Last updated: July 31, 2026
Privacy Policy
Effective Date: July 31, 2026 Last Updated: September 3, 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"), 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.
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
- 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 works in one of two modes, which you choose:
- On-device transcription — audio is captured and transcribed entirely on your phone using Apple's on-device speech recognition. The audio never leaves your device.
- Server transcription — 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.
You can choose which mode to use, subject to device support. Regardless of mode, only the resulting transcript — not the audio — is used to build your note.
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.
1.4 Church and Leaderboard Data
If you belong to a church in the App, your display name is 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 Apple through the App Store. We do not collect or process your payment card details — see Section 4.
2. How We Use Information
We use the information described above for the following purposes:
| Purpose | Data Used |
|---|---|
| Create and manage your account | Email, hashed password, display name, username |
| Connect you to your church | Church affiliation |
| Transcribe recorded sermons | Audio (server mode only, via Cloudflare R2 and Cloudflare Workers AI, or OpenAI for long segments) |
| Generate sermon notes and devotionals | Transcript text and typed notes (via OpenAI) |
| Generate quizzes | Transcript text (via OpenAI) |
| Power the in-app AI chat | Chat text you enter, grounded in your own notes and transcripts (via OpenAI) |
| Show church leaderboard standings | Display name |
| Process subscription purchases | Handled by Apple — see Section 4 |
We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or selling to third parties.
3. How We Store Information
3.1 Account Data
Your account data (email, hashed password, display name, username, church affiliation) is stored on our backend authentication and database provider.
3.2 Recorded Audio
- On-device mode: 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.
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:
| Service Provider | Role | Data Shared |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare, Inc. (United States) | Backend worker, database, object storage (R2), and Workers AI speech-to-text (server mode) | Uploaded audio segments (server mode), transcripts, notes, chat messages, account data |
| OpenAI, L.L.C. (United States) | Generates sermon notes, quizzes, devotionals, and AI chat replies; transcribes long audio segments (server mode) | Transcript text, your typed notes, your chat messages and the notes the chat is grounded in, the note you turn into a devotional, audio segments (server mode, long segments only) |
| Apple (App Store) | Processes subscription purchases and renewals | Purchase and subscription status |
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
| Data Type | Retention Period | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Account data (email, name, username, church) | Until you delete your account | Our authentication/database provider |
| Recorded audio | Deleted once your note is generated | Cloudflare R2 (server mode only) |
| Transcripts | Until you delete your account | Our servers |
| Sermon notes, quizzes, devotionals | Until you delete them or your account | Our servers |
| Chat messages | Until you delete the conversation or your account | Our servers; OpenAI processes them transiently and does not retain them beyond abuse monitoring |
| Your AI-processing permission (allowed / declined, with the date) | Until you delete your account | Our servers |
| Subscription and billing data | Managed by Apple per their retention practices | Apple |
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 settings in the App. Deleting your account removes your server-side data, including account information, transcripts, notes, and recordings still in storage.
To request deletion of your data by other means, or if you have questions about what we hold, contact us at [email protected].
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
You can choose on-device transcription if you prefer your sermon audio never leave your phone, subject to device support.
6.4 Leaderboard Visibility
Your display name is 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.
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
- 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, Apple). 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 at any time (Section 6.2).
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
Summary Table
For quick reference, here's what Pewnote does and does not do with your data:
| Yes | No | |
|---|---|---|
| Collects your email, display name, username, and church | X | |
| Stores your password as plain text | X | |
| Records sermon audio only when you choose to | X | |
| Keeps sermon audio on-device (on-device mode) | X (your choice) | |
| Uploads audio segments to our server (server mode) | X (your choice) | |
| Retains audio after your note is generated | X | |
| Retains transcripts until you delete your account | X | |
| Asks your permission in the App before sending anything to an AI provider | X | |
| Sends transcripts and typed notes to OpenAI (notes, quizzes, devotionals) once you allow it | X | |
| Sends your AI chat messages to OpenAI once you allow it | X | |
| Sends your name, email, or church to an AI provider | X | |
| Lets you withdraw AI-processing permission in Account → AI & your data | X | |
| Shows your display name to other church members on the leaderboard | X (if you belong to a church) | |
| Lets you delete your account and data in-app | X | |
| Sells your data to third parties | X | |
| Processes your subscription payments directly | X (handled by Apple) |
