Privacy Policy

Personal Information You Provide

When you register for an account on The Forge, enroll in a discipleship class, or interact with our platform, we may collect the following personal information:

• Full name and date of birth
• Email address and phone number
• Campus or church location within Jesus City International Ministry
• Profile photograph (if uploaded)
• Cell group or ministry affiliation
• Emergency contact information (where applicable)

Academic and Discipleship Data

As part of managing your discipleship journey, we collect:

• Class enrollment records and progress data
• Assignment submissions, quiz scores, and exam results
• Attendance records for classes and cell group meetings
• Certificates earned and completion status
• School of Discipleship (SOD) academic records

Automatically Collected Information

When you use The Forge platform, we may automatically collect:

• Device type, browser type, and operating system
• IP address and general geographic location
• Pages visited, time spent on the platform, and navigation patterns
• Referring website or link that brought you to our platform

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To create and manage your account on The Forge platform
• To enroll you in discipleship classes and the School of Discipleship
• To track your academic progress, attendance, and completion of courses
• To generate and issue certificates upon successful completion of programs
• To facilitate communication between you, your instructors, and cell group leaders
• To send you important notifications about class schedules, assignments, deadlines, and ministry updates
• To provide pastoral oversight and discipleship support through authorized church leaders
• To improve the platform, fix technical issues, and enhance user experience
• To generate anonymized, aggregate reports on discipleship program effectiveness
• To comply with applicable laws and respond to lawful requests

We Do Not

We want to be clear about what we do not do with your data:

• Sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties
• Use your data for commercial advertising or marketing unrelated to our ministry
• Share your academic or discipleship records with parties outside the ministry without your consent

We take the security of your personal information seriously and implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect it. These measures include:

• Encryption of data in transit using SSL/TLS protocols
• Secure password hashing and storage using industry-standard algorithms
• Role-based access controls ensuring only authorized personnel (administrators, instructors, and designated leaders) can access sensitive data
• Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments of the platform
• Secure hosting infrastructure with reputable cloud service providers
• Email-based verification for account registration and sensitive account actions

While we strive to protect your personal data, no method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure. We encourage you to use strong passwords and keep your login credentials confidential.

We retain your personal information for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. Specifically:

• Account information is retained for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services
• Academic records, certificates, and completion data are retained indefinitely as part of the ministry's discipleship records, unless you request deletion
• Automatically collected technical data (such as logs) is retained for up to 12 months
• If you request account deletion, we will remove your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate ministry record-keeping

The Forge may use trusted third-party services to operate and improve the platform. These services may have access to your personal information only to perform specific tasks on our behalf and are obligated to protect your data. Third-party services we may use include:

• Cloud hosting providers for secure data storage and platform infrastructure
• Email delivery services for sending notifications, verification emails, and communications
• Authentication providers for secure login and account verification
• Analytics services to understand platform usage and improve the user experience (using anonymized data where possible)

We do not share your personal information with third parties for their own independent marketing purposes. Any third-party service provider we engage is selected based on their commitment to data protection and privacy standards.

Our platform may contain links to external websites, such as the Jesus City International Ministry website. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites and encourage you to review their privacy policies.

The Forge uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience on the platform. Cookies are small text files stored on your device that help us:

• Keep you signed in to your account across sessions
• Remember your preferences and settings
• Understand how you use the platform to improve functionality
• Ensure the security and integrity of your session

Types of Cookies We Use

• Essential cookies: Required for the platform to function properly (e.g., authentication, session management). These cannot be disabled.
• Functional cookies: Remember your preferences such as language and display settings.
• Analytics cookies: Help us understand usage patterns to improve the platform. These are anonymized where possible.

You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings. However, disabling essential cookies may prevent you from using certain features of the platform.

You have the following rights regarding your personal information on The Forge platform:

• Access: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction: You may request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete data. You can also update most of your profile information directly through the platform.
• Deletion: You may request the deletion of your account and associated personal data. Certain records may be retained where required for legitimate ministry purposes or legal compliance.
• Data portability: You may request a copy of your data in a commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Withdrawal of consent: Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out prior to withdrawal.
• Objection: You may object to the processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as the legal basis.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@jesuscityint.org. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

The Forge platform is intended for use by individuals aged 13 and above. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 without parental or guardian consent. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided personal information to us without your consent, please contact us at info@jesuscityint.org and we will take steps to remove such information.

For users between the ages of 13 and 18, we encourage parents and guardians to be involved in their discipleship journey and to review the information provided on the platform.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or ministry operations. When we make significant changes, we will:

• Update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy
• Post a notice on the platform informing users of the changes
• Where required, notify you by email of material changes

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your data.

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us: