Privacy Policy

Depending on how you interact with Life Ally, we may collect the following information.

Information You Provide

• Name, email address, telephone number, and mailing address.
• Date of birth, age range, gender, pronouns, and demographic information.
• Account credentials and communication preferences.
• Information provided when requesting or receiving emotional support.
• Messages, chat content, session notes, or support history, where applicable.
• Emergency-contact and safety-related information.
• Housing needs, living circumstances, and program eligibility information.
• Appointment and scheduling information.
• Donation, subscription, billing, and transaction information.
• Survey responses, feedback, testimonials, and user stories.
• Information submitted through contact, volunteer, provider, employment, or partnership forms.

Please do not provide information that is unnecessary for your request.

Information Collected Automatically

When you use the website, we may automatically collect:

• IP address.
• Browser and device type.
• Operating system.
• Pages viewed and links selected.
• Referring website.
• Approximate location derived from an IP address.
• Website usage, cookie, and analytics information.
• Dates, times, and duration of interactions.

Payment Information

Payments and donations may be processed by an independent payment provider. Life Ally may receive transaction details, such as the amount, date, payment status, and limited billing information, but may not receive or store complete payment-card numbers.

Information shared while requesting emotional support may reveal sensitive details about your:

• Emotional or mental well-being.
• Family and personal relationships.
• Housing situation.
• Life experiences.
• Safety concerns.
• Health-related circumstances.

We use this information only for legitimate service, safety, operational, and legal purposes described in this Policy.

Users should understand that Life Ally’s general peer-support Services may not be subject to HIPAA. HIPAA applies to defined covered entities and business associates, not automatically to every organization that handles health-related information. HHS guidance on HIPAA-covered organizations.

If Life Ally offers a separate HIPAA-covered clinical service, users will receive the applicable Notice of Privacy Practices and clinical consent documentation.

Life Ally may use information to:

• Create and manage user accounts.
• Match users with appropriate Allies.
• Schedule and provide emotional-support sessions.
• Respond to inquiries and support requests.
• Personalize and improve the user experience.
• Process donations, subscriptions, and payments.
• Provide receipts and transaction confirmations.
• Evaluate program effectiveness and community needs.
• Coordinate housing or community-resource referrals.
• Communicate program, service, or policy updates.
• Send newsletters or fundraising communications when permitted.
• Maintain platform security and prevent fraud or abuse.
• Investigate complaints and Terms violations.
• Protect users, Allies, personnel, and the public.
• Comply with legal, regulatory, accounting, and reporting obligations.
• Create deidentified or aggregated statistics for research, reporting, fundraising, and service improvement.

We will not use identifiable support conversations in advertising or public fundraising materials without appropriate authorization.

We may share information with:

Allies and Authorized Personnel

Information may be made available to assigned Allies, supervisors, safety personnel, employees, volunteers, or contractors who need it to provide or administer the Services.

Service Providers

We may use vendors for:

• Website hosting.
• Secure messaging or video communication.
• Appointment scheduling.
• Payment processing.
• Email and text-message delivery.
• Data storage and security.
• Analytics and technical support.

These providers receive only the information reasonably necessary to perform their assigned services and are expected to protect it appropriately.

Safety and Legal Disclosures

We may disclose information when reasonably necessary to:

• Address a serious or imminent threat.
• Protect a child or vulnerable adult.
• Report suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation, or other conduct as required by law.
• Contact emergency services.
• Respond to lawful government, court, or regulatory requests.
• Investigate fraud, security incidents, or illegal activity.
• Protect the rights and safety of Life Ally and others.

Organizational Changes

Information may be transferred as part of a merger, restructuring, program transfer, or similar organizational change, subject to applicable nonprofit and privacy obligations.

With Your Direction

We may share information when you request or authorize us to do so, such as when coordinating with a provider, family member, emergency contact, housing program, or community organization.

Life Ally does not sell personal or sensitive emotional-support information for monetary compensation.

Life Ally may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Operate essential website functions.
• Remember user preferences.
• Understand website traffic and performance.
• Maintain security.
• Evaluate outreach and fundraising campaigns.

Users may control non-essential cookies through available cookie settings or their browser. Disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

Advertising trackers should not be placed on pages where users disclose sensitive mental-health, crisis, support, or housing information without a documented privacy and compliance review.

Life Ally may send service-related communications concerning:

• Account activity.
• Session scheduling.
• Security.
• Payments or donations.
• Program changes.
• Safety matters.

With appropriate permission, we may also send newsletters, fundraising messages, and program updates.

Users may unsubscribe from promotional emails using the link included in the message. Opting out of promotional communication will not prevent essential service or transaction-related messages.

Message and data rates may apply to SMS communications. Consent to receive promotional text messages is not a condition of receiving Life Ally’s general Services unless clearly stated for a particular program.

We retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary to:

• Provide the Services.
• Maintain appropriate support and safety records.
• Complete transactions.
• Meet nonprofit, tax, accounting, insurance, contractual, and legal obligations.
• Resolve disputes.
• Protect platform security.

Retention periods may differ according to the type of information and program involved. Information may be deleted, deidentified, or securely archived when it is no longer required.

Life Ally uses reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information.

These may include:

• Role-based access controls.
• Password and account-security measures.
• Encryption where appropriate.
• Staff and Ally confidentiality requirements.
• Vendor assessments.
• Security monitoring.
• Incident-response procedures.

No internet-based service can guarantee absolute security. Users should avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information through unsecured email, public forms, or social media.

Certain organizations that maintain identifiable health information outside HIPAA may be subject to the FTC’s Health Breach Notification Rule, which can apply to both businesses and nonprofits. FTC breach-notification guidance.

Depending on applicable law and the nature of your relationship with Life Ally, you may request to:

• Access personal information maintained about you.
• Correct inaccurate information.
• Delete certain information.
• Close your account.
• Withdraw optional communications consent.
• Request information about certain disclosures.
• Obtain a portable copy of eligible information.

Some information may be retained when required for safety, legal, accounting, dispute-resolution, or other legitimate purposes.

Submit a request to privacy@lifeally.org. We may need to verify your identity before completing it.

Life Ally’s general website and Services are not directed to children under 13.

Life Ally does not knowingly collect personal information directly from a child under 13 without legally valid parental or guardian permission. If we learn that such information was collected improperly, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

Any future youth-focused program should have separate consent, safeguarding, and privacy procedures.

The website may link to external organizations, providers, housing resources, payment services, or crisis-support platforms.

Life Ally is not responsible for the privacy or security practices of independent third parties. Users should review their privacy notices before providing information.

Life Ally is operated from the United States. Information submitted from outside the United States may be processed and stored in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those in the user’s location.

Additional notices or consent mechanisms may be required before actively offering Services to residents of other countries.

We may update this Privacy Policy when our Services, technology, or legal obligations change.

The updated Policy will be posted with a revised “Last Updated” date. We may provide additional notice when a change materially affects how personal information is handled.

For privacy questions or requests, contact:

Life Ally / Suicide Sucks
Email: privacy@lifeally.org