Threads and Echoes Application Privacy Policy
Last Updated: September 25, 2026
Threads & Echoes is operated by By Way Of Design, a sole proprietorship (“By Way Of Design,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).
Your journal may contain some of the most personal information you have. We designed this Privacy Policy to explain plainly what information Threads & Echoes collects, how it is used, when it is processed by service providers, and the choices you have regarding your information.
This Privacy Policy applies specifically to the Threads & Echoes application and related Threads & Echoes services. It does not necessarily apply to other By Way Of Design websites, coaching services, assessments, or services that have their own privacy practices.
1. Information We Collect
Account Information
When you create or use a Threads & Echoes account, we may receive and store information associated with your authentication method, such as:
your name;
email address;
profile photo, if provided by your authentication provider;
authentication provider; and
account or user identifiers.
We use this information to create, authenticate, secure, identify, and administer your account.
Your Private Content
Threads & Echoes is designed as a private personal workspace. Depending on how you use the service, the information you provide may include:
journal entries;
imported historical journal material;
uploaded journal photographs, documents, and other attachments;
Declarations, Actions, Words to Weigh, notes, and other saved material;
questions submitted through features such as Ask My Journal;
information used to identify connections, patterns, Threads, and Echoes across your history;
AI-generated analyses, reviews, biblical or Scripture-related analysis, connections, suggestions, and other generated results; and
other information you intentionally enter or upload.
We refer to this information collectively as your Private Content.
Because Threads & Echoes is a journaling and reflection application, Private Content may include highly personal or sensitive information, including information concerning religious or spiritual beliefs, health, relationships, family, work, personal experiences, or other areas of your life. You decide what information you choose to record.
Private Content may also contain information about other people. You are responsible for the information and materials you choose to provide and for ensuring that you have the right to upload or provide materials submitted to Threads & Echoes.
Billing Information
Paid subscriptions and purchases are processed by Stripe.
By Way Of Design does not receive or store your full payment-card number. We receive and maintain information necessary to administer your subscription and purchases, which may include Stripe customer and subscription identifiers, your subscription plan and status, transaction or payment status, billing dates, purchase information, and related billing records.
Technical and Security Information
When you use Threads & Echoes, we and our service providers may automatically process technical information necessary to operate and secure the service. This may include:
IP address;
browser and device information;
user-agent information;
authentication and security events;
server and application logs;
error information; and
information used to prevent fraud, abuse, or unauthorized access.
Threads & Echoes does not intentionally request or collect precise GPS or geolocation information. IP addresses and similar technical information may, however, provide an approximate location.
Notifications
If you enable browser or web-app notifications, Threads & Echoes may store and process the technical subscription information necessary to deliver those notifications. Notification permission is controlled through your browser or device and may be withdrawn through those settings.
Feedback and Support
If you contact us for support or voluntarily submit feedback, bug reports, feature suggestions, or other communications, we may retain and use that information to respond to you, troubleshoot problems, secure the service, and improve Threads & Echoes.
Feedback you intentionally submit for product improvement is treated differently from your Private Content. We do not treat your private journal as product feedback simply because you use Threads & Echoes.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use personal information as reasonably necessary to:
provide and operate Threads & Echoes;
create and authenticate accounts;
store and retrieve your Private Content;
provide the features you choose to use;
generate AI-powered analyses and connections when enabled or requested;
identify patterns and relationships across your journal history;
process imported journal material and handwriting;
administer subscriptions and payments;
provide customer support;
deliver notifications you choose to enable;
maintain, troubleshoot, and improve the service;
enforce subscription and usage limits;
detect fraud, abuse, unauthorized access, and security incidents;
comply with legal obligations; and
protect Threads & Echoes, By Way Of Design, and our users.
We do not sell or rent your personal information.
We do not share your information with advertisers or data brokers.
We do not use your journal content for advertising.
By Way Of Design does not use your Private Content to train, test, evaluate, or improve Threads & Echoes or its AI systems without your permission.
3. Privacy of Your Journal
Threads & Echoes is not a public social network. The service does not currently provide public profiles, public journal posts, a social feed, or user-to-user messaging.
We do not routinely access or review your Private Content as part of our normal business operations.
Authorized administrative access may technically make Private Content accessible to By Way Of Design. Such access is restricted to circumstances reasonably necessary to operate, secure, troubleshoot, or support the service; when you authorize access; or when required by law.
