Privacy Policy

Last Updated: April 16, 2025

In Simple Terms: We designed Lighten.im to be a safe space where you can share your feelings without worrying about your privacy. We don't collect your name, email, or other personal details. We do collect some basic information to make the site work and keep it secure.

Welcome to Lighten.im

Your privacy matters to us. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you use Lighten.im, how we use it, and the choices you have. Our goal is to provide emotional support while respecting your privacy.

Who We Are

Lighten.im is a platform designed to provide emotional support through AI-powered responses. We believe everyone deserves access to supportive resources, especially young people aged 13-25.

Information We Collect

Messages You Share

When you submit a message on Lighten.im:

  • We temporarily process your message to generate a supportive response
  • We temporarily store messages without any identifying information for service improvement - any personally identifying information (such as email addresses, web addresses, names, addresses, or social security numbers) is automatically redacted before storage
  • We don't link your message to any personal or identifying information
  • We generate an audio of the supportive response for accessibility. Audio files are created in real-time and not stored.

Country Information

We use your IP address to determine your country location. This helps us:

  • Provide relevant local mental health resources
  • Understand where our service is being used
  • We don't store your specific IP address

Technical Information

We automatically collect some technical information:

  • Browser type and version
  • Device type (mobile, tablet, computer)
  • Operating system
  • Time and date of your visit
  • Pages you visit on our site

This information helps us improve our service and fix technical issues. It doesn't identify you personally.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to:

  • Keep the website secure (necessary cookies)
  • Remember your cookie preferences
  • Understand how people use our site (if you consent to analytics cookies)

You can control which cookies you accept through our Cookie Consent Banner. Necessary cookies are required for the site to function properly and cannot be disabled.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Provide you with emotional support responses
  • Convert text responses to audio for accessibility using our text-to-speech feature
  • Suggest relevant mental health resources based on your country
  • Improve our service and AI responses
  • Ensure the security and proper functioning of our website
  • Understand how people use our service

Text-to-Speech Feature

Our text-to-speech feature is designed to make Lighten.im more accessible to users who may prefer listening to responses rather than reading them. Here's how it works:

  • When you receive a response, our system sends the text to LemonFox, our trusted TTS provider
  • The text is converted to speech in real-time and streamed back to your device
  • No audio recordings are stored on our servers or by our TTS provider
  • The audio is played through your device only during your current session
  • You can control playback using the audio player controls in the response section

Information Sharing

We don't sell your information to anyone. We may share information in the following limited circumstances:

  • Service Providers: We work with trusted companies that help us provide our service (like our AI providers, Anthropic for text responses and LemonFox for text-to-speech conversion)
  • Legal Requirements: We may share information if required by law or to protect rights and safety

Your Rights and Choices

You have several rights regarding your information:

  • Cookie Choices: Control which cookies you accept through our Cookie Consent Banner
  • Access: Since we don't collect personally identifiable information, we can't provide specific data tied to you
  • Data Retention: We store anonymized messages for service improvement
  • Audio Processing: Text-to-speech audio is generated temporarily for accessibility and is never stored on our servers. You can control audio playback using the player controls in the response section.

Children's Privacy

Lighten.im is designed for users aged 13 and older. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you're a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has provided us with information, please contact us.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We'll notify you of significant changes by posting a notice on our website. Your continued use of Lighten.im after changes means you accept the updated policy.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:

privacy@lighten.im