Privacy Policy

This policy explains what information theway.host collects, why, and the choices you have. theway.host is run by Inventing Genius Labs LLC ("we", "us").

1. Who is responsible for what

For church records, the church is in charge (the "controller") and we work on its behalf (the "processor"). The church decides what to record and why, and we store and process it only to provide theway.host to that church. If you're a church member or a parent with a question about your record, please contact your church first. We'll help them answer. For our own customer accounts, website visitors and the waitlist, we are responsible. More detail is in our data processing summary for churches.

2. What we collect

Church staff and volunteers who use theway.host

Name, email address, password (stored only as a one-way secure hash, never readable by us), the church's name and details, the answers you give in our setup questions, plan and billing records, and basic security records such as sign-in times and IP addresses.

Information a church puts into theway.host

People and households, contact details, groups, attendance, notes, event sign-ups, children's check-in records, prayer requests the church chooses to record, and giving records. The church controls this information.

Photos and website content

Pages, text and photos you add in the website builder. When you upload a photo, we open it, check that it's really an image, and save a fresh copy that leaves out hidden information (such as the GPS location and camera details phones add). Very large photos are made smaller. Published photos and pages are public on your church's site.

Website visitors

Like most websites, our servers record basic technical information (IP address, browser type, the page requested and the time) to keep the service secure and working. See our cookie notice.

The "Not a church?" waitlist

If you join the waitlist, we keep your email address and, if you tell us, what you'd use theway.host for. We use it only to tell you once when theway.host is ready for you. We don't add you to a newsletter, and we don't share it. We don't record your IP address with your waitlist entry. Ask us and we'll remove you.

Payments

Card payments are processed by Stripe. Card numbers go straight to Stripe. We never see or store full card numbers. We keep a record of what was paid, when and for what.

3. How we use information

• To run theway.host: websites, people, groups, events, check-in, giving, the member portal and email.
• To process subscription payments and gifts and send receipts.
• To keep accounts safe: for example, limiting repeated failed sign-ins and spotting abuse.
• To send service messages such as receipts, trial and renewal reminders and security notices. We don't send marketing to church members, ever.
• To answer your questions and fix problems.

4. Who else handles information

We use a small number of service providers, only for the purposes below, and only with the information they need:

Provider	What for	When
Cloudzy (servers in Dallas, Texas, USA)	Hosting the app, database and backups	Always
Our own mail server	Sending account and service emails	Always
Telegram	A short alert to our own team that a new request, trial or waitlist sign-up came in. It names the church if you gave one, but never your name, email, phone or message.	When you send us a request, start a trial or join the waitlist
Stripe	Card payments for plans and gifts	When online card payments are switched on
Twilio	Sending text messages a church chooses to send	Only if a church turns on texting and buys credit
An AI model provider, through BlockRun	Writing a draft a staff member asks for. Only the text they type is sent.	Only if a church turns on AI and buys credit

Our private Bible and study tools run on our own server and aren't sent to an outside AI company. A church can choose to add Google Analytics or a Facebook Pixel to its own public website. If it does, those companies receive visitor data under their own policies, and the church is responsible for telling its visitors. theway.host itself doesn't add advertising trackers.

We may share information if the law requires it, to protect someone's safety, or as part of a sale or merger of our business, in which case this policy's protections would continue to apply. We'll tell you if that happens.

5. Children

theway.host is a tool for church staff. It isn't directed to children, and we don't knowingly let children under 13 create accounts. If we learn that a child under 13 has created an account, we delete it.

Churches may record children's information to keep them safe, for example names, parents or guardians, allergies or care notes, check-in times and pickup codes. In line with the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the church is responsible for getting a parent's or guardian's permission before entering a child's information, and for giving parents a way to review or remove it. We use children's information only to provide check-in and related features for that church. We never use it for marketing, never sell it, and never show it to other churches. Pickup codes are random, shown once, and stored scrambled (hashed) so not even we can read them. A blank or wrong code never checks a child out. A parent who wants a child's record reviewed or deleted can ask the church, and we'll help the church do it.

6. Cookies

We use only the cookies needed to keep you signed in, protect forms from abuse and show one-time messages. No advertising or analytics cookies on theway.host. Details are in our cookie notice.

7. How long we keep information

Information	How long
Church account and church records	While the account is open. After it closes, 60 days so the church can export everything, then deleted from our live systems.
Drafts from a trial that never became a paid plan	60 days after the trial ends, then deleted.
Backups	Overwritten on a rolling basis, normally within 90 days.
Billing and giving records	As long as tax and financial laws require (often up to 7 years).
Sign-in limit counters	Minutes to a day. They reset by themselves.
Waitlist emails	Until we've told you theway.host is ready for you, or you ask us to remove you.

8. Your choices and rights

• Churches can export their people, groups, events and giving records (as CSV files) at any time, and can delete records.
• Members can update their own details in the member portal and can ask their church to correct or delete their record.
• Anyone can stop text messages from a church by replying STOP.
• Depending on where you live, you may have the right to see, correct, delete or take a copy of your information, or to object to how it's used. Write to us and we'll respond within 30 days. If the information belongs to a church, we'll pass your request to that church and help them answer.

9. Security

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, limits on repeated failed sign-ins, separation so one church can't see another church's data, and regular backups. No system is perfect. If a breach affects your information, we'll tell the affected churches promptly and as the law requires, so they can tell their people.

10. Where information is stored

theway.host is run from the United States, and our servers are in Texas. If you use theway.host from outside the US, your information will be handled in the US.

11. Changes

If we make a meaningful change, we'll update this page and email church account owners at least 14 days before it takes effect.

Questions

Write to us at hello@theway.host. A real person reads every message. Inventing Genius Labs LLC, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA. Our full postal address for legal notices is available on request.