New Mercies: Bible & Prayer

Privacy Policy

Effective November 11, 2026

New Mercies is made by Colosimo Ventures LLC ("we", "us"). This policy explains what information the app uses, why, who helps us run it, and the choices you have. We wrote it to be read, not skimmed past. If anything is unclear, email privacy@colosimoventures.com.

The short version

  • You can read the Bible, highlight, take notes and keep a prayer list without an account. That stays on your phone.
  • An account is optional. If you create one, we store your email and the notes, highlights, prayers and reading progress you choose to sync, so they're backed up and on all your devices.
  • Your notes, prayers and church tradition can reveal your religious beliefs. We treat them as sensitive. We only sync them after you agree, and we never use them for advertising.
  • We don't sell or share your personal information. There are no ads, no ad trackers and no third-party analytics in the app.
  • If you use the AI study help, what you ask is sent to our AI provider to write the answer. It isn't used to train AI models.
  • You can export everything or delete your account, right in the app, at any time.

Information on your phone only

Without an account, everything you create stays on your device: your name (if you give one), translation and display settings, highlights, notes, prayer list, reading plan progress, reading streak, saved AI answers, Companion conversations and the verse you pin to a widget. We can't see it. Deleting the app deletes it.

Companion conversations are always kept on your phone only, even if you have an account. When you send a message, the recent messages in that conversation are sent to answer it (see "AI study help" below), but we don't store the conversation on our servers.

Information we keep if you create an account

  • Account: your email address and sign-in records (for example, when you last signed in). If Sign in with Apple or Google is offered and you use it, we receive the email address (or Apple's private relay address) that service shares with us.
  • What you sync: notes, highlights, prayers (including whether they've been answered), reading plan progress, the days you read, your first name and your church tradition, if you chose one.
  • Age confirmation: whether you confirmed you are 17 or older (needed for the Companion).
  • Subscription status: whether you have Premium, when it renews or ends, and whether it came through Apple or Google. We never receive your card or bank details.
  • AI usage counts: how many AI questions you've used in the current week or month, so free limits work, and the token cost of each answer so we can run the service sustainably.

Sensitive information

Your prayers, notes, highlights and church tradition may reveal your religious or philosophical beliefs, and a prayer may mention your health or someone else's. Laws in the EU, UK and several US states treat this as sensitive information. We:

  • ask for your clear consent before syncing it to your account, and you can withdraw consent at any time by signing out (which removes it from your phone) or deleting your account (which removes it from our servers);
  • use it only to provide the features you're using: syncing, widgets, the study help you ask for;
  • never use it to profile you, target ads or make decisions about you, and never sell or share it.

Please avoid putting other people's private details (for example, a friend's medical condition by name) in prayers you sync. A first name or initials is enough to pray.

AI study help

When you use "Ask about this passage" or the Companion, we send your question, the passage, the recent messages in the conversation and your church tradition (if you chose one, so answers respect it) to our AI provider, Anthropic, to write the answer. Before an answer is shown, a separate automated check looks for signs that someone may be in danger, so the app can show crisis resources.

  • Anthropic processes this for us under its commercial terms. It doesn't use it to train its models. Anthropic deletes it within 30 days, except that it may keep messages flagged by its own safety systems for longer to enforce its usage policies, or where the law requires.
  • Answers to common passage questions may be cached and shown to other people who ask the same question about the same passage. The cache holds the passage, the question type and the answer. It doesn't hold who asked.
  • If the safety check flags a message, we record only the category (for example, "self-harm") and the time. We don't store the message.
  • If you tap "Report this answer", we receive the question and answer you're reporting, and your reason, so we can review and improve the study help. We delete reports within 12 months.

AI answers can be wrong. They aren't a substitute for Scripture, your church, a pastor or a licensed professional. See "About the AI study help" in the app.

Purchases

Premium is sold through the Apple App Store or Google Play. Apple or Google handles payment. We use RevenueCat to confirm purchases: it receives your account's random ID (never your email), what you bought, and receipts from Apple or Google.

Notifications, widgets and photos

  • Daily verse reminders are scheduled on your phone. We don't send them from a server and don't use push tokens.
  • Widgets show content from your phone (your pinned verse or a request from your prayer list) on your home or lock screen. Anyone who can see your screen can see them, so choose what you pin with that in mind.
  • Photos: when you save a verse image, the app asks only for permission to add photos. It can't see your photo library.

Who helps us run the app

We share information only with service providers who process it on our behalf, under contracts that limit what they can do with it:

  • Supabase: database, sign-in and server functions (data stored in the United States)
  • Anthropic: AI study help
  • RevenueCat: confirming subscriptions
  • Apple and Google: app distribution, payments and, if you use them, Sign in with Apple or Google
  • Resend: sending sign-in emails
  • Expo: delivering app updates (receives standard technical information such as app version and device type, not your content)

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, to protect someone's safety, or as part of a sale or merger of the app (in which case this policy continues to apply to your information).

What we don't do

  • No advertising, ad networks or ad tracking. We don't use the advertising identifier.
  • No third-party analytics or session recording.
  • No selling or "sharing" of personal information as California law defines it.
  • No location tracking, contacts, camera or microphone access.

How long we keep it

  • Your account and synced content: until you delete them. Items you delete are removed from sync right away and permanently erased from our database within 30 days.
  • Deleting your account (Settings → Account → Delete my account) erases your account and synced content immediately. Safety-check records and AI cost records lose their link to you and are kept, de-identified, for safety and accounting.
  • Backups: our database provider keeps backups for up to 7 days, after which deleted data is gone from them too.
  • Reports you send: up to 12 months.

Your choices and rights

In the app you can:

  • see and export your data (Settings → Account → Export my data);
  • correct anything you've written by editing it;
  • delete individual items, or your whole account;
  • use the app without an account at all.

Depending on where you live (for example, the EU, UK, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia or other US states with privacy laws), you may also have the right to access, correct, delete or port your information, to object to or restrict processing, to withdraw consent, and to appeal our response. Email privacy@colosimoventures.com and we'll respond within the time the law requires (usually 30 to 45 days). We won't treat you differently for using these rights. If we can't resolve a concern, you can complain to your local data-protection authority or your state attorney general.

Legal bases (EU/UK): we process account and synced data to provide the service you asked for (contract); sensitive information with your explicit consent; safety checks and security logging for our legitimate interest in keeping people safe and the service secure; and purchase records to meet legal obligations.

International transfers: our providers may process information in the United States and other countries. Where required, we rely on safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

Children

The app isn't directed to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. You must be 13 or older (or the age of digital consent where you live, if higher) to create an account, and 17 or older to use the Companion. Reading the Bible without an account is open to everyone. If you believe a child has given us personal information, email privacy@colosimoventures.com and we'll delete it.

Security

We protect your information with encryption in transit (HTTPS), encryption at rest on our servers, row-level security so each account can reach only its own data, sign-in tokens stored in your phone's secure storage, and the least access needed for our own staff. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we'll tell you as the law requires.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll tell you in the app before the change takes effect. The date at the top shows the latest version.

Contact

Colosimo Ventures LLC
4505 Kenny Road #1041
Columbus, OH 43220
United States
privacy@colosimoventures.com