Privacy Policy

About This Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how Five Cats Development Studio LLC (“we,” “our,” or “us”) — an Iowa limited liability company based in Grundy County, Iowa (Corp No: 864705) — collects, uses, and protects information in connection with the BibleNova Android application (“the App”).

By downloading or using BibleNova, you agree to the practices described in this policy. This policy applies to the BibleNova Android app. It does not apply to third-party websites or services that the App may link to.

Questions about this policy? Contact us at nathan@5catsgamestudios.com.

Information We Do Not Collect

BibleNova is designed from the ground up to respect your privacy. We do not collect, store, or transmit any of the following:

We never use your verse notes, reflections, Legacy Vault recordings, or any other App content to train artificial-intelligence models. Your core data is stored locally; optional cloud backup (available to account-linked premium users) is scoped only to your personal account and is never used for AI training. If we ever build a feature that would use personal content for AI training, we will obtain your explicit opt-in consent first and update this policy with material-change notice in the App.

Your Data Stays on Your Device

Your verse progress, streaks, reflections, and Legacy Vault content are stored locally on your Android device. For account-linked users with cloud backup enabled (premium feature), certain data is also backed up to Firebase — see the cloud-backup exception below and the table notes.

For users without an account, all core progress remains fully local and under your control. Eligible signed-in users can selectively back up individual data categories to Firebase; each category’s backup is configured and managed independently. Disabling a backup category removes that category’s cloud data from Firebase but leaves your local on-device data untouched. Shared Packs use a separate anonymous mechanism and are not part of personal backup categories. For Shared Packs, the anonymous member data on our servers can be fully removed at any time by leaving the pack from the collection screen. Account-linked cloud backup data (individual categories or all at once) can be removed through Settings or the in-app account deletion flow (Settings › Account › Delete account — see §11). If you uninstall the App or change devices without a backup, your local App data may be lost. We recommend using Android’s built-in backup features to preserve your progress.

Bible Content & API.Bible

The full King James Version (KJV) is bundled directly into the BibleNova App and is available fully offline — no network connection is ever required to access the KJV.

All other Bible translations — including every public-domain and open-license translation (such as ASV, BSB, WEB, Geneva, Douay-Rheims, LSV, FBV, and many more, across roughly 100+ languages) as well as the two Premium translations (NKJV and CSB) — are fetched via API.Bible, a service operated by the American Bible Society. When you first open a verse in a streaming translation, the App retrieves that verse from API.Bible and caches it on your device for offline reading thereafter.

Fair Use Management System (FUMS). API.Bible requires integrating applications to report anonymous usage telemetry via its FUMS tracker so that value flows back to the copyright holders of each translation. BibleNova participates in FUMS using a randomly generated device UUID and a per-session ID. The FUMS tracker sees anonymous version usage, not who you are or what you’ve memorized. Optional hashed identifier: if you are signed in with any Firebase account — including the persistent anonymous account used for Shared Packs, or optional Google Sign-In — the app may also pass a one-way hash derived from your Firebase user ID to FUMS, as permitted by the FUMS integration specification. This is a cryptographic hash only — your raw name, email address, or any other personal information is not sent to API.Bible.

API.Bible’s own privacy practices and terms are governed by the American Bible Society. Please review:

• api.bible/privacy-policy
• api.bible/terms-and-conditions

Text-to-speech (TTS). BibleNova’s TTS playback features (verse read-aloud, Speak & Record comparison, and bedtime review) are available only for public-domain and open-license translations (such as KJV, ASV, BSB, WEB, and others). TTS is intentionally disabled for the two Premium commercial translations (NKJV and CSB) because our API.Bible license does not grant text-to-speech rights for those translations. No audio data leaves your device as a result of TTS playback — all TTS is generated locally using Android’s built-in text-to-speech engine.

For the full list of Bible translations available in BibleNova and their respective copyright notices, see our Bible Translation Credits page.

Advertising (Free Tier Only)

The free tier of BibleNova includes ads served through Google AdMob. Premium users see no ads at all — unlocking any Premium tier (monthly, yearly, or lifetime) immediately and permanently removes advertising from the App for as long as your Premium is active.

