Privacy Policy

Your Data, Your Ownership

AraVela is built on the principle that your thoughts and reflections belong to you alone. We do not store your conversations or personal content on our servers. Your journal and session history live encrypted on your device.

What We Store

• Nothing on our servers: AraVela does not store your conversations or personal content on any server.
• Nothing is saved unless you choose to: Chat sessions live only in memory while you're using them. If you tap Save to Diary, that session is encrypted with a key derived from your passcode and stored locally in your browser (IndexedDB). If you don't save, the conversation is discarded when you close the session, log out, or navigate away.
• Encryption: Saved data is encrypted using AES-GCM with a key derived from your passcode via PBKDF2. Without your passcode, saved data is unreadable — including to us.
• No recovery: We cannot recover your data if you forget your passcode. This is by design.
• Optional Auto Check-In Alerts: If you turn on Auto Check-In Alerts (off by default) in Safety, AraVela may retain a minimal local marker (timestamp and intensity only — never your messages) so Vela can offer a gentle follow-up. Turning the setting off clears any pending markers.
• Trusted contacts: Any contacts you add for check-ins are also stored locally and encrypted.

What Gets Sent to AI

When you chat with Vela, your message is transmitted to an AI provider (OpenAI, via a secure proxy) solely to generate Vela's response in real time. If you choose Save to Diary, a short summary is also generated the same way as part of that explicit save. Your messages are not stored on our servers and are not used to train AI models. Transmission for AI processing is temporary and distinct from persistent storage.

If you'd prefer not to share a specific reflection with an AI service, simply don't send it in chat — you can still keep a private, offline journal in any format you prefer.

Check-In Notifications

If you add trusted contacts and send a check-in request, we send ONLY a generic message: "This is a check-in request. Someone you care about may need support right now."

No chat content, diary entries, or personal details are included in these notifications.

Analytics

We do not use analytics or tracking cookies. We do not collect usage data, IP addresses, or device information.

Your Rights

• Your content is your intellectual property.
• You can export your data at any time from the Memory page.
• You can delete your data by clearing your browser's local storage.

Changes to This Policy

If we make changes to this privacy policy, we will update this page. Continued use of AraVela constitutes acceptance of any changes.