When providing customer support, we will ordinarily attempt to resolve an issue without reviewing your Private Content. If reviewing specific Private Content is reasonably necessary to investigate your issue, we will ordinarily ask for your permission before doing so.
4. Artificial Intelligence Processing
Threads & Echoes uses artificial intelligence to provide features such as journal analysis, Ask My Journal, historical connections, Threads & Echoes, reviews, biblical and Scripture-related analysis, suggestions, and other reflection tools.
When an AI feature is used, Threads & Echoes may send the information reasonably necessary to perform that feature to our AI service provider. Some features require information from multiple journal entries or relevant portions of your history in order to identify patterns or connections over time.
We use Google's Gemini API for AI processing. Production AI processing is configured to use Google's paid API services, under which Google states that prompts and generated responses are not used to improve Google's products.
Google may nevertheless process or temporarily retain information as necessary to provide, secure, and monitor its services in accordance with its applicable service terms and policies.
Threads & Echoes may also use Google Cloud services, including Google Cloud Vision, to process certain content such as handwriting when necessary to provide a feature.
Your AI Processing Choices
Threads & Echoes provides controls over new AI analysis.
Depending on the available settings, you may choose options such as:
Automatic Analysis — eligible content may be automatically analyzed.
Only When I Choose — AI processing occurs when you request an applicable AI feature.
No Analysis — Threads & Echoes will not perform new AI/model analysis of your journal content.
Selecting No Analysis stops future AI analysis but does not automatically delete analyses or other AI-generated information previously created and stored in your account. Previously generated content remains available until you delete the applicable content or your account.
Processing that already occurred before you changed the setting cannot be retroactively undone.
5. Service Providers
We use a limited number of service providers to operate Threads & Echoes.
Google / Firebase / Google Cloud
Google services provide infrastructure used by Threads & Echoes, including services for authentication, databases, file storage, cloud infrastructure, AI processing, handwriting recognition, and related application functions.
Depending on the feature used, information processed by Google may include account information, Private Content, uploaded files, AI inputs and outputs, IP addresses, device information, and other information necessary to provide and secure those services.
Stripe
Stripe processes payments, subscriptions, billing information, and related transactions. Payment credentials submitted during Stripe checkout are processed by Stripe rather than stored directly by By Way Of Design.
We may share account identifiers and other information reasonably necessary to create and administer your Stripe customer and subscription relationship.
We may also disclose information to other service providers if we later add a provider that is reasonably necessary to operate Threads & Echoes. If such a change materially affects how your personal information is handled, we will update this Privacy Policy as appropriate.
6. How Long We Keep Information
Your Private Content is generally retained while your account exists unless you delete particular content.
The long-term history of your journal is an intentional part of Threads & Echoes because many features depend on understanding patterns and connections over time.
When you delete your account, we will delete Private Content associated with the account from our active systems, subject to the exceptions described below.
Deleted information may temporarily remain in backups, logs, disaster-recovery systems, or other residual systems until those systems are overwritten or the information is deleted in accordance with applicable retention practices.
We may retain limited information when reasonably necessary for:
tax and accounting requirements;
billing and transaction records;
chargebacks and payment disputes;
fraud prevention and security;
compliance with legal obligations;
establishing or defending legal claims; or
ordinary business records, such as support correspondence.
These exceptions do not give us permission to retain your journal indefinitely as a billing record.
If an account has been abandoned for an extended period and has no active paid subscription, we may establish reasonable retention limits and eventually delete the account and its content. Where reasonably practicable, we will provide advance notice before doing so.
We will not delete an account solely for inactivity while it has an active paid subscription.
7. Deleting and Exporting Your Information
Threads & Echoes provides tools that allow you to manage your information, including the ability to view, edit, delete, and export applicable content.
You may also delete your account from within Threads & Echoes.
If you have an active paid subscription, you must first cancel the subscription or schedule it for cancellation before account deletion can be completed.
Deleting your Threads & Echoes account does not delete copies of information that you previously exported to your own device or voluntarily shared with another person. Those copies are outside our control.
You may contact us at hello@bywayofdesign.com if you need assistance accessing, correcting, exporting, or deleting personal information that you cannot manage through the application.
We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain privacy requests.
8. Sharing and Disclosure
We may disclose personal information only in limited circumstances, including:
to service providers that process information on our behalf to operate Threads & Echoes;
when you direct, request, or authorize the disclosure;
when reasonably necessary to protect the security or integrity of the service, prevent fraud or abuse, or investigate a security incident;
when we reasonably believe disclosure is required by applicable law, a valid subpoena, court order, or other legally enforceable process; or
as part of a merger, acquisition, sale, reorganization, financing, or transfer of Threads & Echoes or By Way Of Design, subject to applicable privacy protections.
