Privacy Policy

Sow is a Bible devotional and journaling app designed to help you grow in faith through daily scripture reading, reflection, and prayer. Your privacy is important to us, and we are committed to protecting your personal information.

Sow is operated by Eden Collective LLC, a California limited liability company, which is the data controller for the information described in this policy. You can reach us any time at hello@trysow.app.

The short version: your journal entries, prayers, and reflections live on your device and in your own private iCloud — we never receive them. What we do hold on our servers is a small account record, your subscription status, and the group data needed to make shared reading plans work. We also share a little device and purchase information with Meta so we can tell which of our ads are working, which you can turn off at any time. Everything below is the detail.

Account Information

When you sign in to Sow, we collect:

• Sign in with Apple: Your Apple ID user identifier and email address (if you choose to share it — Apple's Hide My Email gives us a relay address instead)
• Sign in with Google: Your Google account identifier, email address, and display name

This information is used for authentication, to link your subscription to your account, to identify you to other members of any group you join, and to contact you about your account.

Devotional Content (stays on your device)

Sow stores the following on your device and in your private iCloud — not on our servers:

• Devotional Entries: Your personal reflections, prayers, sermon notes, and highlights
• Reading Progress: Scripture passages you've read and completion dates
• App Preferences: Bible translation selection and other app settings
• Voice Recordings: Audio recordings of your prayers
• Photos: Images you attach to entries or capture with the page scanner

Data Stored on Our Servers

Our backend runs on Cloudflare. The following account and service data is stored there:

• Account record: your provider user identifier, email address, display name, sign-in provider, subscription tier, last sign-in time, and app version
• Authentication sessions: refresh tokens used to keep you signed in
• Subscription and entitlement records: which Sow Plus plan you purchased, whether it is active, and whether you are in a free trial, plus any complimentary access we have granted
• Usage counters: counts used to enforce limits (for example, Ask Sow messages used this week or day, and AI plan usage). These are counts only — never the content of your messages
• Push notification device tokens: an Apple-issued token for each device you enable notifications on, plus your time zone, so reminders and group notifications arrive at the right time
• Group data: described in "Groups and Shared Plans" below
• Moderation records: reports you file or that are filed about your content, and your block list

Analytics Data

To improve the app experience and understand how features are used, we collect pseudonymous analytics data through PostHog, including:

• Feature Usage Events: Which features you use (e.g., starting a devotional, viewing a chapter, sending a chat message) — we track event names and metadata such as entry type, Bible translation, and step completed, but never the content of your entries
• Device Information: Device model, operating system version, app version, and build number (collected automatically by the analytics SDK)
• Subscription Status: Whether you are a free or Plus user

We do not track or log the content of your devotional entries, prayers, personal reflections, or chat messages on our analytics servers. You can turn analytics off at any time with the "Help Improve Sow" toggle in Profile settings — that toggle also turns off the advertising measurement described below.

Advertising Measurement

We advertise Sow on Meta's platforms (Facebook and Instagram). So that we can tell which ads actually bring people to Sow, the app reports a small, fixed set of events to Meta:

• App installed and opened — so an install can be matched to the ad that led to it
• Account created — including which sign-in provider you chose, but not your name or email address
• First devotional completed — the event only, never what you wrote
• Free trial started, or subscription purchased — including the plan, price, and currency

Alongside those events, Meta's software collects device information and, only if you allow tracking when iOS asks, your device's advertising identifier. If you choose "Ask App Not to Track," no advertising identifier is shared and measurement falls back to Apple's own privacy-preserving system, which reports results to us only in aggregate. Every feature of Sow works identically either way.

Because this links a device identifier with Meta's data to measure and target advertising, it counts as tracking under Apple's rules and as a sale or share of personal information under California law. See Do Not Track / Do Not Sell below for how to opt out.

What is never sent to Meta or any advertiser: your journal entries, prayers, reflections, chat messages, the passages you read, your name, or your email address.

None of this happens at all if your device region is in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland — Meta's software is never started on those devices. See Your Rights in the European Economic Area and United Kingdom.