Ad formats used in the free tier:

• Banner ads — small ads displayed within certain screens of the app.
• Interstitial ads — occasional full-screen ads shown between sessions.
• App open ads — an occasional full-screen ad shown when you return to the app after it has been in the background.
• Rewarded ads — optional, user-initiated video ads you can choose to watch in exchange for in-app rewards such as a streak freeze or bonus XP. Rewarded ads never play unless you tap the corresponding button to start them.

Consent and transparency. BibleNova uses Google’s User Messaging Platform (UMP) to gather and store your ad-personalization preferences in a form that is consistent with the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) v2.2. Where required by law (including the EEA, UK, Switzerland, and US states with comprehensive privacy laws such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia), you will be shown a consent dialog the first time you launch the App.

Non-personalized by default. By default, BibleNova requests that AdMob serve non-personalized ads. Non-personalized ads are contextual — they are not targeted based on a profile of your behavior.

Changing your ad choices. You can revisit your ad-personalization choices at any time inside the App at Profile → Settings → Privacy → Privacy options. Opening that screen re-presents the UMP dialog so you can change your consent.

Google AdMob’s privacy practices are governed by Google’s Privacy Policy, available at policies.google.com/privacy.

In-App Purchases — Google Play Billing

BibleNova offers three optional Premium tiers: Premium Monthly ($3.99/month), Premium Annual ($14.99/year), and Premium Lifetime ($24.99 one-time). Any Premium tier removes ads and unlocks the NKJV and CSB translations.

All purchases — subscription renewals, lifetime purchases, restores, and refunds — are processed exclusively through the Google Play Billing system. Five Cats Studios does not receive, handle, or store your payment card number, billing address, or any other payment credentials. All financial transactions are governed by Google Play’s terms and privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy.

Optional Donations — Buy Me a Coffee

BibleNova includes an optional Buy Me a Coffee card that links to buymeacoffee.com/fivecatstudios. This is a simple external link — no data is transmitted from the App to Buy Me a Coffee, and there is no account linking between BibleNova and your Buy Me a Coffee identity. If you choose to donate, you interact with Buy Me a Coffee in your browser entirely outside the App.

Speak & Record Mode — Microphone and Speech Recognition

BibleNova’s Speak & Record game mode lets you read a Bible verse aloud and receive a score based on the transcript. To do this, the App uses Android’s built-in SpeechRecognizer API.

If you would like your speech recognition to stay on-device, you can select an on-device speech recognition service in your Android system settings (where available on your device). Audio recordings you choose to save to the Legacy Vault are a separate feature: those files are saved to your device’s local storage and are not transmitted anywhere by the App.

Android will prompt you for microphone permission the first time you use Speak & Record. You may revoke this permission at any time in Android Settings. Revoking microphone permission disables Speak & Record (and Legacy Vault audio recording); all other App functions remain available.

Daily Reminder Notifications

BibleNova can send you an optional local daily reminder notification to encourage a consistent memorization habit. These reminders are scheduled on your device using Android’s WorkManager. They are entirely local — no push-notification server is involved, and no notification content is transmitted off your device.

You can enable, disable, or change the time of daily reminders in the App’s settings at any time. On Android 13 and above, the App will request notification permission the first time you enable a reminder.

Third-Party Services

BibleNova integrates with the following third-party services. Each has its own privacy policy, which we encourage you to review. The App uses Firebase Crashlytics for crash, ANR, and non-fatal error diagnostics (see the Firebase card below). The Firebase Analytics SDK may be present for Firebase platform diagnostics and stability behavior; it is not used for ad targeting or behavioral profiling. The services listed below represent the complete set of third-party network integrations in the app.

Your Privacy Rights

Because BibleNova stores your core data locally and does not require a traditional user account, you already have direct, physical control over most of your information at all times. The persistent anonymous UID for Shared Packs can be removed from our servers by leaving any packs you’ve joined. If you have linked an account and enabled cloud backup, you can delete individual backup categories from within Settings, or delete all server-side account data at once through the in-app account deletion flow (Settings › Account › Delete account). The sections below describe the formal rights you have under applicable privacy laws.

