IS IT TRUE? QUESTION NO. 35
“We should like to know if it is true as we have heard that Mt. Carmel's
policy is to treat strictly confidential all correspondence and requests for
literature.” {ABN2: 65.1}
ANSWER: “It is one of Mt. Carmel's inviolable office ethics that no correspondence or requests for literature are made public save at the instance or permission of the writer.” {ABN2: 65.2}
That has been our practice for as long as there has been an office. This statement explains how we keep it now that the office is also a database.
1. Our commitment
The Davidian Seventh-day Adventists Association, an unincorporated Association constituting a Church, and its affiliates (collectively “Gadsda”, “we”, “us” or “our”) are firmly committed to protecting your privacy and providing you with a positive experience on our websites, applications, and in using our various products and services.
This Privacy Statement explains what information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and what rights you have over it. It should be read with our Terms of Use.
2. Scope — what this statement covers
This statement applies to every Gadsda website and application, namely:
| Service | What it is | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| gadsda.com | Public website — information, publications, enquiries, tithes and offerings, campaign subscriptions. | Open to the public |
| admin.gadsda.com | The member and administrative database — membership, leadership, treasury, human resources, ministerial and departmental records. | Members, officers, employees and volunteers with issued credentials |
| writings.gadsda.com | Online library of denominational literature. | Open to the public |
| Gadsda mobile applications | Our member and administrative application for Android iOS, and our literature and Bible study applications. | Members and the public, depending on the application |
Throughout this statement these are called the “Services”. Where a particular Service handles information differently, that is called out in the relevant section.
This statement does not cover the practices of third parties whose sites or services we link to. Their own privacy notices apply.
3. Information we collect
3.1 Information you give us
- Identity and contact details — name, member number, date of birth, sex, marital status, photograph, postal address, email address, telephone number, country and locality.
- Church particulars — baptism details, membership standing, local church and field, office or role held, department, appointments, ordination and credential records.
- Family particulars — spouse and dependants, next of kin and emergency contact, where you supply them.
- Account credentials — your password (stored only as a salted one-way hash, never in readable form) and any two-factor or biometric settings.
- Financial and stewardship records — tithes and offerings given, receipts, and for employees and workers, payroll and allowance records.
- Employment and service records — where applicable: leave, work hours, timesheets, appraisals, training, discipline and grievance records.
- Health information — only where you or your department supply it for a specific purpose, such as a medical leave request, a dietary requirement at a camp meeting, or an accessibility need.
- Content you submit — reports, minutes, documents, photographs, audio and video, messages and discussion posts, support tickets, and enquiry or subscription forms.
3.2 Information collected automatically
- Technical data — IP address, browser and version, operating system, device model, screen size, language, and time zone.
- Usage data — pages and screens viewed, features used, dates and times of access, and the actions taken within the Database (see “audit trail” below).
- Audit trail — admin.gadsda.com records who created, viewed, changed, approved or deleted a record, and when. This is a deliberate accountability measure and cannot be switched off by users.
- Diagnostic data — if an application crashes or errors, we may collect the error, a stack trace, the device model and operating system version, and the application version, so that we can fix it.
- Cookies and similar technologies — see section 10.
3.3 Information from third parties
We may receive information about you from:
- your local church, field or association, when your record is created or transferred;
- an officer or department entering a record on your behalf;
- payment providers, confirming that a tithe or offering has been received (we receive the confirmation and the last four digits of the instrument, never the full card number);
- and campaign or event partners — for example the Name-Ingathering Campaign — where you have given your details to them for the purpose of the campaign.
4. Device permissions and what they are used for
Our mobile applications request the permissions below. Permission mechanisms differ by platform but the data is handled the same way on each. Every one of them is optional at the operating-system level and may be withdrawn at any time in your device settings; the corresponding feature simply stops working.
1. Camera
- Android:
android.permission.CAMERA - iOS:
NSCameraUsageDescription - Web: browser camera access via the getUserMedia API
- Purpose: to capture images and video for profile pictures, document uploads and evidence attached to tasks and reports
- Usage: accessed only at the moment you choose to take a photograph or record video
- Storage: encrypted in transit; stored against your account or the record you attached it to
2. Location
- Android:
android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION,android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION - iOS:
NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription - Web: browser Geolocation API
- Purpose: to record work hours, verify attendance at a task or shift, and record where service was delivered
- Usage: accessed only while a feature that needs it is active, or during a work shift you have started
- Storage: encrypted and associated with the work record
- Retention: 12 months, for audit and historical work-hour records
- Note: we never request background or “always” location. The applications do not track you when they are not in use.
3. Calendar
- Android:
android.permission.READ_CALENDAR,android.permission.WRITE_CALENDAR - iOS:
NSCalendarsUsageDescription - Purpose: to put your tasks, deadlines and shift schedules into your device calendar, and to check availability
- Usage: only when you enable calendar sync
- Storage: we store only the task and shift data on our servers. Your personal calendar entries stay on your device and are never uploaded.
