Privacy Policy for the Companion App.

We are CHESS Health, the company behind the Companion App designed to support individuals who are companions (loved ones and caregivers) to individuals with behavioral health issues. In this Privacy Policy, the company CHESS Health will be referred to as ‘CHESS’.

At CHESS, we don’t sell or give the Companion App to individuals directly; you’re getting the Companion App through a third-party organization, which could be a treatment center, health plan, public sector agency, or other type of organization that has a contract with us for our eRecovery solution. Throughout the rest of this document, this other organization who is enabling your use of the Companion App and who will have access to almost everything about how you use it and almost all the data you enter into it, will be referred to as the “Inviting Entity” or “your Inviting Entity”. You’ll see the name of your Inviting Entity when you first onboard onto the app. At any other time, to see who your Inviting Entity is, go to My Inviting Entity in Settings.

If you’re like most people, you want your personal information protected, especially your health care information.

Please read this Privacy Policy closely and, if you have any more questions after reading this, please contact us at CHESS (privacy@chess.health) or discuss with your Inviting Entity.

This Privacy Policy will describe the following:

  • The data about you that will be stored by CHESS
  • Who has access to this data
  • Who else might get access to the data
  • What other individuals might know about you or find out about you
  • Optional notifications outside of the App
  • Where your data is stored
  • How we protect and secure your data
  • How long data is stored
  • What to do if you want your identifiable data erased or deleted
  • Our policy regarding children
  • Your consent
  • How you can contact us

Very important… If you use the Companion App, then we assume you’re giving us consent to store your data, to give access to this data to your Inviting Entity, and you consent to everything in the Privacy Policy. You will also have to accept our End User License Agreement (EULA) before you can start using the App. We will update the Privacy Policy from time to time; you can always read it on our website or from within the App (under Settings).

The data about you that will be captured and stored by CHESS

In the course of creating or getting an account, your use of the Companion App, and the Inviting Entity’s use of the eRecovery solution, personally identifiable information (“PII”) about you will be captured and stored by CHESS.

The PII that may be stored through your interactions with the Companion App and through the use of eRecovery by your Inviting Entity includes, without limitation, your name, username, alias name, email address, physical address, gender, date of birth, telephone numbers, photographs, names of personal contacts, answers to survey questions, community posts, comments, and replies, individual and group messages you might send using the Companion App to other individuals or other authorized users of eRecovery, including messages, text messages, or emails you might send to CHESS Health or its employees.

The Companion App and the eRecovery solution may also collect certain information automatically, including, without limitation, the type of mobile device you use, your mobile devices unique device ID, the IP address of your mobile device, your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browsers you use, and information about the way you use the App (“Automatically Collected Information”).

Some of the data you enter and some of the data about you will be stripped of any detail (e.g., name, birthdate, etc.) that could identify you (hence called “De-identified Data”). This de-identified data is stored with de-identified data from lots of other individuals so that your Inviting Entity and other Inviting Entities can compare data about large populations and other useful analytics. No one performing this analysis will ever know what data in this large population is yours.

Who has access to this data

Your Inviting Entity has permission to access this PII; they may or may not actually view this data.

CHESS, which operates and supports the eRecovery solution for the Inviting Entity, has access to all the PII and the Automatically Collected Information.

Your Inviting Entity and other Inviting Entities can perform analytics and benchmarking on the de-identified data described above.

Who else might get access to the data

CHESS may disclose your data to other organizations when (1) required to by law, such as to comply with a subpoena, or similar legal process; or (2) when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.

What other individuals might know about you or find out about you

Your Inviting Entity is also giving the Companion App to other individuals. If you are not careful, these individuals may be able to identify you through your use of the Companion App. Read carefully…

  • When you first access the Companion App, you will be prompted to set up an alias name, which should be something different than your real name
  • You pick your alias name
  • You also chose your own profile image; a picture of yourself may make you recognizable to others in the app
  • Your Inviting Entity will assign you to a ‘Community’ or ‘Group’ to participate in online discussions through messages. If you post any topics, comments, replies, messages, or achievements, then all individuals in the same Community or Group will be able to see your alias name and your profile image.
  • If you participate in the video support meetings through the app, then other individuals in the same meetings will see you if you have your camera on

CHESS and your Inviting Entity cannot promise that another individual also using the Companion App will not know your identity.  

Optional notifications outside of the App

The Companion App has an optional capability to push notifications to the home screen of your mobile device. This feature is optional. To be enabled, you must first allow notifications from Companion on your mobile device. At any time, notifications can be turned off through the settings within the Companion App and/or through the settings on your mobile device.

If enabled, a push notification is a message that pops up on a mobile device and can be sent at any time, even when you are not using the app. If you opt to allow push notifications from the Companion App, you will receive notifications such as, reminders, schedules, message alerts, but never anything detailed or specific. Please be aware that these notifications will indicate that they are from the Companion App and may be seen by others who have access to your phone.

Where your data is stored

CHESS stores your data on secure Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) servers. You can learn more about AWS and how it helps us protect your information here: https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/hipaa-compliance/.

How we protect and secure your data

We are committed to safeguarding the confidentiality of your data. We provide physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect information we process and maintain. For example, we limit access to this information to authorized employees and contractors who need to know that information in order to operate, develop or improve the Companion App. In addition, CHESS employs a variety of technical safeguards to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your data including encryption of the data in transit and at rest and other industry best practices. Please be aware that, although we strive to provide reasonable security for information we process and maintain, no security system can prevent all potential security breaches.

How long data is stored

Your data will be stored by CHESS as long as your Inviting Entity remains a customer of CHESS.

What to do if you want your identifiable data erased or deleted

If you have stopped using the Companion App, have deleted the app from all mobile devices, and want to be sure your identifiable data is cleared from all databases, you can reach out to your Inviting Entity to get your identifiable data erased or deleted from the CHESS servers.

Our policy regarding children

The Companion App is not for individuals under the age of eighteen. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has entered their own personal data into the Companion App or somehow been given an account by a Inviting Entity, please contact us at support@chess.health.

Your consent

As stated earlier, your use of the Companion App is an acknowledgement that you understand and consent to this Privacy Policy. CHESS may modify this Privacy Policy at any time effective upon its posting. Your continued use of the Companion App constitutes your acceptance of this Privacy Policy and any updates.

You will also have to accept our End User License Agreement (EULA) before you can create an account and start using the App. Read it carefully too.

How you can contact us If you have any questions regarding the Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@chess.health.