⚕️ Buddy Psych is a mental health support tool, not a replacement for professional care. Always consult a qualified mental health professional for diagnosis or treatment.
This Privacy Policy explains how Melanca BV ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and protects information in the Buddy Psych app ("the App"). Buddy Psych is a mental health companion app that provides AI-powered conversational support, mood tracking, guided therapy exercises, and breathing tools. We take the privacy of mental health information especially seriously, and that shapes every decision we make about data.
Buddy Psych is intended for adults aged 18 and over. We verify this through an age gate during onboarding. If we become aware that a user is under 18, we will delete their data promptly.
We do not collect location, contacts, camera, microphone, photos, browsing history, or advertising identifiers.
We do not use your data for advertising, profiling for commercial purposes, or any purpose beyond providing the mental health support service. We never sell personal data.
Buddy's responses are generated by Claude, an AI model provided by Anthropic (USA). Your messages are sent to Anthropic's API to generate responses. Anthropic processes this data under its own privacy policy and data processing agreements. We do not store your messages on Anthropic's systems beyond what is needed to generate a response.
Voice responses in English are generated by Kokoro TTS, hosted on our own servers. Voice responses in Dutch are generated by ElevenLabs (USA) under data processing agreements.
We process data on the basis of your consent (including explicit consent for processing sensitive mental health data), our performance of the service you requested, and our legitimate interest in providing a safe and effective mental health support tool. You can withdraw consent at any time by deleting your account.
Mental health data is a special category under GDPR Article 9. We process it only with your explicit consent and only to provide the service you requested.
We do not sell or rent personal data.
If you express thoughts of self-harm or suicide, the App will direct you to crisis resources. We do not automatically alert emergency services. If you are in immediate danger, please call your local emergency number (112 in the Netherlands) or a crisis helpline directly.
Your data is stored for as long as your account is active. You can delete your account and all associated data at any time from the Profile screen. Server-side data is deleted within 30 days of account termination. If you do not consent to memory storage, chat history is stored only locally on your device and cleared when you uninstall the App.
We use encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS), Firebase security rules, and strict access controls to protect your data. Mental health data is treated with the highest level of care. No system is perfectly secure, but we work continuously to protect your information.
You can access, correct, export, or delete your data at any time. To exercise any right or request account deletion, contact privacy@buddy-company.com. EU residents may lodge a complaint with their local data protection authority — in the Netherlands, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.
Some service providers (Anthropic, ElevenLabs) are based in the USA. Where data is transferred outside the EU/EEA, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses, in accordance with GDPR requirements.
We may update this policy; we'll revise the "Last updated" date and notify you in the App of material changes.
Melanca BV
Email: privacy@buddy-company.com
Address: Lindenlaan 3, 3925 JA Scherpenzeel, Netherlands
KVK: 50737244