If you voluntarily export or share your Private Content with another person or service, their handling of that information is outside our control.
9. Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information.
These protections include authenticated user accounts, access controls, and security measures provided by our cloud infrastructure providers.
No internet service, electronic transmission, or storage system can guarantee absolute security.
You are responsible for protecting access to the email, Google, or other account you use to authenticate with Threads & Echoes. If you believe someone has gained unauthorized access to your Threads & Echoes account, contact us at hello@bywayofdesign.com.
If we discover a security incident involving personal information, we will take reasonable steps to investigate and address the incident and will notify affected individuals when required by applicable law.
10. Children
Threads & Echoes is a general-audience service but is not directed to children under 13 years of age.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 in circumstances prohibited by applicable law, we will take appropriate steps to delete that information.
If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information through Threads & Echoes, please contact us at hello@bywayofdesign.com.
11. International Users
By Way Of Design is based in the United States, and Threads & Echoes is primarily offered to a U.S. audience. We do not currently geographically restrict access to the service.
If you use Threads & Echoes from another country, your information may be transferred to, stored in, or processed in the United States or other countries where our service providers maintain facilities.
Privacy laws vary by jurisdiction. Where applicable law provides you with additional rights concerning your personal information, you may contact us at hello@bywayofdesign.com to exercise those rights. We may verify your identity before processing a request and will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.
12. Your Privacy Choices
Depending on the features you use, you can control your information by:
editing or deleting journal content;
selecting your AI Analysis Preference, including No Analysis;
exporting your information;
managing browser or device notification permissions;
canceling your paid subscription;
deleting your account; and
contacting us regarding a privacy request.
We do not currently use your Private Content for targeted advertising, sell personal information to data brokers, or use your journal to create advertising profiles.
13. Sensitive Information and the Nature of the Service
Threads & Echoes is designed for personal journaling, reflection, and exploration, including reflection involving Scripture and spiritual themes.
You should use your own judgment regarding the sensitive information you choose to record.
Threads & Echoes and its AI-generated content are not medical, mental-health, legal, emergency, pastoral, or other professional services. AI-generated biblical or spiritual analysis is automated content intended to support personal reflection. It should not be understood as authoritative theological or pastoral guidance or as a statement about what God is saying or doing.
14. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy as Threads & Echoes evolves, our service providers change, or legal requirements change.
When we update the policy, we will revise the “Last Updated” date above. If a change materially affects how we collect, use, or disclose personal information, we may provide additional notice through Threads & Echoes, email, or another reasonable method as appropriate.
15. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or want to make a privacy request, contact:
By Way Of Design
PO Box 7
Gulf Shores, AL 36542
hello@bywayofdesign.com
Terms of Service
Last Updated: September 25, 2026
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of Threads & Echoes, a service operated by By Way Of Design, a sole proprietorship (“By Way Of Design,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).
By creating an account or using Threads & Echoes, you agree to these Terms and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use Threads & Echoes.
1. Threads & Echoes
Threads & Echoes is a personal journaling and reflection application designed to help you capture your experiences, explore patterns and connections across your story over time, and reflect on your story in relation to Scripture and biblical themes.
The service includes features that use artificial intelligence to analyze information you provide and generate reflections, connections, summaries, biblical analysis, suggestions, and other content.
Threads & Echoes may change over time. We may add, modify, replace, or discontinue features as the service develops.
2. Eligibility and Your Account
Threads & Echoes is a general-audience service and is not intended for children under 13.
You are responsible for maintaining the security of the account and authentication method you use to access Threads & Echoes. You are also responsible for activity occurring through your account.
Please contact us at hello@bywayofdesign.com if you believe your account has been accessed without your authorization.
You must provide accurate information when required to create or maintain your account or subscription.
3. Your Content
You retain ownership of the content you provide to Threads & Echoes.
This includes your journal entries, photographs, imported journals, documents, Declarations, Actions, Words to Weigh, notes, questions, and other material you create or upload (“User Content”).
You give By Way Of Design a limited, non-exclusive license to host, store, reproduce, transmit, process, and otherwise use your User Content only as reasonably necessary to provide, maintain, secure, and support Threads & Echoes and the features you choose to use.