11.1  United States — State Privacy Rights

If you are a resident of a US state with comprehensive consumer privacy legislation — including California (CCPA/CPRA), Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), Utah (UCPA), Iowa (ICDPA), Texas (TDPSA), Oregon (OCPA), Tennessee (TIPA), Montana (MCDPA), Indiana (ICDPA), New Jersey (NJDPA), Delaware (DPDPA), New Hampshire (NHDPA), Nebraska (NDPA), Maryland (MODPA), Minnesota (MCDPA), Kentucky (KCDPA), and Rhode Island (RIDTPPA) — or another US state whose comprehensive privacy law applies, you have the right to:

• Know / Access. Request confirmation of what personal information we process about you. For most users, this is limited to a persistent anonymous UID for Shared Packs (no PII). Users who have opted in to account sign-in or cloud backup may also have account identifiers, profile display name, and cloud-backed personal data processed — all described in §3 and §10.
• Delete. Request deletion of any personal information we hold. Uninstalling the App achieves this for locally stored data; leaving Shared Packs removes your anonymous member data from our servers. If you have an account with cloud backup, you can delete cloud data for individual backup categories from within Settings, or delete all server-side account data at once through the in-app account deletion flow (Settings › Account › Delete account). For anything else, contact us.
• Correct. Request correction of inaccurate personal information.
• Portability. Request a copy of your personal information in a portable format.
• Opt out of sale / sharing / targeted advertising. We do not sell or share personal information. Ads in the free tier are non-personalized by default; you can change your ad choices at any time at Profile → Settings → Privacy → Privacy options.
• Non-discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

To exercise any of these rights, email nathan@5catsgamestudios.com. You may also designate an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf, subject to reasonable verification.

11.2  EEA, UK, and Switzerland — GDPR / UK GDPR / FADP

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have the following rights with respect to any personal data we process about you:

• The right of access (Article 15 GDPR).
• The right to rectification (Article 16).
• The right to erasure (“right to be forgotten,” Article 17).
• The right to restriction of processing (Article 18).
• The right to data portability (Article 20).
• The right to object to processing (Article 21), including for direct marketing.
• The right to withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
• The right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

Legal bases for processing (Article 6 GDPR). Where we process personal data of users in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, our legal bases are:

• Consent (Article 6(1)(a)) for ad personalization choices made through the Google UMP dialog and for any optional features that require it.
• Performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b)) for processing of in-app purchases via Google Play Billing.
• Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) for the basic operation of the App, including caching Bible content for offline reading, reporting anonymous usage to API.Bible's FUMS, and coordinating anonymous Shared Pack group progress via a persistent UID. We have balanced these interests against your rights and believe the processing is minimal, expected, and non-intrusive.

Because BibleNova stores your core data locally and does not require an account for core use, most users share very limited data with us (a persistent anonymous UID for Shared Packs). Users who opt in to account sign-in or cloud backup may also have account identifiers, profile display name, and cloud-backed personal data processed — those data categories are covered by the rights listed above. Ad-related processing by Google AdMob via UMP/TCF v2.2 is governed by the consent choices you make in the UMP dialog. To exercise any GDPR right, email nathan@5catsgamestudios.com.

11.3  Brazil — Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (LGPD)

If you are in Brazil, you may have rights under the LGPD to: confirmation of processing, access, correction, anonymization or blocking, deletion, portability, information about sharing, and the right to revoke consent. You may also file a complaint with the ANPD (Autoridade Nacional de Proteção de Dados). To exercise rights with us, email the address in the Contact section. Where Google or other processors hold data, you may also use their tools (e.g. Google account controls).

11.4  Canada, Australia, and Other Countries

Canada: If you are in Canada, you may have rights under PIPEDA or applicable provincial laws (e.g. Quebec’s Law 25 / Law 64). Contact us as described in the Contact section; you may also use Google’s and other processors’ access tools where available.

Australia: If you are in Australia, you may have rights under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles. You may contact the OAIC (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner) with privacy complaints at oaic.gov.au.

Other countries: Residents of other countries may have local rights; we will respond in line with applicable law when you contact us and where we can verify your request.

Children’s Privacy

BibleNova is not directed at children under 13 (or under the applicable age of digital consent in your jurisdiction, which may be 16 in parts of the EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. The core app is local-first and requires no account; most users share no personal information with us at all. Optional account-linked features (Google or email/password sign-in) can involve personal data such as name, email, or account identifiers for users who choose to sign in — we do not knowingly permit children under 13 to use these features.