4. Biometric authentication
- Android:
android.permission.USE_BIOMETRIC,android.permission.USE_FINGERPRINT - iOS:
NSFaceIDUsageDescription - Web: WebAuthn, where the browser supports it
- Purpose: to let you unlock the application without typing your password
- Storage: your biometric data never leaves your device. It is processed by the device's secure hardware, and all we ever receive is a yes or no. No fingerprint or face data is transmitted to, or held by, us.
5. Photos, video and audio files
- Android:
android.permission.READ_MEDIA_IMAGES,READ_MEDIA_VIDEO,READ_MEDIA_AUDIO - iOS:
NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription,NSPhotoLibraryAddOnlyUsageDescription - Purpose: to attach supporting documents, images and media to tasks, reports and requisitions
- Usage: only the files you specifically select. We do not read, index or scan your photo library.
- Retention: 5 years, for compliance and audit
6. Push notifications
- Android:
android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS - iOS: system permission prompt
- Purpose: to tell you about task assignments, approvals, schedule changes and announcements
- Note: notification bodies do not contain confidential record detail. You can turn notifications off at any time.
7. Vibration and haptics
- Android:
android.permission.VIBRATE - Purpose: tactile feedback on completion and alerts. No data is collected.
8. Network access
- Android:
android.permission.INTERNET,ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE - Purpose: to talk to our servers and to detect when you are offline so that work can be queued
- Storage: IP addresses appear in server logs as a standard security measure, retained 90 days
9. Start on boot
- Android:
android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED - Purpose: to restore background sync and reminders after the device restarts. No data is collected.
5. How we use your information, and our lawful basis
| Purpose | Lawful basis (UK/EU GDPR) |
|---|---|
| Maintaining the membership roll and church records | Legitimate interests of a not-for-profit body of a religious nature, concerning its members and those in regular contact with it (Art. 9(2)(d)) |
| Creating and administering your account; authenticating you | Contract / legitimate interests |
| Processing tithes, offerings and receipts | Contract / legal obligation |
| Payroll, leave, work hours and human-resources administration | Contract / legal obligation |
| Sending notifications, newsletters and communications | Consent, or legitimate interests where you are a member |
| Answering enquiries and providing support | Legitimate interests |
| Personalising your experience and enabling features | Legitimate interests |
| Diagnosing crashes and improving the Services | Legitimate interests |
| Security, audit trail, fraud prevention | Legitimate interests / legal obligation |
| Complying with law and responding to lawful requests | Legal obligation |
Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time (section 9). Withdrawing consent does not affect processing already carried out.
6. What we do not do
- We do not sell your personal information. We never have and we do not intend to.
- We do not share your information with advertisers, data brokers or advertising networks.
- We do not use your information for automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects about you.
- We do not track you across other companies' websites or applications.
- We do not publish member correspondence or details of literature requests, save at the instance or permission of the writer.
7. When we share information
We disclose personal information only in these circumstances:
- Within the Church. To officers, employees and volunteers who need it for the duty entrusted to them — and only so far as that duty requires. Access in the Database is governed by role-based permissions.
- To service providers who process data on our behalf under written terms that require them to protect it and use it only on our instructions (section 8).
- Where you ask us to, or where you have made information visible to other members through a Service.
- Where the law requires it — in response to a valid court order, subpoena or lawful request from a public authority.
- To protect people — where disclosure is necessary to prevent or address a serious risk to the life, health or safety of any person.
- On a reorganisation of the Church or one of its associations, in which case the receiving body remains bound by this statement.
8. Service providers we rely on
We use a small number of established providers to run the Services. Depending on the Service, these may include:
- Hosting and storage — cloud infrastructure and object storage providers, for the application servers, databases, backups and uploaded files.
- Email delivery — to send account, notification and newsletter email.
- Push notification delivery — Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (Android) and Apple Push Notification service (iOS).
- Payment processing — for tithes, offerings and other payments.
- Crash reporting and product analytics — to diagnose faults and understand which features are used. This data is aggregated and does not include the contents of records. In the MyGADSDA Android and iOS applications this is Google Firebase Crashlytics and Google Analytics for Firebase. When the app crashes they receive the error and stack trace, the device model, operating system and app version, and a random installation identifier; Analytics also receives which screens are opened and how long the app is used. Neither receives your name, member number, or anything you type into a form, and neither is linked to advertising — the Google Ads and AdMob links are switched off.
- Mapping and geocoding — where a feature displays or resolves a location.
- App distribution — Google Play and the Apple App Store.
These providers act as processors. They may not use your information for their own purposes.
9. International transfers
Gadsda is a worldwide body and our infrastructure is operated from the United States and other countries. Your information may therefore be transferred to, stored in, and processed in a country other than your own, including countries whose data-protection law differs from that of your home country.
Where we transfer personal information out of the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we rely on appropriate safeguards — ordinarily the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (and the UK Addendum where applicable), or an adequacy decision. You may request a copy of the safeguards we use by writing to info@gadsda.com.
