By using text and chat to talk with a counseling specialist, you agree to these terms of use. If you are worried that text or chat might not be safe to use, please call us any time on our 24/7 crisis line at 800-942-6906 to talk with an advocate.

SAFETY:
Your texts or browser history may be monitored by an abusive person, so extra caution may be necessary. You may have heard of protective steps you can take when using text and chat, like clearing your browser history and cache. We recommend that you learn more about tech safety here: https://www.techsafety.org/resources-survivors

CONFIDENTIALITY:
Your privacy and security are our priority. When you connect with us, we do not collect or store the contact information of the device you use (phone number or IP address). Personally Identifying Information (PII) is information that would identify you, such as your name or address. When you connect, YOU have control over this information. We do not collect any PII via text and chat unless you disclose it. If you do provide such information, and it is recorded by the advocate, it is retained on the software system regarding this communication for seven days, after which it is permanently electronically “shredded” so it is no longer accessible to anyone. We retain the detailed information from these communications for this seven-day period for administrative and quality assurance purposes only. During this seven-day period, the information is securely stored, and only accessible to administrators.

We request some basic demographic information (like your age, race and gender, county you are in), which we combine with data from other people who have contacted us. This combined data is used for reporting purposes and to help us improve our services. You can choose not to share your demographic information with us. The demographic information you choose to share is stored on a secure server with strong encryption security and does not include PII.

Advocates may ask for your location to offer local referrals specific to your area. You can choose if you want to tell the advocate where you are located.

Any and all information collected through the text and chat will be permanently deleted after seven years, unless otherwise required under relevant federal or New York State statutes or regulations.

AUTOMATICALLY COLLECTED & STORED INFORMATION:
If you do nothing during your visit but initialize the chat, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store limited information, such as the following, concerning your visit:
• The date and time you accessed the site
• County based on area code (for SMS messages only)