If you believe a child has used the App in a way that resulted in personal information being collected, please contact us at nathan@5catsgamestudios.com and we will take prompt steps to address it.

Data Retention

Local App data — progress, streaks, reflections, Legacy Vault, cached Bible text, settings — is retained on your device until you clear it from within Android (via Android’s App Storage controls) or uninstall the App. Uninstalling permanently removes all locally stored App data.

Persistent anonymous UID for Shared Packs — This identifier is created only the first time you create or join a Shared Pack. It is retained locally on your device (in DataStore) for a seamless experience across app restarts. The associated anonymous member progress data in our Firestore database is retained only while you participate in Shared Packs. Leaving a Shared Pack (or all of them) removes your member data from our servers.

Account-linked cloud backup data (userBackups and userBackupLegacyAudio) — Retained per category for as long as your account exists and backup is enabled for the relevant category. Because backup is configured per-category, disabling a specific category immediately deletes that category’s cloud data from Firebase upon your confirmation — your local on-device data for that category is not affected. If you re-enable a category later, local data can be backed up again. If your premium subscription lapses, cloud backup sync writes may pause [CONFIRM: are existing cloud-backup categories retained read-only or fully inaccessible when subscription lapses?]; existing cloud backup data is retained and sync can resume if premium is restored. You can delete all cloud backup data at any time through the in-app account deletion flow (Settings › Account › Delete account).

Account-linked profile data and backup preferences (userProfiles) — Your profile display name and cloud-backup category preferences are retained for as long as your account exists. Deleted when you delete your account via the in-app flow.

In-app support & safety reports (bug reports, feature suggestions, trust/safety reports) — Retained in our Firebase project for as long as necessary to address the report, then deleted. We do not use these reports for advertising or AI training.

Cached Bible translations are refreshed every 30 days per our agreement with API.Bible, and you can clear the cache at any time from the App’s settings.

FUMS telemetry sent to API.Bible (anonymous device UUID + session ID + version usage) is retained by the American Bible Society per its own retention schedule; see the API.Bible privacy policy.

Ad-request data handled by Google AdMob is retained by Google per the Google Privacy Policy and any consent you’ve provided via UMP.

Security

BibleNova’s offline-first architecture means the vast majority of your data (verse progress, reflections, Legacy Vault, etc.) never leaves your device — which is the strongest privacy protection we can offer. For users without an account, the only data that reaches our servers is the limited, fully anonymous Shared Packs coordination data tied to your persistent UID. Account-linked premium users who enable cloud backup may also have personal progress, reflections, profile data, and Legacy Vault audio stored server-side in Firebase — as described in §3 and §10. For all data in transit, we use HTTPS/TLS encryption.

Local data is protected by Android’s application sandbox, which isolates each app’s files from other apps on the device. We recommend using a screen lock on your phone and keeping Android updated to benefit from the latest platform security patches.

International data transfers. Some of the third-party services described in §10 (notably Google AdMob, Firebase/Firestore for Shared Packs anonymous data, account-linked profile and cloud backup data, and the Google speech recognizer that backs Android’s SpeechRecognizer) may process limited data outside your home country, including in the United States. Google self-certifies under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, the UK Extension, and the Swiss–US framework, and uses Standard Contractual Clauses where required for transfers from the EEA, UK, and Switzerland; see Google’s privacy policy for details. API.Bible / American Bible Society is a US-based service; FUMS telemetry and Firebase anonymous UID data sent there contain only anonymous identifiers with no PII as described above.

Security-incident notification. No system is perfectly secure. If we become aware of a security incident that materially affects your data, we will provide notice within the App and on our website within the timeframes required by applicable law (for example, GDPR Article 33's 72-hour supervisory-authority window for qualifying breaches, and US state notification laws as applicable). If you believe you have found a security issue in BibleNova, please contact us at nathan@5catsgamestudios.com.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time as the App evolves. When we do, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page and, for material changes, provide notice within the App. Continued use of BibleNova after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

Version support and required updates. When an installed version of the App is no longer supported, BibleNova may require you to update before you can continue using it. A required update does not by itself change what data is collected or how it is used; the privacy policy in effect for the updated version governs going forward.