Privacy and confidentiality

The Nerdy Pastor Toolbox exists to help pastors care for people. Because what you record is often deeply personal, we treat it that way.

Who can see your records

Only you. Every person, communication, visit, counseling note, prayer request, sermon, letter, and certificate you enter is tied to your account and shown only when you are signed in. Other pastors cannot see them. Site administrators can see your name, church, email, and how many records you have (for example, "40 people"), so they can manage accounts, but the site gives them no tool to read your records.

How your records are stored

Names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, notes, locations, prayer requests, sermons, letters, certificates, and uploaded documents are encrypted with a key unique to your account before they are saved. The site uses HTTPS, so information is also encrypted on its way to and from your device. You are signed out automatically after 60 minutes of inactivity.

You choose between two levels of protection:

• Standard protection (the default). Your account's key is locked with a key kept on our server, separate from the database. A stolen copy of the database or a backup reveals nothing, and if you forget your password you can reset it without losing anything. Because the server holds the key that unlocks yours, someone with full control of the server could, in principle, read your records. We never do, and the site has no tool for it.
• Private vault (optional). Your account's key is locked with your own password, and with a recovery key that only you keep. The server does not keep any key that can unlock it, so nobody, including the people who run this site and our hosting company, can read your records without you. The trade-off: if you forget your password and also lose your recovery key, your records cannot be recovered by anyone. Turn it on from Account, then Sign-in security.

Either way, reminder emails never include names or notes, only a date and a link.

Location sharing

When logging a visit you may press "Use my current location." Your device will ask for permission first. The location is saved only with that visit and is never tracked in the background.

Your control

You can download everything you have entered as a spreadsheet, and you can delete your account. Deleting your account permanently removes all of its records.

Your responsibility

Please follow your denomination's and your state's guidance on pastoral confidentiality and mandatory reporting. Use a strong password and do not share your account.