Privacy Policy

1. Who we are and when this policy applies

Vessel operates the AI creative workspace at usevesselapp.com for pastors, churches, ministries, and media teams. This policy explains the information we collect, why we use it, who receives it, and the choices you have when visiting our website, creating an account, using our application and APIs, or contacting us.

Churches may upload recordings or documents containing other people’s personal information, beliefs, voices, or images. The church or uploader is responsible for having appropriate permissions and a lawful basis to provide that content. Vessel processes it to deliver the tools requested by that user. Do not upload private pastoral counseling, children’s information, or other sensitive material unless you are authorized to do so.

2. Information we collect

Account and setup information: your email, name, authentication identifier, email-verification status, church name, denomination, selected interests, how you found Vessel, profile preferences, and team membership. For email/password accounts we store a password hash, not your plain-text password.

Content you provide: sermon audio/video, imported media links, transcripts and word timings, scripture references, images, documents, prompts, agent conversations, brand kits, logos, voice guidance, edits, projects, generated drafts, and exports. Some ministry content may reveal religious beliefs; we use it to perform the content operations you request.

EmailAI information: email drafts, recipient addresses you enter, subjects, signatures, writing briefs, authored writing samples, selected source documents, writing-profile observations and their evidence, revision history, and task status. If you connect SendByte or Resend, we store an encrypted provider API key, your chosen sender identity, and the domain/DNS information returned by that provider. Connecting a provider does not grant access to your Gmail inbox or expand Google sign-in permissions. When you confirm sending, the exact sender, recipient list, subject, HTML and plain-text email are shared with your selected provider. Vessel retains a review snapshot, submission attempts and provider receipts to show status and prevent duplicate submissions. Designer emails are compiled on Modal before review; the compiler receives no provider API key. Test sends use only the test recipient you enter. Disconnecting a provider removes its saved key from Vessel but does not delete messages already held by that provider. SendByte personal sends disable open/click tracking; other tracking settings are controlled by your provider account. When you use Outreach, your selected SendByte Marketing brand holds its subscriber lists, contact names, addresses, custom fields and subscription status. Uploading or importing contacts sends the mapped fields to that provider at your direction and may request opt-in confirmations on double opt-in lists. Vessel retains consent-source notes and import results, campaign settings, review snapshots, provider draft and campaign identifiers, schedules and provider result counts. If you connect delivery updates, we store encrypted endpoint signing credentials and verified event identifiers, message identifiers, event types, timestamps and limited delivery diagnostics. We match events only to your saved messages; we do not store tracking URLs, recipient IP addresses or browser user agents in EmailAI event history. Opens and clicks can be affected by privacy proxies and automated scanners and do not establish that someone read an email. Recipient opt-outs, suppression checks and unsubscribe pages are handled by the selected provider; removing a contact or brand from that provider is separate from deleting Vessel’s saved campaign records.

Billing and service information: selected plan, subscription and customer identifiers, processing-credit usage, storage usage, payment status, transaction references, and refund requests. Dodo Payments handles checkout and payment-card details; Vessel does not store full payment-card numbers.

Support information: messages and attachments you send to support, demo request details, and refund correspondence. If you choose to use our support chat, the chat provider also processes that interaction.

Technical information: IP address, user agent, browser/device details, authentication/session records, timestamps, request and job logs, errors, and usage events. We use this information to operate the service, protect accounts, diagnose failures, and understand consented use of the website.

3. Sign in with Google: access, use, sharing, and storage

Google sign-in is optional. Vessel requests only the OpenID Connect scopes openid, email, and profile. Google provides an account identifier, email address, email-verification status, name, and profile-picture URL. We use these fields to create or authenticate your Vessel account, connect an existing account when you authorize linking, identify your profile, and help protect sign-in.

Google sign-in does not give Vessel access to your Gmail messages, contacts, Google Drive files, Google Calendar, or private YouTube library. Importing a public YouTube sermon URL is a separate feature and does not expand the permissions requested for Google sign-in.

We store your Google identifier, email, and returned basic profile fields with your linked authentication record in our account database. The sign-in exchange uses Google tokens to obtain those fields; our account-linking implementation does not persist the Google provider access token. Vessel issues its own session tokens for your account. We retain the linked identity record while it is needed for your account, subject to deletion requests and the retention conditions below.

