Version 2026-10-10
AdventHub Privacy Policy
Last updated: [publication date]
1. Who we are
AdventHub is an online workspace for Seventh-day Adventist organizations: conferences, missions, unions, schools and local churches. It runs the website adventhub.org, the portal portal.adventhub.org, and the AdventHub mobile apps, including Church Clerk.
AdventHub is operated by [legal entity name], [registered address] ("AdventHub", "we", "us"). This policy explains what personal information we handle, why, and what control you have.
Two roles, depending on the data:
| Data | Who decides how it is used | AdventHub's role |
|---|---|---|
| Your own account, website visits, contact messages | AdventHub | Controller (Philippines: personal information controller) |
| Records an organization keeps about its own people (for example a church roll or attendance) | That organization, such as your local church board | Processor (Philippines: personal information processor), under a written data processing agreement |
If your church or organization put your details into AdventHub, it is in charge of that data. Questions about it go first to that organization. We will help them answer you.
Data Protection Officer: [name], [privacy@adventhub.org], [postal address]. You can contact the DPO about anything in this policy.
2. What we collect
We collect only what each feature needs. We do not buy personal data from others.
| Where it comes from | What we collect |
|---|---|
| Creating an account | Name, email address, password (stored only in a scrambled form that cannot be turned back into your password), email verification status. If you sign in with Google or Apple: your name and email from them. Apple's private relay email is accepted. |
| Your profile | Profile photo (optional). We shrink it and remove hidden photo data such as GPS location. |
| Organizations | Organization name, logo, owner, members and their roles, invitations (invitee email), join requests (including any note you write). |
| Records kept by an organization | People an organization records, such as members, students or staff: full name, email, phone, and an import reference. Church tools may add attendance. See section 4. |
| Files you upload | The file, its name, type and size. Short audio or video can be turned into text on our own server; it is not sent to anyone else. |
| AI chat tools (Bible, Ellen White Writings, Church Manual, Fundamental Beliefs) | Your questions, the answers, sources cited, and usage counts. |
| Sermon Generator | Your sermon briefs, research, drafts, versions, review comments (with author name), delivery history, and congregation profiles (groups, not named people). |
| Contact form | Name, email, organization (optional), topic and message. It is sent to our team by email and not stored in our database. |
| Signing in and security | Session records, IP address and device or browser type. A log of important account actions (sign-ins, password changes, member changes, uploads, chats sent), with the IP address and email used. |
| Visiting our sites | Pages visited, approximate location from IP, and device data through our web analytics service, only if you agree. A theme preference cookie and reading preferences saved in your own browser. |
Please do not put passwords, government ID numbers, health details or other sensitive information into chat questions, sermons, file uploads or contact messages unless a feature asks for it.
3. Why we use it, and our legal basis
Every use needs a lawful reason. The table names it under each law.
| Purpose | Philippines (RA 10173) | EU / UK (GDPR) | Australia (APPs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run your account and the tools you use | Needed to provide the service you asked for (Sec. 12(b)) | Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) | Reasonably necessary for our functions (APP 3) |
| Keep the service secure: sign-in checks, rate limits, action logs | Legitimate interest (Sec. 12(f)) | Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) | Reasonably necessary (APP 3) |
| Answer contact messages | Legitimate interest (Sec. 12(f)) | Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) | Reasonably necessary (APP 3) |
| Send account emails (verification, password reset, invitations) | Needed to provide the service (Sec. 12(b)) | Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) | Reasonably necessary (APP 3) |
| Hold an organization's records about its people | The organization's basis; we act on its instructions | The organization's basis; we act under Art. 28 | The organization's basis |
| Website and portal visit statistics | Consent (Sec. 12(a)) | Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) and ePrivacy rules) | Consent where required |
| Meet legal duties, respond to lawful requests | Legal obligation (Sec. 12(c)) | Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)) | Required by law (APP 6.2(b)) |
What we never do: sell your data, use it for advertising, build marketing profiles, or train AI models on your chats or sermons.
AI answers are not decisions about you. AI tools only answer questions you type. No automated decision with legal or similar effects is made about anyone.
4. Sensitive information
Being listed by an Adventist organization shows a person's religion. The law treats religion, health and children's data as sensitive, and so do we.
- Religion. RA 10173 calls religious affiliation "sensitive personal information" (Sec. 3(l)). GDPR calls religious beliefs a "special category" (Art. 9). The Australian Privacy Act calls it "sensitive information".
- Legal basis. A religious organization may hold its own members' data (RA 10173 Sec. 13(d); GDPR Art. 9(2)(d)). This only holds if the data is not passed outside without consent. Otherwise, the organization collects clear, written consent.