For example, this permission allows Threads & Echoes to store your journal, process entries with an AI service when you request or enable AI features, and compare relevant information across your history to identify patterns or connections.
This license does not transfer ownership of your journal or other User Content to By Way Of Design.
You are responsible for the User Content you submit and for ensuring that you have the right to upload or provide that material, including material containing information about another person.
Our handling of User Content is also governed by our Privacy Policy.
4. AI-Generated Content
Threads & Echoes uses artificial intelligence to provide features such as journal analysis, Ask My Journal, Threads & Echoes connections, reviews, biblical and Scripture-related analysis, and other reflection tools.
Artificial intelligence is not infallible.
AI-generated content may be inaccurate, incomplete, inconsistent, inappropriate, or based on an incorrect interpretation of your User Content. You should evaluate generated content using your own judgment rather than assuming it is correct simply because Threads & Echoes generated it.
AI-generated biblical or spiritual content is intended to support personal reflection. It is not authoritative theological or pastoral guidance and should not be understood as determining or declaring what God is saying, intending, or doing.
Threads & Echoes does not provide medical, mental-health, legal, financial, emergency, or other professional advice.
You remain responsible for decisions and actions you take based on information or content provided through Threads & Echoes.
AI-generated outputs may not be unique. Other users may receive similar or identical outputs in response to similar information.
You may use and export AI-generated content created for you through Threads & Echoes for your own purposes, subject to these Terms and applicable law.
5. Subscriptions and Billing
Some Threads & Echoes features require a paid subscription.
When you purchase a subscription, you authorize our payment provider, Stripe, to charge the payment method you provide for the price and billing frequency disclosed when you subscribe.
Automatic Renewal
Paid subscriptions automatically renew at the applicable recurring rate until canceled.
Unless otherwise disclosed when you subscribe, recurring subscriptions are billed monthly.
Cancellation
You may cancel your subscription through the billing-management options provided by Threads & Echoes.
Cancellation generally takes effect at the end of your current paid billing period. You may continue using the features included with your paid subscription until that period ends.
After cancellation takes effect, you will not be charged for another subscription period unless you subscribe again.
Canceling your subscription does not automatically delete your Threads & Echoes account or your journal.
Likewise, merely stopping use of Threads & Echoes does not cancel an active subscription. You must use the provided cancellation process.
Account Deletion
If you have an active paid subscription, you may be required to cancel it or schedule it for cancellation before account deletion can be completed.
Account deletion and the handling of your information are further described in our Privacy Policy.
6. Free Trials
We may offer free trials from time to time.
The duration, eligibility requirements, subscription plan, price following the trial, and other applicable conditions will be disclosed when the trial is offered.
Unless otherwise stated when you enroll, a trial associated with a paid subscription will automatically convert to the selected paid subscription when the trial ends unless you cancel before the conversion occurs. The payment method associated with your subscription may then be charged.
Trials are generally limited to one per person or account, and we may take reasonable steps to prevent repeated or abusive use of trial offers.
We may change or discontinue trial offers for future customers.
7. Refunds
Except where required by applicable law, subscription payments are generally non-refundable.
Canceling a subscription does not ordinarily entitle you to a prorated refund or credit for the remainder of a billing period you have already purchased.
By Way Of Design may issue a refund or credit in exceptional circumstances at its discretion. Doing so in one situation does not create an obligation to do so in another.
Nothing in this section limits refund or cancellation rights that cannot legally be waived.
8. Analysis Boosts and Other Add-Ons
Threads & Echoes may offer one-time purchases that provide additional AI usage or other functionality, including Analysis Boosts.
Unless otherwise stated at purchase:
add-ons are non-refundable except where required by law;
they have no cash value;
they cannot be transferred between users; and
unused benefits may expire according to the conditions disclosed when purchased.
The price, amount of additional usage, expiration conditions, and other details of an add-on will be shown when it is offered.
9. Changes to Plans and Pricing
We may change subscription plans, features, usage allowances, add-ons, or pricing as Threads & Echoes evolves.
A change will not retroactively alter the price of a billing period you have already purchased.
If we increase the recurring price of your subscription, we will provide advance notice as required by applicable law before the new price applies to a future renewal. You may cancel your subscription before the new price takes effect.
10. Acceptable Use
You may use Threads & Echoes only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms.
