Last updated: 26 August 2026
Philly Christian Students (“PCS”, “we”) is a registered student organization at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. This policy covers the Philly Christian Students iPhone app.
We are a student club, not a company. We do not sell data, we do not advertise, and we do not use any analytics or tracking service.
What the app collects, and only when you give it
If you sign up
The sign-up form asks for your name, email address, phone number, school, year, gender, and which activities interest you. Every field is optional except your name — you can leave the rest blank and still use the app.
You can also skip signing up entirely. Choosing “Just looking” gives you the whole app: meeting times, events, the reading tracker, everything. Nothing is collected.
Your sign-up is encrypted on your phone before it is sent. It is stored in Apple’s iCloud in a form that Apple cannot read, and that nobody without the club’s private key can read. That key is held only by the club’s staff, on their own phones.
If you RSVP to an event
Your name, email, phone and any note you add (a dietary requirement, for example). Encrypted the same way.
If you allow notifications
Your device is registered with Firebase Cloud Messaging, a Google service, so we can send reminders about meetings and events.
Google receives a device token — an anonymous identifier for your phone — and the topics you subscribe to: all, your campus, and the activities you said interested you. Google does not receive your name, email, phone number, or anything else about you.
You can turn notifications off at any time in iOS Settings.
If you use the reading tracker or prayer book
This never leaves your device except to your own private iCloud. The club cannot see it. There is no setting that would let us. It syncs between your own devices through your personal Apple account and is invisible to us and to Apple.
The prayer book can be locked with a passcode you set, stored in your device’s Keychain.
What the club’s staff keep
Staff keep a contact record for people who have signed up or come to a meeting: the details above, notes about conversations, whether you have attended, and prayer requests you have shared.
This lives on a staff member’s own phone, and optionally in that staff member’s private iCloud as a backup. It is not on a public server. When staff share records with each other, the whole thing is encrypted first with the club’s key.
Prayer requests and personal notes are treated as more sensitive than the rest and are not shared automatically, even between staff.
Who else is involved
| Service | What it receives | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Apple iCloud | Encrypted sign-ups and RSVPs it cannot read; club announcements | Storing and syncing |
| Google (Firebase Cloud Messaging) | An anonymous device token and your topic subscriptions | Delivering notifications |
| Cloudflare | The notification text and which audience it is for | Passing notifications to Google |
Cloudflare stores no information about any person — not your token, not your name, nothing. It holds only a short-lived record of which messages have already been sent, so a retry does not notify everyone twice.
We use no analytics service of any kind. The app includes Firebase Cloud Messaging only; it does not include Google Analytics, and we do not track how you use the app.
Sharing
We do not sell, rent, or trade your information. We do not share it with anyone outside the club’s staff, except the services above that are needed to run the app.
We would disclose information if required by law.
How long we keep it
Contact records are kept while you are involved with the club and for a period afterwards, so we can stay in touch. Ask us to remove yours and we will.
Sign-ups sit encrypted in iCloud until a staff member adds them to the club’s records, then they are removed.
Your choices
- Use the app without signing up. Choose “Just looking”.
- Turn off notifications. iOS Settings → PhillyCS → Notifications.
- Ask what we hold about you. Email us and we will tell you.
- Ask us to delete it. Email us and we will, from the club’s records.
- Delete the app. Your reading tracker and prayer book go with it, since they were
only ever on your device and your own iCloud.
Children
The app is for university students. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.
Changes
If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it. Significant changes will be announced in the app.
Contact
phillychristianstudents@gmail.com
Philly Christian Students Philadelphia, Pennsylvania