Privacy Policy

Effective Date: July 31, 2026 Last Updated: September 10, 2026

Pewbeam Technologies Limited, trading as Pewbeam ("Pewbeam", "we", "us", "our"), is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share information when you use the Pewnote mobile application ("the App", "Pewnote", "the Software") on iOS or Android, the mobile companion to the Pewbeam desktop application.

By using Pewnote, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Software.

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1. Information We Collect

1.1 Account Information

When you create a Pewnote account, we collect:

• Email address
• Password — stored only as a salted hash; we never store or have access to your plain-text password
• Display name
• Username
• Avatar choice — one of the App's built-in avatars; you never upload a photo
• Church affiliation — the church (if any) you join or are associated with in the App

1.2 Personal Sermon Recording

Pewnote lets members without a Pewbeam operator in their church record a sermon and receive a note generated from it. Recording only starts when you tap Record, and the App shows a persistent notification (Android) or Live Activity (iOS) for as long as it is recording. Transcription works in one of two modes:

• On-device transcription (iOS only) — audio is captured and transcribed entirely on your iPhone using Apple's on-device speech recognition. The audio never leaves your device.
• Server transcription (Android, and iOS when on-device transcription is unavailable or you choose it) — audio is captured in roughly 60-second segments and uploaded to our server, where it is stored temporarily in Cloudflare R2 storage and transcribed by Cloudflare Workers AI (running OpenAI's open Whisper model on Cloudflare's infrastructure). Segments too long for Workers AI are transcribed by OpenAI's speech-to-text API instead.

On iOS you can choose which mode to use, subject to device support. On Android, transcription always happens on our server. Regardless of mode, only the resulting transcript — not the audio — is used to build your note.

On Android you may also choose to record audio that is playing on your phone (for example a livestream) instead of the microphone. This uses Android's screen-and-audio capture permission; Pewnote captures audio only, never your screen, and only while the recording is running.

1.3 Transcripts, Notes, and AI Processing

The transcript from a recorded sermon, together with any notes you type yourself, are sent to third-party AI providers to generate:

• Your sermon note, quizzes, devotionals, and responses in the in-app AI chat — all generated by OpenAI

When you use the in-app AI chat, the text you type is also sent to OpenAI to generate a response. When you turn a note into a devotional plan, the text of that note is sent to OpenAI.

We never send your name, email address, username, or church to an AI provider. Only the content named above is shared, and only for the feature you are using.

1.3.1 Your permission comes first

Pewnote does not send any of your content to an AI provider until you have agreed to it in the App. The first time you start a sermon recording, send an AI chat message, or create a devotional from a note, Pewnote shows a consent screen that names what is sent, who receives it, and why, and asks for your permission. If you choose "Not now", those AI features stay off and nothing is sent. You can allow or withdraw this permission at any time in Account → AI & your data (see Section 6.2). Sermon notes your church publishes through Pewbeam are generated from the church's own recording, not from your content, and do not require this permission.

1.3.2 Reporting AI-generated content

If a generated note, quiz question, devotional, or chat reply is inaccurate or offensive, you can report it from that screen. A report sends us the identifier of the content and the words you type in the report — never the content of your other notes or conversations.

1.4 Church and Leaderboard Data

If you belong to a church in the App, your display name and avatar are visible to other members of that church, including on the church leaderboard.

1.5 Subscription Information

Purchases of Pewnote Plus and all subscription status, billing, and renewal are handled entirely by the app store you bought it from — Apple through the App Store on iOS, or Google through Google Play on Android. We receive only a purchase confirmation and the subscription's status (active, in a free trial, expired), which we store so the App can unlock Plus features. We do not collect or process your payment card details — see Section 4.

1.6 Usage Analytics

To understand which features are used and to find bugs, Pewnote sends product analytics to PostHog, hosted in the United States. Analytics record what you did, never what you wrote:

• Events such as "note saved", "quiz completed", "devotional read", or "screen viewed", with counts, durations, and identifiers (for example, a note id or a session id)
• Your account details as a profile: email address, display name, username, church, whether you have Pewnote Plus, chosen appearance, quiz difficulty, whether notifications are on, and your platform (iOS or Android)
• Basic device information collected by the analytics library: device model, operating system version, app version, and locale
• Error reports containing the type of error and the operation that failed — never the content involved

Analytics never contain the text of your notes, transcripts, chat messages, or searches. Session replay (recording your screen) is turned off and is never used. Analytics are not used for advertising and are not shared with advertisers.

You can turn usage analytics off at any time in Account → AI & your data (see Section 6.5).

1.7 Push Notifications

If you turn on notifications, we store a device push token issued by Apple (APNs) on iOS or Google (Firebase Cloud Messaging) on Android so we can deliver reminders and church announcements to your device. The token identifies the App on your device only; it contains no personal information, and it is deleted when you sign out, turn notifications off, or delete your account.

1.8 Support Requests

When you report an issue from Account → Get help, or by shaking your phone, we receive the message you type, your account email, and your device and app version. If you choose to attach a screenshot, that image is sent too — check it does not contain anything you would rather keep private before attaching it.

