Privacy Policy

Updated January 8, 2024

The Universal Church, Inc. (the “Church,” “we”, or “us”) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Protecting your private information is our priority. This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes The Universal Church, Inc.’s practices regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information collected and processed by the Church. The Universal Church provides you with its sites, software, applications, content, products, and services (“the Service”). By using our Service, you agree to the terms of this Policy, and you expressly consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this policy. Please review this Policy carefully.

1. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

In Short: This privacy policy addresses the collection of personal and sensitive data, including registration, user-provided, and automatic data (e.g., usage, location, cookies), as well as data from third parties and social media platforms. The Church is not liable for third-party data practices.

We may collect information from you directly and/or automatically when you visit the Service. Some of this information may be considered “personal information” or “personal data,” and some of which may be considered “sensitive” under various applicable laws. We consider information that identifies you as a specific, identified individual to be personal information (such as your name, phone number, e-mail address), and we treat additional information, including IP addresses and cookie (defined below) identifiers, as “personal information” where required by applicable law. If we combine information, we consider to be non-personal with personal information, we will treat that combined information as personal information under this policy. Note that we may de-identify or pseudonymize personal information so that it is non-personal, such as by aggregating it or converting it to a code, sometimes using function commonly known as a “hash.” We will treat de-identified and pseudonymized information as non-personal to the fullest extent allowed by applicable law. Information we collect is characterized as follows:

Information We Receive or Collect from You

Registration Data – When you register, we may ask you to provide certain information including, but not limited to, your email address, birth year, gender, and zip code (the “Registration Data”), as well as a password for your account.

Information You Choose to Provide to Church – You may have the ability to provide a variety of information during your interactions with us and the Service, such as by utilizing the feature “Contact Us” or signing up to receive emails. The Church or third parties acting on our behalf may receive data from you whenever you provide us with information (“Contact Information”). Church sites and/or apps may also collect data you decide to provide on message boards hosted on our sites or through online counseling services, including live chat or contact forms. Information provided may include text, links, audio, images, or videos.

Connected Devices – When you stream Church content through a third-party connected device, the connected device provider may receive personal information from Church about your listening behavior in order for you to access the Service. The third-party provider may also collect personal information directly from the connected device. This Policy does not cover the actions of third-party connected device providers, including how they may use information collected through the device or passed to them to sell and deliver advertising. For more information on connected device data collection and use, please view the terms of use and privacy policy of your third-party connected device provider.

Information We Collect Automatically – We as well as third-party companies we may have business relationships with may use a variety of technologies that automatically or passively collect certain information whenever you visit or use the Service or otherwise interact with us or our content (“Usage Information”).

General Usage Information – The Church may collect certain technical information through the use of log files and servers. Web and application servers create log files automatically as part of their setup and configuration. such as the hardware model, browser, internet service provider, operating system, the URL or advertisement that referred you to the Service you are visiting, the areas of the Services that you visit or use, access times, listening behavior, your time zone, and mobile network. In addition, we automatically collect your IP address and unique identifier (“Device Identifier”) for the device you use to access the Service.

Location Information – When you register for the Service, you may provide us with your zip or postal code. We may also collect approximate or precise location information from devices you use while accessing the Service. Your location may be roughly approximated from the IP address currently assigned to your device. Depending on the device and operating system, rough or approximate location information may be derived from nearby wireless signals such as cell towers, Wi-Fi networks, and Bluetooth beacons or determined precisely using the GPS function on your device. We will not collect precise location information unless you have consented to allow Church to collect and use location services from your device. You can disable access by the Church app to location services at any time in your system settings.

Use of Cookies – Cookies are small text files that are stored locally on your device when you use the website or certain internet-enabled devices to access the Service. These technologies are able to store a unique identifier that allows us to recognize the device whenever it returns to the Service. We use the identifier in a cookie to help us manage and report on your interaction with the Service. Through cookies, we are able to collect information that we use to improve the Service, or third-party companies with whom we have a business relationship may use cookies and other technologies to secure and improve the Service, authenticate your login credentials, keep count of return visits to our Service, study the effectiveness of our customer communications, manage multiple instances of the Service in a single browser, collect and report on aggregate statistical information, measure crash analytics and other maintenance related information. We may also collect other data such as the page or site that referred you to the Service, the date and time you visited the Service, and your current IP address. You may limit cookies on your device by adjusting the settings on your Internet browser or via settings we make available on our website. You will need to indicate your preferences for each device or browser that you use.