Information collected by Sow is used to:

• Authenticate your identity and secure your account
• Provide the devotional experience and track your spiritual growth
• Sync your data across your Apple devices via Apple CloudKit
• Maintain your app preferences and reading history
• Operate group reading plans and the shared mosaic
• Deliver reminders and group notifications you have enabled
• Manage your subscription and entitlements
• Understand feature usage to improve the app experience
• Enforce usage limits to ensure service availability for all users
• Review reported content, prevent abuse, and comply with legal obligations

We do not read your journal. There are a few narrow situations where a person at Eden Collective can see information associated with your account, and we want to be specific about them:

• Moderation: if another member reports a reflection, group, or member, our reviewer sees the reported content, the display name of the person who posted it, and the group it was posted in. This applies only to content shared into a group — never to private entries
• Account administration: an internal dashboard shows account records (email, provider, tier, sign-in dates) so we can provide support, grant complimentary access, and see aggregate usage. It does not expose devotional content
• Support: if you email us about a problem, we see whatever you choose to send us
• Feedback board: if you post an idea on our public feature request board (Profile → Help → Feature Requests), that post is visible to us and to everyone else who opens the board
• Legal and security: if we are legally required to produce information, or need to investigate abuse or a security incident

Your data is stored:

• Locally: On your device using Core Data
• Cloud Sync: Via Apple CloudKit to sync across your devices signed in with the same Apple ID (available to all users). This is your private iCloud database — we have no access to it
• Our servers: Cloudflare (D1, KV, and R2) in the United States, for the account, subscription, group, and notification data listed above
• Authentication Tokens: Securely stored in your device's Keychain
• Scripture Content: Provided by API.Bible in accordance with their Fair Use Management System (FUMS)

Some Sow features generate personalized results from your own words. These features are powered by OpenAI, a third-party service that processes text securely on our behalf. They are off by default: the first time you use one, Sow explains what will be shared and asks for your permission, and you can turn them off at any time in Profile → Privacy.

• Ask Sow (chat): Your chat messages and, when you're reading a passage, the surrounding Scripture context are sent to OpenAI to generate responses
• Journal Insights: The text of your recent reflections and prayers is sent to OpenAI to identify themes, prayer threads, and growth patterns, which are shown back to you as insight cards
• Page Scanning: Photos of handwritten journal pages you choose to scan are sent to OpenAI to be converted into text

What we promise about this processing:

• Never used for training: Content sent through these features is not used to train OpenAI's models (per OpenAI's API data usage policy)
• No identity attached: Requests are sent through our secure backend without your name, email, or account details
• No persistent storage: Your entries and chat conversations are not saved on our servers; results are returned to your device
• Your choice, always: Declining or disabling these features never affects journaling, Scripture reading, or any other part of the app

Ask Sow is designed to provide Scripture-based guidance and should not be considered a substitute for professional counseling or pastoral care.

Sow asks for these permissions only when you use the feature that needs them. You can decline any of them, or change your mind later in iOS Settings, and keep using the rest of the app:

• Microphone: to record voice prayers. Recordings are stored on your device and synced through your private iCloud
• Speech Recognition: to transcribe voice prayers to text. Transcription happens on-device using Apple's speech frameworks — the audio never leaves your device for transcription, and we never send it to a cloud transcription service
• Camera and Photos: to attach photos to entries, to scan a handwritten journal page, and to upload a photo for a group mosaic. Photos in your entries stay on your device and in your iCloud. A page you scan is sent to OpenAI only if you have enabled page scanning. A mosaic photo you upload is stored on our servers and shown to your group
• Notifications: to send daily reading reminders, group notifications, and — if you ask for it when starting a free trial — a single reminder before that trial ends. If you allow notifications, Apple issues a device token that we store so we can deliver the group and reminder notifications sent from our servers; turning notifications off in iOS Settings stops them, and deleting your account removes the token. The daily reading reminder and the trial-ending reminder are scheduled locally by the app on your device

Sow lets you read a Bible plan together with others in a group. Groups are a shared experience, so — unlike your personal journal entries, which stay on your device and in your private iCloud — certain group data is stored on our servers (Cloudflare) to make the shared experience work, and some of it is visible to the other members of your group:

• Group membership and your display name: so members can see who is in the group
• Daily reading progress: whether you have completed each day's reading, shown to the group as a shared mosaic
• Mosaic photo: if you create a group and upload your own photo for its mosaic, that image is stored on our servers and shown to the group
• Reflections you choose to share: shared only when you explicitly choose to share them with your group; otherwise your reflections stay private
• Reactions and nudges: encouragements you send to other members, and the notifications they generate

You can leave a group at any time, and you can block a member to hide their shared reflections and stop their nudges. Joining or creating a group is optional — if you never use groups, none of this data is created.

We never sell or transfer your journal entries, prayers, reflections, or chat messages to anyone, for any purpose. Those stay private to you.

