Last updated: July 2026 · Version 1.0
1. Who we are
Freedom Church Chennai ("Freedom Church", "we", "us", "our") is a registered church community based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Our main contact address is hello@freedomchennai.com.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share information about you when you visit our website, attend our services, join our programmes, or interact with us in any other way.
2. Information we collect
We may collect the following types of personal information:
- Contact information — name, email address, phone number, and postal address when you fill in a form, register for an event, or contact us directly.
- Attendance and membership data — records of services attended, group membership, volunteering history, and ministry participation, managed through our ChMeetings member portal.
- Financial information — when you give online or by bank transfer, we receive confirmation of the transaction (not your card details, which are handled by our payment processor).
- Communication records — emails, messages, and prayer requests you send to us.
- Website usage data — pages visited, time on site, and device/browser information, collected via standard server logs and (if applicable) analytics tools.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without explicit parental consent.
3. How we use your information
We use your personal information to:
- Communicate with you about services, events, and church life.
- Manage your membership or volunteer record in ChMeetings.
- Process and acknowledge your giving.
- Run our ministries, Groups, and programmes effectively.
- Respond to enquiries, prayer requests, and pastoral needs.
- Send our newsletter or FishMag (only with your consent).
- Comply with our legal and safeguarding obligations.
We will never sell your personal data to third parties, and we will not use it for commercial marketing unrelated to Freedom Church.
4. Legal basis for processing (where applicable)
We process your data on one or more of the following lawful bases:
- Consent — you have given us clear permission (e.g. subscribing to communications).
- Legitimate interests — we have a legitimate interest in maintaining membership records and communicating with our church community.
- Legal obligation — safeguarding, financial record-keeping, and other legal duties.
5. How we share your information
Your information may be shared with:
- ChMeetings — our church management platform. Their privacy policy governs how they handle data on our behalf.
- Payment processors — if you give online, your transaction is processed by our payment gateway. We do not store card details.
- Ministry leaders and volunteers — on a need-to-know basis for pastoral care and programme coordination.
- Legal authorities — where required by law or to protect the safety of individuals (including safeguarding obligations).
We do not share your information with any other third parties without your explicit consent.
6. How long we keep your data
We keep your personal data only as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected, or as required by law. Giving records are retained for seven years for accounting purposes. If you ask us to delete your data and there is no legal reason to retain it, we will do so promptly.
7. Your rights
You have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you.
- Correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
- Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten").
- Withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent to process your data.
- Object to how we use your data.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@freedomchennai.com. We will respond within 30 days.
8. Security
We take appropriate technical and organisational steps to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, disclosure, or loss. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
9. Third-party links
Our website may contain links to external sites (YouTube, social media, ChMeetings, maps). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites and encourage you to read their policies.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised. Continued use of our website or services after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
11. Contact us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us:
Freedom Church Chennai
Email: hello@freedomchennai.com
