A clear disclosure
Selah uses Google Gemini for four AI features: camera matching, meaning-based search, optional personalization, and Deep Dive. For English searches, Selah may also use TypeSafe to rank which verses best fit the query. Selah does not run an AI request merely because the app is open.
Only the camera asks before sending data to Google Gemini. Before the camera or photo picker opens, Selah shows a separate in-app request that names Google Gemini, lists what is sent and why, and offers “Allow and continue” or “Not now.” This request is separate from Apple’s Camera permission. An operating-system permission does not count as permission to share data with Google. If you choose “Not now,” no photo is selected or sent and the rest of Selah works. The permission is saved to your Selah account, so Selah does not ask every time. It asks again only if you turn camera AI off or this disclosure changes. Search, personalization, and Deep Dive send the data described below when you use them, without a separate request. Selah does not send data just because the app is open.
What leaves your phone
When you take or choose a photo, Selah resizes that one image on your phone and sends it over an encrypted connection through Selah’s server to Google Gemini. Gemini returns a text description, emotional tone, and general scene category so Selah can match three verses.
Selah does not store the photo. It stores the text description, the verses suggested, the verse you chose, and technical request details.
As you type, the words you enter into Selah’s own search field are sent to Selah’s server and to Gemini’s embedding model. This includes the search box in the main app, in the Selah keyboard, and in the Selah iMessage app. The keyboard and the iMessage app send only the words typed into their own search box, never anything else you type. The model turns the search words into numbers representing meaning so Selah can compare the request with scripture.
For searches in English, after you pause or finish typing, Selah may send the search words and candidate verses to TypeSafe, whose model judges which verses best fit. TypeSafe receives no name, account, or device identifier. The request is from Selah’s server, so TypeSafe does not see your IP address. TypeSafe says it does not train its models on what Selah sends. TypeSafe may keep what it receives for as long as needed for its service and business purposes, for security and abuse monitoring, and as the law requires. TypeSafe may also use it, with no time limit, for technical records and statistics. Selah does not have a zero-data-retention arrangement with TypeSafe.
A shared cache may keep the numeric representation of your query filed under a coded form of the search. A second cache may keep TypeSafe’s scores filed under its own coded form of the search, along with the candidate verses and the model version. Neither cache stores the query text or attaches the entry to your account. These caches let Selah answer later searches faster and in better order.
The answers you choose during onboarding, your Core Need, later check-in choices, and free-form check-in text you deliberately enter can be sent to the same embedding model. Selah stores the resulting numeric signal against your account, not the free-form check-in text. The signal helps the For You feed lean toward verses that fit what you shared.
When a Deep Dive needs to be written, Selah sends the selected King James Bible passage and its reference. It does not send your name, saved verses, notes, searches, camera history, or personalization profile with that request.
The analysis is stored against the passage and shared by everyone who opens it. It is commentary about the passage, not personal guidance about you.
What does not leave
What AI does not do
Every verse displayed by Selah comes from a real included translation. AI can help match a moment or search to a passage, and Deep Dive can write commentary about a passage, but AI never invents or rewrites the verse itself.
AI results can still be wrong or poorly matched, so they are suggestions rather than interpretation, doctrine, counselling, or emergency help.
How Google handles it
Selah uses Google Gemini through a Cloud project with active billing. Google’s paid-service terms state that prompts, files, and responses are not used to improve Google products and are processed under Google’s Data Processing Addendum. Google may still keep limited prompts and responses temporarily for abuse prevention, security, and legal obligations. Selah does not promise Zero Data Retention.
Your choice
In the app, open Settings → How Selah uses AI → Turn off camera AI. Selah withdraws the permission and removes your saved camera scene descriptions. Saved verses and Margins remain. Search, personalization, and Deep Dive keep working. The camera asks again before it sends another photo to Google Gemini.
For retention, account deletion, service providers, and your privacy rights, read the full Privacy Policy. Questions can be sent to support at soulsurferz.co.
