Privacy Policy

InterChat is a faith-based messaging and community app. You trust us with your conversations, your prayers and your community life, and we take that seriously. This policy explains, in plain words, what we collect, why, who we share it with, and the choices you have.

In short - We collect what we need to run InterChat: your account details, what you post and send, and basic information about your device. - We don't sell your personal information, and we don't use it for advertising that tracks you across other apps or websites. - Your messages are protected in transit, but they are not end-to-end encrypted. Our systems can process them to deliver notifications, power search and keep the community safe. - You can download, correct or delete your information, and you can delete your account at any time from the app or at interchathq.com/delete__user.html.

This policy covers the InterChat mobile apps for Android and iOS, the website at interchathq.com, and our related services (together, "InterChat"). "We", "us" and "our" mean InterChat, Cross-Shaba, Nigeria, which is responsible for your information.

1. Information you give us

Account information

• Your first and last name, email address and phone number (with its country code).
• Your password. We store it in a protected (hashed) form, never as plain text.
• Your date of birth, so we can confirm you're old enough to use InterChat (13 or older). See section 9, Children and teens.
• If you sign in with Google, Facebook or Apple: your name, email address and profile photo from that service, as you allow it. We never receive your password for those services.

Profile information (optional unless noted)

• Username, profile photo, bio, gender (or "prefer not to say"), interests, profile links (up to 5), preferred Bible translation and prayer style.
• Your username and the profile details you choose to show can be seen by other people on InterChat. Your privacy settings control who sees your profile photo, bio, last seen and stories.

What you send, post and share

• Messages in one-to-one chats and communities: text, photos, videos, documents, voice notes, polls, shared verses, quotes, sermons and reading plans, reactions, replies and @mentions.
• Prayer requests (in communities and on the Prayer Wall), "I prayed" responses and answered-prayer updates.
• Stories (text, photo or video), and the reactions and replies you send to other people's stories.
• Comments on the Verse of the Day.
• Your location, only when you choose to share it in a chat (including live location for the time you pick).
• Communities you create or join, and their names, descriptions, photos, rules and settings.
• Prayer Rooms you open, schedule, join or reply to ("Going" / "Can't make it").
• Reports you send about content or people, and the reasons you give.
• Messages you send to our support team.

Contacts (optional) If you turn on contact sync, the names and phone numbers in your phone's address book are sent to InterChat so we can show you which of your contacts already use the app and suggest connections. We use them only for this. You can turn contact sync off at any time in the app, and we will stop using your contacts.

Purchases If you subscribe to InterChat Plus, Apple or Google handles the payment. We never receive your card details. We receive confirmation of your subscription (product, status, renewal and expiry dates) through our subscription provider, RevenueCat.

2. Information collected automatically

• Device information: device model, operating system and version, app version, a device identifier created by the app, language, region and time zone.
• Push notification tokens: so we can send you notifications on each device where you're signed in.
• Activity needed to run features: when messages are delivered and read (if read receipts are on), your last-seen time (if enabled), story views, call history (who called whom, when, how long, and whether it was missed), streak progress (Verse of the Day read, guided prayers completed, prayers for others), and which devices are signed in and when they were last active.
• Technical logs: IP address, request times and error information, which our servers record to keep InterChat secure and working.
• No analytics or advertising trackers: the app doesn't currently use third-party analytics, advertising or crash-reporting tools. If we add a crash-reporting tool, we'll update this policy first, and message content will never be included.

What we don't collect: we don't record calls or Prayer Rooms. We don't access your microphone or camera except when you use a feature that needs them (calls, Prayer Rooms, voice notes, photos, videos and stories). We don't track your location in the background.

3. Information kept only on your phone

Some things stay on your device and are not sent to us, such as: drafts you haven't sent, Bible reader settings, recently used emojis, some notification and accessibility preferences, quiet hours, cached chats and media for faster loading, and Bible chapters saved for offline reading. Deleting the app removes them.

4. How we use your information

We use your information to:

1. Provide InterChat: create your account, deliver messages and calls, run communities, Prayer Rooms, stories, the Prayer Wall, Bible reading and listening, streaks and reminders.
2. Send notifications you've chosen, such as new messages, calls, Prayer Room alerts, reminders and streak nudges. You control these in Notification settings and in your phone's settings.
3. Help you find people and communities: contact matches (if you turn on contact sync), suggested connections based on shared communities, connections and interests, and community search.
4. Keep InterChat safe: review reports, detect spam and abuse, enforce our Terms and Community Guidelines, protect children, and respond to lawful requests.
5. Manage InterChat Plus: confirm purchases, restore them and provide Plus features.
6. Support and communicate with you: answer support requests and send important service messages (for example, security alerts or changes to these policies).
7. Improve and secure the service: fix bugs, measure performance and protect our systems.

Our legal bases (where data protection law requires one, including the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023, the EU and UK GDPR):

• Contract: to provide the service you signed up for (points 1, 2, 5, 6).
• Legitimate interests: to keep InterChat safe and improve it, balanced against your rights (points 3, 4, 7).
• Consent: for contact sync, notification permissions, camera, microphone, photos and location. You can withdraw consent at any time in the app or your phone's settings.
• Legal obligation: where the law requires us to keep or share information.