- Health. We ask organizations not to record health details. Where a church tool records something like "sick" or "homebound", only the clerk and pastor see it. It is reduced to a general word such as "excused" each quarter.
- Children. AdventHub accounts are for people aged 18 and over. If an organization records a child under 18, a parent or guardian must give consent first.
- Visitors. Attendance tools count visitors and do not name them.
- Less is safer. Organizations should record only names and member numbers unless something more is truly needed. Government ID numbers must never be stored in AdventHub.
- No analytics run on pages or screens that show church member records.
5. Who we share it with
We share data only with the service providers below, inside your organization as its settings allow, or when the law requires. We never sell it.
| Provider | What they do for us | Data they handle |
|---|---|---|
| Server hosting providers | Rent us the servers that run AdventHub | All data held in AdventHub |
| Cloud storage provider | Stores uploaded files, profile photos and logos, and our encrypted backups | Files and images; backups of all data, encrypted before they leave our servers |
| Email service provider | Sends account emails and delivers contact messages | Name, email, message content |
| AI service provider | Answers some research questions in the AI tools, when switched on | The question you type and the text it draws on |
| Google and Apple | Sign-in, if you choose to sign in with them | Your name and email |
| Web analytics service | Visit statistics, only with your consent | Pages, device, approximate location |
Most AI chat and Sermon Generator requests are answered by AI systems we run ourselves, not by an outside company.
Each provider may use the data only to serve us, under a written agreement with security and confidentiality duties.
Inside your organization. Organization admins can see members, roles and activity in their own organization. A sermon marked "private" is seen only by you; one shared with your organization is seen by its members. Data never crosses between organizations.
Our own staff. A small number of AdventHub platform administrators can view account details and short previews of AI chats and sermons. They do this only for support, abuse checks or security, and access is logged.
Answer cache. To save time, the first answer to a common question is kept for 24 hours and may be shown to another user who asks the same thing. It is never linked to who asked.
Legal requests. We disclose data when required by law, a court order or a regulator. We push back on requests that are too broad, and tell you when allowed.
6. Data sent to other countries
Your data may be stored or handled outside your own country. The countries involved are currently [countries, e.g. Singapore and the United States]. We will update this list if it changes.
We stay responsible for your data wherever it goes (RA 10173 Sec. 21, accountability). Each transfer is protected by:
- A written contract with each provider that requires the same level of protection as this policy.
- EU Standard Contractual Clauses (GDPR Art. 46), or an adequacy decision such as the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, for data about people in the EU or UK.
- Reasonable steps under APP 8 for data about people in Australia, so overseas providers follow the Australian Privacy Principles.
- Encryption in transit for every connection that leaves our servers.
You can ask the DPO for a copy of the safeguards that apply to your data.
7. How long we keep it
We keep data only as long as needed for the purpose it was collected, then delete it or make it anonymous (RA 10173 Sec. 11(e); GDPR Art. 5(1)(e); APP 11.2).
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| Account details | While your account is open; deleted when you close it (Settings → Privacy, or in the Church Clerk app). Comments you left on other people's sermons stay, shown as "Deleted user" |
| Organization records about its people | Set by the organization; deleted within 90 days after it leaves AdventHub |
| AI chats | Until you delete them (deletion is immediate); otherwise while your account is open |
| Sermons, versions and comments | Until you delete them; permanently removed 30 days after deletion |
| Uploaded files, photos, logos | Until you delete them; deleted from storage at once |
| Shared answer cache | 24 hours |
| Sign-in sessions | 7 days, or until you sign out |
| Counters that limit repeated attempts (they do not store your email or IP in readable form) | Minutes to 1 hour |
| Security and action logs | 1 year, then deleted |
| Server logs | Kept briefly and overwritten as new logs arrive (usually days) |
| Contact messages | 2 years in our email inbox, then deleted |
| Backups | 35 days, then overwritten |
| Visit statistics | 14 months |
We may keep data longer only if the law requires it or it is needed for a legal claim. We will tell you if that happens.
