Privacy Policy

VineUpdates helps missionaries share stories and prayer requests with the people who support them. Many of our users serve in sensitive places, so we collect as little as we can and protect what we keep.

What we collect

• Missionaries: name, email, sign-in details, profile, giving link, the stories, photos, videos and notes you upload, and your supporter list.
• Supporters: name and email (and phone, if you choose SMS), your communication preferences, and the prayers and replies you leave.
• Usage: basic activity like sign-ins, emails sent, opens and prayer counts, used to run and improve the service. Story emails contain a tiny invisible image that tells the missionary the email was opened (counts only); you can block it by turning off images in your email app. Links in story emails pass briefly through VineUpdates so the missionary can see that a link was clicked (counts only), then take you straight to the page.

What we don't do

• We never sell personal information or show ads.
• We never process donations — giving goes directly to the missionary's own giving page.
• We don't keep photo location data: it's removed from every photo when it's uploaded.
• There is no public feed. Stories are only seen by the people a missionary chooses.

How we use information

To deliver stories by email, text and app; to turn videos, notes and newsletters into stories using AI (your content is processed only to produce your stories and is not used to train public AI models); to keep accounts secure; and to provide support.

Who we share with

Only service providers that help run VineUpdates (hosting, email delivery, AI processing, text messaging), under agreements that limit their use of the data. We may disclose information if legally required, but we will resist requests that would endanger missionaries or local believers where the law allows.

Your choices

• Missionaries can download all their data or delete their account in Settings.
• Supporters can change preferences, stop all messages or delete their details from the "Manage preferences" link in any email — no account needed.
• Supporters in the EU, UK, Norway and Switzerland are asked to confirm before receiving updates.

Security

Encrypted connections, private storage with expiring links, access rules enforced on our servers, Under His Shadow privacy mode and an emergency lockdown. See Safety.

Retention

We keep your data while your account is active. When you delete it, your account, content and supporter list are removed. Unsubscribed or deleted supporters are kept only as an anonymous marker so they are never emailed again.

Contact

Questions or requests: privacy@vineupdates.com.