Sensitive information. Using a faith-based app, and what you write in prayers and messages, may reveal your religious beliefs or details about your health or family. We process this only to provide the features you use, we don't use it for advertising, and we don't share it except as described in this policy. Please think carefully before posting private details about other people in prayer requests.

5. How messages are protected

• All information between the app and our servers is encrypted in transit (TLS).
• Access to stored data is limited to the systems and staff who need it to run the service.
• InterChat messages are not end-to-end encrypted. Our systems process message content to deliver notifications with a preview, power search in communities, show link previews and respond to reports. Our staff do not read your private messages, except when a message has been reported to us, when it's needed to investigate abuse or a safety risk, or when the law requires it.
• Calls and Prayer Rooms are connected through our calling provider (Twilio) and are not recorded.

6. Who can see what you share

• Chats: the people in the chat.
• Communities: members of that community. Public communities can be found and joined by anyone on InterChat. If you post a prayer request anonymously, other members don't see your name, but we can still link it to your account for safety.
• Stories: the audience you choose in your story privacy settings. People who view your story can be seen in your viewer list.
• Prayer Wall and Verse of the Day comments: other InterChat users.
• Your profile: other InterChat users, according to your privacy settings. Your username and name are always visible so people can find and recognise you.
• Prayer Rooms: the people in the room can hear you when you unmute, and see your name and photo.

Anyone who receives your messages can screenshot, forward or save them. Please share wisely.

7. Who we share information with

We don't sell your personal information, and we don't share it with third parties for their own advertising.

We share information only:

With service providers who help run InterChat, under contracts that limit their use of it to providing services to us:

When you share a link: the InterChat app may fetch a preview of the web page (title, image, description) from your phone, which means that website can see your device's IP address, as with visiting it.

With churches, ministries and community leaders: only what members can see in their communities. Community admins can see their members' names, usernames, profile photos, roles and join dates. They don't see your private chats.

For legal and safety reasons: if we believe in good faith that it's necessary to comply with the law or a valid legal process, to protect someone from death or serious harm, to prevent fraud or abuse, or to protect the rights and safety of InterChat and its users. We report child sexual abuse material to the relevant authorities, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) where applicable. See our Child Safety Standards.

If our business changes: if InterChat is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, your information may transfer as part of that deal. We will tell you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

8. How long we keep information

When you delete your account, we delete your account and profile straight away, and the rest of your personal information soon after, except where we need to keep some of it for legal reasons, to resolve disputes, or to prevent abuse (for example, the record of a ban). Messages you sent to others remain in their chats, shown without your profile. If you led a community, another admin takes over and the community stays. See Delete your account.

9. Children and teens

InterChat is for people aged 13 and older. We ask for your date of birth when you sign up and don't create accounts for anyone under 13. If you are under the age of digital consent where you live (for example, under 18 in some countries), you need permission from a parent or guardian to use InterChat.

If we learn that someone under 13 has an account, we will delete it. If you believe a child under 13 is using InterChat, contact safety@interchathq.com.

10. Your choices and rights

In the app, at any time, you can:

• Edit your profile, and choose who sees your photo, bio, last seen and stories, and whether to send read receipts.
• Choose which notifications you get, set quiet hours, and mute chats and communities.
• Turn contact sync on or off.
• Block and report people, and hide or mute their stories.
• See where you're signed in and sign out of other devices.
• Delete messages, chats, stories and your account.
• Change camera, microphone, photos, contacts, location and notification permissions in your phone's settings.

Your rights. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you and get a copy of it;
• correct inaccurate information;
• delete your information;
• object to or restrict certain processing;
• receive your information in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time (this doesn't affect processing before you withdrew it);
• not be discriminated against for using these rights.

To use any of these rights, email privacy@interchathq.com from the email address on your account. We'll reply within 30 days (or sooner if your local law requires). We may need to confirm your identity first.

You can also complain to your data protection authority. In Nigeria, that's the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC). In the EU or UK, it's your local supervisory authority or the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

California residents: we don't sell or "share" personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising as defined by the CCPA/CPRA, and we don't use sensitive personal information for purposes beyond those the law allows.

11. International transfers

InterChat is used around the world, and our service providers may process information in countries other than yours, including the United States and countries in Europe. When we transfer personal information across borders, we use the safeguards the law requires, such as standard contractual clauses or adequacy decisions.

12. Security

We use technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including encryption in transit, hashed passwords, access controls for our staff, and the ability to sign out of other devices. No system is completely secure. Please use a strong password, keep your phone locked, and tell us straight away at safety@interchathq.com if you notice anything suspicious.

13. Advertising and sponsored content

InterChat may show sponsored posts from churches and ministries in the Updates tab. They're chosen by our team and shown to everyone the same way; they aren't targeted using your messages or tracking across other apps and websites. InterChat Plus members don't see them.

14. Changes to this policy

We'll update this policy as InterChat changes. If we make important changes, we'll tell you in the app or by email before they take effect. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.

15. Contact us

• Privacy questions and requests: privacy@interchathq.com
• Safety concerns: safety@interchathq.com
• Post: InterChat, Cross-Shaba, Nigeria
• Data Protection Officer: privacy@interchathq.com