Introduction
Welcome to Carissa (package name: com.carissa.mobile). Carissa is an elderly care mobile application designed to connect elderly users with their caretakers and caregivers. Our mission is to provide a safe, reliable, and compassionate digital companion for seniors and the people who care for them.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you use the Carissa mobile application. By using our app, you agree to the practices described in this policy.
We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data with transparency and care. Please read this policy carefully. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use the application.
Information We Collect
Carissa collects information necessary to provide its core elderly care and safety features. Below is a detailed summary of the data we collect, the permissions required, and why each is needed.
| Data / Permission | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Phone Calls |
To make emergency calls and call doctors or caretakers directly from within the app during urgent situations. |
| SMS |
To send emergency SOS messages to designated caretakers and emergency contacts when the user triggers an alert. |
| Location |
To share the user's precise location with caretakers during emergencies, enabling swift and accurate response. |
| Bluetooth |
To discover and connect to health monitoring devices such as blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, and other Bluetooth-enabled medical peripherals. |
| Microphone |
To power voice-based features including the AI companion, speech-to-text input, and voice commands for hands-free operation. |
| Notifications | To deliver alarms, medication reminders, SOS alerts, and real-time messages between elderly users and their caretakers. |
| Health Data |
To read and display vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, SpO2 (blood oxygen levels), and other health metrics for ongoing monitoring. |
| Camera & Photos |
To allow users to capture or select images from their device for sharing within the in-app chat with caretakers. |
| Sensors |
To detect shake gestures, enabling the Shake-to-SOS feature that allows users to trigger emergency alerts quickly. |
| Account Data |
We collect your name, email address, and user role (elderly or caretaker) during registration and authentication. |
| Messaging |
To facilitate real-time communication between elderly users and their caretakers, including text and image messages. |
📌 We only request permissions when they are needed for a specific feature. You may deny any permission, though some features may not function without the required access.
How We Use Your Information
We use the collected information solely to provide, maintain, and improve the Carissa app experience. Specifically, we use your data to:
- Emergency Response: Initiate emergency calls, send SOS messages with your location to designated caretakers, and enable shake-to-SOS detection.
- Health Monitoring: Display and track your vital signs (heart rate, blood pressure, SpO2) from connected Bluetooth devices and Health Connect.
- Communication: Enable real-time messaging between elderly users and caretakers via our integrated chat platform.
- AI Companion: Provide voice-based interaction and companionship features through speech recognition and audio processing.
- Reminders & Alerts: Deliver medication reminders, appointment notifications, and other time-sensitive alerts.
- Account Management: Authenticate users, manage profiles, and maintain the connection between elderly users and their caretakers.
- Push Notifications: Send important alerts, messages, and reminders using stored push notification tokens.
Data Sharing & Third Parties
✅ We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to any third parties.
We may share limited data only in the following circumstances:
- With Your Caretakers: Your health data, location (during emergencies), and messages are shared with your designated caretakers as part of the core functionality of the app.
- Service Providers: We use trusted third-party services to operate the app:
- Supabase — for secure authentication and cloud data storage
- Stream Chat — for real-time messaging infrastructure
- Expo / EAS — for push notifications delivery
- Health Connect (Google) — for accessing on-device health data
- Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request.
- Safety: We may share information when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the safety of our users, particularly in emergency situations.
All third-party service providers are bound by their own privacy policies and data protection obligations.
Data Storage & Security
We take the security of your personal data seriously and implement industry-standard measures to protect it:
- User data, including account information and health records, is stored securely in Supabase, a cloud database platform with built-in encryption and access controls.
- Push notification tokens are stored securely and used exclusively for delivering notifications.
- Authentication is managed through Supabase Auth with secure session management.
- All data transmission between the app and our servers uses encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS).
- We follow the principle of least privilege — only collecting data that is necessary for the app's features to function.
While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we continuously work to improve our safeguards.
Children's Privacy
Carissa is designed for elderly individuals and their adult caretakers. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children of any age. Our services are not directed to children, and we do not intentionally target or market to minors.
If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child, we will take immediate steps to delete such information from our servers. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately.
Your Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Correction: Request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Deletion: Request the deletion of your personal data, subject to legal or contractual retention requirements.
- Withdraw Consent: Revoke any previously granted permissions at any time through your device's settings.
- Data Portability: Request your data in a portable, machine-readable format where technically feasible.
- Opt Out: You may stop using the app at any time and request deletion of your account and associated data.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at the email address provided below. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with applicable laws.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will notify you by updating the "Effective Date" at the top of this policy and, where appropriate, through an in-app notification.
We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your data. Your continued use of the Carissa app after any changes to this policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please don't hesitate to reach out: