Privacy Policy

Kerith ("Kerith", "we", "us", or "our") provides the Kerith Church Management System (the "Service"), software that churches use to manage member records, attendance, finances, welfare funds, and communications. This Privacy Policy explains what information the Service collects, how it is used, who it is shared with, and the choices available to churches, their staff, and their members.

1. Scope & roles

Kerith is used by a church (the "Customer") to manage records belonging to that church, its staff, members, and visitors. In most cases, the church is the data controller, deciding what information is collected and why, and Kerith acts as the data processor, storing and processing that information on the church's behalf and on its instructions. Where this policy refers to "you," it means whoever is interacting with Kerith at the time: a church administrator, a member of staff, a church member with portal access, a visitor whose details a church has recorded, or a visitor to our marketing website at kerithapp.com.

If you are a church member or visitor with questions about your own data, please contact your church directly in the first instance, since they control what is recorded about you. If you are a church administrator, this policy describes how Kerith handles the data your church entrusts to us.

2. Information we collect

Account & staff information

Full name, email address, phone number, password (stored in hashed form, never in plain text), assigned role (e.g. System Admin, Presiding Elder, Financial Secretary, Local Secretary, Ministry Leader, Member), and login activity such as sign-in times and two-factor verification history.

Member & visitor records

Full name, date of birth, gender, phone number, email address, home address, occupation, marital status, membership date, ministry involvement, family relationships, profile photo, and, where a church chooses to enable it, a fingerprint-derived biometric template and QR code used for attendance check-in.

Financial records

Tithe, offering, donation, and pledge entries; welfare and funeral fund contributions and benefit disbursements; expense records and approval history. These records are typically linked to a member's name for accountability and receipting purposes.

Communication data

SMS message content, recipients, delivery status, and send history for messages a church sends through the Service (for example service reminders, birthday greetings, or bulk announcements).

Activity & technical data

A read-only audit log of significant actions taken in the system, logins, record creation, edits, deletions, and approvals, recorded against the user who performed them, along with the date and time, for accountability purposes.

Website contact form data

If you fill in the contact form on our marketing website, we (or your own email client, depending on how the form is configured) receive the name, church name, email address, phone number, and message you provide, so that we can respond to your enquiry.

3. Biometric data

Fingerprint-based attendance is an optional feature. Where a church enables it, a biometric template (not a raw fingerprint image) is captured through the Kerith Biometric Bridge software and stored to allow fast check-in. Biometric data is treated as a special category of personal data:

• Enrolment is optional, churches must offer members a non-biometric alternative (manual check-in or QR code) and should only enrol a member's fingerprint with their informed consent.
• Biometric templates are used solely for attendance matching and are not used for any other purpose.
• Churches are responsible for obtaining appropriate consent from members (or a parent/guardian for minors) before enrolling them, in line with applicable law.

4. How information is used

• To operate the Service: authenticate users, record attendance, process financial entries, generate reports, and maintain accurate member and ministry records.
• To send SMS communications a church initiates or configures, including automated birthday greetings, tithe/offering/donation/pledge confirmations, and pledge reminders.
• To secure accounts, including two-factor email verification codes and password reset links.
• To maintain audit logs for accountability and to investigate misuse or errors.
• To back up church data nightly so it can be restored in the event of data loss.
• To respond to enquiries submitted through our marketing website.
• To improve the Service and fix problems, using aggregated or de-identified information wherever possible.

We do not use member or church data to train third-party AI models, and we do not use it for advertising.

5. SMS & third-party providers

SMS features are delivered through GiantSMS, a third-party SMS gateway. When a church sends a message through Kerith, the recipient's phone number and message content are transmitted to GiantSMS solely to deliver that message. Churches are responsible for the content of the messages they send and for ensuring recipients have consented to receive them.

We also rely on infrastructure providers (such as our hosting and email-delivery providers) to operate the Service. These providers process data only as necessary to provide their service to us and are bound by confidentiality and data-protection obligations.

6. Storage, isolation & security

• Private subdomain per church. Each church operates on its own subdomain (e.g. yourchurch.kerithapp.com) with its data kept logically separate from every other church using the Service.
• Role-based access. What a user can see and do is restricted according to their assigned role, for example, a Ministry Leader can only see their own ministry's members, attendance, and finances.
• Encrypted credentials. Passwords are stored using one-way hashing; API keys and SMS credentials are stored securely and are not displayed once saved.
• Two-factor verification. Sign-in requires a one-time verification code sent to the user's registered email in addition to their password.
• Nightly backups. Church data is backed up automatically (by default, nightly) with a configurable retention period, so it can be restored if something goes wrong.
• Audit logging. Significant actions are logged and cannot be altered or deleted, supporting accountability within each church.

No system can be guaranteed 100% secure, but we apply industry-standard safeguards and review them on an ongoing basis.

7. Data sharing & disclosure

• We do not sell church, member, or visitor data.
• We do not share one church's data with another church.
• We share data only with the service providers described in this policy (for example GiantSMS for SMS delivery, and our hosting provider), and only to the extent needed to operate the Service.
• We may disclose information where required by law, to comply with a valid legal request, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Kerith, a church, or others.
• If Kerith is ever involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, we will ensure continuity of the protections described in this policy and will notify affected churches in advance where practicable.

8. Data retention

Church, member, and financial records are retained for as long as a church maintains an active account with us, plus a reasonable period afterward to allow for data export or account reactivation, unless the church requests earlier deletion. Backups are retained on a rolling basis (30 days by default, configurable by the church) before being automatically deleted. Audit logs are retained for as long as the underlying account is active, for accountability purposes.

When a church closes its account, it may request export and/or deletion of its data by contacting us at the address below.

9. Your rights

Depending on your relationship to a church and applicable law, including Ghana's Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), you may have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of personal data held about you, to object to certain processing, and to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission of Ghana or an equivalent regulator. Because churches control what data is collected about their staff and members, these requests are usually best directed to your church first. If your church is unable to assist, you may contact us directly and we will work with the relevant church to respond.

10. Children's data

Churches may record information about minors, for example, as part of a youth ministry. Churches are responsible for obtaining appropriate parental or guardian consent before recording a minor's information, particularly for biometric enrolment or SMS communications, and for ensuring such data is handled in line with applicable child-protection and data-protection law.

11. Cookies

Our marketing website (kerithapp.com) does not use tracking or advertising cookies. The Service itself (the church management application) uses strictly necessary session cookies or tokens to keep you signed in securely; these are essential to the Service and cannot be disabled without affecting your ability to log in.

12. International transfers

Kerith is built for churches in Ghana, and our infrastructure and support are organised accordingly. Where data is processed or backed up using infrastructure located outside Ghana, we take steps to ensure it continues to receive an appropriate level of protection consistent with this policy and applicable law.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the Service or applicable law. We will update the effective date at the top of this page when we do, and, for material changes, we will make reasonable efforts to notify church administrators.

14. Contact us

Questions about this Privacy Policy or how your church's data is handled can be sent to hello@kerithapp.com or via WhatsApp at +233 24 752 0600.