Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 23, 2026

Data Collection

• Authentication: Email address and Firebase Authentication user identifier are used to create and secure accounts, support password recovery, and prevent duplicate accounts.
• Profile Information: User-chosen first name, anonymized last-name noun, optional profile photo, and “About Me” text are used to personalize the experience and support sponsor matching.
• Chat Transcripts: Peer-to-peer and AI chatbot conversations may be collected to provide messaging and recovery-support features. Transcripts used for approved research or analysis are de-identified before analysis.
• Usage and Activity: Feature interactions, session timestamps, task completions, daily active usage, and app-open frequency may be collected to identify useful features, operate the service, and monitor engagement.
• Recovery and Account Activity: Sober-date information, recovery progress, sponsor and sponsee relationships, collaborative tasks, support requests, notification tokens, and related account activity may be stored to provide the app’s core functionality.

Data Usage

Collected data is used to support application functionality and ongoing research into digital recovery-support tools.

1. Application Services: Account and activity information is used to provide Sponserity’s recovery tracking, sponsor and sponsee connections, messaging, task management, notifications, community support, and AI recovery-support features.

2. Research and Analytics: De-identified and aggregated data may be analyzed using natural language processing, machine learning, statistical analysis, and related research methods to better understand factors associated with recovery engagement, sustained sobriety, and relapse risk.

3. Service Improvement: De-identified user interactions and feedback may be used to evaluate and improve the quality, relevance, usability, safety, and effectiveness of Sponserity features, including the Dawn AI recovery companion.

Personally identifiable information is not used for research analysis without appropriate notice and consent. Research datasets are de-identified before analysis whenever feasible and consistent with the applicable research protocol.

Data Storage and Security

• Primary Storage: Account and application data may be stored using Firebase Authentication, Firebase Realtime Database, Cloud Firestore, and Cloud Storage.
• AI Processing: Content submitted to the Dawn AI recovery companion may be processed through the OpenAI API to generate responses and support application functionality.
• Encryption: Data is protected using Google Cloud’s default encryption at rest and TLS/HTTPS encryption while in transit.
• Access Controls: Production-system access is restricted to authorized personnel and is managed using least-privilege access principles.

Confidentiality and De-identification

• Internal Identifiers: Random, non-sequential internal identifiers are used in place of direct personal identifiers in research exports.
• Automated Scrubbing: Automated processing may be used to remove phone numbers, addresses, last names, and other personally identifying information from transcripts prepared for research analysis.
• Timestamps: Message and activity timestamps may be retained in research datasets when necessary to preserve behavioral patterns and when permitted under the applicable research protocol.
• Quality Checks: Research datasets may be reviewed to identify and remove residual personally identifying information before analysis.

Data Retention

Sponserity retains personal and account-associated data only for as long as reasonably necessary to operate the service, provide user-requested functionality, maintain safety and security, comply with legal or regulatory obligations, resolve disputes, support approved research, and enforce applicable agreements.

While an account remains active, Sponserity retains the information needed to provide the app’s features. This may include authentication information, profile information, recovery progress, sponsor and sponsee relationships, task records, support requests, notification information, peer messages, AI-chat content, and other account activity.

When a user deletes an account, Sponserity deletes the user’s Firebase Authentication account, primary profile record, and active support-queue requests. The user will no longer be able to sign in or use the deleted account.

Certain records may be retained after account deletion when reasonably necessary to preserve the integrity and safety of communications, protect other users, investigate reports of abuse or misconduct, respond to legal claims or lawful requests, maintain audit records, comply with applicable legal or regulatory obligations, or support approved research.

In particular, peer-to-peer and AI chat content may be retained after account deletion because messages may involve other users and may be necessary for safety reviews, moderation, dispute resolution, legal compliance, or the protection of Sponserity and its users. Retained chat records may include message content, timestamps, internal account identifiers, and related conversation metadata.

Records describing prior sponsor and sponsee relationships, requests, and collaborative tasks may also be retained or updated after account deletion when necessary to preserve accurate records for the remaining participant, document the termination of the relationship, maintain application integrity, or address safety, legal, or audit needs.

Retained records are access-restricted and are not used to reactivate a deleted account. Sponserity retains this information only for as long as it remains reasonably necessary for the purposes described above. Where feasible and no longer necessary to retain in identifiable form, retained information may be deleted, aggregated, or de-identified.

Residual copies of deleted information may remain temporarily in encrypted system backups until those backups are overwritten or purged according to Sponserity’s backup schedule. Backup records are protected by access controls and are not used for ordinary application operations.

Aggregated or de-identified research and analytics information that can no longer reasonably be linked to an individual may be retained for research, statistical analysis, and service improvement.

Account and Data Deletion

Users may permanently delete their Sponserity account directly from within the app:

1. Open the Sponserity app.
2. Navigate to Settings.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the Settings page.
4. Select Delete Account.
5. Enter the requested confirmation information and confirm deletion.

This process permanently deletes the user’s Firebase Authentication account and primary Sponserity profile, removes active support requests associated with the account, and prevents future access to the account. Account deletion is not a temporary suspension or deactivation.

Some information is not deleted immediately or may be retained after account deletion. This may include peer and AI chat history, message metadata, records of prior sponsor or sponsee relationships, collaborative-task records, and limited internal identifiers associated with those records. Sponserity retains this information only for the safety, legal, compliance, dispute-resolution, moderation, audit, application-integrity, and research purposes described in the Data Retention section.

Users who cannot access the app may request account deletion by emailing support@sponserity.com. Whenever possible, the request should be sent from the email address associated with the account. Sponserity may request limited information to verify account ownership before processing the request.

Users may also request deletion of specific information by contacting support@sponserity.com. Sponserity will evaluate such requests subject to the rights of other users and any applicable safety, research, legal, regulatory, or record-retention obligations.

Additional deletion instructions are available on the Delete Your Sponserity Account page.

Participant Rights

• Voluntary Participation: Use of the app is optional and may cease at any time without penalty.
• Withdrawal: Users may stop future data collection by deleting their account through Settings → Delete Account or by submitting a verified deletion request to support@sponserity.com . Identifiable account data is deleted according to the practices described in the Data Retention and Account and Data Deletion sections. Aggregated or irreversibly de-identified research data that can no longer reasonably be linked to the user may be retained.
• Data Access: Requests for personal-data exports may be submitted to support@sponserity.com and are generally fulfilled within 30 days after verification.
• Data Correction: Profile information may be updated within the app under Settings → Profile.
• Complaints: Reports of privacy or participant-rights concerns may be directed to support@sponserity.com or the University of Missouri IRB Office at muresearchirb@missouri.edu , (573) 882-3181.

Contact

Privacy Contact: Sponserity Support, support@sponserity.com