Empty Vessels
Version: 1.0
Effective date: Ready as of 2026-05-25 (becomes active upon publication at the URL below).
Hosted at: https://emptyvessels.app/privacy
Empty Vessels ("we," "us," "the app") is a service for managing your prayer life. You can save personal prayer requests that only you can see, and you can post shared prayer requests to small, private groups of trusted users (which we call circles). This policy describes what personal data we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and what choices you have.
We tried to write this in plain language. Where we had to use legal phrasing, we kept it brief.
If anything here is unclear, contact us at support@emptyvessels.app.
Empty Vessels is operated by Jared Cochran, an individual developer based in Indiana, United States. We are not currently incorporated as a separate legal entity. If that changes, this section will be updated.
Contact for privacy questions: support@emptyvessels.app
This policy applies to the Empty Vessels mobile app (iOS, and Android when released) and to the emptyvessels.app website. It does not apply to third-party services that you might reach through the app (for example, if you click an external link).
We collect only what we need to operate the app. Specifically:
When you create an account, we collect the following, depending on the sign-in method you choose:
xxxx@privaterelay.appleid.com instead of your real email).You provide, and we store:
If the app crashes or hits an unhandled error, we collect a crash report through a third-party crash-reporting service (Sentry — see Section 6). This report includes the stack trace, your device model, OS version, app version, and a short trail of recent in-app actions ("breadcrumbs"). We configure the crash reporter to scrub personally identifying fields from these reports and we disable IP-address collection on Sentry's side. Crash reports are still associated with your app installation, but we make best-effort to avoid linking them directly to your account.
We use the information described above only for the following purposes:
We do not use your data for advertising, tracking, profiling, or sale to third parties. We do not sell personal data. We do not "share" personal data for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are defined under California and other state privacy laws.
We use the following third-party services to operate Empty Vessels. Each of them sees some subset of your data as part of providing their service. We do not share data with anyone for marketing or any purpose unrelated to operating the app.
Supabase is our backend — it hosts the database, authentication system, file storage, and serverless functions that power the app. Supabase has access to nearly all data described in Section 4, since their servers are where it lives.
If you sign in with phone, we use Twilio to deliver the SMS one-time code. Twilio sees your phone number, the message content (the OTP), delivery timestamps, and carrier metadata. Twilio retains these records on their side in accordance with their own retention policies regardless of what we do.
Apple's privacy policy: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/
Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Sentry is our crash-reporting provider. Sentry receives crash reports as described in Section 4.5. We configure Sentry to disable IP collection and to scrub personally identifying fields from event payloads before they are sent.
Expo provides the development and build infrastructure for the app (the build process and source maps). Expo also operates the Expo Push Service, which relays our push notifications to Apple's Push Notification service (and, on Android when released, Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging) for delivery to your device. This means the content of a push notification passes through Expo's servers on its way to you.
By default, a notification can include the name of the person and the circle involved in the activity — for example, “Sarah shared a new prayer in Family Circle.” You can turn this off in Settings → Notifications (“Show details in notifications”), after which notification bodies are generic — for example, “New prayer in one of your circles.” Push notifications never contain the text of a prayer. Aside from operating the push relay, Expo's access is limited to build-time logs and developer tooling telemetry.
We may disclose information if compelled by a valid legal process (subpoena, court order, etc.), to protect the safety of users or the public, or to investigate fraud or abuse. We will resist overbroad requests and will give users notice where the law permits.
If Empty Vessels is ever acquired, merged into another entity, or transferred in any business transaction, the new operator will be bound by this policy or an equivalent one. We will notify users before any material change in ownership takes effect.
You can delete your Empty Vessels account at any time from within the app: Settings → Account → Delete Account.
When you delete your account:
Account deletion is permanent. We cannot recover a deleted account.
If you only want to leave a circle without deleting your account, you can do that from the circle's settings.
Depending on where you live, you may have specific legal rights regarding your data, including:
To exercise any of these rights, email support@emptyvessels.app. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.
We do not discriminate against users who exercise their privacy rights.
If you are a California resident, the rights listed in Section 9 apply to you under the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act. In addition:
You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. We will require reasonable proof of the agent's authority.
If you use Empty Vessels from outside the United States, data protection laws in the United States may differ from those in your country. By using the app, you understand and acknowledge that your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States. The legal bases for this processing are listed below.
Empty Vessels is designed for individual use and for small private groups, and is not currently optimized for large-scale international use. If you are an EEA or UK resident, you have rights under the GDPR or UK GDPR, including the rights listed in Section 9. The legal bases on which we process your data are:
You may complain to your local data protection authority if you believe we have violated your rights.
Empty Vessels is not directed to children. Users must be at least 13 years old to create an account. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 13. If we learn that we have collected data from a user under 13, we will delete it. If you believe a user under 13 has created an account, please contact us at support@emptyvessels.app.
Users between 13 and the age of majority in their jurisdiction should use the app with a parent or guardian's awareness and consent.
We use reasonable security measures to protect your data:
No security measure is perfect, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. We do not promise to detect every breach immediately, but if a breach affecting your data does occur, we will notify you and, where required by law, the relevant authorities, within the timeframes the law requires.
When you write prayer requests — personal or shared — you may include information about people other than yourself, such as a family member who is ill or a friend going through a hard time. Please be thoughtful: share only what those people would be comfortable with you sharing. Avoid sharing specific medical, legal, or financial details about identifiable third parties (full names plus diagnoses, addresses, account numbers, and similar) without their consent. If a third party contacts us with concerns about content shared about them, we may need to remove that content.
We may change this policy from time to time. When we make a material change (changing what we collect, who we share it with, how disputes are resolved, the age minimum, or the governing law), we will:
For minor changes (typos, formatting, clarifications that don't change meaning), we will update the date but may not notify users.
If you do not agree with a material change, you can delete your account before the change takes effect.
For any question about this policy, or to exercise any of your rights:
Email: support@emptyvessels.app Postal mail: Available on request; email us first.
We will respond to privacy inquiries within 30 days. For urgent issues (suspected breaches, ongoing harm), please mark your email as urgent.
| Version | Date | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 2026-05-25 | Initial version, drafted as part of EMP-10. Not yet published. |