Last updated: November 14, 2026
The Buddha Today (the English edition of “きょうの仏教”; “the App”) respects your privacy and works to protect your personal information. This policy explains how the App handles information.
The App is operated by Seiya Sugimoto, an independent developer (“we” or “the developer” in this policy), who is responsible for the handling of information described here. Contact details are on our Support page.
The App does not collect personal information for reading the daily story, favorites, search, or notifications. These features work without an internet connection. Only when you use the “AI consult” feature is the text of your consult sent to an external server (Section 4). In addition, to determine how many AI consults you can use, the App communicates to check your subscription status (Section 5).
The App does not obtain information that identifies you, such as your name, email address, or phone number. There is no account registration or sign-in.
The App communicates with external services only for the features below. See each section for details.
The other features (reading the daily story, favorites, searching the stories, and notifications) do not need an internet connection, and no information is sent outside your device for them. In every case, the App does not access data on your device such as your location, contacts, photos, or calendar, and does not collect the advertising identifier (IDFA) or usage analytics.
The App stores the following data only in a database on your device. It is used only to run the App, and the developer cannot view it from outside your device.
This data is removed from your device when you uninstall the App.
You can switch the app language between English and Japanese in Settings. Switching does not delete or send any of the data above; it all stays on your device.
The story text and images are all included in the App in advance and are never downloaded from an external server. Reading the daily story, favorites, searching the stories, and notifications do not require an internet connection.
“AI consult” is a feature that responds to a worry you write by showing you one related story from the stories included in the App. In the English edition, the story is chosen only from the stories available in English. Only when you use this feature is the following information sent outside your device.
In addition, as with any internet connection, the recipients receive connection information such as your IP address.
This information is used only to choose a story close to your situation from the stories included in the App, and to write a short passage explaining the connection.
We do not store the text of your consult on any server we manage. Your consult records are stored only on your device, and you can delete them within the App at any time.
To count how many consults you have used, our relay server (Cloudflare) records only the identifier generated on your device and the number of consults used that month. This record does not contain what you wrote, and it is deleted automatically after about 40 days. It is pseudonymous: it is not linked to your name or any other information that identifies you.
Each time you send a consult, the relay server uses this identifier to check your subscription status with RevenueCat, Inc., to decide how many consults you can use that month.
Cloudflare, Inc., OpenAI, L.L.C., and RevenueCat, Inc. are based in the United States, and the information sent to them is processed in the United States and in other locations where they operate. Each company protects the information under its own privacy policy and terms. If you are in the United Kingdom, this means your information is transferred to the United States; the providers rely on appropriate safeguards for such transfers, such as standard contractual clauses or, where applicable, the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. Nothing is sent unless you agree on the consent screen the first time you use AI consults.
According to OpenAI's published policy for its API, data sent through the API is not used to train or improve OpenAI's models unless the customer explicitly opts in to share it. OpenAI states that abuse monitoring logs may be retained for up to 30 days, unless longer retention is required by law or is reasonably necessary to protect its services or others from harm. For details, see OpenAI's documentation on how API data is handled.
The first time you use AI consults, the App shows a screen explaining the above, and sends information only if you agree. If you don't agree, AI consults are unavailable, but you can keep using the other features (the daily story, favorites, search, and notifications) as before.
If the App determines on your device that what you wrote suggests self-harm or suicide, it does not send anything outside your device and instead shows you where to find help right away. That text is not saved in your consult history on the device either.
When the App is in English, the support screen works as follows. For the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and Japan, it shows a helpline and the emergency number for that country. For other countries and regions, it shows a message asking you to call your local emergency number or a helpline in your area. The country is first taken from your iPhone's region setting, and you can change it on that screen. The country you choose is not saved and is not sent anywhere. When the App is in Japanese, it shows public helplines in Japan.
You can read 3 full stories a month and use AI consults 3 times a month for free. Both reset on the first of each month, Japan time. To use more, you need to subscribe to an auto-renewing subscription (Premium).
Whether you can read a story in full is decided entirely on your device, from the records on it and your subscription status. The App does not ask any server in order to open a full story (how subscription status is checked is described in the next paragraph).
Payment for purchases is processed by Apple, and we never receive your payment information (such as your credit card number). To manage subscription status, we use the services of RevenueCat, Inc., and information about your purchase (whether you subscribe, the expiration date, and your purchase history, for example) is shared with that company.
Because reading stories in full and the number of AI consults you can use depend on your subscription status, the App asks RevenueCat, Inc. for your subscription status when it starts and when you open the plan screen, even if you are not subscribed. At that time, the RevenueCat software (SDK) built into the App sends the identifier generated on your device (a random value) described in Section 4, together with the device and purchase information needed to manage the subscription (such as your device model, OS and app versions, language and region settings, App Store country, the identifier Apple assigns to each developer's apps on your device [IDFV], and purchase records). It does not send the advertising identifier (IDFA). None of this is linked to your name, email address, phone number, or the like.
Because Apple handles purchases, the information needed for a purchase is also sent to Apple when you buy. With every connection, the recipient receives connection information such as your IP address.
All of the App's notifications are local notifications created and managed on your device. The App does not use push notifications sent through an external server. You can change notification permission at any time in your device's Settings app.
The App contains links to the external sites listed below. For how those sites handle information, please see each site's privacy policy.
The App does not collect information that identifies you (such as your name, email address, or phone number), so it never provides such information to third parties. When you use AI consults and the subscription, information is shared with external service providers (Cloudflare, Inc., OpenAI, L.L.C., and RevenueCat, Inc.) within the scope described in Sections 4 and 5. We do not provide information to any other third party.
The App does not require an account and does not collect information that identifies you. Reading the daily story, favorites, search, and notifications can be used by people of any age.
AI consults send what you write to an outside service provider, so they are intended for people aged 13 and over. If you are under 18, please use AI consults only with the permission of a parent or guardian. This follows the terms of OpenAI, the provider that receives the text.
If we learn that a child under 13 has used AI consults, note that nothing is stored on our side beyond the usage count described in Section 4, which is deleted automatically after about 40 days. The text of consults is never stored on our servers.
We rely on your consent to send your consult text (you can withdraw it at any time in Settings, after which nothing more is sent), and on our legitimate interest in providing the subscription you choose to check your subscription status.
Depending on where you live (for example, under the UK GDPR), you may have the right to ask for access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information, and to object to or restrict its use. Because we keep almost nothing about you on our servers (only the pseudonymous monthly usage count described in Section 4), you can delete your on-device data (AI consult history, notes, ♡, and so on) yourself within the App or by uninstalling it. For any request, write to the email address on our Support page. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office).
The usage count cannot be deleted individually. The App does not show you the identifier, and it is not linked to you, so even if you contact us we cannot tell which record is yours. Instead, it is deleted automatically after about 40 days.
The App does not track you across other companies' apps or websites, so it does not respond differently to “Do Not Track” signals.
We protect information by keeping as little of it as possible (for example, we do not store consult text on our servers, and the usage count is deleted automatically after about 40 days), by encrypting it in transit (HTTPS), and by using service providers under the safeguards each of them maintains.
This policy may change as laws are revised or as features are added to the App. When we add a feature that affects this policy, we will reflect the change on this page and let you know. If there is a significant change, we will announce it on this page.
If you have questions about this policy, please write to the email address on our Support page.