How APOLLOS handles information

Effective October 1, 2026

Conversation history

APOLLOS stores your conversation history in your browser so you can return to recent studies. That local history remains on your device until you delete it, clear browser storage, or remove site data.

When you ask a question

To generate an answer, APOLLOS sends your current question, a limited amount of recent conversation history, and the small set of study-library passages retrieved for that question to the answer provider. APOLLOS does not send the entire local knowledge base with each question.

Diagram and chart aids

When a longer or more complex answer can benefit from a visual explanation, APOLLOS may offer a diagram or chart built from the answer text already displayed in your browser. These visual aids do not use video and do not send your conversation to an additional media provider.

Scripture lookup

If you open an inline Scripture reference, the passage identifier is sent through the APOLLOS server to the configured Bible-text provider so the passage can be displayed.

Anonymous usage safeguards

APOLLOS uses an anonymous signed browser identifier and rate-limit counters to prevent abuse and control operating costs. In public mode, those counters are kept in a durable rate-limit store. Session and network identifiers are transformed before they are used as rate-limit keys. A short anti-abuse window may temporarily pause a browser or network when requests arrive unusually quickly.

Anonymous engagement metrics

APOLLOS keeps aggregate operational metrics such as approximate visible engagement time, response time, number of questions, anonymous browser counts, broad question-topic categories, answered versus unanswered counts, feedback-form opens, elder-or-minister referral opens, aggregate selections of optional next-study suggestions, aggregate opens of the contextual congregation handoff, public study-page views, and use of the public study share button. These analytics do not store the text of your questions or APOLLOS answers. “Unique browser” counts are estimates based on an anonymous browser identifier and are not verified person counts.

Feedback form

If you use the Ask APOLLOS feedback form, the information you enter is sent when you select Submit feedback. APOLLOS sends the completed form through its email-delivery provider to [email protected]. The email-delivery provider and the recipient's email provider process the form contents in order to deliver and receive the message. APOLLOS does not write the feedback-form contents to its analytics database. It records only anonymous aggregate events such as opening the form and successful submission.

Optional stay-in-touch emails and follow-up Bible studies

The Stay in touch form gives you separate choices. You can request a personal follow-up Bible study, opt in to occasional APOLLOS Bible-study emails, or choose both. Nothing is submitted unless you actively select at least one option and submit the form.

If you request a personal follow-up study, the name and contact information you enter, your preferred contact method, selected study topics, availability, and optional note are sent through APOLLOS's existing protected email-delivery system. If you opt in to occasional Bible-study emails, your email address, study interests, and frequency preference are sent through that same system to the designated APOLLOS inbox so the study team can honor that request. Phone numbers are used only for personal follow-up when you choose a phone-based contact preference; APOLLOS does not offer SMS/text-message subscriptions through this form.

Your contact details from this form are not added to the conversation analytics store. You can withdraw consent at any time by replying “unsubscribe” or “stop” to an email, or by asking the person who contacts you to stop. A withdrawal request should be honored for future optional contact.

Hosting and network information

Like most websites, the hosting, content-delivery, security, and API providers that operate APOLLOS may process ordinary technical information such as IP address, request time, browser details, and request metadata as part of delivering and protecting the service. Their own retention and privacy practices apply to information they process.

Congregation matching

After you have meaningfully progressed through the core study topics, APOLLOS may offer a one-time invitation to continue with someone local. That invitation does not access or infer your location; the congregation finder opens only if you choose it.

APOLLOS keeps a bundled congregation directory in your browser and can also use a live place-search provider when that feature is configured. If you enter a city, state, postal code, or country for live congregation search, that location text is sent through the APOLLOS server to Google Places so nearby congregation listings can be returned. APOLLOS does not write the location text or the returned congregation list to its analytics store. Google processes the lookup under its own terms and privacy practices.

If a selected live congregation does not already have a known public email, APOLLOS may briefly fetch the congregation website returned by the live place-search provider and, when necessary, up to two same-site public contact/about pages to look for a clearly published contact email. The lookup is limited to public web pages, blocks private or reserved network addresses, does not submit forms, and does not write fetched page content or discovered email addresses to APOLLOS analytics.

If a congregation has a usable public email address, APOLLOS shows an editable email draft directly beneath the selected congregation. The configured APOLLOS feedback inbox is included in the CC field. You can review and edit the subject and message before opening the draft in your own email application. APOLLOS does not send the message automatically.

No advertising profile

APOLLOS is not designed to build advertising profiles from your Bible-study conversations, and it does not sell your conversation history to advertisers.

Use appropriate discretion

APOLLOS is a Bible-study tool, not a confidential counseling or emergency service. Avoid entering information that you would not want processed by the service providers needed to generate a response or deliver a follow-up request.

This notice may be updated as APOLLOS adds or changes infrastructure. The effective date above will be updated when material changes are made.