Privacy Policy
Simena Digital LLC · privacy@getsermonnotes.app
Last updated: August 1, 2026
Sermon Notes is a sermon-recording, transcription, and note-keeping app made by Simena Digital LLC ("we," "us," or "our"), a Wyoming limited liability company based in the United States. This policy explains what data we collect, why, and how we protect it.
1. Information You Provide
When you use Sermon Notes, you may provide the following information:
- Account information: name and email address (via Apple Sign-In), used only to tie your subscription to your account so it can be restored on a new device.
- Onboarding profile: the church you attend, how often you make it, the day and time you usually gather, where you like to sit, who you usually go with, how much of the last sermon you remember, whether there's one you wish you still had, what you'd use your notes for, and a verse you chose to keep close — the answers to the app's setup questions. Stored only on your device; never sent to us.
- Recordings, transcripts, and notes: the sermon audio you record, its transcript (produced entirely on your device — see §3), and any notes or timestamps you add. Stored only on your device; never uploaded to us or anyone else.
- App preferences: your language, theme, and notification settings.
2. Information Collected Automatically
When you access Sermon Notes, we automatically receive:
- IP address and user agent (standard HTTP request data)
- Session tokens for authentication
We use one operational SDK, which cannot read your recordings, transcripts, or notes:
- Sentry (crash reporting): if the app crashes or errors, a technical report (device model, OS version, app version, stack trace) is sent to Sentry so we can fix the bug. Reports are scrubbed before sending: no email addresses, no IP addresses, no sermon content.
We do not run ads in the app and we do not track you across other apps or websites.
3. Transcription
Sermon Notes transcribes your recordings entirely on your iPhone, using Apple's on-device speech engine. Nothing about the sermon — the audio, the transcript, or your notes — is ever sent to our servers or to any third party.
The first transcription may require a one-time download of Apple's speech model over Wi-Fi. After that, transcription works with no internet connection at all, even in airplane mode. You can edit the transcript freely — your edits are saved only on your device and are never overwritten, even if you re-transcribe.
4. How We Use Your Information
We use your information to:
- Provide and maintain Sermon Notes' recording, transcription, and note-taking features
- Authenticate your account and keep it secure
- Restore your subscription on a new device via your Apple ID
- Deliver scheduled local notifications (a daily reminder and a weekly recap)
- Enforce subscription entitlements and prevent free-trial abuse
- Fetch episode lists for the Discover tab from publicly available podcast feeds
5. Third-Party Services
| Service | Purpose | Data shared |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | Authentication (Sign in with Apple) | Name, email |
| RevenueCat | Subscription management and entitlement enforcement | Anonymous user ID, purchase history, and — on iOS — the Apple Search Ads attribution token (Apple's own privacy-preserving attribution mechanism; no advertising identifier, no App Tracking Transparency prompt) |
| Sentry | Crash and error reporting | Technical crash reports (device model, OS version, stack trace) — scrubbed of email, IP address, and all sermon content |
All third-party service providers listed above are contractually required to protect your data to a standard equivalent to or greater than described in this policy.
We do not sell your personal data. We never share your recordings, transcripts, notes, or onboarding profile answers with anyone — they never leave your device.
6. Data Storage and Security
Your account record — name, email, and subscription status — is stored on secure servers. Communication between the app and our servers uses HTTPS (TLS 1.2+), and authentication uses timing-safe token comparison to prevent timing attacks.
On your device, Sermon Notes stores data using:
- AsyncStorage: preferences, your onboarding profile, and app settings
- expo-sqlite: your recordings library — sermon metadata, transcripts, and notes
- expo-secure-store: authentication tokens (encrypted by the OS keychain)
7. Data Retention and Deletion
Your account record is retained as long as your account is active. You can delete your account at any time from Settings within the app. Deletion is soft-applied immediately — your active session is ended and your Apple refresh token is revoked — and finalized after 30 days. During this 30-day grace window you may restore the account by signing in again with the same Apple ID. After 30 days, your account record is permanently and irreversibly removed from our servers.