We do share a limited set of device and purchase information with Meta to measure our advertising, as described in Advertising Measurement above. Under California law that counts as a "sale" or "share" of personal information, and you can opt out at any time — see Do Not Track / Do Not Sell. We share nothing with data brokers, and we do not otherwise sell personal information.

Beyond that, data is shared with third-party services only as necessary to provide app functionality, as described below, and may be disclosed if required by law, to enforce our Terms of Service, or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets (in which case we will notify you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy).

Sow uses the following third-party services:

• Apple CloudKit: For syncing data across devices (governed by Apple's Privacy Policy)
• Apple Sign In: For authentication (governed by Apple's Privacy Policy)
• Apple Push Notification service: For delivering reminders and group notifications
• Google Sign In: For authentication (governed by Google's Privacy Policy)
• API.Bible: For scripture content (governed by their privacy policy and FUMS compliance)
• OpenAI: For Ask Sow chat responses, journal insights, and page-scan transcription — only with your permission, as described in "Insights, Ask Sow, and Page Scanning" above (governed by OpenAI's Privacy Policy)
• PostHog: For pseudonymous product analytics and feature usage tracking (governed by PostHog's Privacy Policy). Data is hosted in the United States.
• Meta Platforms: For measuring our advertising on Facebook and Instagram — device information, an advertising identifier if you allow tracking, and the four events listed under Advertising Measurement (governed by Meta's Privacy Policy). No journal content, name, or email address is ever sent. Turn it off with the "Help Improve Sow" toggle.
• Cloudflare: Our backend API runs on Cloudflare Workers, and account, subscription, notification, and group data is stored on Cloudflare in the United States (governed by Cloudflare's Privacy Policy)
• UserJot: Hosts our public feature request board, which opens in a web view inside the app from Profile → Help. We do not pass your account, name, or email to the board — it loads anonymously, and posting or voting requires signing in on the board itself. Anything you post there is public (governed by UserJot's Privacy Policy)
• Firebase App Check (Google): Confirms that API requests come from a genuine, unmodified copy of the Sow app to prevent abuse; it does not access your content (governed by Google's Firebase Privacy Policy)

Your data security is protected by:

• Apple's CloudKit encryption and security measures
• Secure token storage in iOS Keychain
• Local device security (Face ID, Touch ID, device passcode)
• HTTPS encryption for all network communications
• JWT-based authentication for all API requests
• Firebase App Check attestation on API requests to block traffic that does not come from the real app

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a breach affecting your personal information, we will notify you and any regulator as required by law.

Your data is retained as follows:

• Devotional Content: Stored on your device until you delete it or remove the app. iCloud data persists until deleted through iCloud settings.
• Account record: Kept while your account is active, and deleted when you delete your account.
• Authentication Sessions: Active for 90 days, refreshable with app use.
• Group data: Kept while the group exists. Deleting your account removes your membership, completions, reactions, nudges, and shared reflections. The squares you already contributed to a group's mosaic remain in that group's picture but are no longer linked to you, so the shared image the group earned together does not unravel.
• Device tokens: Kept while notifications are enabled on that device; removed on sign-out and account deletion.
• Usage counters: Reset on a weekly or daily cycle depending on the feature and your tier. One counter is permanent by design — the record that an account has used its single free set of insights — so that deleting and recreating an account does not reset it.
• Moderation records: Retained after a report is resolved so we can act on repeat behavior. If the person who filed a report deletes their account, the report is kept with their identity removed rather than deleted.
• Analytics Data: Retained by PostHog according to their data retention policies. If you opt out of analytics, no further data is collected.

Within the app, you can:

• Access your data through the app's Journal tab
• Export a full backup of your entries and settings from Profile → Export All Data, and restore it from Profile → Import
• Delete individual entries, or delete all local data by uninstalling the app
• Delete your account and all server-side data from Profile → Delete Account. This removes your account record, sessions, subscription records, complimentary access grants, device tokens, group memberships, completions, shared reflections, reactions, nudges, and the people you have blocked from our servers. A group you created that still has members passes to its longest-standing member; a group where you were the last member is deleted with your account. Three things deliberately survive, de-identified or for someone else's protection: your contributions to a group mosaic, moderation reports, and blocks other people placed on you — see "Data Retention" above
• Manage or delete iCloud data through your Apple ID > iCloud settings
• Turn "Insights & Ask Sow" on or off anytime in Profile → Privacy — when off, none of your content is sent to OpenAI
• Opt out of analytics by toggling off "Help Improve Sow" in Profile settings — this immediately stops all analytics collection
• Turn notifications on or off in Profile settings or in iOS Settings
• Revoke app access through your Apple ID or Google account settings
• Block or report any group member

If you would rather we handle a request for you, or you need your data in a specific format, email hello@trysow.app and we will respond within 30 days.

