FAQs about CASPAR - Catholic Parishion Management Software

Support and FAQs

What Support is available?

We provide support via phone, email or video calls - as well as having written and video guides available.

Do I need to give payment details before starting my free trial?

Can I cancel at any time?

Yes. You don't need to give any notice.

Will you start taking payments if I forget to cancel my free trial?

No. We won't have your payment details, so we can't take any payments. You will only be charged if YOU choose to set up a subscription!

Is CASPAR secure?

Yes. CASPAR can only be accessed through a secure login process. Your parishioners' information is stored in a secure database and crucial information is encrypted. The server is professionally managed on UK servers to prevent data breaches. For these reasons it is more secure than holding the information on a parish computer with an internet connection.

Can anyone else access your information?

No. We do not share your parishioner information with anyone else, or contact them ourselves.

Is our parishioner information safe with you?

Yes. We've been managing confidential information for the Church since 1997 and we work with Dioceses all over the World.

Is CASPAR GDPR compliant?

Yes. We have worked extensively with Dioceses to ensure that CASPAR is fully GDPR compliant. Parishioners are in charge of their own information so when things need updating - they do it themselves rather than the parish office making the changes.

What about parishioners who don't use the Internet?

If you are using the full version of CASPAR, you will want to be able to include all of your parishioners. There is a process for adding parishioners who do not have access to the Internet. This means you can keep track of those parishioners' needs whilst remaining GDPR compliant.

Can CASPAR save our Parish money as well as time?

From our research with existing CASPAR parishes, they have reduced the number of newsletter they print by two thirds. This is a huge saving of money, time, hassle and carbon!

More Information

If you would like some more information or if you would like to start a Free Trial, please contact us at info@caspar.church

CASPAR is created and maintained by CathCom Ltd. Therefore, the privacy policy for CASPAR comes under CathCom Ltd's Privacy Policy:

This privacy policy sets out how CathCom Ltd uses and protects any information that you give CathCom when you use our websites or advertise in our papers.

CathCom is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

CathCom may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 22/05/2018.

What we collect

We may collect the following information:

name, contact deta
contact information including email address
demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers
information added to CASPAR by individuals themselves, or by church organisations that will agree to seek permission to enter any personal information.
Social media account credentials (usernames, access tokens) for connected platforms (Bluesky, Facebook)
Newsletter content and AI-generated post drafts
Post scheduling and publishing data

What we do with the information we gather

We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

Internal record keeping (such as for accounts purposes)
We may use the information to improve our products and services.
We may periodically send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided.
From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. We may contact you by email, phone, fax or mail. We may use the information to customise the website according to your interests. Security
Process newsletter PDFs using AI to generate social media post suggestions
Store encrypted credentials to post approved content to your connected social media accounts
Maintain scheduled posts until publication or deletion

Social Media Integration

When you connect social media accounts, we encrypt and store authentication credentials to post on your behalf. You can unlink accounts anytime, and we'll delete the data. AI-generated content is provided as suggestions only - you review and approve all posts before publication. You are responsible for all content posted through our platform.

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

How we use cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer's hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Controlling your personal information

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes
if you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at info@cathcom.org

Deletion of Information

Should you find we are holding personal information about you without permission, please notify us immediately. We will make all reasonable efforts to delete information immediately, except in the following circumstances:

If we are required to hold this information for financial, business, compliance purposes.
If we need to explain the repercussions of deleting your information - to check you are happy with this - this would be in your best interests.
Any conflict of interest where informtion is needed to be held out of necessity, legal or otherwise, and it is not possible to delete it. If this is the case we will notify you of the complication.

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.

You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to info@cathcom.org.

If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.