Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 15, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Guidance ("Guidance," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and protects information when you use our website at guidances.net and our mobile apps (together, the "Service"). Guidance is operated by Guidance.

Guidance is not a medical service. It is a self-reflection and journaling tool, not therapy and not a substitute for professional mental health care. If you are in crisis, please contact your local emergency services or, in the US, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). See our Terms of Service for more.

The short version

You can use Guidance's offline mode to generate affirmations entirely within your own browser or device — that text is not sent to us.
If you save an entry to your journal, the text you wrote and the affirmation are stored securely in the cloud, tied to your private account.
If you use AI mode, the text you wrote is sent to our server and to Anthropic (the makers of Claude) to generate a response for you.
We do not sell your personal information, and we don't use your journal entries to advertise to you.

Information we collect

Account information

To create an account, we use Firebase Authentication. Depending on how you sign in, we receive:

Google sign-in: your name, email address, and profile photo as provided by Google.
Phone sign-in: your phone number, which we use to send a one-time verification code by SMS.

We also store a unique account identifier (a Firebase user ID) to associate your account with your journal.

Your journal entries

When you choose to save an entry, we store it in Google Cloud Firestore under your account. Each saved entry includes the text you wrote, the affirmation and reflection generated for you, a theme label, and a timestamp. These entries are private to your account. You can delete individual entries at any time from within the app.

Content processed by AI mode

If you use the optional AI mode, the text you write is transmitted to our backend and then to Anthropic, which operates the Claude model that composes your affirmation. Anthropic processes this text as our service provider in order to return a response. We do not use this content for advertising. In offline mode, no entry text is sent to us or to Anthropic — the affirmation is generated on your device.

Technical and usage information

Like most online services, our providers automatically collect limited technical data needed to operate the Service securely — for example, IP address, device and browser type, and server logs. Our hosting provider (Vercel) and Firebase process this data on our behalf.

reCAPTCHA

Phone sign-in is protected by Google reCAPTCHA to prevent abuse. reCAPTCHA collects hardware and software information (such as device and application data) and sends it to Google for analysis. Your use of reCAPTCHA is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Analytics

We use Vercel Web Analytics and Vercel Speed Insights to understand how the Service is used and how it performs — for example, which pages are visited and how quickly they load. These tools are privacy-friendly: they are cookieless, do not track you across other websites, and collect aggregate, anonymized data rather than identifying you personally. We do not use the words you write or your journal entries for analytics.

How we use information

To provide the Service — signing you in, generating affirmations, and saving and displaying your journal.
To keep the Service secure and prevent abuse.
To maintain, troubleshoot, and improve the Service.
To communicate with you about your account or important changes, if needed.
To comply with legal obligations.

How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only with the service providers that make Guidance work, and only as needed for them to provide their service to us:

Google Firebase (Authentication and Firestore database) — privacy
Google reCAPTCHA (abuse prevention on phone sign-in) — privacy
Anthropic (AI affirmations, when you use AI mode) — privacy
Vercel (website and API hosting, plus privacy-friendly Web Analytics and Speed Insights) — privacy

We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect our rights or the safety of others, or in connection with a business transfer (such as a merger or acquisition).

Data retention

We keep your account information and journal entries for as long as your account is active. You can delete individual journal entries at any time in the app. If you would like to delete your account and all associated data, contact us at [CONTACT EMAIL] and we will delete it within a reasonable period, except where we are required to retain it by law.

Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, export, or delete your personal information, and to object to or restrict certain processing. This includes rights under the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA). To exercise any of these rights, contact us at j.reisdorff@gmail.com. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

Security

We rely on established providers (Google Firebase, Vercel) and take reasonable measures to protect your information. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Children's privacy

Guidance is not intended for children. You must be at least 16 years old to use the Service. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under this age. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

International users

We operate in the United States and use service providers that may process and store data in the United States and other countries. By using the Service, you understand that your information may be transferred to and processed in countries that may have different data protection laws than your own.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above. Your continued use of the Service after a change means you accept the updated policy.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data? Contact us at [CONTACT EMAIL].