Google identity information is handled by our authentication and database/hosting infrastructure for sign-in and account operation. We do not sell this information, use it for targeted advertising, or use it to train generalized AI or machine-learning models. We disclose it only as needed to operate and secure your account, at your direction, or for the legal and safety purposes described below.

Vessel’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. Human access to Google data is limited to authorized support or security work, with your permission when required, or legal obligations.

You can revoke Vessel’s Google access from the third-party connections page in your Google Account. Revocation prevents future Google authorization but does not by itself delete your existing Vessel account or uploaded content. To request removal of your stored Google identity or your Vessel account, contact privacy@usevesselapp.com from your account email. Arrange another available sign-in method before removing a link you rely on.

4. How we use your information

We use account and session data to register you, verify identity, restore your workspace, manage access and teams, and apply your preferences. We use uploaded media and text to transcribe, identify moments and scripture references, translate, generate writing or designs, render media, store projects, and prepare exports when you request those features.

We use billing and usage records to administer subscriptions, calculate credits, enforce plan/storage limits, reconcile transactions, and handle cancellation and refund requests. We use contact information for verification messages, account and service notices, support replies, and permitted product communications.

We use diagnostics and security records to troubleshoot failures, prevent abuse and fraud, protect content and accounts, and maintain reliable operation. Where applicable, our processing relies on providing the service under our agreement with you, legitimate interests in security and operation, your consent for optional tracking or integrations, and legal obligations. You may object to or withdraw consent for applicable processing as described below.

5. AI, transcription, and media processing

When you request an AI or media feature, relevant content may be sent to a provider that performs that task. This can include sermon audio for transcription, transcript excerpts and your instructions for writing or analysis, language text for translation, or image prompts and reference assets for design. Agent conversations and selected workspace context are processed to respond to your requests and execute approved tasks.

The implementation integrates DeepSeek for language-model analysis and agent tasks, Deepgram for speech transcription, and Google’s Gemini services for supported image and other AI operations. Enabled providers can vary by feature and deployment. Media workers process the assets needed to render or transform your output. Using Google’s AI services for a requested content feature is distinct from optional Google sign-in.

We do not sell your sermons or train our own foundation model on them. Providers have their own retention and data-use terms; do not assume all third-party providers have identical retention periods or training settings. We use available configuration and contractual controls for the services we operate. Contact us if your ministry requires details about the processing for a particular feature before uploading sensitive content.

AI outputs are drafts for your review. They may contain errors or omit context. Verify scripture wording, theology, factual claims, permissions, and the finished work before publication. This content review is separate from your privacy choices.

When you ask EmailAI to learn a writing persona, selected complete samples are processed on Modal and relevant text is sent to DeepSeek to describe observable writing choices. Uploaded originals are stored in private Cloudflare R2 storage; source text, accepted profiles, quoted evidence and profile versions are stored with your account. A profile describes writing patterns, not a reconstruction of private thoughts. Writing suggestions stay separate from your saved email until accepted, and learning a profile does not automatically change your account’s chosen voice.

6. Who receives information

Service providers receive data needed for their function. Our implementation uses Cloudflare R2 for media and asset storage, PostgreSQL hosting such as Aiven for account/project records, Upstash Redis for cache and operational state, worker infrastructure such as Modal for media jobs, Dodo Payments for billing, and SendByte for transactional service emails. SendByte receives the recipient address and message content, including account-verification or password-reset links, to deliver those messages. AI providers receive relevant feature inputs as described above. The deployed provider mix may change; this policy will be updated for material changes.

YouTube sermon imports may use Loader.to as a fallback download processor when the primary downloader cannot retrieve the video. We send the canonical YouTube video URL and requested media format and retrieve the resulting video for your import. We do not send Vessel passwords, Vessel session tokens, or Google sign-in credentials to this download provider.

Authorized team members can see content made available within their workspace permissions. If you publish a share page, embed, or other public link, the selected content and identifying information included in that page may be accessible to people outside your church and indexed by search engines. Review sharing settings and remove public links when you no longer want them available.

If you connect an external email or publishing service, the information needed to perform the action is shared with that service at your direction. A feature that prepares a draft does not automatically publish it.

