ELS Sermons privacy policy

Stays on your device

• Saved sermons, where you left off in each sermon, your playback speed and which sources you've hidden.
• Your choice about sharing usage statistics.

None of this is sent to us. Deleting the app deletes it.

Anonymous usage statistics

Unless you turn statistics off, the app sends us anonymous events so we can tell which parts of it are used and whether its sources are working. Every event contains only its name, the platform (iOS or Android), the app version and the app's own ID. Examples:

• That the app was opened. We count one open when you start the app, and another when you return to it after 30 minutes or more away.
• Which screens are viewed.
• Which source a sermon came from when it's opened, played, played to the end, saved or shared. Never which sermon, how far you listened, or what you searched for.
• Which topics, church seasons and books of the Bible are browsed, and playback speed changes.
• Whether the app's feeds refreshed successfully.
• Which ads were shown or tapped.

These events carry no device ID or other identifier, and our server doesn't store your IP address with them, so they can't be connected to you or to each other.

Ad delivery and the device ID

The app shows ads sold through Wittenberg Digital and, when none is running, our own house ads. It contains no code from Google, AppLovin or any other ad network. When one of these paid ads is shown or tapped, the app sends us the ad, where it appeared and a random device ID that the app creates for this purpose. The device ID isn't your phone's advertising ID and isn't derived from your hardware. It lets advertisers see how many different devices saw an ad, and lets us exclude our own test phones.

Advertisers see totals and a delivery report in which the device ID is replaced by a code that differs for every ad, so they can't follow a device from one ad to another. We don't track you across other companies' apps or websites, and we don't use the device ID to build a profile of you.

The device ID exists only while statistics are on. Turning them off deletes it, and turning them back on or reinstalling the app creates a new, unrelated one. The app shows the current ID in About.

Notifications

If you allow notifications, the app registers with Apple Push Notification service on iPhone and iPad, or Firebase Cloud Messaging, a Google service, on Android, and receives a push token: a random code that lets us send notifications to this copy of the app. The app sends us the token with the platform and app version. We use it only to send announcements about the app and its content. It isn't connected to the usage statistics or the device ID, and it doesn't identify you.

We delete the token when Apple or Firebase tells us it no longer works, for example after you uninstall the app, or when the app hasn't checked in for 270 days. To stop announcements, turn off notifications for the app in your phone's settings. On Android, Google handles push tokens under Firebase's privacy terms.

Turning statistics off

Open About in the app and turn off Share anonymous usage statistics. The app then stops sending usage events and ad events, and deletes its device ID. Ads are still shown, but nothing about them is reported.

One exception: if you report a sermon as not belonging in the app, that report is sent even with statistics off, because you chose to send it. It contains the sermon's web address, its source and the reason you picked, and nothing about you.

Other websites

The app downloads sermons and audio directly from the congregations and programs that post them, and from wittenbergdigital.org for ads, and on Android connects to Google's Firebase if you allow notifications. Like any website, those servers receive your device's IP address when the app connects to them. When you open a sermon, a publisher's site or an ad, the page is governed by that website's own privacy policy.

What we don't do

• We don't sell data or share it with data brokers or ad networks.
• We don't use your phone's advertising identifier, precise location or contacts ourselves.
• We don't record what you search for or which sermons you listen to.
• We don't knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes, we'll update it here and change the effective date above. Questions? Email support@wittenbergdigital.org.