Effective Date: March 13, 2025
Welcome to Journal the Word! We are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we handle your information when you use our app. Spoiler alert: we don’t collect any personal data from you over the internet!
1. No Data Collection
Journal the Word does not collect, store, or transmit any personal data from its users over the internet. This includes, but is not limited to, your name, email address, location, or any other personally identifiable information. Our app is designed to help you journal and engage with Scripture entirely on your device, without sending any data to us or any third parties.
2. Local Storage
The app stores your journal entries and reading plan progress locally on your device in the app’s designated folder (Journals within the app’s Documents directory). This data includes:
Journal entries (e.g., verse references, dates, and your written reflections).
Reading plan selections and completion status.
This information is saved solely for your use and convenience and remains on your device unless you choose to enable iCloud syncing (see below).
3. Optional iCloud Syncing
If you enable iCloud Drive on your device, Journal the Word may use Apple’s iCloud service to sync your journal entries and reading plan progress across your devices. This is an optional feature controlled by you:
When iCloud is enabled, your data is stored in your personal iCloud account under the HEAR Journal/Journals folder.
We do not access, control, or process this data—it is managed entirely by Apple’s iCloud service under your Apple ID and their privacy policies.
If you disable iCloud or do not enable it, all data remains local to your device.
For more details on how iCloud handles your data, please refer to Apple’s Privacy Policy.
4. Third-Party Services
Journal the Word uses the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible API from Crossway to fetch Scripture text when you request a verse lookup:
When you use the “Verse Look-up” feature, the app sends your verse reference (e.g., “John 3:16”) to the ESV API.
No personally identifiable information is sent—just the verse reference you enter.
The API returns the Scripture text, which is then stored locally in your journal entry.
We do not share any data with Crossway beyond the verse request, and no user tracking or analytics are involved. For more information, see Crossway’s Privacy Policy.
5. Data Sharing
We do not share, sell, or disclose any data from Journal the Word to third parties, except as described above for the optional iCloud syncing (handled by Apple) and ESV API verse lookups (handled by Crossway). All other functionality, including journaling and reading plans, happens locally on your device.
6. Your Control Over Data
Since all data is stored locally or synced via your iCloud account:
You can delete journal entries directly in the app at any time.
You can manage or delete synced data by adjusting your iCloud settings on your device.
Uninstalling the app will remove all locally stored data from your device, though iCloud data will persist until you delete it separately via iCloud settings.
7. Children’s Privacy
Journal the Word is not directed at children under 13. Since we don’t collect any personal data, there’s no specific risk to children, but we encourage parental supervision for app usage.
8. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, the updated version will be posted with a new “Effective Date” at the top. Since we don’t collect contact information, check back here for the latest version.
9. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, feel free to reach out to us at [insert your contact email, if applicable—e.g., hearjournal@pm,me]. Since we don’t collect data, we’re pretty easy to get along with!
Journal the Word is created by Jonah Elijah Chitty with help from Grok 3 AI by xAI. Enjoy journaling the Word—your privacy is safe with us!