Privacy Policy

Zion Awakening Center (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is a church based at Bweyogerere, Wakiso District, Uganda. Our website lets you learn about our ministry, watch our services online, listen to audio sermons, send us prayer requests and messages, register as a new convert, submit a sonship request, and give online. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect through the website, why we collect it, how we use it, and the choices you have.

By creating an account, submitting a form, or otherwise using this website, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

We collect information in the following ways:

Information you provide directly:

• Account details: full name, email address, and password (when you register), or the basic profile details Google shares with us if you sign in with Google.
• Profile information: phone number, location, bio, and profile photo, if you choose to add them.
• Contact form: your name, email address, phone number (optional), the subject, and your message.
• Prayer requests: your name, phone number, the prayer category you select, and the details of your request.
• New converts registration: your name, residential location, phone number, the date of your decision, and whether you would like to be assigned to a discipleship team.
• Spiritual sonship submissions: your name, your current ministry assignment location, your email address, and your personal testimony summary.
• Giving: the amount and currency you choose, your name, email address, telephone or mobile money contact number, and the purpose you designate for your giving.
• Saved sermons: the audio sermons you choose to save to your profile.

Information collected automatically:

• Technical data such as browser type, device type, and general access timestamps, collected through our hosting and website infrastructure.
• Basic interaction data needed to keep you signed in and to make the website work.

We use the information we collect to:

• Create and manage your account, and authenticate you when you sign in.
• Pray for you and follow up on prayer requests you submit.
• Welcome new converts, and help ground their walk through follow-up and discipleship.
• Review and respond to spiritual sonship submissions.
• Record, acknowledge, and account for your giving, and follow up with you where needed.
• Respond to messages you send through our contact form.
• Let you save and revisit audio sermons.
• Maintain the security and integrity of the website, including detecting and preventing misuse.
• Improve our website and services based on how they are used.
• Communicate with you about your account or changes to our policies, where necessary.

We do not sell your personal information to anyone.

Where applicable law, including Uganda's Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019, requires a legal basis for processing personal data, we rely on the following: your consent (for example, when you create an account or submit a form); the necessity of processing to provide what you have asked for (for example, recording a gift you have made or following up on a prayer request); our legal and accounting obligations; and our legitimate interest in operating, securing, and improving the website and our ministry.

Prayer requests, new convert registrations, and sonship testimonies can reveal your religious beliefs and personal circumstances, which is sensitive information. We treat this information as confidential. It is available only to the pastors, leaders, and ministry team members who need it to pray for you, follow up with you, or review your submission, and it is not published on the website.

Please share only what you are comfortable sharing. If you would like something removed, contact us using the details in Section 15.

We share personal information only in the following circumstances:

• Church leadership and ministry teams: Authorized pastors, leaders, and team members (for example, the intercessory, discipleship, and finance teams) may access the information relevant to their work.
• Service providers: We use third-party infrastructure and payment providers (see Section 7) to host our website, store data, manage sign-in, and process payments. They process data on our behalf and are bound by their own data protection terms.
• Legal requirements: We may disclose information if required to do so by law, or in the good-faith belief that this is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, protect our rights, or protect the safety of people or the public.

This website is built using the following third-party providers:

• Firebase Authentication (Google): manages account creation and sign-in, including email/password and Google sign-in.
• Cloud Firestore (Google): stores account, form submission, giving record, and saved sermon data.
• Firebase Storage (Google): stores files such as audio sermons and profile photos.
• YouTube (Google): our live services may be streamed through an embedded YouTube player.
• Payment providers: when online payment is available, payments are processed by a third-party payment provider or mobile money service. We do not collect or store your card number or mobile money PIN on our website.

These services have their own privacy policies governing how they handle data. You can review Google's privacy practices at policies.google.com/privacy.

We use essential cookies and browser storage required to keep you signed in and to make the website work. If a YouTube live stream is shown on a page, Google and YouTube may set their own cookies when the player loads or plays. We do not use third-party advertising cookies. If this changes, we will update this policy accordingly.

We keep your account information for as long as your account remains active. We keep prayer requests, registrations, sonship submissions, and messages for as long as is reasonably necessary to minister to you and follow up with you. We keep giving records for as long as needed for accounting, audit, and legal purposes. When information is no longer needed, we delete it or remove the details that identify you.

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information. Most of this can be done directly from your Profile page.
• Request deletion of your account and associated personal data.
• Object to or restrict certain processing of your information.
• Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at zionawakeningcenter@gmail.com. Some records, such as giving records, may need to be kept to meet our legal and accounting obligations.

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including access-controlled data storage, secure authentication, and restricting access to submissions to authorized leaders. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

This website is not intended for use by children under the age of 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can take appropriate action. Parents and guardians who submit a prayer request or registration on behalf of a child are responsible for the information they provide.

Because we use infrastructure providers that operate data centers globally, your information may be processed in countries other than your own, including countries that may have different data protection laws. Where this occurs, we take steps to ensure your information continues to be protected in accordance with this policy.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal or operational reasons. We will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page when changes are made. Continued use of this website after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how your information is handled, please reach out via our Contact page, or email us directly at zionawakeningcenter@gmail.com.

Zion Awakening Center
P.O. Box 21267, Kampala, Uganda
Bweyogerere Kakajjo RD, Wakiso District, Uganda