Privacy Policy
Introduction
Blue Letter Bible provides powerful tools for an in-depth study of God's Word through our free online reference library, with study tools that are grounded in the historical, conservative Christian faith. We are honored to be able to provide and maintain the many tools and resource on our website and mobile applications to help people draw closer to God, and we take our responsibility to protect the security and privacy of our users very seriously.
Privacy Policy Summary
It is Blue Letter Bible's policy to never sell, rent, or trade any of our user's contact information and donation information, including email or mailing address lists. User data is securely stored in compliance with PCI and SSA16 standards.
What Kinds of Information Does Blue Letter Bible Collect?
The kinds of information collected by Blue Letter Bible can be divided into two categories — passive data and active data.
Passive data is the information that is shared with us automatically by the device that is connecting to our website. Without this data we would be unable to deliver content to our users in a secure and efficient manner. Passive data is also used to create anonymous statistics which help us to identify how often resources are used, to ensure that these resources remain accessible, and to efficiently plan and maintain the infrastructure needed to operate our websites and mobile applications. Examples of passive data include:
- Log data — Standard website security and access logs used to secure and maintain our websites and mobile applications
- Cookie and browser local storage data — Information which is stored on your computer or mobile device to allow us to securely deliver services like streaming audio and information like website maintenance notifications.
Active data is the information we request from our users in order to serve them better. Active data is collected when you interact with our website to customize the tools and services or provide information for services which require us to be able to contact you. Examples of active data include:
- Preference data — Tracks preferred Bible translation, fonts, study tools, and text size
- Contact data — Email address when you request email-delivered devotionals or subscribe to our newsletter
- Account data — Name, username, and password when you create an account to maintain all your preferences and selections.
- Donor data — Contact information associated with giving. Blue Letter Bible does not store or process donation payment information.
- Electronic sales — Contact information assocated with purchasing. Blue Letter Bible does not store or process donation payment information.
California Do Not Track Dislosure
As a small non-profit 501(c)3 organization with limited resources, Blue Letter Bible does not currently have a technological infrastructure in place to identify and provide alternative processing rules for traffic from web browsers which provide a do-not-track (DNT) data signal.
How / When is Data Shared with Third-party Companies?
As a small non-profit organization, we sometimes find it necessary to partner with outside organizations in order to provide the most secure and convenient services to our users. As previously stated however, we will never sell, rent, or trade any of our user's contact information and donation information, including email or mailing address lists or other personally identifiable information. The following services and scenarios detail how and when information is shared with third party, or external organizations:
- Donation Processing — Blue Letter Bible partners with industry leading organizations to ensure that donations are collected and processed in the most convenient and secure manner possible.
- Aggregate Statistics — A standard practice for nearly every major website and mobile application, aggregate statistical data is used to assess and enhance the many ways that we serve our users.
- Advertising — Advertisements are reviewed with great care and are a means of helping to support the ministry work God does through Blue Letter Bible. We track aggregate impressions delievered and page views but not personal identifiable information. To review the privacy policies of our third party advertising delivery services, visit Beacon Ads and Double Click for Publishers (Google).
What Sorts of Safeguards are in Place to Protect Data?
We employ many safegaurds to protect the privacy and security of our users and data, including secure socket layer (SSL) communication channels, data encryption, and pseudonymization, along with a secure infrastructure for protecting the systems and services where user data is stored and processed.
Your Privacy Rights and Choices
Good security requires a partnership of trust and understanding. In order to provide you with the best level of protection, we would like to remind you of the following options and tools you have available which can help you ensure your privacy and security:
- Choose to create an account — Most of the services and apps provided by Blue Letter Bible can be used without ever creating an account. Although creating an account provides you with many additional benefits and conveniences, we make every effort to provide our services and products without ever needing to authenticate whenever possible.
- Limit the information you provide — You are in control of the data you provide to Blue Letter Bible, and we endeavor to honor your rights and privacy. Please rest assured that any information you provide to Blue Letter Bible will be protected and honored with the highest degree of vigilance. Please note however that some of our services, products, and features require a minimal contribution of information in order to function, should you decline to provide such information these features, services, and products will be unavailable.
- Opting out of communications — In the event that you no longer wish to receive communications from Blue Letter Bible, just let us know and we will remove you from any and/or all contact lists at your request. Please see the section titled "Contact by Email" for more information on opting out of digital communications.
- Your Browser Settings — Modern web browsers (Like Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, etc...) allow users to configure their security and privacy settings, such as disabling cookies or JavaScript. Please note however that disabling some/all of these features can impact our ability to provide services to you.
- Close Your Account — If you decide that you no longer wish to have an account with us, just let is know by submitting a request here so that we can mark your account for removal.
If you are a citizen of a country that is a part of the European Union and are covered in the scope of General Data Protection Regulation (AKA the "GDPR") you have the following designated rights in regards to your personal data.
- Right of Access — The ability to request confirmation if your personal data is being processed and how (Article 15 GDPR).
- Right to Rectification — The ability to rectify or correct inaccuracies in your personal data (Article 16 GDPR).
- Right to Erasure — The right to obtain erasure of personal data. Commonly know as the "right to be forgotten" (Article 17 GDPR).
- Right to Restriction of Processing — The ability define and restrict the processing of personal data (Article 18 GDPR).
- Right to Data Portability — Data concering the data subject is to be exported in a common, machine readable format (Article 20 GDPR).
- Right to Object — To object to processing personal data, in a given situation (Article 21 GDPR).
Users residing within the European Union Member States are encouraged to review their rights defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) here.
Return Policy
Blue Letter Bible is a registered 501(c)(3) organization and there are no returns on donations. If a donation was submitted in error, please contact us at Partner@BlueLetterBible.org.
Changes to the Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to amend our privacy policy at any time without notice, in order to enhance the level of service we provide to our users and maintain compliance with the regulatory bodies where our services are used.
Data Retention
Data which is collected by Blue Letter Bible is maintained securely for as long as the data is deemed necessary and relevant to the mission and ministry of Blue Letter Bible.
Contact by Mail
Blue Letter Bible will occasionally send products and communications to users who provide physical mailing address contact information within the United States and Canada.
Contact by E-mail
We provide opt-in email newsletters for users who want to stay informed about new content, features, and products at Blue Letter Bible. We also provide several opt-in daily devotional emails which help our users to stay connected in God's Word throughout the week. In the event that you no longer wish to receive these communications from us, opting-out is simple and easy. You can use the link at the bottom of each email to unsubscribe, or if you have an account with us you can access and modify your email communication preferences using your settings page here.
Questions and Requests Regarding Your Privacy at Blue Letter Bible
For further questions concerning how your online privacy is protected at Blue Letter Bible, please submit a request for more information thorugh our contact form here.