Privacy Policy

Our Commitment to Privacy

At Yirah.org, we are deeply committed to protecting your privacy. We believe in transparency and minimal data collection. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information in compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable data protection laws.

1. No Cookies or Tracking

We use session storage to remember your Bible translation preference during your visit, but this data is stored locally in your browser and is never sent to our servers.

2. Data We Collect

2.1 Daily Bible Quote Subscribers

When you subscribe to our Daily Bible Quote email service, we collect:

• First name - to personalize your emails
• Email address - to send you daily Bible quotes
• Subscription date and time - for record-keeping
• Email verification status - to ensure double opt-in compliance
• IP address (hashed) - for fraud prevention and abuse detection (not stored in readable form)

2.2 Privacy-Focused Analytics

We collect minimal analytics data to improve our service:

• Page views - which pages are visited (no personal identification)
• User agent (hashed) - device type information (hashed with SHA-256, 16 characters)
• Timestamp - when pages were accessed
• NO IP addresses - we do not log or store IP addresses in analytics

All analytics are self-hosted on our servers. No data is shared with third parties.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

• Email Delivery: Send you daily Bible quotes via email (with your explicit consent)
• Service Improvement: Analyze usage patterns to improve website functionality
• Legal Compliance: Maintain records as required by law
• Security: Detect and prevent abuse of our services

Legal Basis (GDPR Article 6): We process your data based on:

• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)): When you subscribe to Daily Bible Quote
• Legitimate Interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): For analytics and security purposes

4. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party service to deliver emails:

Data Processing Agreement: We have a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with Postmark to ensure GDPR compliance.

5. Your Rights Under GDPR

As a user in the EU, you have the following rights:

To exercise your rights, contact us at: emails@yirah.org

6. Data Retention

• Daily Bible Quote Subscribers: We retain your email and name as long as you are subscribed. When you unsubscribe, your data is marked as unsubscribed and retained for 90 days for legal compliance, then permanently deleted.
• Analytics Data: Aggregated, anonymized analytics data is retained indefinitely for statistical purposes. No personal identification is possible from this data.
• Email Delivery Logs: We retain email delivery logs (success/failure) for 90 days for troubleshooting purposes.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data:

• Encryption: All data is transmitted over HTTPS (TLS 1.3)
• Database Security: Databases are hosted on secure servers with restricted access
• Access Control: Only authorized personnel have access to personal data
• Regular Backups: Data is backed up daily with encryption at rest
• API Key Protection: All API endpoints are protected with secure authentication

8. Double Opt-In for Email Subscriptions

We use a double opt-in process for Daily Bible Quote subscriptions to ensure explicit consent:

1. You submit your email address and name on our subscription form
2. We send you a verification email with a unique confirmation link
3. You must click the link to confirm your subscription
4. Only after confirmation do we start sending daily emails

This ensures that only you can subscribe your email address to our service.

9. Easy Unsubscribe

You can unsubscribe from Daily Bible Quote at any time:

• Click the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of any email we send you
• Unsubscribe is immediate and requires only one click (no login required)
• After unsubscribing, you will not receive any further emails from us
• Your data will be permanently deleted after 90 days

10. International Data Transfers

Our website and databases are hosted on servers in the European Union (Frankfurt, Germany) to minimize data transfers outside the EU. Email delivery via Postmark may involve data transfers to the United States, which are protected by:

• EU-US Data Privacy Framework certification
• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the EU Commission
• Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) with GDPR compliance guarantees

11. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you are under 16, please ask your parent or guardian for permission before subscribing to our email service.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last Updated" date. For significant changes, we will notify subscribers via email.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your rights, please contact us: