Privacy
The short version: you can use everything without an account. If you choose to sign in, we keep only what's needed to sync your reading between devices. The app tells us which features get used (never what you type) so we can improve it, and you can turn that off. No ads, no tracking across other apps or websites, and we never sell or share your data.
Without an account
Your saved verses, reading plan progress and settings stay on your device. The website and app download Bible text and notes from deadseascrolling.com like any web page; our hosting provider (Amazon Web Services) keeps standard request logs for security for a short time.
Manna and Imagine use Apple Intelligence and Image Playground, which run on your iPhone. What you type or say to Manna, and the pictures you make, aren't sent to us.
How the app is used (you can turn this off)
While you use the app, it sends us small usage records: which screens you open and for how long, and which features you use (for example "asked Manna a question", "held a verse for context", "joined the monthly challenge", "opened Psalm 23"). Each record carries a random ID made when the app was first installed, the app version, iOS version and iPhone model, and your account if you're signed in. It never includes what you type or say: for a Manna question we record only how long it was, not the words.
We use this only to see what's working and what isn't, to fix problems, and to compare versions of a feature. It isn't used for ads, isn't combined with data from other companies, and isn't shared. Usage records are deleted after 13 months. Turn it off any time in Me › Share how I use the app.
Feedback
When you send feedback (shake your phone, tap the feedback button, or Me › Send feedback), we receive what you choose to send: a screenshot of the screen you were on with anything you drew or typed on it, your rating and comment, plus the screen's name, your last few minutes of usage records (as above), the app version, iOS version and iPhone model, and your account if you're signed in. You can leave the screenshot out, and you can cover anything private before sending. We keep feedback to improve the app until it's no longer useful, and delete it on request.
If you sign in with Apple
We store:
- The account identifier Apple gives us, your email address (or Apple's private relay address if you chose to hide it), and your name if you shared it.
- The username you pick, which friends will use to find you once that feature arrives.
- Your saved verses, reading plan progress, how many Scroll cards you read each day (for your streak), and the last passage you read, so they match across your devices.
This lives in a database on our server at Amazon Web Services in the United States, with encrypted backups kept for 30 days. We use it only to run the app.
Friends
- Friendships are mutual: someone asks, you accept. Friends see your name, username, Bible in a Year progress (which day you're on and how many readings you've checked off), your Scroll streak, and which verses you've saved.
- Anyone signed in can find you by searching your username.
- Contacts (optional): if you tap "Find friends in my contacts", your iPhone scrambles your contacts' email addresses (a one-way SHA-256 hash) and sends only those to match against people who turned on "Let contacts find me by email". We don't store what's sent. Turning that switch on stores the same kind of scrambled version of your own email; turn it off any time.
- Invite links work once and expire after 14 days.
- Sharing: when you share today's manna, your friends see the reflection, the passages, any note you add, and what you asked only if you choose to include it. Passages you send go only to the friends you pick. Hearts and comments are visible to the people who can see the post. Notes you share on a verse (and any voice recording you attach) are seen by all your friends. A picture you add (made on your iPhone with Image Playground) is stored with the post and seen by the same people. You can delete your posts and comments any time; deleting your account deletes them all.
- Notes: your private text notes on verses sync with your account so they're on all your devices; only you see them. Voice notes stay on your iPhone unless you share one.
- If you report someone, we keep the report (who, whom, why) to review it. Blocking someone is stored so you stay hidden from each other.
Notifications
If you allow notifications, we store your iPhone's push token (an address Apple gives the app) to tell you about friend requests, shared manna, hearts and comments, and passages sent to you. Messages go through Apple's push service. Turn each kind off in Me › Notifications, or all of them in iPhone Settings. Signing out removes the token. Reading-plan and streak reminders are scheduled on your iPhone and never touch our server.
Deleting your data
In the app, go to Me › your account › Delete account. That erases your account and everything synced with it from our database right away, and removes your account from any usage records and feedback (they stay only under the random install ID, and usage records are deleted after 13 months); backups age out within 30 days. Signing out keeps your data on your iPhone but stops syncing. You can also stop using Sign in with Apple for this app in your iPhone's Settings › your name › Sign in with Apple.
Children
Dead Sea Scrolling isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their information.
Changes and questions
If this policy changes, we'll update this page and the date above. Questions: hello@deadseascrolling.com. See also the Terms of Use.