Privacy Policy

BetterFaith, Inc. ("BetterFaith," "we," "us," or "our") provides a managed marketplace that connects you with vetted pastors and biblical counselors for spiritual care. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, when we share it, and the rights you have. We respect your privacy and we hold information about your spiritual life and personal struggles with particular care.

Snapshot. We collect what we need to match you with a guide, deliver sessions, run our business, and keep you informed. We do not sell your personal information. We do not use your matching questionnaire or session content for advertising. The substance of your sessions stays between you and your guide, with the limited exceptions described below. You have rights over your information and you can exercise them by emailing privacy@betterfaith.com.

1. Who this policy applies to

This Policy covers personal information we collect through the BetterFaith website at betterfaith.com, the services we provide, and our communications with you. It does not cover websites or services operated by third parties that link to or from our site.

2. The information we collect

2.1 Information you give us

• Account and identity: name, email, password, date of birth (used to confirm you are 18 or older), phone number (optional)
• Matching questionnaire responses: your spiritual care needs, theological preferences, focus area, scheduling preferences. This includes religious belief and health-adjacent information, which we treat as sensitive personal information.
• Payment information: card details handled by our payment processor; we receive a token, last-four digits, and confirmation. We do not store full card numbers.
• Communications: messages you send to our team, support tickets, survey responses.
• Session activity: scheduling, attendance, cancellations. The substance of sessions stays between you and your guide; we do not access, store, or review the content of conversations except as described in Section 4.

2.2 Information collected automatically

• Device and connection: browser, operating system, IP address, approximate location derived from IP, device identifiers.
• Usage data: pages viewed, time on page, referral source, links clicked.
• Cookies and similar technologies: see our Cookie Notice. We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for usage analytics, with IP anonymization on and Google Signals off, and PostHog for product analytics with all form inputs masked.

2.3 Information from third parties

• Background-check vendors for guide vetting (this applies to guides, not seekers).
• Church partners, only with your permission, when you are referred through a church partnership.
• Email service providers (deliverability and bounce data).

2.4 Statutory categories (CCPA/CPRA)

For California residents and consistent with comparable state laws, the categories of personal information we collect include: identifiers (name, email, IP address, account identifiers), customer-records information, commercial information (transaction history), internet or network activity (browsing, interactions), geolocation (approximate, derived from IP), audio or visual data (when you join a video session - the call is delivered, not recorded by us by default), professional or employment-related information (for guides), inferences drawn from the above, and sensitive personal information as described in Section 7.

3. How we use your information

We use information to:

• Match you with a guide who fits your needs, theology, and preferences
• Deliver and schedule sessions
• Communicate with you about your account, sessions, billing, and the service
• Process payments and prevent fraud
• Operate, maintain, secure, and improve the service
• Provide support and respond to your requests
• Comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests
• Send you product updates and, if you opt in, the BetterFaith newsletter

We do not use your matching questionnaire responses or any session content for behavioral advertising or to train external AI or machine-learning systems.

4. Confidentiality of session content

Session content is treated as confidential. We do not access, review, or share the substance of your conversations with your guide, except in the following limited circumstances:

• Imminent risk of harm. If your guide reasonably believes you are at imminent risk of suicide or of seriously harming another person.
• Mandatory reporting. Where the law of your guide's state requires reporting (commonly, suspected abuse or neglect of a child, dependent adult, or elder).
• Legal process. Court order, subpoena, or other valid legal demand. We may notify you of such requests where the law allows.
• Safety, complaint, or compliance investigation. When we have a good-faith reason to investigate a safety incident, complaint, or violation of our Terms.

These limits are described in detail in the Informed Consent you sign before your first session.

