Privacy Policy and Service Agreement

1. Overview

Humboldt Friends is a community-inclusion and friendship project based in Humboldt County, California. It is founded and operated by an individual participant in California's Self-Determination Program under the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act.

• Humboldt Friends is not a for-profit company.
• It operates with limited Self-Determination Program and Medicaid-waiver funding to support person-centered goals of friendship, inclusion, and community participation.
• It serves disabled and non-disabled adults who want safer local social connections.
• The founder is an autistic adult who operates and participates in Humboldt Friends as an equal member.

Humboldt Friends currently functions as a verified-member community platform. Registration and verification are required before accessing or posting member content. Humboldt Friends may later transition to a nonprofit or other public-interest structure. If that happens, this policy will be updated while preserving the core privacy and safety principles.

2. Regulatory Status and Good-Faith Compliance

Humboldt Friends is a small, non-commercial community project. It may not qualify as a "business," "covered entity," or "regulated research institution" under some privacy, health, or research laws, including CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA, or the Federal Common Rule.

Even so, Humboldt Friends is designed in good faith to be consistent with California's Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, disability and civil-rights laws including the ADA and Rehabilitation Act Section 504, key principles from California privacy laws, Medicaid and HCBS integration principles, and ethical research standards such as respect, beneficence, and justice.

Nothing in this policy is legal advice. Humboldt Friends may update this policy as laws, platform features, and best practices evolve.

3. No Sale of Data and Purpose of Use

Humboldt Friends does not sell, rent, or trade user data for commercial purposes. Mobile phone numbers, SMS opt-in data, SMS consent records, and text messaging status are not shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.

Humboldt Friends uses information only to:

• Facilitate safer local community connections and inclusive participation.
• Support person-centered goals under the Self-Determination Program and Lanterman Act.
• Develop and evaluate community-based supports and natural supports such as circles of support, peer connections, and inclusive activities.
• Promote disability rights, accessibility, and inclusion consistent with ADA, Rehabilitation Act Section 504, and related frameworks.
• Create anonymized or aggregated research and educational materials that may be shared publicly for the public good.
• Develop and improve non-commercial tools, including AI-powered utilities, that support accessibility, safety, and inclusion.
• Protect members from harassment, exploitation, fraud, coercion, and serious harm.

Humboldt Friends aims to minimize data collection and keep data use community-oriented and non-commercial.

4. What We Collect

Humboldt Friends collects only the information reasonably needed to run the app, verify members, provide support, and maintain safety.

4.1 Registration and Verification Data

• Phone number.
• Display name or alias.
• Legal name if provided during verification.
• Verification records, such as phone, voice, or in-person review status.
• Approximate region, such as city or county.
• Optional demographics, interests, or accessibility information if you choose to share them.

4.2 Community Content

• Posts, comments, replies, likes, profile information, and visible interactions.
• Event or activity participation records when features are available.
• Support requests and safety reports submitted through the app.

4.3 Technical Data

• IP address and basic device or browser information.
• Basic logs needed to operate the site, troubleshoot errors, and protect against abuse.

Technical data is not used for behavioral advertising or commercial profiling.

5. How We Use Information

• Create and manage accounts.
• Verify members as real people and reduce fake, spam, duplicate, or abusive accounts.
• Allow members to participate in posts, discussions, activities, support, and safety workflows.
• Promote safe, respectful, and inclusive community interaction.
• Develop and evaluate person-centered supports and community resources.
• Analyze community use in anonymized or aggregated ways.
• Improve Humboldt Friends and create public-interest tools, including AI-based accessibility and safety utilities.
• Communicate account updates, safety issues, support replies, Friend Interview updates, or policy changes.
• Comply with law or respond to serious safety concerns.

Humboldt Friends does not serve targeted advertising, sell data, or use member information for external commercial marketing.

6. Community Content and Research or AI Use

Member posts and interactions may be visible to other verified participants depending on the feature. Do not post anything you wish to keep private.

By posting content on Humboldt Friends, you understand and agree that:

• Other verified members may be able to see it.
• You should not post anything you intend to keep private or exploit as an exclusive copyrighted work.
• You grant Humboldt Friends a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, display, store, moderate, and process your content within the community.
• Humboldt Friends may reuse content to develop and improve non-commercial, public-interest resources, including accessibility tools and AI-powered algorithms.
• Humboldt Friends may create and share anonymized or aggregated research, statistics, and summaries based on community content.

Registration and verification data, including phone numbers, legal names, and verification records, are stored separately when feasible, kept private, and not included in public research outputs.

When content is used for research or AI-related purposes, Humboldt Friends takes reasonable steps to remove or avoid direct identifiers where possible and reduce the risk that individual members can be re-identified.

7. Data Security, Storage, and Retention

Humboldt Friends uses reasonable technical and organizational safeguards, including:

• Encryption of registration and verification records where feasible.
• Separation of identity and verification data from community content where feasible.
• Limited access to sensitive data for essential operations, support, and safety review.

Information may be kept while your account is active and for a reasonable period afterward to maintain community records, safety logs, support history, and anonymized research. De-identified or aggregated data may be retained indefinitely for lawful public-interest research and reporting.