Your recordings, transcripts, notes, and onboarding profile live only on your device and are never held on our servers, so deleting your account does not touch them: delete any recording from your library to permanently remove its audio, transcript, and notes from your phone, or delete the app to remove everything at once.
Data held by third-party services (e.g. RevenueCat purchase records, Apple account data) is subject to those services' own retention policies.
8. International Data Transfers
Sermon Notes is operated from the United States. If you are located outside the United States, your account information (name, email, and subscription status — the only data that reaches our servers; see §1) is processed in the United States, protected by Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or equivalent safeguards where required by GDPR and UK GDPR.
9. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR / UK GDPR)
If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we process your personal data under the following legal bases:
- Contract performance: to provide the Sermon Notes service you signed up for, including account management and subscription entitlement.
- Consent: for optional features that require your explicit opt-in, including microphone access for recording and local notifications.
- Legitimate interest: for service security and fraud prevention (e.g., preventing abuse of the free trial).
You may withdraw consent for consent-based processing at any time by disabling the relevant feature or contacting us at privacy@getsermonnotes.app.
10. Your Rights Under GDPR / UK GDPR
If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Access: request a copy of the data we hold about you
- Rectification: correct inaccurate personal data
- Erasure: delete your account and all associated data
- Portability: receive your data in a machine-readable format
- Restriction: limit how we process your data
- Object: object to processing of your data
- Withdraw consent: withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent
- Lodge a complaint: file a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe your data has been mishandled
To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@getsermonnotes.app. You can also delete your account directly in the app under Settings. We will respond to requests within 30 days.
11. Notifications
Sermon Notes uses local notifications only — a daily reminder and a weekly recap, both fully optional. No push notification tokens are sent to our servers. All notification scheduling happens on your device.
12. Microphone
Sermon Notes requests microphone access only to record sermons. Recording begins only when you start it, and continues — including while the app is in the background or the phone is locked — until you stop it. Audio is saved to your device in one-minute segments as you record, so an interruption costs at most a moment, never the whole sermon. Transcription, described in §3, happens entirely on your device — your recording is never streamed or uploaded anywhere.
13. Children's Privacy
Sermon Notes is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or 16 in the EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us at privacy@getsermonnotes.app and we will delete it promptly.
14. Your Rights by Jurisdiction
In addition to the GDPR and UK GDPR rights described above, the following rights may apply based on your location:
United States (California — CCPA/CPRA): California residents have the right to know what personal information we collect, request its deletion, and opt out of the sale of personal information. We do not sell your personal information. To exercise your rights, contact us at privacy@getsermonnotes.app.
Canada (PIPEDA): Canadian users have the right to access, correct, and request deletion of their personal data. We only collect personal information for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate. Contact us at privacy@getsermonnotes.app to exercise your rights.
Australia (Privacy Act 1988): Australian users may access and correct their personal data under the Australian Privacy Principles. If you believe we have breached the APPs, you may lodge a complaint with us at privacy@getsermonnotes.app or with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Japan (APPI): Japanese users have the right to request disclosure, correction, and deletion of their personal data. We handle personal information in accordance with the Act on the Protection of Personal Information. Contact us at privacy@getsermonnotes.app.
South Korea (PIPA): Korean users have the right to access, correct, delete, and suspend processing of their personal data under the Personal Information Protection Act. Contact us at privacy@getsermonnotes.app to exercise your rights.
For all jurisdictions: regardless of where you are located, you can delete your account and all associated data at any time from Settings within the app.
15. Changes to This Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you through the app or by email. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised.
16. Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this privacy policy or your personal data, contact us at:
Simena Digital LLC
1021 E Lincolnway, Suite 9026
Cheyenne, WY 82001, United States
Email: privacy@getsermonnotes.app