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Privacy Policy

Last updated: February 4, 2026

YOUR PRIVACY PROMISE — IN PLAIN ENGLISH

Ascend Higher is built to be a private space — somewhere you can be honest about your goals, stress, money, relationships, and inner world without worrying that what you share will end up anywhere else. Treat us like a vault: only you hold the key.

  • We do not sell your data. Not to advertisers. Not to data brokers. Not to anyone. Ever.
  • We do not share your private conversations. Your messages with your coach are not shown to other users, not used to train public AI models, and not posted publicly anywhere by us.
  • Your data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and stored on hardened cloud infrastructure with restricted access. Only the engineering staff that maintains the system can ever access stored data, and only when needed for security, debugging, or your direct support request.
  • You can delete everything, anytime. One click, no forms, no questions. We delete personal data within 30 days, except records we are legally required to retain (e.g. tax/billing receipts).

The only times we will ever hand over your data are (a) if you specifically ask us to, or (b) if we are legally compelled by a court order, valid subpoena, or a credible imminent-harm safety report — for example, a credible disclosure of ongoing illegal activity or imminent risk to life. Even then, we provide only what is legally required and notify you when permitted.

Ascendapp LLC ("Ascend," "we," "our," "us") operates ascendhigher.life and the Ascend Higher application. This Privacy Policy explains what we collect, why, and your choices.

1. Information We Collect

  • Account information: name, email, profile photo (only if you sign in with Google).
  • Onboarding information: your self-reported goals, habits, schedule, health, finances, relationships, spirituality, and endgame, used to personalize your roadmap.
  • Chat content: messages you send to your AI coach and our coach's replies.
  • Usage data: which features you use, which habits you complete, message counts, device and browser type.
  • Payment data: we use Stripe to process payments. We never see or store your card numbers.

2. How We Use Information

  • Deliver your personalized roadmap and AI coaching.
  • Remember your context across sessions (persistent memory on paid plans).
  • Improve the product and fix bugs (using aggregate, de-identified usage data only).
  • Send you important account, billing, and safety notices.
  • Comply with legal obligations.

3. AI Processing

Your messages and onboarding snapshot are processed by large language model providers (Anthropic, OpenAI) and ElevenLabs for voice, under their respective terms of service. These providers process your content as a "data processor" — they may not use it to train their public models without your explicit consent. We do not sell your personal information. We do not use your private conversations to train external AI models without your explicit consent.

4. Data Sharing — The Short List

We share information only with:

  • Vendors required to run the service: hosting (cloud infrastructure), Stripe (payments), Anthropic & OpenAI (AI processing), ElevenLabs (voice synthesis), Google (sign-in if you choose it), and analytics providers (only aggregated, non-identifying usage data).
  • Parties required by law: only when compelled by valid legal process (court order, subpoena, credible imminent-harm report). Where legally permitted, we will notify you first.
  • Anyone you specifically authorize (for example, if you use the "Share my roadmap" link feature, the recipient sees what you chose to share).

We never share your private chat content with advertisers, data brokers, family members, employers, or anyone else.

5. Data Retention & Deletion

You can delete your account and all associated data at any time from the account settings or by emailing support@ascendhigher.life. We will delete your personal data within 30 days of a verified request, except records we must retain for legal, tax, or fraud-prevention reasons.

6. Your Rights

Depending on where you live (including under GDPR or the CCPA), you may have the right to access, correct, port, or delete your data, and to object to certain processing. Contact support@ascendhigher.life.

7. Children

Ascend Higher is not intended for children under 13 (or 16 in the EEA/UK). We do not knowingly collect information from children.

8. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures including TLS encryption in transit, encrypted credentials at rest, role-restricted access controls, and standard secrets management. No system is 100% secure. You are responsible for safeguarding your sign-in credentials. If we ever detect a breach affecting your account, we will notify you within the legally required timeframe.

9. A Note on Legal Privilege

Ascend Higher is not a licensed therapist, doctor, lawyer, or member of clergy, and our service does not establish a legally privileged relationship in the formal sense those professions provide. We treat your data with the same level of care as a privileged conversation — minimal access, no sharing, encrypted handling — but if a court legally compels disclosure, we are not a privileged third party who can refuse. If you need formally privileged communication for legal, medical, or therapeutic reasons, please consult a licensed professional.

10. Changes

We may update this Policy. Material changes will be announced in-app or by email at least 14 days before they take effect.

11. Contact

Ascendapp LLC — support@ascendhigher.life