firebase for authentication, cloud database, and server functions; OpenAI for generating Scripture recommendations and prayers; RevenueCat for managing subscription status; and Apple and Google for app distribution and payment processing.
We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it with data brokers or for advertising.
International transfers
Our providers process and store data in the United States and potentially other countries. If you are located elsewhere, your information will be transferred to and processed in those countries.
Data retention
We keep your account information and saved content for as long as your account is active. You can delete individual saved items in the app at any time. Service and reliability records are retained in aggregate for operational and cost monitoring. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal data within a reasonable period, except where retention is required by law.
Your rights and choices
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, export, or delete your personal information, and to restrict or object to certain processing. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at the address below and we will respond within the period required by applicable law.
Within the app you can, at any time: review and change your personalization answers; review and remove individual items from your memory profile; move your data between cloud and device-only storage; turn daily reminders on or off; and delete your account.
Security
We take the following concrete measures:
- All network communication uses encrypted TLS connections.
- Reflection content stored on your device is encrypted at rest using AES-256-GCM.
- Access to cloud data is enforced by server-side security rules that restrict every account to its own data. Subscription and entitlement fields are writable only by our servers, never by the app.
- AI requests are authenticated and proxied through our own server, so provider API credentials are never distributed in the app.
- The app contains no advertising or third-party tracking software.
No method of transmission or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please use a strong, unique password and keep your device protected.
Children’s privacy
Cultivate Faith is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated in the app or by email, and the date at the top reflects the most recent revision.
Contact us
Questions or privacy requests: cultivate.support@preparingsoil.com
Visit Cultivate Faith Support