Web Beacons and Tracking Pixels – Church, third-party tracking-utility partners employ a technology known as “beacons” or “tracking pixels” (each, a “Beacon”). A Beacon is a one-pixel-by-one-pixel clear image that may be embedded in web pages or email messages. Web tags or similar technologies may be used for a number of purposes, including, without limitation, to count visitors to a Service, to monitor how users navigate a Service, to count how many e-mails that were sent were actually opened or to count how many particular videos or links were actually viewed. The use of a Beacon may also allow us to gauge the effectiveness of certain communications and of our marketing campaigns.

Software Development Kits – Software Development Kits (“SDKs”) are a software package that contains a set of tools that can be used to help build applications and implement new features in existing apps. These tools can be used to create and operate features that collect information from your device. We use SDKs and similar tools to collect information from mobile devices such as the hardware model, operating system and version, identification numbers assigned to your mobile device, such as the ID for Advertising (IDFA) on Apple devices, and the Advertising ID on Android devices, mobile network information, and website usage behavior. In addition, we may use a variety of other technologies that collect similar information for security, fraud detection, and maintenance purposes. In addition, we may use a variety of other technologies that collect Usage Information and similar information for security and fraud detection purposes.

Information Collected From Third Parties

We may receive information about you from our affiliates and subsidiaries, service providers, third parties including companies with whom we have a business relationships, marketing companies, and data providers, and combine and store it on our servers with other information we may have already received or collected from you. We may also receive information from governmental or quasi-governmental agencies or organizations that provide or make available, to the public, census and demographic data or other public databases. We may allow you to use third-party social media websites, applications or services (“Social Media”) to interact through the Service and provide personalized service to you, which may include the ability for you to “like” or “share” content. If you choose to post information to a Social Media platform, that information will be public. You may also have the opportunity to connect your account on a Social Media service (e.g., Facebook or Twitter). When you interact with Social Media through the Services, we may receive information about you from that Social Media service and they may set their own cookies and collect information about your use of the Services, including your IP address or other device identifier and which page you are visiting on a Service. These Social Media platforms may be able to collect certain information about your visits to the Service regardless of whether or not you affirmatively interact with the feature and whether or not you are logged into (or have) an account with the Social Media platform. Personal information collected and stored by a third party is subject solely to the third party’s privacy practices. The Church is not responsible for and will assume no liability, if a third party collects, uses, or shares any personal information about you in violation of its own privacy policy or any applicable laws, rules, or agreements.

2. HOW WE USE INFORMATION

In Short: The Church may use your data for improving the Services, analyzing usage, and notifying you of developments.

Generally, the Church may use your Registration Data and other personal information or data we receive or collect, as well as data we derive or infer from combinations of the foregoing, for a variety of purposes, such as to:

facilitate the creation of and secure your account on the Service.
provide and improve the Service, and to develop new services.
customize and personalize the content we deliver to you on the Service.
measure and analyze Service usage and enhance the listener experience on our Service
send you information that you requested or agreed to receive.
alert you to the latest developments and features on our Service and to notify you of administrative information, such as security or support and maintenance advisories.
invite you to participate in events or special promotions related to the Church’s work that we think you may like or in which you may be interested.
contact you with regard to your use of the Service, our agreements with you, or changes to our policies.
investigate and prevent fraudulent transactions and other illegal activities or activities that violate our policies.
comply with our policies, procedures, and legal obligations including complying with government authority requests, regulatory requirements, and enforcing our agreements and policies.
fulfill purposes disclosed at the time you provide your personal information or otherwise with your consent.
We may send you push notifications from time to time in order to update you about events and promotions. If you no longer wish to receive these types of communications, you may turn them off at the device level in your app settings. To ensure you receive proper notifications, we will need to collect certain information about your device such as operating system and user identification information.
We do not sell or give your email address to other companies for their own marketing purposes without your permission. We may use your email address or other Registration Data to provide you with technical support, send you notices about the Service or other promotions you have elected to receive. We do not sell or give your contact information to companies for their own marketing purposes without your permission. We do use contact information, however, to contact you, and to provide you with Church information.

