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PRIVACY POLICY

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APPLICATION OVERVIEW​

The NORTH mobile application (“app”) allows users to track their wellness over time, read lessons related to principles relevant to mental health, and complete interactive practices (written, text, video or audio) that allow the user to practice a new skill inspired by evidence-based strategies to improve wellness and mental well-being. Practices focus on perspectives (i.e. challenging distorted or problematic thinking), habits (i.e. planning healthy behaviors to improve well-being), mindfulness (i.e. practicing the skill of intentional attention to reduce stress) and coping in specific areas, including hearing voices, having suspicious thoughts, feeling down or depressed, feeling lonely, and feeling anxious. Participants can also provide and review their wellness scores, and information about their engagement in the app. 

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TYPES OF INFORMATION COLLECTED 

NORTH collects (1) dates and time of interactions with certain components of the app, (2) amount of use (i.e. when the app is open) each day, (3) and wellness scores that the user enters and saves before and after practices, as well as when they choose to manually input a wellness score. These data are saved, and the developers and study team can download and review these data. No personal identifiers are collected by the app nor are personal identifiers included in these datasets.  

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Data collected are stored in the United States.

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HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Your information may be used to assist in quality control (i.e. determine whether and how well the app is functioning and make improvements), or – if you are enrolled in a research study – these data may be used in aggregate form to learn more about the app and its functions, for example, what features are most popular or lead to the biggest changes in self-reported wellness scores. If reported in a research product, it will be shared in aggregate form such that you cannot be identified. 

 

PRIVACY AND SECURITY CONTROLS

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer information to others outside of the research team. In specific circumstances, we may release information to law enforcement or government agencies when it is appropriate or required to comply with a government order, or protect users’ property or safety.  

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No free response text input is saved into a database where the app developers can review it. For the protection of the privacy of users, these data can only be saved if they are “exported,” for example by being saved to the user’s own device, texted or emailed by the user. Once the export options have been viewed (and either accepted or declined) the free-response text cannot be recovered.  

At this time, all NORTH users are provided usernames and passwords by the NORTH team at the University of Washington. No users can sign up for their own accounts.  

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The key privacy and security controls in NORTH include (1) deidentifying all information so it is not linked to user’s personal identities, and (2) not saving any information provided in a free-response field in the app. In addition, NORTH is built on Google Firebase, a robust platform using Google's world-class security infrastructure. Firebase is designed to protect your information, utilizing secure communication protocols and encryption to ensure your data stays secure. Some examples:

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  • Data is encrypted in transit using HTTPS and Transport Layer Security (TLS). This ensures that data that is protected and secure during transmission. 

  • Data is encrypted at rest. This means that data is encrypted while it's stored on the servers, providing an additional layer of security. 

  • Secure password storage and verification. Passwords are never stored in plain text and are always securely hashed on the server side. 

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Here are a few additional steps we take to protect you and your data: 

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  • We only collect the information we need for app functionality purposes. This means we don't ask for or store unnecessary information (such as contacts or location data), thereby reducing the potential risks to your privacy. 

  • We provide clear and easily accessible log-out functionality. This helps protect your account from unauthorized access, especially on shared devices. 

  • We comply with Apple's App Store guidelines, which include a number of requirements for protecting user privacy. 

  • Updates and security patches for the mobile application and back-end services are performed regularly 

  • Vendor organizational policies and procedures based on industry standards, including vetting and training of staff, access controls and incident reporting procedures are in place. 

  • Vendor agreements related to the protection of data are in place. 

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