Holy Bible Privacy Policy

Last Updated: June 3, 2026

By using "Holy Bible", an app on the Garmin Connect IQ Store, you agree to the following privacy policy.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The 'Last Updated' date at the top of this policy indicates when it was last revised. For minor changes, we will update this page and revise the date. For material changes that affect how we collect, use, or share your personal data, we will provide additional notice through the app or other reasonable means before the changes take effect. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Regarding Bible Versions 862 and higher:

Information Collected:

- Time Spent in App

- Language

- Bible version used

- AppVersion

- Number of App Opens

- Verse of the Day Notification status (enabled/disabled)

- App opened date

- # of features used (read was opened twice, and settings was opened once, for example)

- # of passages requested per app session

- Date of first Bible version use of the half (some publishers only)

- Country of app usage (see below)

- Device Type (processed -- not collected)

- Identifier for last notification sent (processed -- not collected)

Region Determination at Launch (via IP address):

When the app launches and receives a data connection, our server uses your device's IP address together with a local geolocation database to determine your approximate country/region. This determination serves two purposes: (1) export-control compliance, which blocks use from embargoed regions, and (2) regional privacy gating, which controls whether certain third-party usage data is transmitted (see "Third-Party Bible Content" below). The geolocation database runs entirely on our own server — your IP address is not sent to any external geolocation service for this lookup. Your IP address is processed in memory for this purpose and is not stored or logged.

Location Processing (via GPS):

For some Bibles provided by third parties, your device's GPS coordinates are transmitted to the developer's servers. We use these coordinates only to determine your country, which we store as part of our analytics and which we may report to the relevant Bible publisher to satisfy their licensing requirements (see below). Only if you have selected a version from a publisher that requires country reporting will this request happen. The raw GPS coordinates are not stored on the servers — they are processed in memory and discarded after the country is determined. We do not track your movements, log your precise location, or share GPS coordinates with any third party. Standard HTTP request metadata (such as IP address) may be briefly visible to our cloud infrastructure provider (Google Cloud) as part of normal internet traffic routing. We do not log, store, or use this HTTP metadata ourselves.

Scripture Content Routing:

Scripture text for all third-party Bibles is retrieved through the developer's own server, which forwards your request to the content provider. The content providers (getBible, API.Bible, ESV/Crossway) receive the request from our server, not from your device, and therefore do not receive your device's IP address. The forwarded request carries only the information needed to return the passage (such as the translation and passage reference) and contains nothing that identifies you or your device. Because our server is located in the United States, your IP address reaches our server transiently when your request is routed; it is not stored or logged, and it is not passed on to the content providers, except in relation to FUMS (See the "Third-Party Bible Content (API.Bible)" section below).

Error reporting via Garmin:

When Holy Bible encounters an error or crash on your device, Garmin's Connect IQ platform may capture diagnostic information about the error — including stack traces, device type, language, and app version — and make it available to us through Garmin's developer tools for the purpose of investigating and fixing bugs. This data is collected and retained by Garmin under their privacy practices, not by us. We access it through Garmin's tools but do not separately store it. For information on how Garmin handles this data, see Garmin's privacy policy at https://www.garmin.com/en-US/privacy/connect/.

LBS Provider follows CTIA’s Best Practices and Guidelines for Location-Based Services. If you want more information, please visit this link: https://www.ctia.org/the-wireless-industry/industry-commitments/best-practices-and-guidelines-for-location-based-services

As with any location based provider's service, there are location-based risks with using this app, including your location being intercepted/leaked. Please be aware of this while using this app.

Services Used:

- google sheets

- google cloud

- metabase

- mysql

By using Holy Bible, you agree to Google's privacy policies, found here: https://policies.google.com/privacy.

How does the developer use this data?

The developer uses this data to improve his product and to encourage his development of this app. The developer may share aggregate, non-personal statistics (such as total user counts by region or popular Bible versions) with Bible translation publishers and licensing partners to support translation licensing arrangements and demonstrate app reach. The developer may also provide non-personal data to third parties (eg: an instagram post about the year's usage) in order to market his product. The developer will never sell this information.

Third-Party Bible Content (API.Bible):

Scripture text from API.Bible is retrieved through our server as described under "Scripture Content Routing" above; API.Bible does not receive your device's IP address.

Separately, when you use a Bible translation served by API.Bible, your device transmits certain information directly to API.Bible to enable their service and to allow them to track passage usage, as required by their Fair Use Management System (FUMS). This information includes a device identifier, a session identifier, and a usage token received from the passage response. Because this request goes directly to API.Bible rather than through our server, API.Bible also receives your device's IP address as part of that connection. This data is sent directly to API.Bible's servers; we do not collect, store, or have access to it ourselves. For users we determine to be in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or export-restricted regions, this transmission is suppressed entirely and no FUMS data is sent. Regional suppression of FUMS transmission for these regions applies to app version 8.7.1 and later (see "Legacy App Versions" below). API.Bible's use of this data is governed by their fair use policy: https://docs.api.bible/guides/fair-use

API.Bible is operated by the American Bible Society and is based in the United States (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). The FUMS information described above is transmitted to and processed on servers located in the United States, which may not provide the same level of data protection as your country of residence.

