Who can see what

The church shares information with ministry leaders carefully: enough for each leader to look after their own people, and nothing more. This page summarises the ministry leader data-sharing policy. The policy is proposed and waits for leadership's approval; where the two differ, the policy wins.

When to use this

• You've been given access to Messages and want to know what you'll see.
• Someone asks "can a leader see my details?"
• You're deciding what access to give a new leader.

The principles in brief

1. Least access. Each person gets the smallest set of permissions their ministry needs, given ministry by ministry.
2. Your own ministry only. A leader sees people in their own ministries, and nothing about anyone's other ministries.
3. Private by default. New leaders start with nothing; downloads are off; sensitive ministries are hidden.
4. Consent always wins. Nobody, in any role, can message someone who has opted out.
5. Some things are never shared in Messages. Giving, medical and allergy details, custody and pickup restrictions, screening status, and pastoral or counselling notes.
6. Everything is on record. Every send, approval, download and View as session says who did it, and why it was allowed.

Who sees what

	Admins	Communications lead	Ministry leader	Viewer
Names and photos	Yes	Yes, except sensitive ministries	Own ministry only	No (list sizes only)
Email and mobile	Yes	Yes, except sensitive ministries	Own ministry only	No
Home address	Yes	No	No	No
Age	Yes	Age group only	Age group only	No
Which other ministries someone is in	Yes, except sensitive ones	Yes, except sensitive ones	Never	No
Messages sent to other ministries	Yes	Yes	Never	Yes, except sensitive
Giving, medical, custody, screening, pastoral notes	Never in Messages	Never	Never	Never

Super admins see what admins see, and can use View as to check another person's view, read-only.

Sensitive ministries

For groups where membership itself is private (recovery, grief support, care), even admins and the communications lead don't see who belongs unless they hold a permission for that ministry. Their lists stay out of everyone else's pickers.

Children and students

• Children under 13 have no contact details of their own and never receive messages. Their guardians receive a copy, and their leaders see the guardians' contacts.
• Students aged 13 to 17 receive texts only with both a guardian's consent and their own.

Good to know

• Leaders see their own ministry's contact details in full, so they can do their job (the owner's decision, for leadership to confirm). The church can switch to masked contacts, revealed one at a time and logged.
• Downloads are off unless leadership turns them on, and every download is logged.

Top tips

• If you're unsure whether to share something with a leader, don't: ask the communications lead first.
• Leaders: never copy your ministry's contacts into a personal spreadsheet. The back office is safer, and it always respects opt-outs.