8. How we protect it
We protect data with organizational, physical and technical measures (RA 10173 Sec. 20; GDPR Art. 32; APP 11). They follow the six functions of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0.
| NIST CSF 2.0 function | What we do |
|---|---|
| Govern | A named DPO, this policy, written agreements with every provider and organization, and a yearly security and privacy review. |
| Identify | A list of the personal data we hold, where it lives and who handles it. Risks are reviewed before new tools launch. |
| Protect | Encrypted connections everywhere. Passwords stored only in a scrambled form that cannot be reversed. Strict separation between organizations. Role-based access. Sign-in limits against guessing attacks. Private file storage with short-lived links. Photo location data removed. Sessions ended on password change or reset. Encrypted backups. |
| Detect | Logs of sign-ins and important actions. Alerts on unusual activity. |
| Respond | A written incident plan. Breach notices sent as section 10 describes. |
| Recover | Daily encrypted backups kept off the main server, with regular test restores. |
No system is perfectly secure. You can help by using a strong, unique password and signing out on shared devices.
9. Your rights
You can ask to see, fix, delete or take a copy of your data at any time, free of charge. You can download a copy of your data or delete your account yourself under Settings → Privacy in the portal, or under Account & privacy in the Church Clerk app. For anything else, email [privacy@adventhub.org].
| Right | What it means | Laws |
|---|---|---|
| Be informed | Know what we collect and why (this policy) | PH Sec. 16(a)–(b); GDPR Art. 13–14; APP 5 |
| Access | Get a copy of your data | PH Sec. 16(c); GDPR Art. 15; APP 12 |
| Correction | Fix wrong or out-of-date data | PH Sec. 16(d); GDPR Art. 16; APP 13 |
| Erasure or blocking | Have your data deleted or frozen | PH Sec. 16(e); GDPR Art. 17–18 |
| Object | Say no to a use, such as analytics | PH Sec. 16(b); GDPR Art. 21 |
| Data portability | Get your data in a common file format | PH Sec. 18; GDPR Art. 20 |
| Withdraw consent | Take back consent at any time, without affecting what came before | PH IRR Sec. 34; GDPR Art. 7(3) |
| Damages | Claim compensation for harm from misuse | PH Sec. 16(f); GDPR Art. 82 |
| Complain | Go to a privacy regulator (below) | PH Sec. 16; GDPR Art. 77; Privacy Act Part V |
How we handle a request. We confirm who you are, then reply within 30 days. If an organization controls your data, we pass your request to it and help it reply.
When you delete your account. Records a church or organization keeps about you, such as a member record or files you shared with it, belong to that organization and are not deleted with your account. Before you delete, we show you which organizations hold such records. Afterwards we email their administrators to say you asked for your data to be removed, so they can review and delete it.
If you signed in with Apple. Deleting your account in the Church Clerk app also tells Apple to remove AdventHub's access to your Apple ID. If you delete it from the portal, you can remove AdventHub yourself in your Apple ID settings under Sign in with Apple.
United States. Most US state privacy laws exempt non-profit organizations. We still honor the rights above for everyone, and we do not sell or share personal data for targeted advertising.
Complaints. Please contact us first so we can fix it. You can also complain to a regulator:
- Philippines: National Privacy Commission (https://privacy.gov.ph)
- Australia: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (https://www.oaic.gov.au)
- EU: your country's data protection authority; UK: the ICO (https://ico.org.uk)
10. Cookies, breaches, changes and contact
Cookies and browser storage
We use one cookie you need to stay signed in, and statistics cookies only if you agree.
| Cookie or storage | Purpose | Kind | Lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sign-in cookie | Keeps you signed in | Essential | 7 days |
| Theme cookie | Remembers light or dark theme | Preference | 1 year |
| Statistics cookies | Count visits and pages viewed | Statistics, only with consent | Up to 2 years |
| Browser storage (not cookies) | Reading place, theme, cookie choice, and an unsaved sermon draft kept on your own device | Preference | Until you clear it; the draft clears when you close the tab |
Our statistics are set up with advertising features turned off and are never used to follow you on other sites. Chat and sermon IDs are hidden from page addresses. You can say yes or no in the cookie banner and change your choice at any time under "Cookie settings".
The Church Clerk mobile app uses no analytics or advertising trackers. It keeps your sign-in details in your phone's protected storage.
Data breaches
If a breach is likely to harm you, we will tell you and the regulator quickly:
- Philippines: the National Privacy Commission and affected people within 72 hours of finding it.
- EU / UK: the regulator within 72 hours; affected people without undue delay if risk is high (GDPR Art. 33–34).
- Australia: the OAIC and affected people as soon as practicable for an eligible breach (Notifiable Data Breaches scheme).
- Organizations whose records were affected, at once, so they can meet their own duties.
Changes to this policy
We will post any change here with a new date. For important changes we will also email account holders at least 30 days before they take effect.
Contact us
Data Protection Officer, [legal entity name], [postal address], [privacy@adventhub.org].