Your Privacy Matters to Us

Delivering coaching responses

Your session messages are passed to our AI pipeline to generate coaching responses. Content is processed under strict minimum-necessary principles — only what the current session requires.

Safety monitoring

Every message is scanned for crisis signals (suicidal ideation, self-harm, domestic violence, psychotic symptoms). If detected, our crisis protocol activates immediately and you are provided with emergency resources.

Legal compliance and audit logging

We maintain an append-only audit log of every session event. Log entries record event categories and actions — never the text content of your messages. This is required for HIPAA compliance.

Personalising your experience

Your Daily Pulse history, session progress, and stated preferences are used to tailor coaching content to where you are in your relationship journey.

Service operations

Account management, technical support, sending safety-critical notifications (no message content previewed in push notifications), and fraud/abuse prevention.

Scans every message for PHI and safety signals

Personal identifiers and crisis signals are detected before and after generating a response. This happens synchronously on every message.

Generates AI coaching responses

Responses are produced by a large language model instructed on evidence-based frameworks (CBT, EFT, Gottman Method). Responses are reviewed by a harm-classification layer before delivery.

Cannot diagnose, prescribe, or replace professional care

The AI is prohibited from making diagnoses, recommending medication, providing prognoses, or acting as a substitute for licensed mental health treatment. If you are in crisis, please contact emergency services or a crisis line immediately.

Automated decisions that affect you

Safety assessment and crisis protocol activation are automated. If you believe a decision was made in error, contact us at support@anshuk.app to request human review.

Individual sessions

Fully private to you. Your partner cannot see, access, or request content from your individual sessions — ever. This isolation is enforced at the data layer.

Dyadic (couples) sessions — joint ownership

Content created together in a couples session is jointly owned by both partners. Neither partner can unilaterally delete shared session data. Both partners must complete independent consent before a dyadic session can begin.

Domestic violence safety protocol

If our safety system detects domestic violence signals, the couple's shared data access is immediately siloed, dyadic sessions are blocked, and a litigation hold is placed. This is automated and cannot be reversed by either partner — only by a clinical supervisor following documented assessment. The affected partner receives crisis resources; the other receives a neutral session end with no information about the protocol activation.

Litigation hold notice

Couples therapy records may be subpoenaed in family court proceedings. If a litigation hold is active on your account, data deletion requests will be denied until the hold is lifted. We will inform you if a hold exists and direct you to consult your attorney.

Mental health data (HIPAA Protected Health Information)

All session content is treated as PHI. The fact that you use Anshuk is itself PHI. This data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256), with access controls limiting who can view it internally.

Substance use data (42 CFR Part 2)

If substance use is mentioned during a session, those records are protected under 42 CFR Part 2 — a federal regulation stricter than HIPAA. We will pause the session and present a separate, specific SUD consent form. Without that consent, substance use content is redacted from the AI pipeline context and stored in a segregated, separately access-controlled log. General HIPAA consent does not cover SUD data.

Crisis-related data

Messages that trigger crisis protocol are flagged for human clinical review. This is a safety obligation. Confidentiality applies except where disclosure is required by law (duty to warn, mandatory reporting of imminent harm).

Right to access

You can request a copy of all personal data we hold about you. Requests are processed by our compliance team — never auto-generated. Allow up to 30 days.

Right to correction

If any personal data we hold is inaccurate, you can request correction via Settings or by emailing us.

Right to deletion

You can delete your account via the app (Settings → Account → Delete Account) or by emailing us. See our Delete Account page for full instructions.

Right to withdraw consent

You can withdraw your general consent at any time. This will end your ability to use Anshuk and trigger account deletion. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

How to exercise your rights

Email support@anshuk.app from the address registered to your account. We will verify your identity before processing any request. All requests are handled by a human, not automated.

Encryption everywhere

All data in transit is encrypted using TLS 1.2+. Data at rest uses AES-256 encryption. Photos in Our Story are individually encrypted with AES-256-GCM before upload.

App-level protections

Face ID / Touch ID support, auto-lock after 10 minutes of inactivity, app-switcher blur to hide content when backgrounded, and push notifications that show no message content preview.

Breach notification

If a data breach occurs that affects your PHI, we will notify you within 72 hours of discovery, as required by HIPAA and applicable state laws. We will never "fix quietly" — every breach assessment is documented.