We may disclose information when reasonably needed to comply with law or a valid legal request, investigate abuse, protect rights or safety, resolve disputes, or facilitate a merger or transfer of the business subject to appropriate protections. We do not sell personal information or share Google identity data for advertising.

7. Cookies, browser storage, and optional measurement

Vessel uses browser storage for its own session tokens, preferences, and recovery of local editing drafts. The sign-in flow also uses security state to protect authorization. These functions are needed for account access and reliable editing. Clearing browser storage can sign you out or remove unsaved local drafts.

The public landing page measures signup clicks, demo interactions, scroll depth, and pricing views only when you accept optional cookies and a measurement integration is present. Declining optional cookies does not block the public homepage or privacy policy. These landing events contain action labels rather than sermon content, Google identity fields, or authentication tokens.

You can change your choice by clearing the cookie_consent entry in browser site storage, or clear the site’s storage through your browser settings and choose again on your next visit. Browser Do Not Track is respected by landing-page measurement. When you accept optional measurement, the existing Cloudflare Web Analytics integration can collect page visits and performance information; its browser script is loaded only after consent. Cloudflare’s server-side traffic and security logs are separate from this optional browser measurement. If you open support chat, that provider’s cookies and handling of the support interaction also apply.

8. Retention, deletion, and revocation

Account/profile and linked identity records remain while needed to provide your account and satisfy security or legal needs. Media has plan-specific retention settings: Pro Weekly and Pro use a 60-day default, Ministry a 90-day default, and Ministry Plus has no plan-based retention expiry. Individual file settings, deletion requests, operational cleanup, and legal obligations can affect how long a particular item remains. No-expiry retention is not a promise to retain deleted content forever.

You can delete sermons and supported projects through the application; deletion removes the records and initiates associated cleanup. Some generated work can remain independent of a deleted source. Media cleanup may be asynchronous or best-effort, and backups, logs, billing records, or legal holds may retain relevant information after an application item is removed.

You can remove a writing sample from the persona library, which deletes its stored source record and uploaded original where present. Previously accepted writing profiles and their evidence/version history remain until the associated persona or account is removed; earlier emails and task histories can retain their own copies under the retention conditions above. Disconnecting an EmailAI provider removes its saved connection and encrypted key from Vessel; it does not delete your account or domains at the provider. Revoke the key with that provider if you also want to invalidate it there.

To request access, export, removal of Google sign-in data, or deletion of your account and stored content, email privacy@usevesselapp.com from your account address. Tell us which account or content your request concerns; do not send passwords or API keys. We may verify identity or authority over the workspace before acting. We will explain any information we must retain and respond within applicable legal time limits. We do not promise an unverified fixed deletion deadline.

Canceling billing, revoking Google access, or signing out does not itself erase your account and content. Export files you want to keep and request deletion separately. Temporary files, caches, and diagnostic records are retained according to operational need; backup removal follows the applicable recovery cycle.

9. Security and international processing

We use HTTPS, authentication, owner-scoped access controls, password hashing, signed asset access where implemented, rate limiting, and operational safeguards to protect information. Access is limited to authorized systems and personnel who need it. No online service can guarantee absolute security. Report suspected unauthorized access to security@usevesselapp.com.

Vessel’s infrastructure and providers may process information in countries other than yours. Applicable contractual and technical safeguards govern those transfers where required. Contact us for information about the providers and safeguards relevant to your workspace.

10. Your rights and choices

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may request information about processing, access or a copy of personal data, correction, deletion, portability, restriction, or objection. You may withdraw consent for processing that relies on consent without affecting its earlier lawfulness. You may complain to your local data-protection authority.

Edit supported profile fields in Settings, manage your subscription in Billing, and control what you upload or publish. Contact privacy@usevesselapp.com for privacy requests that the application does not provide directly. We do not discriminate against you for exercising applicable privacy rights, although some features need the data they process to function.

11. Children and changes to this policy

Vessel is intended for adults managing ministry work and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect account information from children under 13. Contact us if you believe a child has provided personal information so we can investigate and take appropriate action.

We update this policy when our service or processing practices materially change. The updated date appears above. Where required, we will provide notice or seek consent before using data for a materially different purpose.