Last updated: August 12, 2026
Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Minute Minyan — a curated, invitation-based Jewish prayer-quorum (minyan) coordination app for iOS and Android — and our companion website at minuteminyan.com collect, use, share, protect, retain, and permanently delete your information.
Minute Minyan helps a trusted, closed community coordinate minyanim — finding nearby prayer groups, seeing live headcounts, and getting notified when a tenth is needed. Because access is invitation-based and approved by a human admin, we collect a limited amount of information to confirm who you are and to run the service. Everything we collect is described below in plain language.
In this policy, "we," "us," and "our" refer to Sheer Will LLC, the operator of Minute Minyan (see Section 11 for contact details). "You" refers to the person using the app or website. This policy is publicly available at minuteminyan.com/privacy.html.
1. Information We Collect, How, and Why
We collect only what we need to vet access to a curated community and to coordinate minyanim. The table below lists every category of personal data we collect, how it is collected, and every purpose for which it is used.
| Data | How it's collected | Why we use it (all purposes) |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | You enter it when you apply to join. | Identity vetting; human admin approval for the curated community; identifying you to other members you coordinate with; operating the service. |
| Phone number (SMS-verified) | You enter it; we send a one-time SMS code to confirm the number is yours. | Identity vetting; your account identifier and secure sign-in; verifying deletion requests; securing the service against fake or duplicate accounts. |
| Selfie photo | Captured with your device camera during signup, after an on-screen disclosure and your affirmative opt-in. | First for one-time human admin identity vetting for the closed community; once you are approved, it also becomes your profile photo shown to captains and other vetted members inside the community. See Section 5 for full detail. No faceprint is ever created. |
| Email address (optional) | You may choose to enter it; it is not required. | Account recovery and important service notices, only if you provide it. |
| Precise / approximate location | Device location, only after an on-screen disclosure and your affirmative opt-in — or an approximate/manual location you type in instead. | Showing you minyanim near you and placing you on live nearby counts. See Section 6. Never used for advertising. |
| Synagogue affiliation | You enter where you currently daven when you apply. | Helps the human admin review and approve your application to the curated community. |
| Free-text "why" | You write a short description of why you're joining when you apply. | Helps the human admin review and approve your application. |
| Push token (FCM) | Issued by Firebase Cloud Messaging if you enable notifications. | Delivering minyan alerts and notifications to your device. Contains no message content. |
| Device / log / diagnostic data | Collected automatically as you use the app (e.g., app version, device type, crash and error logs). | Operating, debugging, and securing the service and preventing abuse. Not used for advertising or profiling. |
We do not collect payment information, your contacts, your browsing history, or advertising identifiers, and we do not build advertising or marketing profiles about you.
2. Third Parties & Service Providers
We use a small number of trusted service providers to run the app and website. They process your information only on our behalf, only for the purposes described in this policy, and each is contractually and operationally required to provide a level of protection for your data equal to the protections described here:
- Google Firebase — our backend, including Firebase Authentication (phone verification and sign-in), Cloud Firestore (app and profile data), Cloud Storage (selfie and avatar storage), and Cloud Messaging (push notifications).
- Vercel — hosting for our companion website at minuteminyan.com, including the public account-deletion page.
- ImprovMX — email routing/forwarding for our
@minuteminyan.comaddresses. - Resend — sending transactional and service emails.
We do not sell your personal data. We do not use third-party advertising networks, and we do not use analytics services that sell, monetize, or trade your data. Each provider above is required to protect your data to the same standard set out in this policy. We may disclose information only where required by law, to comply with valid legal process, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users and the service.
3. Consent & Prominent Disclosure
We collect and process your information based on your consent and to provide the service you have requested. Two of the most sensitive permissions get their own, prominent, in-app disclosures before any access occurs:
- Camera (selfie). Before your camera is used, the app shows a clear in-app disclosure explaining that the photo is used for one-time human identity vetting and, once you are approved, as your in-community profile photo. Your camera is accessed only after you affirmatively opt in.
- Location. Before device location is accessed, the app shows a clear in-app disclosure explaining it is used only to surface nearby minyanim. Location is accessed only after you affirmatively opt in — and you can decline and enter an approximate location instead.
Unrelated functionality is not conditioned on granting camera or location access beyond what each feature genuinely needs, and email is optional. You may withdraw your consent at any time and request deletion of your data (see Sections 4, 8, and 9). Because access to the curated community depends on vetting, withdrawing consent for required data — for example, deleting your selfie or phone verification — may mean we can no longer provide the service.
4. Data Retention, Deletion & Revoking Consent
- Selfie & profile photo. The selfie is first used for one-time admin vetting. If your application is declined, it is deleted promptly. If you are approved, it is retained as your profile photo (avatar), shown to captains and other vetted members within the community; the selfie and profile photo are deleted when your account is deleted.
- Account data (name, phone, email, synagogue, "why," minyan participation) is retained while your account is active so the service can function.
- Push token is retained while notifications are enabled and deleted when your account is deleted.
- Device / log / diagnostic data is retained only as long as needed to keep the service reliable and secure.
Revoking consent / requesting deletion. You can withdraw consent and request deletion at any time — start it in the app, use the public web page at minuteminyan.com/delete-account.html, or email privacy@minuteminyan.com. The deletion pipeline is described in full in Section 8. When you request deletion, we will permanently delete your account and personal data as described there. Residual copies may persist briefly in encrypted backups before being overwritten, and we may retain a minimal audit record of the deletion request itself where required.
