Privacy Policy

Introduction

Welcome to Just Vent. Privacy comes first here. We know you might share personal things with our AI, so we protect your data with encryption and strict privacy rules.

This policy explains how we handle your information when you use Just Vent. Your mental health matters to us, and your privacy is essential for building the trust you need to open up.

We're still growing, so these terms might change. You'll always find the latest version here. Our commitment to your privacy won't change.

Information We Collect

Here's what we collect to make Just Vent work for you:

Personal Information

• Account Information: When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, and account credentials.
• Contact Information: Email addresses, and any other contact information you provide when reaching out to us.
• Payment Information: If you subscribe to paid plans, we collect billing information through our secure payment processors (Polar/Stripe). We do not store your full payment card details.
• Waitlist Information: If you join our waitlist, we collect your name, email, and selected plan preferences.

Conversation Data

For our AI to understand and help you, we collect:

• What you say: Your conversations with our AI, including anything you share about how you're feeling, what's bothering you, or what's on your mind.
• Your voice: When you talk to our AI, we process your voice in real-time. We don't keep raw recordings - only text versions of what you said.
• Conversation details: When you talked, how long, and patterns to help us improve the service.

Optional Voice Analysis

Voice analysis is completely optional - you choose whether to turn it on:

• Voice analysis: How you sound - stressed, calm, upset - from your voice patterns (only if you agree).

Optional Device & Wearable Integration

With your permission, we can connect to your devices to better understand how you're doing:

• What we see: Things like heart rate trends, activity levels, sleep quality - basic wellness info, not medical records.
• Your control: You decide what we can access and can turn it off anytime.
• How we use it: To check in at the right times and suggest helpful strategies.
• What we don't see: Medical records or clinical test results.

Usage & Technical Data

• Platform Usage: How you interact with our service, features used, time spent, and navigation patterns.
• Device Information: Device type, operating system, browser information, and IP address.
• Location Data: General location (city/region level) for service optimization and crisis resource recommendations.

How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

Making Just Vent work

• Give you personalized AI conversations
• Keep your account running and help when you need it
• Handle payments and subscriptions
• Send important updates
• Use device data to personalize support (only if you enable it)

Keeping you safe

• Notice when you might be in crisis and offer resources
• Connect you with real professionals when needed
• Keep the platform safe for everyone

Making it better

• Help our AI understand and respond better
• Build new features and improve existing ones
• See how people use Just Vent to make it easier
• Research how AI can better support mental health

Important: We may use anonymized data from your conversations to train and improve our AI models. Your experiences help our AI get better at helping others with similar struggles, but personal identifiers are removed first.

AI Providers & Processing

To make conversations work well, we use trusted AI companies to process some of your data. This includes companies that handle voice processing and generate AI responses. We only share what's needed, encrypt everything, and require them to protect your data.

We may share necessary data with these AI companies to provide our services.

Analytics & Privacy Controls

We use privacy-focused analytics (e.g., PostHog) to understand feature usage and improve the Service. Analytics are consent‑gated; you can manage analytics and personalization permissions anytime in the in‑app Privacy Controls.

• We may use cookies or local storage for session management and consent state
• We collect aggregate, non-identifying metrics to improve performance and reliability
• You can opt out of analytics in Settings → Privacy Controls

Well‑being Measurement & Experiments

We run short, optional check‑ins (EMA) after sessions and, when you agree, may send a 24–72h follow‑up to understand lasting effects. We aggregate results to improve support and publish thresholded transparency metrics. Our optimization objective is user well‑being, not time‑in‑app or ad revenue. You can revoke consent anytime.

• Primary outcome: self‑reported well‑being scores; secondary: safety proxies and return rates
• Guardrails: we do not ship variants that harm well‑being beyond predefined thresholds
• Prosody and wearable signals are strictly opt‑in; no raw audio is stored
• Raw event retention is time‑limited; we retain aggregates only as needed

Error Monitoring & Logs

We use error monitoring tools (e.g., Sentry) and application logs to detect, diagnose, and fix reliability issues. Logs may include technical metadata (timestamps, device/browser info, error traces). We avoid logging conversation content unless strictly necessary to resolve an incident, and then only with protective safeguards.

Care Partner Data Handling (Professionals)

If you onboard as a Care Partner (licensed professional/organization), additional data may be processed to verify your eligibility and enable your professional features. This section explains what we collect and how it is used.

