Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Lutheran Faith Network ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal information when you visit our website, request an invitation, use our member platform, or submit service inquiries. By using our Services, you agree to the practices described in this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Services.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly and data generated automatically when you use the Services.

• Invite requests: full name, email address, congregation name, ZIP code, role in your church, and any message you include.
• Account and profile: email address, full name, congregation, ZIP code, bio, role title (e.g., Pastor, Deacon, Lay Leader), avatar photo, and optional links you choose to share.
• Member activity: posts, comments, reactions, group memberships, group proposals, and notifications related to your account.
• Service inquiries: congregation name, contact name, email address, phone number, service type (e.g., weekly sermon, consecrated communion, website development, facility evaluation), and the message you submit.
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, pages visited, and cookies or session identifiers used to keep you signed in.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to operate, improve, and secure the Lutheran Faith Network community and services. Specifically, we use it to:

• Review and respond to invite requests and service inquiries.
• Create and manage your member account and profile.
• Operate the member platform, including the feed, groups, directory, and notifications.
• Communicate with you about community updates, administrative announcements, and service-related matters.
• Maintain security, enforce our Terms of Use, and prevent abuse.
• Analyze how the platform is used so we can improve the experience.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

For visitors who are not members, we process information based on our legitimate interest in operating the website and responding to inquiries. For members, we process information to perform the membership services you signed up for, with your consent where required. We may also process information to comply with legal obligations or to protect our rights and the safety of the community.

5. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We share your information only in limited circumstances:

• With our service providers: data is stored and processed by Lovable Cloud (Supabase), which provides authentication, database, file storage, and hosting services for our platform.
• With other members: your profile, posts, comments, group memberships, and reactions are visible to other members of the platform according to the group visibility and platform settings you choose.
• When required by law: we may disclose information if we believe it is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, court order, or government request, or to protect rights, safety, or property.

6. Data Retention

We keep your personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy. Member accounts and content are retained for two years after your last activity or until you delete your account, whichever comes first. Invite requests and service inquiries are retained as long as needed to evaluate and respond to them, and then are deleted or anonymized. If you delete your account, your profile information is removed; posts and comments you created may be deleted or anonymized so they no longer identify you.

7. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your information, including using row-level security policies, encrypted storage, invite-only access, role-based permissions, and secure authentication through Supabase Auth. No online system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for keeping your password and invite code confidential.

8. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export your personal information. You can update or delete much of your profile information directly in your Settings. To request access, correction, deletion, or export of data we hold about you, contact us at the email address below. Residents of certain jurisdictions may also have the right to opt out of certain processing or to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

9. Cookies and Analytics

We use essential cookies and session identifiers to keep you signed in and to operate the Services. We do not currently use third-party advertising or analytics cookies. If we add analytics or similar tools in the future, we will update this policy and, where required, obtain any necessary consent before placing non-essential cookies.

10. Children's Privacy

The Services are not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can delete it.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time as the platform evolves. The current version will always be posted at this page with the effective date noted above. Your continued use of the Services after changes are posted means you accept those changes.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, how we use your information, or would like to exercise your data rights, please contact us at teamwork@lutheranfaithnetwork.com.