10. Cookies and similar technologies
Our websites use cookies for a limited set of purposes:
| Type | Purpose | Can you refuse? |
|---|---|---|
| Strictly necessary | Keeping you signed in, maintaining your session, and CSRF protection. | No — the Services cannot work without them |
| Preference | Remembering your settings, such as language and display options. | Yes |
| Analytics | Understanding, in aggregate, which pages and features are used. | Yes |
We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. You can clear or block cookies in your browser settings; if you block the strictly necessary ones you will not be able to sign in. Our mobile applications use secure local storage (Android Keystore, iOS Keychain) rather than cookies for session tokens.
11. Your rights
Wherever you live, you may:
- Access the personal information we hold about you, and ask for a copy.
- Correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Delete your information, subject to records we are required to keep (section 12). See how to request account deletion.
- Object to or restrict processing based on our legitimate interests.
- Port information you gave us, in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
- Withdraw consent at any time where we relied on it.
- Opt out of communications — use the unsubscribe link in any newsletter, turn notifications off in the application settings, or write to info@gadsda.com. We will still send essential service messages, such as a password reset.
- Complain to your data-protection authority. In the UK that is the Information Commissioner's Office; in the EEA, your national supervisory authority.
If you are in California
Under the CCPA/CPRA you also have the right to know the categories of personal information collected, the purposes for collection, and the categories of third parties to whom it is disclosed — all set out above — and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your rights. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of.
How to exercise your rights
Write to info@gadsda.com, or to the postal address in section 15. We will verify your identity before acting, and will respond within 30 days, or tell you if we need longer. There is no charge unless a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.
12. How long we keep information
| Category | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Membership and church records | For the duration of membership and thereafter as part of the permanent ecclesiastical record of the Church |
| Financial, tithe and offering records | 7 years, or longer where tax or charity law requires |
| Employment and payroll records | As required by applicable employment and tax law, typically 7 years after the end of employment |
| Location data | 12 months |
| Uploaded media and documents | 5 years, for compliance and audit |
| Calendar integration data | While the integration is enabled |
| Authentication tokens | Until sign-out or expiry |
| Server and security logs | 90 days |
| App crash reports (Firebase Crashlytics) | 90 days |
| App usage analytics (Google Analytics for Firebase) | No more than 14 months |
| Crash and diagnostic reports | 90 days |
| Audit trail | Retained with the record it relates to, as an accountability measure |
| Support tickets and correspondence | 3 years after resolution |
| Newsletter subscription | Until you unsubscribe |
When a retention period ends we delete the information or irreversibly anonymise it. Backups are on a rolling cycle and are overwritten in the ordinary course.
13. Security
We take the security of your information seriously and apply measures appropriate to its sensitivity:
- All traffic is encrypted in transit using HTTPS/TLS.
- Passwords are stored as salted one-way hashes. Nobody at Gadsda can read your password.
- Access within the Database is restricted by role; officers see only what their office requires.
- Every change to a record is written to an audit trail.
- Uploaded files are held in access-controlled storage and served through time-limited, signed links.
- Dependencies are monitored for published vulnerabilities and patched.
- Backups are taken regularly and held securely.
Platform-specific measures
Android: credentials held in the Android Keystore, hardware-backed and using StrongBox where the device provides it.
iOS: credentials held in the Keychain; biometric matching performed in the Secure Enclave; application data isolated by the iOS sandbox.
Web: HTTP-only, SameSite session cookies; CSRF tokens on every state-changing request; content security policy headers.
No system can be guaranteed absolutely secure. You play a part too: choose a strong, unique password, do not share your credentials, and sign out on shared devices.
14. If something goes wrong
If a breach of personal information occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify the relevant supervisory authority without undue delay and, where the law requires it, notify you directly and tell you what we are doing about it.
15. Children
The Services are not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from them. Where a child's particulars appear in the membership record — as a dependant, or in a children's ministry record — they are provided by a parent, guardian or church officer and are held under this statement with the same protections. If you believe a child has provided information directly, write to info@gadsda.com and we will delete it.
16. Links to other sites
Our Services link to sites we do not control. This statement does not apply to them, and we are not responsible for their content or their handling of your information. Please read their privacy notices.
17. Changes to this statement
We may update this statement from time to time. The revision date at the head of the page always shows when it last changed. Where a change materially affects your rights we will give notice through the Services or by email before it takes effect.
18. Contact us
We would rather hear from you than have you wonder.
- Privacy enquiries and rights requests: info@gadsda.com
- Database and application support: support@gadsda.com
- Post: The Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church, P.O. Box 23738, Waco, TX 76702, USA
- Telephone: +1-254-855-9539
19. Compliance
We design and operate the Services to meet:
- the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation, where applicable;
- the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the CPRA, where applicable;
- the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019, and other local data-protection laws in the territories where we work;
- the Google Play Developer Policy, including the Data Safety and sensitive permissions requirements;
- the Apple App Store Review Guidelines, App Privacy labels and App Tracking Transparency;
- and OWASP Top 10 and WCAG accessibility guidance for our web services.
By using the Gadsda Services you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Statement and understand how we collect and use information as described in it.