Privacy Policy

Vigil123 is run by The Courtesy Collective LLC (“we,” “us”). You can reach us at info@vigil123.com.

The short version

Vigil123 is a quiet place where people keep prayer and vigil for someone going through something hard. To do that, we store the names, prayers, thoughts, and candles people offer.

We do not run analytics. We do not use tracking pixels or advertising cookies. We do not sell, rent, or share your information with anyone for marketing, and we do not profile you. There is no ad tech in this product at all.

What we keep, we keep in order to run the vigil — nothing else.

What we collect

When you sign in. Vigil123 uses Google or Apple to sign you in, through Firebase Authentication. We receive your name, email address, an identifier from that provider, and — if the provider shares one — a profile picture. If you hide your email through Apple, we store the relay address Apple gives us and never go looking for the real one. We never see or store your password.

What you write and do in a vigil.

• The recipient’s name and the story written by the vigil’s keeper — the person who hosts it — about why it exists
• An optional shared prayer, reading, and photo the keeper adds — and, if the keeper adds one, a credit line naming the photographer
• Your prayers and thoughts — the words you leave
• How long you prayed, and when
• That you are praying right now (briefly, while you are)
• If the keeper opens sign-up times: the times you set aside to pray, under your name
• If you are the recipient: the light and words you send back

On your device. Small notes stored locally in your browser — which thoughts you have already opened, whether you dismissed the “add to your phone” card, and, if a prayer is interrupted (a phone call, a closed tab), a note of the time you had already given so it can be offered back to you when you return. These stay on your device and are not sent to us.

Technical basics. Our hosting and database providers process ordinary technical information (such as IP address and browser type) to serve the site and keep it secure.

The sensitive part — please read this one

Two things about this app deserve to be said plainly rather than buried.

1. This information is unusually sensitive. Prayers can reveal religious belief, and a vigil is usually kept for someone who is ill. Under laws such as the UK/EU GDPR, both religious belief and health information are “special category” data — the most protected kind there is. We treat everything here accordingly, and we ask you to as well.

2. A vigil is often created about someone else. A keeper enters another person’s name, and writes their story, sometimes before that person has been told. If you create a vigil for someone, you are responsible for having their permission, or a genuine good-faith reason to believe they would want it. If you are that person and a vigil exists about you that you did not agree to, write to us at info@vigil123.com and we will remove it.

Who can see what

• Members of a vigil can see the candles, prayers, and thoughts offered in that vigil, the times people have signed up to pray (with their names), and how many people are keeping it. Vigils are private to their members — they are not public, not listed, and not searchable.
• The keeper of a vigil tends the circle, and can see who is in it: each member’s name, when they joined, and what they have offered — candles, prayer time, thoughts. The keeper can also remove any offering, or a member, from the vigil.
• The recipient sees what is kept for them, and can send light back.
• Anyone holding an invite link sees the vigil’s doorstep before signing in: the recipient’s name, the photo, and the story the keeper wrote. That is what an invitation is — but it is one more reason links deserve care.
• We can. Running the service means we hold administrative access to the underlying database and can technically see stored content. We look only when we need to — to fix a fault, to answer a request, or to respond to a report of harm. It is not read casually.
• Our providers, below, process data on our behalf.

Where your information lives

• Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore, Cloud Storage) — accounts, vigil content, and photos
• Vercel — hosting and delivery

Both are US-based, so information is stored and processed in the United States. If you are outside the US, you are transferring your information there by using Vigil123.

How long we keep it

We keep what you offer for as long as the vigil exists, because a vigil is meant to be kept — candles do not go out here.

There is currently no way to delete a vigil from inside the app. If you want a vigil, an offering, or your account deleted, email info@vigil123.com and we will do it, normally within 30 days.

Your choices

Whoever and wherever you are, you may ask us to see, correct, or delete your information, or to stop using it — just write to info@vigil123.com.

If you are in the UK/EU, you have rights under the GDPR including access, correction, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection, and the right to complain to your data protection authority. Our lawful bases are your consent (which you may withdraw) and our legitimate interest in running a service you asked to join.

If you are in California, we do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined by the CCPA/CPRA, and we will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

Children

Vigil123 is not intended for children. Do not use it if you are under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA/UK).

Security

Your information is held on Google Cloud infrastructure, access is restricted by security rules, and links into a vigil are unguessable. But no service can promise perfect security, and we do not.

One honest limitation: a link to a vigil works for whoever holds it. If a link is forwarded, whoever receives it can use it. Keepers can turn off a link and issue a new one at any time from the “Tend this vigil” screen.

Changes

If we change this policy we will update the date above, and we will tell vigil keepers directly if the change is significant.