North Star Phoenix

1. Introduction

Welcome to North Star Phoenix ("we," "our," or "us"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring you have a positive experience while using our mobile applications (the "Apps"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use the North Star Phoenix app and the Phoenix Friends app.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. If you do not agree with the terms of this privacy policy, please do not access the application.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect information about you in a variety of ways. The information we may collect via the Apps includes:

A. Personal Data

Demographic and other personally identifiable information that you voluntarily give to us when registering for the App, including:

• Name & Contact Information: First name, last name, email address, phone number, and home address.
• Account Credentials: Passwords used for authentication.
• Profile Information: Information regarding your volunteer preferences, skills (e.g., categories of help, wheelchair certification), availability, and community location.

B. Voice and Audio Data

The Phoenix Friends app uses your device's microphone to allow you to submit help requests using your voice. When you press the microphone button and speak, your voice input is:

• Processed locally on your device by the speech recognition system to convert speech to text.
• The resulting text is then sent to Google's Gemini AI service to understand your request.

We do not store raw audio recordings. Voice data is used solely in real-time to capture your help request and is not retained after the session ends. Microphone access requires your explicit permission and can be revoked at any time in your device settings.

C. Location Information

We may request access or permission to and track location-based information from your mobile device, either continuously or while you are using the App, to provide location-based services (such as calculating trip distances for volunteer rides). You can change our access or permissions in your device's settings.

D. Device and Log Information

We may automatically collect device information, such as your mobile device ID, model, and manufacturer, operating system, version information, and system activity. We also collect Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) tokens to send you necessary push notifications related to volunteer requests and chat messages.

3. How We Use Your Information

Having accurate information about you permits us to provide you with a smooth, efficient, and customized experience. Specifically, we may use information collected about you via the Apps to:

• Create and manage your account.
• Facilitate volunteer coordination, task assignments, and request fulfillment.
• Process voice commands to help you submit help requests hands-free (Phoenix Friends app).
• Send you push notifications regarding new requests, task reminders, cancellations, and chats.
• Enable user-to-user communication (e.g., chat functionality between volunteers and admins).
• Email you regarding your account, password resets, or authentication codes.
• Monitor and analyze usage and trends to improve your experience with the App.
• Prevent fraudulent transactions, monitor against theft, and protect against criminal activity.

4. Disclosure of Your Information

We may share information we have collected about you in certain situations. Your information may be disclosed as follows:

A. To Other Users (Volunteers & Admins)

If you interact with other users of the App, those users may see your name, community, and the details of the requests you create or accept to facilitate the volunteering process.

B. Third-Party Service Providers

We may share your information with third parties that perform services for us or on our behalf, including:

• Google Firebase: For authentication, real-time database hosting (Firestore), and push notifications (Firebase Cloud Messaging).
• Google Gemini AI: The Phoenix Friends app uses Google's Gemini AI to interpret voice-submitted help requests. Text transcriptions of your spoken requests are processed by this service. Please review Google's Privacy Policy for details on how they handle this data.
• Speech Recognition Services: Device-level speech-to-text processing to convert your voice input into text.
• Email Services: For sending verification and transactional emails.
• GroupMe (if linked): To facilitate automated webhook messaging for task coordination.

These third parties are bound by strict data processing agreements and are not permitted to use your personal information for any other purpose.

5. Permissions We Request

You may deny or revoke any permission at any time in your device settings. Denying microphone access will disable the voice feature in Phoenix Friends; you will still be able to use the app through other available methods.

6. Data Retention and Security

We use administrative, technical, and physical security measures to help protect your personal information. While we have taken reasonable steps to secure the personal information you provide to us, please be aware that despite our efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and no method of data transmission can be guaranteed against any interception or other type of misuse.

We will retain your personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.

7. Your Data Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Request access to the personal data we have collected about you.
• Request that your personal data be corrected or deleted (Account Deletion).
• Withdraw consent for data processing.
• Opt-out of push notifications or location access via your device settings.
• Revoke microphone access via your device settings at any time.

Account Deletion: You can request the deletion of your account and associated data by utilizing your in-app account deletion features (if currently available) or by contacting us directly.

8. Children's Privacy

The Apps are not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly solicit information from or market to children under the age of 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Effective Date."

10. Contact Us

If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

• Email: support@northstarphoenix.com
• Mailing Address: North Star Phoenix, PO Box 437, Grangeville, ID 83530