You may not intentionally:
access another user's account or information without authorization;
interfere with or disrupt Threads & Echoes or its infrastructure;
bypass security, access, subscription, or usage controls;
introduce malicious software or harmful code;
use automated systems in a manner that places an unreasonable burden on the service;
attempt to obtain unauthorized access to our systems or service providers;
reverse engineer or attempt to extract non-public source code except where applicable law expressly permits it; or
use Threads & Echoes to violate applicable law or the rights of another person.
We may take reasonable steps to investigate and prevent fraud, security threats, abuse, or misuse of the service.
11. Suspension and Termination
We may restrict, suspend, or terminate access to Threads & Echoes when reasonably necessary because of:
a material violation of these Terms;
fraudulent or unlawful activity;
attempts to compromise or abuse the service;
nonpayment;
legal or regulatory requirements; or
conduct that materially threatens Threads & Echoes, its infrastructure, service providers, or users.
Where reasonably appropriate, we may provide notice or an opportunity to correct an issue before terminating an account. Serious security, fraud, legal, or abuse situations may require immediate action.
You may stop using Threads & Echoes at any time, subject to your responsibility to cancel any active subscription if you want recurring charges to stop.
12. Availability and Your Data
We intend Threads & Echoes to be a dependable place for your journal, but no online service can guarantee uninterrupted operation or permanent preservation of every piece of data.
Threads & Echoes may occasionally be unavailable because of maintenance, software errors, third-party service failures, security issues, internet outages, or circumstances outside our reasonable control.
To the extent permitted by law, we do not guarantee that Threads & Echoes will always be uninterrupted, error-free, or immune from data loss.
Threads & Echoes provides export functionality so that you can maintain an independent copy of important User Content. We encourage you to periodically export information that is particularly important to you.
If we decide to permanently discontinue Threads & Echoes, we will make reasonable efforts, where practicable, to provide advance notice and an opportunity to export your User Content.
13. By Way Of Design's Intellectual Property
Except for User Content and third-party materials, Threads & Echoes—including its software, design, branding, logos, interfaces, text, features, organization, and other proprietary materials—is owned by or licensed to By Way Of Design and is protected by applicable intellectual-property laws.
These Terms give you permission to use Threads & Echoes for its intended purposes. They do not transfer ownership of Threads & Echoes or our intellectual property to you.
14. Third-Party Services
Threads & Echoes relies on third-party services, including services provided by Google and Stripe.
Your use of certain third-party functionality may also be subject to that provider's terms and privacy practices.
We are not responsible for independent third-party services or for events outside our reasonable control involving those services, although we remain responsible for our own obligations under these Terms and applicable law.
Additional information about how service providers process personal information is available in our Privacy Policy.
15. Disclaimer of Warranties
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Threads & Echoes is provided “as is” and “as available.”
We do not make warranties that the service will meet every user's needs, operate without interruption or error, or that AI-generated information will be accurate, complete, reliable, or appropriate for a particular purpose.
Nothing in these Terms excludes warranties or consumer rights that cannot legally be excluded.
16. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, By Way Of Design will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from or related to your use of Threads & Echoes, including loss of data, profits, opportunities, or other intangible losses.
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, By Way Of Design's total liability for claims arising from or relating to Threads & Echoes will not exceed the amount you paid to By Way Of Design for Threads & Echoes during the 12 months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
These limitations do not apply where liability cannot legally be limited or excluded.
17. Privacy
Our Threads & Echoes Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, process, retain, and protect personal information.
The Privacy Policy is available at:
https://bywayofdesign.com/threads-terms-and-conditions
By using Threads & Echoes, you acknowledge that you have had an opportunity to review the Privacy Policy.
18. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms as Threads & Echoes evolves or as legal, operational, or business requirements change.
When we update them, we will revise the “Last Updated” date.
If a change materially affects your rights or obligations, we may provide additional notice through Threads & Echoes, by email, or through another reasonable method.
Your continued use of Threads & Echoes after updated Terms become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms to the extent permitted by applicable law. Where applicable law requires additional consent, we will obtain it.
19. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Alabama, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except where applicable law requires otherwise.
Nothing in these Terms deprives you of mandatory consumer protections that apply to you under applicable law.
20. General Terms
If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in effect, and the affected provision will be limited or modified only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable where permitted by law.
Our failure to enforce a provision of these Terms does not waive our right to enforce it later.
These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any additional terms clearly presented when you purchase a particular service or feature, constitute the agreement between you and By Way Of Design concerning your use of Threads & Echoes.
21. Contact
Questions about these Terms may be sent to:
By Way Of Design
PO Box 7
Gulf Shores, AL 36542
hello@bywayofdesign.com