Privacy Policy

1. Who this covers

This policy applies to everyone who uses silver-circles.com or the 銀識圈 app, including:

• Family carers who create an account and invite a loved one
• Elders who join through an invitation, or who sign up themselves
• People who browse the website or try the public two-minute demo

2. What we collect

Account and contact. When you sign up we collect your name, email address, phone number, and sign-in details through our authentication provider, Clerk. You can sign in with a phone code, an email code, or Google. We do not ask you to invent a password for the elder app.

Family enrolment. If you invite a loved one we collect their name, what they like to be called, birthday, optional photo, optional email or phone, interests, and your relationship to them. We email you an invitation link and gentle reminders until they join.

Enrolment photo. When a loved one joins through an invitation we capture one photo, from the camera or an uploaded picture, and store it. If you already added a reference photo, we keep both so we can confirm it is them. Automated face matching is not live yet; the photos are stored for that purpose and to let them into the app.

Voice conversations. Signed-in chats with 圏姐 or 銀哥 are live speech. Audio is processed by our voice provider so the companion can listen and reply. We do not keep the raw audio of a call. After a session we keep what the companion needs to remember them, plus session numbers (how much they talked, engagement, mood) and topic labels. We do not keep a full transcript on the family dashboard.

Looking Back. If a loved one tells a year-anchored life story so it can be passed on to their family, we store that story and a short summary. That is the one case where family members can read words from a conversation, and only that life-story material, never health, money, mood, or ordinary chat.

App content and preferences. Elders can save photos and links. We store language, text size, and similar settings so the app stays as they left it.

Billing. If you subscribe, Stripe processes the payment. We store a Stripe customer id, the plan, and subscription status. We do not store full card numbers.

Website and demo. The public demo asks for a name so 圏姐 can greet you. We do not store the demo conversation and we do not transcribe it. Audio is processed live to run the call, then it ends.

Analytics. When Google Analytics is configured on the live site, we collect page views, device and browser type, and approximate location. Development and preview deploys do not load it.

3. How we use it

We use personal data to:

• Run the companion, news, games, weather, saved links, and the family dashboard
• Send invitation, joined, reminder, weekly report, and billing emails
• Remember what a loved one has told the companion, so the next chat can pick up where the last one left off
• Keep accounts secure and prevent abuse
• Improve the service, including speech and memory quality
• Meet our legal duties in Hong Kong

We never sell personal data. If we ever use data for academic research, we will ask for a separate opt-in first, and we will strip names and contact details before any analysis.

4. Who in the family can see a conversation

A linked family carer sees signals, not transcripts. A signal is only a topic (health, money, family, loneliness, possible scam, or other) and a weight (light or heavy), plus engagement and mood numbers. What the loved one actually said stays theirs.

The one exception is Looking Back: year-anchored life stories the loved one told so they could be passed on. Health, money, mood, and ordinary chat never appear there.

Weekly and monthly notes to the family follow the same rule. We never show a carer the live transcript of a call.

5. Who we share it with

We share data with companies that help us run the service, only as needed:

• Clerk, for sign-in
• Supabase, in Singapore, for the database and files (including photos)
• OpenAI, for the live voice companion and memory embeddings
• Anthropic, to turn a finished chat into signals, mood scores, memories, and Looking Back entries
• Stripe, for payments
• Vercel, for hosting the website and app
• Google, for Analytics (when configured), Google sign-in, and in some setups speech
• A web search provider, when the companion looks something up during a chat

These providers process data on our instructions. They are not allowed to sell it. We may also disclose data if Hong Kong law requires it, or to protect someone from serious harm.

6. Where data lives

Our primary database and file storage are in Singapore. Voice, sign-in, payments, hosting, and analytics providers may process data in the United States and other countries. By using the service you agree to that transfer. We choose processors that accept contractual duties to protect the data.

7. Cookies

We use cookies and similar storage that are needed for the service to work: a Clerk session for carers, a session cookie for an enrolled elder, and a language preference in the browser. Analytics cookies load only when Google Analytics is configured on the live site.

8. How long we keep it

We keep account data while the account is open. If a carer deletes their account from family settings, we erase that carer's data and, unless another carer still has a link to the same loved one, that loved one's chats, memories, photos, and profile. Billing records may be kept for as long as payment or tax rules require. Curated news items are kept for about 14 days.

9. Your rights

Hong Kong's Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance applies. You can ask to access, correct, or delete personal data we hold, or to withdraw a loved one's enrolment. Email dimah@silver-circles.com, or use Delete my account in family settings. We will respond within the time the law requires. You can also complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data in Hong Kong.

10. Children

銀識圈 is for older adults and the adults who care for them. Carer accounts are for people aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

11. Changes

If this policy changes, we will update this page. The date at the top is the latest version.

12. Contact

Silver Circle, Hong Kong. Email dimah@silver-circles.com. Website: www.silver-circles.com.