LEGAL DOCUMENTATION

Privacy Policy

Last Updated: August 24, 2026

1. Introduction & Statutory Compliance

Welcome to Altar Suite GH. We are dedicated to safeguarding the confidentiality, privacy, and security of the data entrusted to us by churches, ministries, and Christian organizations. This Privacy Policy outlines our principles regarding the collection, storage, processing, third-party interaction, and lifecycle management of your ministry information and congregational records.

Altar Suite GH processes personal and organizational data in full compliance with the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) of the Republic of Ghana, applying principles of lawfulness, data minimization, purpose limitation, and robust technical safeguards.

2. Information We Collect

We collect only the information required to provide a comprehensive, reliable church management operating system. The categories of data processed include:

  • Administrator & Church Profile Data: Church/organization name, administrative contact name, email address, phone number, designated SMS Sender ID, subscription period status, and available SMS unit balances.
  • Account Credentials & Authentication: Encrypted authentication tokens, email verification status, password hashes managed securely through Google Firebase Authentication, and moderator role delegation records.
  • Congregation & Member Records: Full names, phone numbers, Ghana Post GPS digital addresses, geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude), gender, dates of birth, department/fellowship assignments, join dates, and profile metadata uploaded directly or via bulk CSV imports.
  • Financial Ledger & Giving Records: Logged contribution entries across Tithes, Offerings, Welfare/Dues, Pledges, Special Appeals, and operational Expenses, as well as generated member giving statement records.
  • Event & Attendance Logs: Event titles, program categories, recurring service schedules, locations, manual check-in timestamps, and public QR Code self check-in access logs.
  • Communication & SMS Data: Broadcast messages, direct SMS dispatches, scheduled message queues, encoding telemetry (GSM-7 vs UCS-2), dynamic template variables, and automated message triggers (welcome greetings and payment acknowledgments).
  • AI Clerical Queries & Prompts: Prompt text and questions submitted to the Ministry Copilot or sermon drafter. Note: Ministry Copilot database queries execute locally within your browser's IndexedDB cache; full member databases are never uploaded or shared with external model trainers.

3. How We Use Your Information

We process collected data strictly to deliver, maintain, and enhance Altar Suite GH features for your ministry:

  • Authenticating authorized personnel and enforcing strict multi-tenant database isolation (Role-Based Access Rules).
  • Dispatching immediate, direct, or automated recurring SMS announcements to your congregation.
  • Executing automated SMS workflows (e.g., automated welcome greetings and instant payment acknowledgment receipts).
  • Plotting congregation geographic distribution on the interactive Member Map to optimize cell group and outreach planning.
  • Powering AI pastoral assistance (Ministry Copilot clerical workflows, Sermon Generator outlines, SMS Magic Draft, and message polish refiners).
  • Processing SMS unit topups and subscription renewals securely through Paystack.
  • Tracking service presence metrics, attendee counts, and calculating Church Health Score vitality indices.
  • Generating printable, official Member Giving Statements in PDF format for church accounting and member tax or reporting needs.

4. Data Retention & Automated Lifecycle Policy (365-Day TTL)

To ensure high database responsiveness, query speed, and adherence to data minimization standards, Altar Suite GH enforces an automated 1-Year (365-Day) Time-To-Live (TTL) Data Retention Policy:

  • Financial & Attendance Transactions: Financial ledger transactions and event attendance records are retained for exactly 365 days from creation, after which older records are automatically pruned from active collections.
  • Export Responsibility: Administrators are strongly advised to periodically export financial transaction reports and attendance records to CSV and PDF formats (using our Giving Statement PDF Generator and Export CSV tools) for permanent offline archiving and legal auditing.
  • Permanent Profile Data: Active member records, department groupings, automations, custom templates, and moderator configurations remain stored as long as your account remains active.

5. Data Sharing & Third-Party Service Providers

Altar Suite GH never sells, rents, or monetizes your ministry data or member records. We interact strictly with trusted, enterprise infrastructure providers essential for system operations:

  • Payment Processor (Paystack): Financial billing transactions for SMS topups and subscriptions are processed directly through Paystack. Altar Suite GH does not store credit card details or Mobile Money PINs on our servers.
  • Hosting & Database Infrastructure (Google Cloud / Firebase): Primary authentication, multi-tenant Firestore database storage, and Cloud Functions are hosted on Google Cloud infrastructure.
  • Artificial Intelligence Services (Google Cloud / Google Gemini): AI-assisted features process textual prompts to generate structured copies and outlines. No raw financial credentials, banking details, or full member databases are transmitted to third-party AI models.
  • SMS Telecom Gateways & NCA Compliance: Message payloads and registered Sender IDs are transmitted through licensed SMS gateways compliant with the National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana.
  • Legal & Regulatory Disclosure: We may disclose data if required by law or in response to a valid legal process issued by Ghanaian judicial or regulatory authorities.

6. Data Security & Access Controls

We deploy robust technical and organizational security controls to protect your data:

  • Multi-Tenant Isolation: Firestore security rules strictly isolate all database documents by Account ID, guaranteeing that no organization can ever view, query, or access another ministry's records.
  • Granular Role-Based Permissions: Account Owners hold exclusive control over critical actions, while Moderator sub-accounts operate strictly under restricted privileges assigned by the Account Owner.
  • Email Verification Requirement: Account creation requires mandatory email verification via our /verify/ gateway prior to system activation.
  • Encrypted Communications: All network traffic between your device, our web servers, and third-party gateways is encrypted using industry-standard TLS/HTTPS protocols.

7. Your Rights Under Ghana Data Protection Act (Act 843)

Under the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), platform administrators and congregation members whose data is processed have specific rights:

  • Right to Access: View and review all stored member profiles, financial entries, and attendance records.
  • Right to Rectification: Update, correct, or refine outdated member details, contact numbers, or addresses anytime.
  • Right to Data Portability: Export complete membership databases, financial ledgers, and attendance archives to standard CSV/PDF formats.
  • Right to Erasure & Account Deletion: Request complete deletion of your account and associated records by contacting our support hotline at 0248 400 087.

8. Cookies & Local Storage

Altar Suite GH utilizes essential session tokens, browser localStorage, and IndexedDB solely to maintain authenticated sessions, cache active church datasets for rapid offline-first responsiveness, and preserve user preferences (such as dark/light mode themes).

9. Policy Updates

We may periodically update this Privacy Policy to reflect platform enhancements or regulatory adjustments. Material changes will be published on this page with an updated "Last Updated" timestamp.

10. Contact & Support

If you have questions, feedback, or data privacy inquiries regarding Altar Suite GH, please reach out to our team:

Hotline: 0248 400 087
Portal: altarsuitegh.web.app