If you are in the EEA, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the General Data Protection Regulation (or the UK GDPR) applies to you. Eden Collective LLC is the controller of your personal data. You have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to our processing of your personal data, the right to data portability, and the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

The advertising measurement described above does not apply to you. Sow does not initialise Meta's software at all on devices set to a region in the EEA, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland — no advertising events and no device identifiers are sent to Meta from those devices, whether or not you allow tracking, and regardless of how you found Sow. We do not run advertising campaigns in these regions. If that ever changes, we will ask for your consent first and update this policy before it does.

The legal bases we rely on are:

• Performance of a contract — to create and authenticate your account, operate groups you join, deliver the notifications you enable, and manage your Sow Plus subscription
• Consent — for the OpenAI-powered features (Ask Sow, Insights, page scanning), for access to your microphone, camera, photos, and speech recognition, and for push notifications. You may withdraw consent at any time, and doing so does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal
• Legitimate interests — for product analytics, enforcing usage limits, preventing abuse, and securing the service. You can object to analytics at any time by turning off "Help Improve Sow," which stops collection immediately
• Legal obligation — where we must retain or disclose information to comply with law

International transfers. Our service providers (Cloudflare, PostHog, OpenAI, Apple, Google) process data in the United States. Where we transfer personal data out of the EEA or UK, we rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (and the UK Addendum) or another approved transfer mechanism in our agreements with those providers.

To exercise any of these rights, email hello@trysow.app. Most rights can also be exercised directly in the app — see "Your Rights and Choices" above.

This section applies to California residents under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA.

Categories of personal information we collect. In the past twelve months we have collected: identifiers (provider user ID, email address, display name, device token); commercial information (subscription tier and purchase status); internet or other electronic network activity information (feature usage events, app version); device information (model, OS version); audio, electronic, or visual information (only if you enable a feature that sends it — your voice recordings and photos otherwise never leave your device); and inferences drawn from your journal entries (only if you enable Insights, and only returned to you). We collect these from you directly and from your device.

Why we collect it. The business purposes are listed in "How We Use Your Information" above. We retain each category for the periods described in "Data Retention."

Sale and sharing. We share identifiers (a device advertising identifier, when you allow tracking) and commercial information (trial starts and purchases, with plan and price) with Meta Platforms for cross-context behavioral advertising. Under the CCPA that is a "sale" and a "share." We receive no money for it — the purpose is measuring and targeting our own ads. We sell and share no other category, we disclose nothing to data brokers, and we never sell or share your journal entries, prayers, reflections, or chat messages. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16.

Your right to opt out. You can stop this at any time — see Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information below for the two ways to do it.

Sensitive personal information. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes beyond those permitted without a right to limit under the CCPA.

Your rights. You have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it, to request a copy of it, to request correction of inaccurate information, to request deletion, and to not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. You can exercise the deletion right yourself in the app (Profile → Delete Account), or contact hello@trysow.app for any request. We will verify your request using the email address associated with your account, and you may use an authorized agent.

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Sow shares device and purchase information with Meta to measure our advertising, as described in Advertising Measurement. Under California law this is a "sale" or "share" of personal information, and you have the right to opt out. There are two ways, and you can use either:

• In the app: turn off Help Improve Sow in Profile settings. This stops all advertising measurement as well as product analytics, immediately and permanently, until you turn it back on. This is our designated opt-out mechanism.
• On your device: choose Ask App Not to Track when iOS asks, or turn Sow off under Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking at any time. This stops your advertising identifier from being shared.

You can also email hello@trysow.app and we will process the request for you. We never sell or share your journal entries, prayers, reflections, or chat messages under any circumstance, and we do not share personal information with data brokers.

Do Not Track

We do not respond to Do Not Track browser signals. The trysow.app website itself uses no cookies, no analytics, and no advertising pixels — the advertising measurement described in this policy happens only inside the iOS app.

Sow is intended for users aged 13 and older and does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or under the minimum age of digital consent where you live, which is 16 in parts of the European Economic Area). The app is designed for general audiences interested in Bible study and devotional practices. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact hello@trysow.app and we will delete it.

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date at the top. If we make material changes to how we handle your personal information, we will notify you in the app or by email before the change takes effect. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.