3. HOW WE SHARE INFORMATION

In Short: Personal information is shared with your explicit consent for service-related tasks with trusted providers.

We may share non-personal information, which may include Usage Information or information that has been de-identified or pseudonymized, with third parties at our discretion, and as allowed by law, including to pay artists and rights owners by reporting aggregated or de-identified listening information to copyright owners and licensing agencies or for targeted advertising purposes. We may share personal information we have collected about you as disclosed at the time you provide your information, as described in this policy, with your consent, and in the following circumstances:

When You Consent To or Direct Us To Share Your Information

We may share your personal information when you expressly consent or otherwise direct us to do so. Please note that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of any such third party, and you should consult the privacy policy of the third party for information about how they will use your information. If you later decide that you no longer want to receive communications from a third party, you will need to contact that third party directly.

Service Providers – We may share information with third-party service providers or allow those third parties to collect information about you, to enable them to perform services on our behalf, such as web hosting services, website usage analytics, bulk email processors who send out emails on our behalf, merchandise order fulfillment, research surveys, marketing assistance and data analysis, processing payments, or other such services performed on our behalf. These companies are authorized to use your personal information only as necessary to provide these services to us. They are not authorized to use your personal information for their own, unrelated purposes. Additionally, we may share various information relating to our users and fraudulent or potentially fraudulent activities with our fraud prevention and similar service providers, and they will use this information to help us and their other clients prevent fraudulent and illegal transactions.

Analytics

Google Analytics 4
Google Search Console
Google Tag Manager

Content management system (CMS)

WordPress

Collection of Privacy-Related Preferences

iubenda Privacy Control and Cookie Solution

Contact Forms

WP Forms

Donation Processing

PayPal
Secure Give

Email Marketing

Mailchimp

Interaction with External Social Networks

Facebook Like button and social widgets
WhatsApp button and social widgets
X button and social widgets
YouTube button and social widgets

Live Chat Platforms

Comm100 widget

Mobile App Development

Futuri Media
Good Barber
Virtues Media & App

Podcast Hosting

Spreaker

Platform Services and Hosting

App Store Connect
Google Play Store

Spam and Bots Protection

Akismet
Google reCAPTCHA
Hcaptcha

Streaming Content

Roku

Video and Media Hosting

Vimeo
Youtube

Website Hosting & Security

GoDaddy

Sharing of Device Information – We may share information we gather from devices you use to access the Service with its third-party service providers. We share this information for a variety of purposes such as mobile listening capping, estimating the number of users, security and fraud detection, debugging problems with the Service, and for providing you with more relevant information. We may also use device identifiers, including IP addresses, to identify users, and may do so in cooperation with copyright owners, Internet service providers, wireless service providers, or law enforcement agencies in our discretion. We also share device identifiers with third-party providers to measure and analyze Service usage, such as how long and how frequently you are using the Service.

Contests, Events, Promotions and Surveys – We may offer contests, live or virtual events, giveaways, and other promotions (each, a “Promotion”) that may require registration and/or providing certain personal information. By participating in a Promotion, you are agreeing to the provisions, conditions, or official rules that govern the Promotion, which may contain specific requirements (including, except where prohibited by law, allowing us, or a sponsor to disclose at the time of the Promotion, to use your name, voice, likeness or other indicia of persona in advertising or marketing materials). If you choose to engage in a Promotion, personal information may be disclosed to third parties or the public in connection with the administration of such Promotion, including, without limitation, in connection with winner selection, prize fulfillment, as required by law, or as permitted by the Promotion’s terms or official rules (such as on a winners list).

Administrative and Legal Reasons – We may disclose personal information to third parties:

To comply with a legal obligation, such as respond to a valid subpoena or other legal process or if we believe in good faith that the law requires it.
In response to a legitimate request from a legal, regulatory or government authority conducting an investigation.
To protect, enforce or defend our agreements, the Service Terms of Use, or other policies applicable to our Services.
To respond to an emergency.
Otherwise to protect or defend the safety, rights, property or security of Church and our employees or contractors, or other customers, or
To protect against fraud or to conduct risk management. In the course of any of the above, we may also use Device Identifiers, including IP addresses, to identify users, and may do so in cooperation with copyright owners, Internet service providers, wireless service providers or law enforcement agencies at our discretion.