2. How We Use Information

We use the information described above for the following purposes:

We do not use your data for advertising, profiling for advertising purposes, or selling to third parties.

3. How We Store Information

3.1 Account Data

Your account data (email, hashed password, display name, username, avatar, church affiliation, subscription status) is stored on our backend authentication and database provider.

3.2 Recorded Audio

• On-device mode (iOS): audio never leaves your phone and is not stored on our servers.
• Server mode: uploaded audio segments are stored temporarily in Cloudflare R2 solely to perform transcription. Audio is deleted once your sermon note has been generated.

3.3 Transcripts

Transcripts generated from your recordings are retained on our servers so your note, quiz, devotional, and chat grounding remain available to you. Transcripts are retained until you delete your account, at which point they are deleted along with your other server-side data.

3.4 On Your Device

The App keeps a local copy of your notes, drafts, bookmarks, highlights, and chat conversations so it works offline. On Android, these are excluded from Google's automatic device backup; on iOS they are protected by your device's encryption. Your sign-in token is stored in the platform's secure keystore.

4. How We Share Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties.

We share data only with the following service providers, solely to provide the Software's features:

Each provider processes data solely for the purpose described above and only to the extent needed to provide that function, and each is bound by terms that require it to protect your data at least as strongly as this policy does. We use OpenAI through its business API, whose terms state that content submitted through the API is not used to train its models and is retained only transiently for abuse monitoring. Cloudflare Workers AI does not retain or train on the audio it transcribes. Your name, email, username, and church are never sent to OpenAI.

AI providers only receive your content after you have given permission in the App (Section 1.3.1). You can withdraw that permission at any time (Section 6.2).

We may also disclose information if required to do so by law, court order, or governmental request, or if we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.

5. Data Retention

6. Your Rights and Choices

6.1 Account and Data Deletion

You can delete your account and all associated data at any time from Account → Delete account in the App. Deleting your account removes your server-side data, including account information, transcripts, notes, quizzes, devotionals, chat conversations, push tokens, subscription status, and recordings still in storage. Deletion takes effect immediately on our servers; copies held by our service providers are removed within 30 days per their retention terms above.

If you no longer have the App installed, or cannot sign in, you can request deletion at pewbeam.com/pewnote/delete-account or by emailing [email protected] from the address on your account. We complete such requests within 30 days.

Deleting your Pewnote account does not cancel a Pewnote Plus subscription. Cancel it in your App Store or Google Play subscription settings first, or you may continue to be billed.

6.2 Withdrawing Your Permission for AI Processing

You decide whether your content is sent to AI providers. Open Account → AI & your data in the App to see exactly what is shared and with whom, and to turn AI processing on or off. Turning it off takes effect immediately: Pewnote stops sending your recordings, notes, and chat messages to OpenAI, and the recording, AI chat, and devotional-creation features are unavailable until you turn it back on. Notes, quizzes, and devotionals that were already generated remain in your account until you delete them. Withdrawing permission does not delete content a provider has already processed transiently; see Section 4 for their retention commitments.

6.3 Choice of Recording Mode

On iOS you can choose on-device transcription if you prefer your sermon audio never leave your phone, subject to device support. On Android, server transcription is the only mode; if you would rather your audio not be uploaded, do not use the recording feature — every other part of Pewnote works without it.

6.4 Leaderboard Visibility

Your display name and avatar are visible to other members of your church on the leaderboard whenever you belong to a church. There is currently no way to hide your display name from fellow church members while remaining part of that church's leaderboard; you can leave the church from Account at any time.

6.5 Turning Off Usage Analytics

Open Account → AI & your data and turn off Share usage analytics. Pewnote stops sending analytics events immediately. Analytics already collected are kept per Section 5 and are deleted with your account.

6.6 Notifications

You can turn notifications on or off in Account or in your device's notification settings at any time.

6.7 Access and Correction

You can view and edit your display name, username, and avatar in Account → Edit profile. To ask what data we hold about you, or to correct anything you cannot change in the App, email [email protected].

7. Children's Privacy

Pewnote is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at [email protected] and we will take steps to delete such information.

8. Security

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your data:

• Password storage: passwords are stored only as salted hashes, never in plain text
• Transport encryption: all data transmitted to and from our servers and third-party services uses HTTPS/TLS encryption
• Sign-in tokens: stored in the iOS Keychain or the Android Keystore, and excluded from device backups
• Minimized audio retention: uploaded audio is deleted as soon as it has served its purpose (transcription and note generation)

However, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.

9. International Data Transfers

Your data may be processed by service providers located in other countries, including the United States (Cloudflare, OpenAI, PostHog, Apple, Google) and France (Brevo). By using the Software, and by giving permission for AI processing in the App, you consent to such transfers. Our service providers maintain appropriate safeguards for international data transfers, and you can withdraw permission for AI processing and turn off analytics at any time (Sections 6.2 and 6.5).

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you through the Software or by other reasonable means. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy indicates when it was last revised.

Your continued use of Pewnote after changes to this policy constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your data, contact us at:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: pewbeam.com
• Legal Entity: Pewbeam Technologies Limited

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Summary Table

For quick reference, here's what Pewnote does and does not do with your data: