Privacy Policy

Zari is operated by Smith Medical, P.C. (D-U-N-S 045394495) ("we", "us", "our"). This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights.

1. Information We Collect

When you use Zari, we collect the following information:

• Account information (name, email address) provided during sign-up via Google, Apple, or email
• Conversation data (messages you send and receive)
• Memory data (facts, events, and preferences extracted from conversations)
• Preference settings (language, personality mode, voice settings)
• Usage data (app interactions, feature usage, session duration)

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Provide and personalize the Zari AI companion experience
• Build and maintain your memory profile for contextual conversations
• Improve our AI models and service quality
• Send service-related communications
• Ensure security and prevent abuse

3. Data Storage & Security

Your data is stored securely using industry-standard encryption. Conversation data and memories are stored in our database infrastructure provided by Convex. Authentication is handled by Clerk, a trusted third-party identity provider. We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data.

4. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

• Clerk — Authentication and user management
• Convex — Real-time database and backend
• Anthropic (Claude AI) — AI-powered conversation processing
• ElevenLabs — Text-to-speech voice generation (when you enable voice features)
• Stripe — Payment processing for Zari Plus subscriptions (we never see or store your card details)
• Sentry — Error logging and operational observability (with PII scrubbing applied)
• Vercel — Hosting and deployment

Each third-party service has its own privacy policy governing data handling.

5. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access your personal data (Settings → Download My Data)
• Delete individual memories at any time (Memories panel)
• Delete your entire account and all associated data (Settings → Delete Account)
• Export your data as JSON (Settings → Download My Data)
• Opt out of non-essential data processing (Settings)

European Users (GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Article 15 — Right to access your data (use Settings → Download My Data)
• Article 16 — Right to correct inaccurate data (edit memories, preferences, name)
• Article 17 — Right to erasure (Settings → Delete Account)
• Article 18 — Right to restrict processing (email privacy@zari.help)
• Article 20 — Right to data portability (export as JSON via Settings)
• Article 21 — Right to object to processing (email privacy@zari.help)
• Lawful basis: We process essential account data under contractual necessity. Research participation is consent-based (Article 6(1)(a)) and can be withdrawn at any time.

California Users (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act:

• Right to Know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and share (this Privacy Policy + the data export tool)
• Right to Delete personal information (Settings → Delete Account)
• Right to Correct inaccurate data
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale or Sharing — we do not sell personal data and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising
• Right to Non-Discrimination for exercising these rights

To exercise any of these rights, contact privacy@zari.help. We respond within 45 days as required by law.

6. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. You can delete your memories at any time. If you delete your account, all associated data will be permanently removed within 30 days.

7. Children's Privacy

Zari is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. Account creation requires age confirmation; the optional research questionnaire is restricted to users 18 and older.

8. Research Data Program (Optional)

If you opt in to research participation in Account → Privacy & Research, we may invite you to answer optional banded questions about how you use Zari (primary use case, session frequency, other companion apps tried) and basic context (age range, country, US state, pronouns, living situation). Each question is optional — you can pick “Prefer not to say” for any of them.

If you choose to participate, we share only aggregated results — combined with at least 9 other users' answers (k ≥ 10), with no field or combination of fields that could identify you. We never share your name, email, conversations, memories, payment information, or precise location with research partners.

What we do not collect. Zari is a companion, not a clinical or therapeutic product. The research questionnaire does not ask about mood, loneliness frequency, mental-health history, therapy, medication, or diagnoses. We do not market Zari as therapy or treatment, and we do not run advertising pixels on any page where research answers are submitted.

No sale of identifiable data. We will not sell raw, user-identifiable data to brokers, ad networks, or any other third party. The opt-in toggle controls participation in aggregated research only; it cannot authorize the sale of individual-level records.

You can withdraw at any time in Account → Privacy & Research. Withdrawal stops future invitations and removes you from future cohorts; it cannot recall aggregated results already shared.

9. Your Privacy Rights (Research Data)

You have the right to:

• Know what we collect (Sections 1 and 8)
• Access a copy (Account → Privacy & Research → Download my data)
• Correct inaccurate data (the questionnaire is editable; Account → Privacy & Research)
• Delete your research data (Account → Privacy & Research → Delete my research data)
• Opt out of research participation (Account → Privacy & Research)
• Non-discrimination — declining research will never restrict any feature of Zari, and we will not offer different pricing or service tiers based on your research-participation choice.

10. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at privacy@zari.help