4. THIRD-PARTY ADVERTISING AND ANALYTICS COMPANIES

In Short: We collaborate with third-party companies to track Service performance and usage, all in accordance with state laws.

We work with third-party companies such as analytics providers, data providers, and other entities with respect to the Service on other properties and applications and to provide us with information regarding the use and performance of the Service. These third parties may set and access their own tracking technologies on your device (including cookies and web beacons), and they may otherwise collect or have access to Usage Information and other information about you, some of which may be personal information under various state laws. Some of these parties may collect personal information over time when you visit the Service. We may share information, typically information that has been pseudonymized or de-identified (including hashed email addresses), Usage Information, and general location information with third-party analytics providers and other third parties for the purpose of delivering more relevant information on and off the Service.

5. MANAGING YOUR INFORMATION

In Short: You can update your Registration Data in the Service’s Settings. You have control over email preferences, account deactivation, and SMS opt-out.

Modification of Your Registration Data – We provide you with the ability to access and modify your Registration Data, which you may do through the Settings section of our Service. Note that when you edit your personal information or change your preferences, information that you remove may persist internally for certain administrative purposes or within backup media.

Retention of Personal Information – We will retain your personal information while you have an account with us or continue to use the Service, and for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy; to support your account and provide the Service to you; exercise the choices and rights you have requested; comply with our contractual obligations; resolve disputes and enforce our agreements; and comply with legal, financial and regulatory requirements.

Your Contact Preferences – When you register for the Service, you may elect to receive promotional, marketing, or other similar emails. You have the option to change this election in your account settings. Additionally, you may also follow the unsubscribe instructions contained in the promotional, marketing or other similar emails you receive. Please note that even if you opt out of marketing emails, we will continue to send you emails regarding Service-related announcements when it is necessary to do so. Generally, you may not opt out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature. If you do not wish to receive them, you have the option to deactivate your account. If you sign up to receive SMS or MMS or RCS messages from us, you may unsubscribe from any SMS or MMS or RCS messages received by replying “STOP”. With your consent, we may send promotional and non-promotional push notifications or alerts to the Church app. You can elect to stop receiving those messages by changing the notification settings on your device.

Cancellation or Deactivation of Accounts – If you would like to request the cancellation or deactivation of your account, you should contact us. Cancellation or deactivation of your account does not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the content or information you may have made available publicly on the Service while you were a registered user. You should also contact us to request the deactivation of a profile you believe is fake or otherwise unauthorized.

Social Media – Where you choose to interact with us through social media, your interaction through these platforms typically allows the social media company to collect some information about you through cookies they place on your device and other tracking mechanisms. In some cases, the social media company may recognize you through its digital cookies even when you do not interact with their application. Please visit the social media companies’ respective privacy policies to better understand the data collection practices and the controls they make available to you.

6. THIRD PARTY CONTENT, WEBSITES & DEVICES

In Short: Our Service may include links to other websites or platforms with varying privacy practices, and the Church is not accountable for these third-party practices.

Our Service may include links to other websites, applications or platforms whose privacy practices may differ from those of the Church. The Church is not responsible for the privacy practices employed by any of these third-party websites, applications or platforms. In certain instances, the Service may be associated with or redirect users to content that is served by another party or links to websites or content that Church does not control; for example, a third-party business that facilitates a live virtual event may display our logo as part of a co-branded business relationship. Such third party may require you to establish an account or provide other information to access the content. If you submit personal information to any of those websites, the privacy statements and practices of those third-party websites, applications or platforms govern their collection and use of your information. We encourage you to carefully read the terms of use and privacy policy of any website, application or platform you visit. The Service may be accessed through third-party connected devices such as connected set top boxes or media players, smart TVs, speakers or other smart devices, gaming consoles, or other similar devices. These third-party operators and content providers use their own cookies or other tracking technologies on your Internet-enabled Device, and they may independently collect data from or about you and your use of their content, websites, devices or services. Their collection and use of your information is subject to their privacy policies.