8. Your Choices and Rights

Humboldt Friends aims to respect member privacy and autonomy even as a small project. Members may request to access, review, correct, or delete personal data held by Humboldt Friends, subject to safety, legal, operational, or record-keeping obligations.

Members may withdraw participation by closing their account. Humboldt Friends may retain anonymized or aggregated data that no longer reasonably identifies a member.

To exercise privacy rights, contact the Humboldt Friends Privacy Coordinator using the contact information below. Humboldt Friends will respond within a reasonable timeframe consistent with its size and resources.

9. Safety, Misuse, and Law Enforcement

Humboldt Friends is designed as a pro-safety, pro-inclusion space. Humboldt Friends may review and use information to prevent or investigate harassment, bullying, abuse, exploitation, stalking, fraud, coercion, repeat harmful patterns, and misuse of limited public resources.

9.1 Law Enforcement and Serious Harm

Humboldt Friends may preserve or share information when it reasonably believes disclosure is necessary to:

• Comply with applicable law, regulation, legal process, or court order.
• Protect the safety, rights, or property of members or the public.
• Respond to credible threats of serious harm, such as threats of violence or severe self-harm.

When information is disclosed, Humboldt Friends aims to share only what is reasonably necessary and keep internal records of disclosures when feasible.

10. Third-Party Service Providers

Humboldt Friends may use trusted third-party providers for hosting, email, infrastructure, security, communications, account support, phone verification, SMS delivery, and other app operations. These providers may process limited personal information only on behalf of Humboldt Friends and are not allowed to sell or reuse member data for their own unrelated purposes under our agreements with them.

If Humboldt Friends uses third-party AI or analytics tools, it will prefer de-identified or aggregated data whenever possible and avoid giving vendors permission to train general-purpose commercial models on identifiable member content without a clear, updated consent process.

11. Contact Information

Humboldt Friends Privacy Coordinator: [email protected]

General phone: +1 (833) 435-4442

App account texts and support: +1 (833) 435-4442

Mailing address: 1935 H St 7A, Arcata, CA 95521.

12. Eligibility and Age Restrictions

Humboldt Friends is intended only for adults aged 18 and older. Humboldt Friends does not knowingly collect information from minors under 18.

If Humboldt Friends learns that an account belongs to someone under 18, it will delete or disable the account and remove associated personal data where feasible.

By using Humboldt Friends, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into this agreement under California law.

13. Changes to This Policy

Humboldt Friends may update this Privacy Policy and Service Agreement to reflect changes in law, funding or organizational structure, community use, safety reviews, or platform features.

When material changes are made, Humboldt Friends will update the "Last updated" date and provide notice on the site or by email where reasonable. Continued use after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.

14. Service Agreement, Governing Law, and Dispute Resolution

By creating an account or using Humboldt Friends, you agree:

• To follow basic community conduct expectations, including no harassment, hate, exploitation, or illegal activity.
• That this agreement is considered made in California and governed by California law, together with applicable federal disability and civil-rights laws.
• That if there is a conflict between California law and applicable federal rights protections, federal law prevails.

Disputes should be raised first informally by contacting the Privacy Coordinator so Humboldt Friends can try to work things out in good faith. Humboldt Friends is a small, disability-led project and asks members to approach disagreements with respect and inclusion.

15. Ethical Commitment

Humboldt Friends is guided by disability-rights and human-rights principles, including respect for autonomy and informed participation, inclusion in community life, non-discrimination and accessibility, beneficence, and non-maleficence.

Humboldt Friends intends to use data and technology only in ways that support the well-being and inclusion of people with and without disabilities, and not for commercial exploitation.

SMS Account Communications

Humboldt Friends may send account setup, account status, support, Friend Interview, safety, and service-related text messages from +1 (833) 435-4442. Message frequency varies by account activity. Message and data rates may apply.

SMS opt-in is required before feed access and the account phone check so Humboldt Friends can confirm the member controls the phone number connected to the account before posting opens.

Members opt in by sending the keyword SUBSCRIBE from the phone number connected to their account to +1 (833) 435-4442. Privacy Policy: /legal/privacy. Terms: /legal/terms.

Reply HELP for help. Reply STOP to opt out. Reply START or UNSTOP to resubscribe where supported.

The SMS opt-in proof is published separately at /legal/sms-opt-in/.

Public opt-in screen mockup

SMS Message Types

• Account setup and registration support.
• Phone, voice, and SMS subscription status notices.
• Support replies and account help.
• Friend Interview request, scheduling, check-in, and status updates.
• Safety, access, restriction, and account review notices.

SMS Privacy and Carrier Notice

Mobile information and SMS opt-in records are not shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. See the Privacy and California Rights page.

Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. Delivery may depend on carrier systems, phone settings, network availability, and whether you have opted out.

SMS Support

Email [email protected], text HELP to +1 (833) 435-4442, or call the general phone line at +1 (833) 435-4442.

Mailing address: 1935 H St 7A, Arcata, CA 95521.