5. Your Selfie & Sensitive-Data Notice
Plain-language summary
Your selfie is treated as sensitive data. It is used first so a human admin can confirm you are a real member of our curated, closed community during a one-time vetting review, and — once you are approved — it becomes your profile photo, shown to captains and other vetted members inside the community. It is never shown to the general public, never used for advertising, and no biometric identifier, faceprint, or face-geometry template is ever created or stored.
- Consent before capture. We obtain your consent, preceded by an in-app disclosure, before your camera is used to take the selfie.
- Human review, then community profile. An authorized admin first views the selfie to confirm your identity for curated access. Once you are approved, it becomes your profile photo, visible to captains and other vetted members within the closed community. It is not shown to the general public or to anyone outside the community.
- No faceprint, ever. We do not convert your selfie into a faceprint, face-geometry template, or any biometric identifier, and we do not run automated facial recognition or biometric matching on it.
- Profile photo on approval. If you are approved, your selfie is retained as your profile photo (avatar), shown to captains and other vetted members within the community. The selfie and the profile photo are deleted when your account is deleted (see Section 8).
Residents of states with biometric laws. Some U.S. states — including Illinois (BIPA), Texas (CUBI), and Washington — provide specific rights regarding facial or biometric data. Although we do not create biometric identifiers or faceprints, we obtain your consent before collecting your selfie and honor these rights. If you are a resident of one of these states and have questions about how your selfie is handled, or want it deleted, contact us at privacy@minuteminyan.com.
6. Precise Location & Sensitive-Data Notice
Your precise location is treated as sensitive data. We collect it for one purpose only: to surface minyanim near you and place you on live nearby counts.
- You can decline precise location and instead enter an approximate or manual location; the core "nearby minyanim" feature still works from that.
- Location is accessed only after an in-app disclosure and your affirmative opt-in, and you control the permission in your device settings at any time.
- Your location is never used for advertising and is not shared with advertisers or data brokers.
7. Minors
Minute Minyan is intended for people aged 13 and older and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13; if we learn we have, we will delete it. This is consistent with the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and, for applicable users, the child-data provisions of the GDPR (GDPR-K).
Users aged 13–17 should use the app only with the consent and involvement of a parent or legal guardian. A parent or guardian may contact us at privacy@minuteminyan.com to review, correct, or delete a minor's information.
8. Account Deletion — In-App and on the Web
You can permanently delete your account and its data. Deletion can be started in two ways, and the web path works even after you have uninstalled the app:
- In the app: open the account/settings area and choose to delete your account.
- On the web: visit minuteminyan.com/delete-account.html and confirm with phone verification. This page does not require the app to be installed.
What deletion actually does
- Verified request. Your deletion request is confirmed by phone verification so only you can delete your account.
- 5-day grace period. After a verified request, there is a 5-day grace period during which the request can be cancelled. It is a delay only — never a "deactivate," "disable," or "freeze."
- Permanent deletion. When the grace period ends, we permanently delete:
- your profile fields, including name, phone, and email;
- your selfie and profile avatar;
- your access and application records;
- your minyan participation records;
- your push token;
- and your login (Firebase Authentication) account itself.
- If you were a captain (Rosh Minyan), any minyanim you ran are cancelled and their members are notified so no one shows up to a minyan that no longer exists.
- Minimal audit record. We retain a minimal record that a deletion request was made and completed (for example, a reference and timestamps), so we can prove the deletion occurred and comply with legal obligations. This record does not reconstruct your profile.
Residual copies may persist briefly in encrypted backups before being overwritten as part of routine backup rotation. Because the web deletion page is phone-verified and independent of the app, you can complete deletion at any time, including after uninstalling.
9. Your Data-Subject Rights
You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you, and you may request its deletion — and we will honor both. Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to correct inaccurate data, to withdraw consent, and to object to or restrict certain processing.
- How to request: use the in-app account controls, the web deletion page, or email privacy@minuteminyan.com.
- Identity check: to protect your account, we verify your identity by phone verification before acting on an access or deletion request.
- Timeline: we act on verified requests promptly and within the time required by applicable law; deletions follow the pipeline in Section 8 (a 5-day grace period, then permanent deletion).
California (CCPA / CPRA) notice
If you are a California resident, you have the rights to know, to delete, to correct, and to non-discrimination for exercising your rights. Your selfie and precise location are treated as "sensitive personal information," and you have the right to limit our use of that sensitive personal information. We use sensitive personal information only for the limited purposes described in this policy (identity vetting, your in-community profile photo, and surfacing nearby minyanim) and never to sell your data or serve advertising. We do not sell or "share" (as defined by the CPRA) your personal information.
10. Security
We protect your information with industry-standard safeguards, including encryption in transit and at rest and access controls that restrict data to authorized personnel for the purposes described in this policy. Your selfie is kept in access-restricted storage — available to authorized admins for one-time vetting and served as your profile photo only to vetted members inside the community — and your phone number is handled through secure, verified sign-in. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your data and to respond quickly if an issue arises.
11. Who We Are & How to Contact Us
Minute Minyan is operated by Sheer Will LLC, the entity responsible for your information as described in this policy (the "data controller"). This policy is publicly available at minuteminyan.com/privacy.html. For any privacy question, request, or concern — including access and deletion requests — contact us:
Privacy contact: privacy@minuteminyan.com
Web: minuteminyan.com
12. International Users & U.S. Processing
Minute Minyan is operated from, and its service providers primarily process data in, the United States. If you access the app from outside the United States, you understand that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the U.S. and other countries where our providers operate, which may have different data-protection laws than your own. We handle all data consistently with this policy regardless of where it is processed.
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, notify you in the app or by other means. Your continued use of Minute Minyan after an update means you accept the revised policy.