Faith by Firelight is a Bible study, preparedness and world-updates app made by Blackfield Enterprises Limited, a company registered in New Zealand (called "we" or "us" here). This policy explains what happens to information when you use the app on a phone or, once it opens, on our companion website.

Faith by Firelight does not sell or share your personal information. There is no account, no advertising, and no usage counts or tracking of what you do in the app. The app downloads reviewed content and approved app updates from the internet. If you choose to subscribe to Firelight Plus, Google Play takes the payment and our subscription service, RevenueCat, keeps a record of the purchase so the app can unlock Plus. While Plus is available, the app also checks with RevenueCat while it is in use (see Firelight Plus below). Everything you write in the app stays on your device.

Your study notes, prayer list, household plan (meeting places, contact details, household needs, and the people and pets you list with what they need), My Tribe contacts, saved messages, your own checklists, action plan answers and emergency card (including any medical notes you add) are saved only on your phone, in its secure storage, unless you choose to make a backup file (below). Your progress and settings are saved on your phone too, including reading-plan progress, memory verses you practise, and which "What's new" notes you have closed. We cannot see any of it.

On the website, the same information is kept only in your browser's storage on that computer.

You can erase everything at any time in Settings → Privacy → Erase everything on this device. On Android, uninstalling the app also removes it. On iPhone, the system can keep secure items after uninstalling, so use Erase everything first.

To download newly approved studies and briefings, the app contacts Google Firebase, which hosts our content. Like any internet request, this shares your device's internet address and basic technical details with Google so the content can be delivered. The app sends no personal information with it, and we do not use these requests to identify or track you. See Google's Firebase privacy information for how Google handles this data.

When the app starts, it checks Expo (the service that delivers our app updates) for an approved update. Like any internet request, this shares your device's internet address and basic technical details, such as the app version and phone platform, plus a random number the update service creates for this install so it can deliver updates correctly. It includes nothing you have entered in the app, and we do not use it to identify or track you.

When you message your Tribe, the app opens your phone's own Messages app (or share sheet) with the message filled in. You choose whether to send it. Messages never pass through our servers.

If you choose "Add my current location", the app asks your permission and reads your location once, only while you are using it, to add a map link to that message. It is not stored, tracked in the background or sent to us. Whoever receives the message (and their map provider, if they open the link) can see that location.

Firelight Plus is an optional paid subscription. Everything else in the app stays free. If you subscribe, Google Play handles the payment and your payment details; we never see your card or bank details.

To check whether Plus is active on your device, the app uses RevenueCat, a subscription service that works on our behalf. RevenueCat receives your purchase record from Google Play (which plan, purchase and renewal dates, price and currency, your country and a purchase reference), a random ID it creates for this install, and basic technical details such as the app version, your device type and its internet address. It does not receive your name, email address, or anything you write in the app. While Firelight Plus is available in the app, the app checks with RevenueCat when it starts and now and then while it is open, and fetches the plans on offer when you open the Firelight Plus page, even if you never subscribe. For people who have not subscribed, this sends only the random install ID and the basic technical details above.

We can see purchase records and overall subscription figures (for example, how many people are subscribed) in RevenueCat, but they are not linked to your name. RevenueCat keeps purchase records for as long as needed to run your subscription and for tax and accounting rules. You can cancel at any time in Google Play → Payments and subscriptions; to ask us to delete RevenueCat's record of your purchases, email us at the address below with the purchase date. See RevenueCat's privacy policy (revenuecat.com/privacy) and Google's privacy policy for how they handle this data.

The Perspectives section shows thumbnails of YouTube videos. Loading a thumbnail, or opening a video, connects your device to YouTube (Google), which can see your internet address. Videos open in YouTube, never inside the app.

If you choose Settings → Back up or restore, the app puts your private details into one file locked with a password you choose (AES-256 encryption, made on your phone). You decide where to keep the file, for example Files, Google Drive or email. We never receive it, and we cannot open it or recover a forgotten password. On a phone, the app keeps its own locked copy of your latest backup in its private storage until you make the next one, so the app you chose has time to finish saving it; Erase everything and uninstalling remove it.

When you share a verse, a study, a briefing, a checklist or your plan, or save it as a PDF (such as the printable fridge plan), the text or file is made on your phone and handed to the app you choose through your phone's share sheet (for example Messages, email or Files). Shared text carries no tracking codes, and we do not record who shares what. We never receive a copy.

If you turn on the daily study reminder, your phone schedules it itself. No notification service or server is involved and nothing is sent to us.

Lessons and briefings link to their original sources, such as Ready.gov or the National Weather Service. Those sites have their own privacy policies.

We do not use advertising, usage analytics, crash-tracking or social-media trackers. We do not build profiles, sell data or share it with data brokers. There are no accounts or sign-ins in this version of the app. Google Play may show us overall figures it produces itself, such as the number of installs; these do not identify you. If we ever add anonymous usage counts, we will update this policy first and give you a switch in Settings to turn them off.

Everything you enter stays on your device until you change it, erase it in Settings, or remove the app. We hold no copy, so there is nothing for us to keep or delete on a server. The only exception is the purchase record for Firelight Plus, described above.

Private details such as your plan, contacts and emergency card are kept in your phone's secure storage, which the operating system encrypts. On a shared computer, use the website only if you trust everyone who uses it, or erase your data when you finish.

Depending on where you live (for example under New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020, the GDPR in the UK and EU, or state laws such as the CCPA in California), you may have rights to access, correct, delete or move your personal information and to object to its use. Because your information stays on your own device, you can do all of this yourself in the app. For Firelight Plus purchase records, or any other question or request, contact us using the details below.

Faith by Firelight is meant for adults and families. Younger readers should use it with a parent or caregiver. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children.

If this policy changes, the new version will appear here with a new date, and in the app.

Questions about privacy or this policy? Email us: