Privacy
Privacy, in plain language
What we collect, why we collect it, who can see it, how long we keep it, and how you stay in control.
Development build — this notice is not yet final
Our approach
- Collect less. We ask only for what a feature needs. You can use a nickname. Your city is optional.
- You decide what is shared. Family members see only what you choose to share, and you can change that at any time.
- No tracking. Your location is shared only if you turn on Live location for people you choose, and only while it is on. We keep only your latest position, never a history. There are no advertising or analytics trackers on this site.
- Least privilege. Staff can see only what their role and organization need, and sensitive access is recorded in an audit log.
What we collect
If you create an account
- Your email address and a password (stored only as a secure hash).
- The name you choose to show, and optionally a preferred name, pronouns, city and language.
- The ways you use Hope for All Care (for example, person seeking support, family member, donor or business).
Depending on the features you use
- Family connections, the permissions you grant, and “I’m Safe” updates you choose to send.
- Messages you send to people you are connected with.
- Assistance requests, including an optional private note that only the reviewing caseworker can see.
- Goals, tasks, housing applications and appointments you add.
- Donations (sandbox only in this build) and vouchers issued to you.
If you report without an account
Anonymous reports do not ask for your name or contact details. We store the report itself and a protected version of the follow-up code so you can check the status later. If you lose the code, we cannot recover it. Our rate limiter briefly uses your network address in memory to prevent abuse; it is not stored with your report.
Anonymity has limits. Details you write, or what appears in a photo, can sometimes identify you. Location data (such as GPS) is removed from photos when they are uploaded.
Who can see your information
- Family members see only what you have turned on for them, such as messages or “I’m Safe” updates. Turning a permission off takes effect immediately.
- Shelter and outreach staff see what is needed for their role — for example, a stay check-in shows only the name you choose to show.
- Safeguarding reviewers see safety reports routed to them. The identity of a confidential reporter is visible only to authorized reviewers.
- Donors see only a need’s category, amount, city and a short summary — never who it is for.
- Vendors see only a voucher’s category, value, expiry and last four characters.
- Counsellors see recovery program information only for participants who have joined their program. It is never shown to family members, donors or vendors.
We do not sell personal information.
Notifications
Notifications use general wording (for example “You have a new message”) so that sensitive details are not shown on a lock screen or to someone looking over your shoulder.
How long we keep information
In this development build, automated clean-up uses the following default periods. Administrators can change them, and they will be confirmed during legal review.
- Expired sign-in sessions: 30 days.
- Read notifications: 180 days.
- Messages: 365 days.
- Closed safety reports: 730 days (about two years).
- Photos uploaded but never attached to a report: 24 hours.
- Account deletion requests: processed after a 30-day grace period.
Some records, such as financial records, may need to be kept longer where the law requires it. This is under legal review.
Your choices and rights
When signed in, you can use your account privacy settings to:
- request a copy of your information,
- ask us to correct information,
- request deletion of your account.
You can also change family permissions, end connections, block people, mute or block conversations and choose your notification settings at any time.
Security
When deployed, connections to Hope for All Care use HTTPS. Sensitive fields (such as report descriptions, messages and private notes) and uploaded photos are stored encrypted. You can turn on two-step verification in your security settings. No system is perfectly secure, so please avoid sharing more than you need to.
Questions
See our contact page. Please do not send sensitive personal information by email.