5. How we share your information

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only as follows:

• With your guide. The information necessary to provide spiritual care to you - your matching questionnaire, name, scheduling info, and any messages you exchange.
• With service providers (processors) acting on our behalf and under written contracts that limit their use of your information to providing services to us. Categories include hosting and infrastructure, payment processing, email delivery and customer support, video session delivery, analytics (GA4 and PostHog, configured to limit data sharing), and background checks (for guide vetting).
• With church partners, only with your explicit permission, and only confirmation that you are engaged in care - never the substance of sessions.
• For legal reasons. When required by law, valid legal process, or to protect our rights, safety, or the rights and safety of others.
• In connection with a business transaction. If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you and offer choices where required by law.

6. Your rights

Depending on your state of residence, you have rights to:

• Know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and (if applicable) sell or share
• Access a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate personal information
• Delete your personal information, subject to limited exceptions (for example, we may retain consent records for legal compliance)
• Portability: receive a copy of certain information in a portable format
• Opt out of any sale or sharing of your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not sell or share, but if our practices change, you can opt out at privacy@betterfaith.com or via the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, which we honor.
• Limit our use of sensitive personal information beyond what is necessary to provide the service. We use sensitive PI only to deliver the services you request.
• Non-discrimination for exercising your rights

To exercise any right, email privacy@betterfaith.com with your request and a description sufficient to identify your account. We may need to verify your identity before responding (typically by confirming information already on file). We will respond within 45 days, with a possible 45-day extension where necessary, and we will explain any delay or denial.

You may designate an authorized agent to act on your behalf. We will require written authorization and may require verification.

If we deny a request and you believe it should have been honored, you may appeal by replying to our response. We will respond to appeals within 60 days.

7. Sensitive personal information

We collect personal information that includes religious beliefs and information about your spiritual and emotional wellbeing. Several state privacy laws designate this as sensitive personal information and require heightened protection. We:

• Use sensitive PI only to provide and improve the services you request, to comply with the law, or to ensure security
• Do not sell sensitive PI
• Do not use sensitive PI for advertising or for inferences beyond what is necessary to deliver the services
• Apply additional safeguards including encryption, role-based access, and audit logging

You may contact us at privacy@betterfaith.com to limit our use of your sensitive PI.

8. Cookies and tracking

See our full Cookie Notice. In summary:

• Strictly necessary cookies (login, security): always on
• Functional cookies (preferences): off by default; opt-in via the consent banner
• Analytics cookies (GA4, PostHog): off by default; opt-in via the consent banner. GA4 and PostHog do not load until you accept analytics in the banner.
• Advertising cookies: not used

We honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal as an opt-out of any sale or sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. You can update your cookie choices at any time via the "Manage Consent" link in the corner of any page.

9. Data security

We implement administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information, including encryption in transit, encryption at rest for sensitive data, role-based access controls, and audit logging. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a security incident materially affects you, we will notify you as required by law.

10. Data retention

We retain personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. General retention periods:

• Account information: active account plus 7 years after closure
• Matching questionnaire responses: active account plus 7 years after closure
• Session metadata (scheduling, attendance): 7 years from session date
• Session notes kept by guide: per the guide's professional retention policy, typically 7 years
• Payment records: as required by tax and accounting law (typically 7 years)
• Marketing email subscription: until you unsubscribe
• Web analytics (GA4): up to 14 months
• Consent records: 7 years following last session, in any event

We may retain information longer where required by law, where necessary to defend or assert legal claims, or where the information has been de-identified.

11. Children's privacy

The services are intended for individuals 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe we have collected such information, please email privacy@betterfaith.com and we will promptly delete it.

12. International users

The services are offered only to U.S. residents. If you access the services from outside the U.S., your information will be transferred to and processed in the U.S., where data-protection laws may differ from those in your country.

13. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email or by posting a notice on the service at least 14 days before the changes take effect (or, where required by law, by other means). The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the current version.

14. Contact us

Questions about this Privacy Policy or our practices?

BetterFaith, Inc.
317 Matthews-Mint Hill Rd #108
Matthews, NC 28105
privacy@betterfaith.com

For California residents, our designated method for receiving requests is privacy@betterfaith.com.