Pearl — Privacy Policy

Pearl is a book of remembrance for Christians — a private place for your own spiritual life. Privacy isn't a feature we bolted on; it's the premise. This policy explains what we collect, why, and the promises we will not unmake.

Plain-language summary. Your captures, prayers, and reflections are yours. We don't sell your data, we don't train AI on your spiritual life, and we don't embed advertising or third-party trackers. We store what's needed to run the app and sync it to your devices — nothing more.

Who we are

Pearl is a product of Ascher Studios LLC (Missouri, USA), the data controller ("we", "us") for the information described here. Contact us any time at hello@ascherstudios.com.

What we collect

Information you give us

• Account — your email address (via Sign in with Apple or email sign-in) and an optional display name.
• Your content — the captures you create (notes, prayers, scripture, quotes, songs, events, and the optional photos and voice memos you attach), along with prayers, people you carry, intentions, vision, and evening reviews.
• Preferences — theme, accent color, and whether daily reminders are on.

Information created automatically

• Operational data needed to run the service (e.g. timestamps and sync state on your records). We do not use third-party analytics, advertising SDKs, or behavioral trackers.

We do not collect contacts, location, or device advertising identifiers.

How your information is used

Only to provide Pearl: to authenticate you, store and sync your content across your devices, render your book, and send the gentle reminders you opt into. That's it.

Where it's stored

Your text content — captures, prayers, people you carry, intentions, vision, and evening reviews — is stored with Supabase (our database, authentication, and sync provider) and transmitted over encrypted connections (TLS) so it syncs across your devices. A copy is also kept on your device so the app works offline.

Photos and voice memos stay on your device. They are saved in Pearl's private storage on your phone and are never uploaded to our servers — they do not leave your device through Pearl.

Notifications

Reminders are on-device local notifications (a morning anchor and an evening review prompt). We do not operate a push server and do not collect push tokens. You can turn reminders off any time in Settings.

Third parties we rely on

We share data only with the infrastructure providers required to run the app, never with advertisers or data brokers:

• Supabase — database, authentication, and sync of your text content (photos and voice memos are not uploaded).
• Apple — Sign in with Apple (we receive only the identifiers Apple provides).
• ESV API (Crossway) — when you look up a verse, we send the reference (e.g. "John 1:1") to fetch the passage. We do not send your identity or other content.
• Expo — application builds and over-the-air updates.

What we will never do

• Never sell your data.
• Never train AI models on your prayers or captures.
• Never embed third-party trackers, ad SDKs, or behavioral analytics.
• Never share your content with other users by default — Pearl is private; there are no public profiles, no leaderboards, no social feed.

Your choices and rights

• Access & export. Request a full copy of your data by emailing hello@ascherstudios.com.
• Delete. Delete your account and all its content from within the app (You → Delete account). This permanently removes your account — including your email address — and all your content from our systems. You may also email us to request deletion.
• Correction. Edit or remove any capture, prayer, person, or reflection directly in the app.
• Reminders. Toggle notifications on or off in Settings at any time.

Depending on where you live (e.g. the EEA, UK, or California), you may have additional rights to access, correct, delete, or restrict processing of your data, and to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. Email us to exercise any of these.

Children

Pearl is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.

Data retention

We keep your content for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account, we delete your content from our systems.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we'll update the date above and, for material changes, notify you in the app.

Contact

Questions about your privacy? Email hello@ascherstudios.com.