ESV (English Standard Version):

The ESV translation is provided by Crossway, a US-based publisher (esv.org and api.esv.org). When you select the ESV version, your request is routed through our server to Crossway's servers to retrieve Bible text. Crossway receives the request from our server and does not receive your device's IP address. The developer has no agreement with Crossway about how the request data is handled. Crossway's processing is governed by their own terms and privacy policy: https://www.esv.org/about/policy/. Note that this policy is written for esv.org website visitors and account holders, and does not specifically address users of applications that call the ESV API.

GetBible:

Some Bible versions are provided by GetBible, an open-source Bible API project developed by Vast Development Method (getbible.life and api.getbible.net). You can know you're using a GetBible version if A) you didn't select ESV, and B) you don't see a version details page. When you select a GetBible version, your request is routed through our server to GetBible's servers to retrieve Bible text. GetBible receives the request from our server and does not receive your device's IP address. The developer has no agreement with GetBible about how the request data is handled. GetBible does not publish a dedicated privacy policy for its API, and the project does not publicly document data retention practices. You can find more information about the project and its API at https://getbible.life/docs.

Children's Data:

This app is not directed at children under 13 (or under 16 in the European Union). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has used this app and you have concerns, please contact us.

Data Retention:

Because the data we collect is not linked to a persistent identifier and cannot be traced back to individual users or devices, we retain it indefinitely for long-term trend analysis and to inform ongoing development of the app. Aggregate analytics data of this nature poses minimal privacy risk because it cannot be associated with any specific person.

All data outlined to be sent to "we" or "us" is submitted to the developer, and not to Garmin. Garmin has no responsibility or liability for the data the developer collects.

Legal Basis (EU/UK Users): We process this data based on our legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR) in understanding how the app is used and improving its functionality. Because we do not collect persistent identifiers, this processing has minimal impact on individual privacy rights.

Your Rights (EU/UK Users):

Under GDPR, you have the right to: access your data, request correction, request deletion, restrict processing, data portability, object to processing, and lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. To exercise any of these rights, email sirlancelot2604@outlook.com.

Important note on identification:

Because we do not collect persistent identifiers, we cannot identify which data in our analytics belongs to any specific user or device. Under Article 11 of the GDPR, when a controller cannot identify a data subject, certain individual rights (access, correction, deletion, portability) may not be technically possible to fulfill. If you can provide additional information that would allow us to identify your data, we will honor your request to the extent possible. You may also object to all processing of your data, in which case we will work with you to find an appropriate solution. To exercise these rights or ask questions, email sirlancelot2604@outlook.com.

Legacy App Versions:

Versions of Holy Bible prior to 862 used different data flows than current versions:

- MapQuest: Older versions previously used MapQuest to translate device coordinates into country information. This integration has not been used since August 2023 (the API key has been revoked).

- IFTTT: Older versions previously transmitted analytics data through IFTTT, which routed it into a Google Sheets buffer before it reached our servers. This integration was officially discontinued on April 30, 2026, and the IFTTT applet has been archived. Older app versions can no longer transmit data to us through this path (though the data may still be logged by IFTTT). Historical data from this pipeline has been purged from our Google Sheets storage. Some residual data may persist in IFTTT's backend systems according to their data retention policy: https://ifttt.com/terms/privacy-policy.

- FUMS regional suppression: App versions prior to 8.7.1 transmitted FUMS data (a device identifier, a session identifier, a token from your content request and your IP address via the direct connection) to API.Bible for all users, including those in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, without regional suppression. As of version 8.7.1, this transmission is suppressed entirely for users we determine to be in those regions. FUMS data transmitted by older versions was sent directly to API.Bible and was never held by us; any such data is retained by API.Bible under their own retention and fair-use policies: https://docs.api.bible/guides/fair-use.

We strongly encourage all users to update to the latest version of Holy Bible (version 8.7.1 or higher) for improved privacy practices, including reduced data collection and elimination of these third-party intermediaries.

When you tap Reset Privacy, the app clears your current Bible's data consent preferences and your cached location data. A small list of which Bible versions from a third party publisher that you have used during the current half-year is retained on your device to support accurate anonymous usage counts; this list doesn't leave your device.

Questions? Email me at sirlancelot2604@outlook.com.

Changelog:

June 3, 2026: Add Device Type & Notification identifier disclosure

May 30, 2026: Scripture content for all third-party Bibles now routes through the developer's server, so content providers (getBible, API.Bible, ESV) no longer receive your IP address. Clarified that API.Bible FUMS data (device ID, session ID, usage token, and IP address via the direct connection) is sent directly to API.Bible and is suppressed entirely for EEA/UK/Swiss and export-restricted regions as of app version 8.7.1; documented the prior behavior of pre-8.7.1 versions under "Legacy App Versions." Added description of the IP region check (local geolocation database, used for export compliance and regional privacy gating). Noted that GPS country reporting occurs only for publishers that require it.

May 18, 2026: Add GetBible info.

May 16, 2026: Add reset privacy information.

May 14, 2026: Add Information about ESV.

May 5, 2026: Improved location processing accuracy, updated the policy to reflect removal of tracking of devicetype, user's local time, and verse of the day scheduling information. This information is now filtered out when it hits our analytics servers, and is not stored. Add a few data points to the information collected paragraph. No new data collection was added with this update.

April 30, 2026: Added clarifications around location processing, third-party data sharing with API.Bible, GDPR rights, legal basis for processing, children's data, and data retention. Removed device ID collection (effective in app version 862+). No new data collection was added in this update.