Privacy Policy

Effective Date: Nov 5 2024

1. Introduction

Welcome to Empathease! Empathease (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is a mobile application dedicated to helping users develop empathetic communication skills through AI-driven training and interactive tools. Protecting your privacy is essential to us, and this policy outlines the types of information we collect, how we handle it, and the options available to you regarding your data.

2. Information We Collect

To provide and improve our services, we collect certain information from you:

• Personal Information: This may include names and email addresses that you provide during registration.
• Billing Information: While we do not directly collect billing information, third-party services we use for payment processing may collect it. Please refer to their privacy policies for details.
• AI Training Information: With your consent, we may collect certain anonymized data to improve our AI models and enhance your experience. Details on this are covered in Section 4.

3. Local Data Storage

All conversation and interaction data is stored locally on your device and is not encrypted. This means your data remains accessible only to you on your device unless you choose to share it as outlined in Section 4. Please exercise caution in sharing personal or sensitive information through the app, as this data is not encrypted.

4. Data Sharing for AI Model Improvement (Opt-In)

Empathease offers an option to opt-in to share anonymized data with us to improve our AI models. This data may include interaction patterns, conversation feedback, and other usage details that help us enhance our empathetic communication models.

Your participation in this data-sharing is entirely optional, and you can opt-in or opt-out at any time via the app settings. Please note that data used in past AI model training sessions cannot be removed from prior versions of the model, but any future contributions can be withdrawn from subsequent training.

5. Data Retention Policy

We retain data indefinitely to support and improve our services, specifically to continue creating smarter models that understand empathy. Data shared with us will be used as described in this policy, and adjustments to data-sharing settings will apply only to future data processing.

6. User Rights and Control Over Data

• Opt-In/Out of AI Training Data Sharing: You may opt-in or opt-out of sharing anonymized data with us for AI model improvement at any time via the app's settings menu.
• Deleting Local Data: You can delete local data by uninstalling the app or using in-app features to reset or remove stored information.
• Requesting Shared Data Changes: While previously used data cannot be removed from past AI model training, any future data will reflect your updated preferences.

7. Security Measures

We use SQL databases to store local data securely on your device, with password encryption where applicable. However, please note that conversations within Empathease are not encrypted. Please take care to limit the sharing of sensitive information within the app.

8. Third-Party Services

Empathease may use third-party services, such as payment processors, that collect, process, or store your billing information. These services operate independently, and their privacy policies govern their data-handling practices. We encourage you to review these third-party privacy policies.

9. Updates to the Privacy Policy

We may update this privacy policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or to comply with legal requirements. We will notify users of any significant changes within the app or through other communication channels.

10. Contact Information

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or need to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us at: empathease.app@gmail.com