Verification Information

• Licensing Details: License number, issuing authority/region, license type, and expiry date for verification.
• Insurance Proof: Professional liability insurance details (insurer, policy number, coverage period) for compliance checks.
• Professional Profile: Specialization, years of experience, education, and public bio for display to users where applicable.

How We Use Care Partner Data

• To verify eligibility, maintain program integrity, and prevent fraud or misrepresentation
• To display professional profiles to users (only where you choose to publish such information)
• To support safety workflows, including crisis‑related logging as described below

Compliance Clarification

Care Partners are responsible for ensuring that their use of the platform complies with the laws and professional standards that apply to their own practice and jurisdiction, including confidentiality and data protection.

Crisis Escalation & Safety Signals

When high‑risk content is detected, we may trigger safety workflows (e.g., surfacing crisis resources). Limited, necessary metadata may be logged to support safety, auditing, or cooperation with lawful requests. We do not provide emergency services.

Community Features & Visibility

Some features (e.g., support circles or anonymous rooms) may allow you to interact with others. Content you share in community spaces may be visible to participants in that space. Please avoid sharing personal or sensitive information. We may retain limited records related to reports of abuse, safety, or policy violations as part of moderation workflows.

Data Security & Protection

We use enterprise-grade security measures to protect your sensitive information:

• Encryption: All data is encrypted in transit and at rest using industry-standard protocols
• Access Controls: Strict role-based access controls limit who can access your data
• Multi-Factor Authentication: Our team uses multi-factor authentication for all system access
• Regular Security Audits: We regularly assess and update our security measures
• Data Anonymization: Personal identifiers are removed from data used for AI model training

While we use strong security measures, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We continuously work to protect your information but cannot guarantee absolute security.

Data Retention

We retain your information only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy:

• Account Data: Retained for the life of your account and up to 30 days after account deletion
• Conversation Data: You control retention - default 90 days, but you can delete conversations anytime or opt out of storage entirely
• Voice Analysis Data: Processed in real-time during conversations; stored only if explicitly consented, with 30-day default retention
• Payment Data: Retained as required by financial regulations, typically 7 years
• Analytics Data: Aggregated and anonymized data retained for up to 2 years for service improvement

You can request deletion of your data at any time. We may retain minimal information as required by law or for legitimate business purposes (such as preventing fraud).

Sharing Your Information

We share your info in these specific cases:

• Service partners: Companies that help us run Just Vent (hosting, payments, analytics) who promise to keep your data safe
• Crisis situations: If we think you're in immediate danger, we might contact emergency services
• Legal stuff: When the law requires it or to protect our rights and safety
• Business changes: If we merge with or get bought by another company (your privacy stays protected)

Our Service Partners

• Vercel: Website hosting and content delivery
• Polar/Stripe: Payment processing and billing management
• Supabase: Secure database and authentication services
• PostHog: Privacy-focused analytics (with user consent)
• Crisis Resource Partners: Local crisis intervention services when needed

Your Privacy Rights

You control your data. Here's what you can do:

Your rights

• See your data: Ask for a copy of what we have about you
• Fix mistakes: Update wrong information
• Delete everything: Ask us to delete your data
• Take your data: Get your data in a format you can use elsewhere
• Change your mind: Turn off optional features like voice analysis

California Rights (CCPA/CPRA)

• Right to know what personal information we collect and how it's used
• Right to delete your personal information
• Right to correct inaccurate personal information
• Right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information
• Right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights

European Rights (GDPR)

• Right to access, rectification, erasure, and data portability
• Right to restrict or object to processing
• Right to lodge a complaint with your data protection authority
• Right to withdraw consent for consent-based processing

Want to use any of these rights? Email us at privacy@justvent.app. We'll get back to you as fast as the law requires.

Children's Privacy

Just Vent is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you become aware that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at privacy@justvent.app so we can delete such information.

For users aged 13-17, we recommend parental guidance when using our AI Companion for emotional wellness & support.

International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence. These countries may have different data protection laws than your country. When we transfer your information internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your privacy rights.

For transfers from the EEA/UK, we use Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission or other appropriate transfer mechanisms.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any material changes by:

• Posting the updated policy on our website with a new "Last updated" date
• Sending you an email notification if the changes significantly affect your rights
• Providing in-app notifications for important changes

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please don't hesitate to contact us: