Elowen — Privacy Policy
Effective date: 23 August 2026 Who we are: Elowen ("we", "us") — an independent app developer based in the United Kingdom. The developer's legal identity is shown as the seller on the App Store listing and is available on request. Contact: elowen.app.official@gmail.com
Elowen is built to need as little of your data as possible. There are no accounts, no advertising, no analytics trackers, and your journal never leaves your phone.
1. What we collect and why
You don't create an account. We do not collect your email address, phone number, or real identity. The app generates a random anonymous identifier on your device, used only to enforce the one-question-per-day rhythm and the app's fair-use limits, and to remember which shared stories and reflections have already been offered to you (so you aren't given the same one twice). It is not linked to your name, device identity, or Apple ID.
If you subscribe to Elowen Premium, the app sends Apple's signed proof of purchase to our server so we can confirm the subscription is real. That proof carries Apple's transaction number, which we keep beside your anonymous identifier for up to 60 days so it need not be re-checked at every launch. It contains no name, email address, or Apple ID, and we never see your payment details — Apple handles all billing.
When you ask your daily question, the following is sent to our server and processed to write your answer: the first name you entered in the app, your question text, your anonymous identifier, and the current date. Your question and its answer are then stored only on your device, in your private journal. We do not keep copies of your questions or answers on our servers; our server retains only an anonymous "already-asked-today" marker, which is automatically deleted within 48 hours.
If iCloud is available on your device, your on-phone stores — your profile (first name), journal, saved stories, quiet-time pieces, your "Those You Carry" list, your walk, and your memorisation and word-search progress — are also mirrored into your personal iCloud (Apple's servers, under your Apple ID) so they can follow you to a new iPhone. We have no access to your iCloud; Apple's iCloud terms apply to that copy.
When you create a bedtime story, your chosen animal friends and the first name(s) you entered are sent to our server: the name is used only in the spoken hello and goodnight, never inside the story itself. Stories are written name-free, and a story written for one family is kept on our server and may be offered to other families too — the same tale can tuck in many children. Still Waters theme pieces work the same way.
When you use the narrator voice, the text being read is sent to a voice provider to generate audio. So that the same reading never has to be generated twice, that audio is stored on our server and streamed to anyone who asks for the very same text. The spoken greeting and goodnight clips ("Hello, …") are filed under the first-name text alone — one clip serves every family using that name, and none of it is linked to you or your device. Audio is not kept on your phone unless you tap "Keep offline".
Private pieces stay private. A Still Waters piece written for you alone — because you typed what's on your heart — is never stored on our server, and its narration is generated without storing anything. It lives on your phone only; delete it and it's gone for good. (The guardian-angel telling is written without your name and is shared like the theme pieces.)
When you use A Stranger's Prayer, the only thing sent to our server is the one category you tapped — chosen from a fixed list of eight — together with your anonymous identifier. You never type anything, so there are no words, no names, no locations, and nothing at all from your own "Those You Carry" list, which is never sent to our servers. Another user is then invited to pray; they are shown only that someone has asked for prayer. The category shapes the words of the prayer they are offered but is never displayed to them, they learn nothing whatsoever about you or your device, and they cannot reply or contact you. When someone prays, your intention is marked as prayed for — that single mark is all we keep, and it carries no time and no count. A waiting intention is deleted automatically after about seven days, and you can end yours at any moment, which deletes it straight away.
If — and only if — you ask to be told when someone has prayed, your device also gives us a push notification token: an identifier Apple issues to this app on this iPhone, so a notification can reach it. We store that token alongside your anonymous identifier and nothing else, and we use it for one purpose only: to send the words "Someone prayed for you." the first time a stranger prays for your intention. It is never used for reminders, marketing, or any other message, and it tells us nothing about you, your location, or what you do in the app. Turn the setting off (Settings → "A stranger's prayer") and the token is deleted from our server immediately; it is also deleted automatically if Apple tells us the device no longer accepts our notifications.
2. Sensitive information
Questions you ask may reveal information about your religious beliefs, emotional state, or health. We use this information solely to generate your answer in that moment. We do not build profiles, do not use your questions for advertising, and do not sell or share your data with anyone except the service providers below, to the extent needed to answer you. By asking a question, you consent to this processing.
3. Service providers
To generate content, we use these processors:
| Provider | Purpose | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare, Inc. | Hosts our server | Requests in transit |
| Anthropic, PBC | Writes answers, stories, quiet-time pieces, and short explanations of Bible verses | First name, question / animal choices / theme and optional heart-line; for verse explanations the verse reference and surrounding Scripture text, together with your app's random identifier and the local date (used only to apply the daily page allowance — never your name or question) |
| ElevenLabs, Inc. | Narrator voice | Text being read aloud |
| Apple, Inc. | Delivering the one notification in A Stranger's Prayer, if you asked to be told | Your device's push token and the words "Someone prayed for you." — nothing else |
We use these providers' business APIs, which under their standard API terms do not use your content to train their AI models. Each provider may retain API data for a limited period for abuse prevention and service operation, under their own published policies.
4. Data retention
- On our servers: the anonymous daily-limit marker (deleted within 48 hours); anonymous usage counters that enforce the app's limits (deleted within about 35 days); "already offered to you" markers for the shared library (deleted within a year); a temporary per-network-address (IP) request counter used purely to protect the service from abuse (deleted within 48 hours); the shared library of name-free stories and quiet-time pieces (each expires about a year after it was created); shared narration audio, including greeting clips filed by first-name text alone (kept while the service operates, so replays stay free for everyone); and, for A Stranger's Prayer, an anonymous request for prayer holding only a category and whether it has been prayed for (the waiting request is deleted after about seven days, and your own copy — the candle you see — is kept only until you end it); and, only if you asked to be told when someone has prayed, the push notification token for that iPhone (deleted the moment you turn the setting off, or automatically once Apple tells us the device no longer accepts our notifications); if you subscribe, the confirmation of your subscription (Apple's transaction number, deleted within 60 days and re-confirmed when the app opens); and the short explanations written for Bible verses, filed by verse reference alone (no personal data; kept about 180 days so each verse is written once). None of this is linked to your identity. Your questions, answers, journal, and personal quiet-time pieces are never stored on our servers.
- On your device: your profile (first name), journal, saved stories and pieces, and any narrations you chose to keep offline. Deleting the app permanently deletes all of it.
5. Children
Elowen is intended for adults (18+). The Bedtime Stories feature is designed for a parent or guardian to use together with their child on the parent's device. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. The Stories feature sends only the animal choices and the first name(s) the guardian enters, so the narrator can say hello — nothing else about a child. Greeting audio is filed under the first-name text alone (many children share a name) and is not connected to any person, device, or account. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
6. Your rights
Depending on where you live (e.g., GDPR in the EU/UK, CCPA in California), you may have rights to access, correct, or delete personal data. Because your data lives on your device, most of these you can exercise directly: deleting the app deletes your data. For anything else, email elowen.app.official@gmail.com. You may also lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority.
7. Security
Traffic between the app, our server, and providers is encrypted (HTTPS). AI provider keys are held on our server, never in the app.
8. Not counseling; crisis support
Elowen offers devotional content, not medical, psychological, legal, or financial advice. If you are in crisis, please contact a professional or, in the US, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or text HOME to 741741.
9. Changes
We will post any changes here and update the effective date. Material changes will be highlighted in the app.
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