Your story is yours. We are simply its careful stewards.

Information We Collect

We collect only what is genuinely needed to make Echoes work, and to keep it safe and meaningful for everyone who visits.

• Account & database records: your name, email address, and any Echoes, comments, or messages you choose to save within our core platform database.
• Profile & preference data: the theme or life-chapter tags you attach to your Echoes, and the Echo Circles you join, which build your profile depth over time.
• Voluntary contact details: any phone number or additional information you provide if you request a connection to community resources or support partners.

How Our AI Features Work With Your Data

Echoes uses artificial intelligence to help you create, refine, and discover Echoes with warmth and care. Here is exactly what that involves.

• AI interaction data: prompts, questions, written drafts, and voice-to-text inputs you submit through AI-assisted features, along with the outputs generated in response.
• Purpose limitation: this data is used only to generate your requested content, improve the relevance of the Wisdom Shelf and Resonance pathways, and maintain platform safety.
• Human oversight: AI-generated suggestions related to sensitive topics (grief, crisis, mental health) are designed with safeguards to avoid harmful, biased, or discriminatory outputs, consistent with current Canadian regulatory guidance on generative AI.
• No training on your personal Echoes without consent: we do not use your individually identifiable Echo content to train third-party foundation models unless you explicitly opt in.
• Accuracy limitations: AI-generated content may occasionally be inaccurate or imperfect. We disclose this openly rather than overstating what AI can promise.

Technical & Security Logs

To protect community integrity and prevent spam or abuse, we automatically collect limited technical information.

• Device and browser details: device type, operating system, and browser version.
• IP addresses: used briefly for fraud prevention, spam detection, and diagnosing technical issues — not for building an advertising profile of you.
• Usage patterns: general activity signals (such as pages visited or features used) that help us understand what parts of Echoes are meaningful and which need improvement.

Data Sharing & Sub-Processors

Echoes relies on a small number of trusted infrastructure partners to operate. We do not sell data, and we hold every partner to strict confidentiality standards.

• Cloud database hosting: our core member database is hosted with reputable cloud infrastructure providers under signed confidentiality and data-processing agreements.
• AI API sub-processors: when you use AI-assisted features, your inputs may be transmitted securely to third-party AI providers strictly for the purpose of generating your requested output, under contractual confidentiality terms.
• Cross-border transfers: some sub-processors may be located outside your home country. Where this occurs, we disclose the destination region and the legal basis relied upon for transfer.
• Legal disclosures: we may disclose limited information if required by law, court order, or to protect the safety of a member or the public.

Data Retention

We keep information only as long as it serves the purpose it was collected for.

• Account data: retained while your account remains active, and for a limited period afterward in case you choose to return.
• AI interaction logs: retained only as long as needed for safety review, quality improvement, or as required by our AI sub-processors' own limited retention windows.
• Technical logs: typically retained for a short, defined window sufficient for security and spam-prevention purposes, then automatically purged.

Your Rights & Controls

You remain in control of your story, always. Here is how to exercise that control.

• Access: request a copy of the personal data and Echoes we hold about you.
• Correction: update or correct inaccurate account or profile information at any time through your account settings.
• Deletion: request permanent deletion of your account, Echoes, and associated personal data, subject to limited legal retention exceptions.
• Opt-out of AI features: disable AI-assisted creation tools and personalized resonance recommendations directly within your account settings, without losing access to core Echoes features.
• Portability: request your data in a portable, commonly used format where technically feasible.
• Withdraw consent: where processing relies on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time going forward.

To exercise any of these rights, visit your Account Settings, or contact us directly using the details in Section 12.

Children & Age-Appropriate Use

Echoes, including the gentle "Little Echoes" stories, is designed thoughtfully for all ages, and we take children's privacy seriously.

• We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent, consistent with COPPA requirements.
• Where age-screening is used, it exists solely to determine appropriate access and is not repurposed for any other use.
• Biometric identifiers (such as voice recordings used in Voice Echoes) from a known child user are collected only with verifiable parental consent and are never disclosed to third parties without separate, explicit parental permission.
• Parents or guardians may request review, correction, or deletion of a child's information at any time.

Security Practices

We apply reasonable technical and organizational safeguards to protect your information, including encryption in transit, restricted internal access, and regular review of our AI and database vendors' security practices. No system is perfectly secure, and we commit to notifying affected members promptly in the event of a significant data incident.

Regional Rights

Depending on where you live, additional legal rights may apply to you.

Sensitive Content & Grief-Related Data

Echoes was built to hold stories of loss, resilience, and recovery. We recognize this content is deeply personal, and we treat it with additional care.

• Echoes related to grief, trauma, or health matters are never used for advertising targeting or profiling.
• Community moderation exists to protect against harmful exposure of sensitive Echoes, while preserving your right to share your story on your own terms.
• You control the visibility of every Echo you post — private, Circle-only, or public — and may change this setting at any time.

Changes to This Policy

As Echoes grows, this policy may be updated to reflect new features or legal requirements. We will post the updated effective date at the top of this page and, for material changes, notify members directly before the changes take effect.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this policy, or wish to exercise any of your privacy rights, please reach out through the contact options listed on AmazingEchoes.com. We aim to respond to all privacy requests within a reasonable timeframe consistent with applicable law.