Privacy Policy

TL;DR — The Short Version

By using this website, the Chatbot, or providing us with your personal information, you consent to the collection, use, and sharing of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use our services or provide us with your personal information.
All personal data you provide is voluntary. You may use our website and Chatbot without providing personally identifiable information, though providing certain information (such as your city or town) helps us deliver more relevant local resources. Newsletter subscription and contact form submissions are entirely optional.

1. Who We Are

RI Elder Info is a Rhode Island 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our mission is to connect Rhode Island seniors, caregivers, and professionals with accurate, accessible information on Federal, State and Local information and resources for older adults, caregivers and the professionals who serve them. We operate rielderinfo.com and an AI-powered chatbot tool (the “Chatbot”) that allows visitors to ask questions and receive information in multiple languages. We are not a healthcare provider, legal firm, or financial advisor. Nothing on this site or through the Chatbot constitutes medical, legal, financial, or estate planning advice.

2. What Do We Collect?

We collect information in three ways: what you give us directly, what the Chatbot receives when you use it, and what our website collects automatically.

2.1. Information You Give Us Directly

• Name and email address, if you subscribe to our newsletter
• Contact details, if you reach out by phone, email, or the contact form
• Any information you choose to share in a message or inquiry

2.2. Information the Chatbot Receives

When you use the Chatbot, you may provide: your approximate age range; your city or town (for local resource matching); your questions and concerns in text or voice. We do not ask for your name, date of birth, Social Security number, insurance information, or any information that could identify you outside of this interaction.

2.3. Voice Input and Biometric Data

If you speak to the Chatbot using the microphone feature, your voice is processed to convert your words to text. Voice recordings are biometric data under Rhode Island law, R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-48.1-1 et seq., and under the laws of several other states.

Here is exactly what we do with your voice:

• Your speech is converted to text by our third-party voice processing provider (Voiceflow or its successor).
• We do not permanently store audio recordings of your voice for the purpose of identifying you.
• Anonymized, non-identifiable session data may be retained to improve Chatbot performance. This data does not include a copy of your voice or any information that could be used to identify you.
• If we ever change how we store or use voice data in a way that increases retention or identification, we will update this policy and notify users before that change takes effect.

Your use of the voice feature constitutes your consent to this processing. You may use the text input option at any time to avoid voice processing entirely.

2.4. Automatic Website Data

When you visit rielderinfo.com, standard web technology records certain information automatically, including your IP address (general location only), the type of browser and device you are using, which pages you visit and for how long, and any links you click. We use this data to understand how visitors use the site and to improve the experience. We do not combine this with your Chatbot session data.

3. Why Do We Use Your Information?

We use the information we collect for these specific purposes:

• To respond to your questions and connect you with resources that are relevant to your location and situation
• To send the newsletter, if you subscribed and asked us to
• To analyze trends in the questions people ask, so we can identify gaps in information on Federal, State and Local information and resources for older adults, caregivers and the professionals who serve them and support public health research (this analysis uses aggregated, anonymized data only)
• To improve the accuracy and accessibility of the Chatbot
• To fulfill legal obligations, if any apply

Under GDPR principles, our legal bases for processing are: contract performance (responding to your inquiry), consent (newsletter, voice feature), and legitimate interest (improving the Chatbot and identifying public health trends). We are not a HIPAA-covered entity, but we voluntarily apply similar standards to any health-related information you share.

4. Data Retention and Deletion

We retain your personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy. Newsletter subscriber information is retained until you unsubscribe. Contact form inquiries are retained for 24 months. Voice and audio input to the Chatbot is transient and is not retained beyond the duration of a single session. Raw text logs from Chatbot sessions are retained for 24 months to improve service quality. Aggregated and de-identified Chatbot session data is retained indefinitely for research and service improvement. Website analytics data is retained in aggregated form indefinitely.

5. Who Do We Share Your Information With?

We do not sell your personal information. Ever.

We share information only with:

• Service providers who help us operate the website and Chatbot (for example, our web host, email provider, and Voiceflow for voice processing). These providers may only use your data to perform services for us and are contractually prohibited from using it for any other purpose.
• Researchers or public health partners, but only with anonymized, aggregated data that cannot be traced back to any individual. We do not share identifiable information for research purposes without your separate, explicit consent.
• Law enforcement or regulators, only if required by law and only to the extent required.

We do not share your information with advertisers, data brokers, or any third party for commercial purposes.

6. How Long Do We Keep Your Information?

Newsletter subscriber information is kept until you unsubscribe. Contact form submissions are kept for two years, then deleted. Voice and audio input to the Chatbot is not retained beyond the duration of a single session. Raw text logs from Chatbot sessions are retained for 24 months, then deleted. Aggregated and de-identified Chatbot session data used for trend analysis and service improvement is retained indefinitely.

7. Recording and Two-Party Consent

Rhode Island is a one-party consent state for recording communications. However, because our Chatbot is accessible to users in all states, and some states require all parties to consent to recording, we obtain your consent before any voice session begins. The Chatbot will notify you at the start of each voice session that your conversation may be processed and that anonymized data may be retained. Your continued use after that notice constitutes consent.

8. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Know and Access: You can ask us what information we hold about you.
• Delete: You can ask us to delete your information. We will do so unless we are required by law to keep it.
• Correct: You can ask us to correct inaccurate information.
• Opt Out: You can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email or by emailing deb@rielderinfo.com.
• Non-Discrimination: We will not treat you differently because you exercised any of these rights.

To exercise any of these rights, email deb@rielderinfo.com. We will respond within 30 days.

9. How We Protect Your Information

We apply industry-standard security measures to protect data in our custody, including encrypted transmission (HTTPS), access controls limiting who can view stored data, and regular review of our third-party providers’ security practices. We do not store payment information. We cannot guarantee that any transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we are not liable for unauthorized access that results from circumstances outside our reasonable control.

10. Children Under 13

This website is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us at deb@rielderinfo.com and we will delete it.

11. Not Medical, Legal, or Financial Advice

Nothing on this website or through the Chatbot is medical advice, legal advice, financial advice, or estate planning advice. The Chatbot provides publicly available information to help you identify resources and ask better questions. Decisions about health care, legal matters, and finances must be made in consultation with a licensed professional. RI Elder Info is not responsible for decisions made based on information obtained through this site or the Chatbot.

12. Third-Party Links

This site contains links to external websites. Once you leave rielderinfo.com, this policy does not apply. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of any third-party site.

13. Changes to This Policy

If we make a material change to how we collect, use, or share your information, we will post the updated policy on this page with a new effective date. For changes that significantly affect your rights, we will provide additional notice (for example, a banner on the site or an email to newsletter subscribers, if applicable). Continued use of the site after the effective date of a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

14. Contact Us

Questions or requests about this policy go to:

Deb Burton, Executive Director RI Elder Info
10 Davol Sq Unit 100, Providence, RI 02903
deb@rielderinfo.com
401-585-0509