7. SECURITY

In Short: Despite our reasonable security measures, we cannot guarantee 100% security for your information as no online data transmission or storage is entirely secure.

We have implemented commercially reasonable security measures designed to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information we collect or receive from you. However, no data transmission over the Internet, wireless transmission or electronic storage of information can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. The Church cannot ensure or warrant the security of the information we collect. You use the Service and provide us information at your own risk.

8. TERRITORIAL LIMITATIONS

In Short: Our services are primarily for U.S. residents and subject to U.S. law. For authorized use in limited areas like Mexico and Canada, your data may be transferred to the U.S. and other countries.

Church is based in the United States and the information we collect is governed by United States law. Church audio services and the Church app are intended for use by residents of the United States, only. For authorized use of certain limited Services outside the U.S., such as Mexico and Canada, by using such Service and/or providing us with information, you understand, acknowledge and agree that the information you submit to us may be transferred to the U.S. and such other countries to be processed by us or our service providers in order to provide the Service to you or for such other purposes as set forth in this policy. If you are not a resident of the U.S., you hereby consent and agree that we may collect, process, use, and store your information, as discussed in this policy, outside your resident jurisdiction, including in the U.S. Please be aware that U.S. law and the laws of other countries where we may store and process your information may offer different levels of protection for information than may be available in your country. Personal information processed or stored in other countries may be subject to access requests from governments, courts, or law enforcement in accordance with the laws of the applicable country.

9. CHANGES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY

In Short: We may change this Policy as allowed by law, and we’ll notify you of significant changes.

To the extent allowed by applicable law, Church reserves the right to change this Policy at any time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the changed or modified Policy on the Services and will otherwise notify you as required by applicable law. We may also provide notice to you in other ways, such as through an email address you use to access the Service, or by posting a message on the Service. Any changes will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised Policy unless otherwise specified. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of the revised Policy will constitute your consent to those changes to the fullest extent allowed by applicable law. However, we will provide notice and obtain your consent (opt-in or opt-out) if required.

10. YOUR DATA PROTECTION RIGHT

In Short: You may exercise your rights concerning your personal data.

The Church would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:

The right to access your data: You have the right to request copies of the personal data stored by the Church. We may charge you a small fee for this service.
The right to correct your data: You have the right to request that the Church correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request the Church complete information you believe is incomplete.
The right to delete your data: You have the right to request that the Church erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
The right to restrict processing of your data: You have the right to request that the Church restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
The right to object to processing of your data: You have the right to object to the Church processing your personal data, under certain conditions.
The right to transfer your data: You have the right to request that the Church transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, you may submit your request by completing our Data Request Form.

11. INFORMATION FROM CHILDREN

In Short: The Church does not allow registration for individuals under 13.

The Church prohibits registration and does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13 years of age. In the event we obtain actual knowledge that we have collected information from children under the age of 13, we will take measures to remove such information from our servers. If you believe that personal information has been collected from a child under 13, please contact us at the address provided herein below in Section 13.

12. TESTIMONIALS DISCLAIMER

In Short: Our Services may include user testimonials reflecting their personal experiences, but individual results may vary, and users are not financially compensated for sharing them.

Within our Services, you may encounter testimonials that reflect the real-life experiences and viewpoints of such users. However, the experiences are personal to those particular users, and may not necessarily be representative of all users of our products and/or services. We do not make any claims, and you should not assume, that every user will achieve the same results. Your individual results may vary.

The testimonials presented on our Services are shared in various formats, such as text, audio, and/or video. They are displayed exactly as provided by the users, except for grammar or typographical corrections. In some instances, testimonials may be abbreviated for brevity when the full testimonial includes information that isn’t pertinent to the general public.

We want to clarify that users are not financially compensated or otherwise rewarded for providing these testimonials.

13. CONTACT US

If you would like to exercise any of your data protection rights or have any questions about this Policy, please reach out to us.

privacy@universalUSA.org

(973) 474 -2222

The Universal Church, Inc.

100 Mulberry Street, 14th Floor

Newark, NJ 07102

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