ETHICS & SAFETY

Our Commitment to Responsible, Human-Centered AI

At the Bytes of Lyfe Foundation, we believe technology should heal, support, and empower—not exploit or harm.
Our work exists at the intersection of mental health, digital legacy, and artificial intelligence, which means the standards we hold ourselves to must be higher than the standards required of us.

We build AI tools for vulnerable populations:
people in recovery, people living with depression or anxiety, and individuals facing end-of-life circumstances.
This demands rigorous ethics, transparent processes, and safety-first design principles.

Below is our commitment to every person who uses the tools we create.

1. HUMANITY FIRST: OUR CORE PRINCIPLE

AI should never replace human care.
It should extend it.

We design every tool with one guiding rule:

AI must always uplift the dignity, agency, and wellbeing of the human being using it.

This means:

  • No manipulation

  • No pressure

  • No emotional dependency

  • No false promises

  • No “pretending” to be a human

Our AI is a supportive companion, not a therapist, doctor, or substitute for real-world help.

2. TRANSPARENCY & HONESTY

We promise clarity, always.

Our AI tools will:

  • Clearly state they are artificial

  • Clearly describe their limitations

  • Avoid making diagnoses or medical claims

  • Never claim emotional abilities they do not possess

Users deserve honesty about what the technology can and cannot do.

3. PRIVACY & DATA PROTECTION

Your stories, memories, and personal experiences are sacred.

The Bytes of Lyfe Foundation commits to:

  • Encrypting all sensitive data

  • Never selling user data

  • Never sharing data with advertisers

  • Using data only to improve the user’s own experience

  • Allowing users to delete their data upon request

  • Minimizing data collection to only what is necessary

For AfterByte specifically:

  • Legacy data is stored with strict consent

  • Family access is explicitly controlled

  • Nothing is used for external training unless permission is granted

Your life is not training data.
Your memories are not commodities.

4. CONSENT & USER CONTROL

Our tools are opt-in, never forced.

Every major feature involving personal information requires:

  • Active, informed consent

  • Clear explanations

  • Options to pause, export, or delete data

You control your information—not the system.

5. SAFETY IN MENTAL HEALTH CONTEXTS

Because some of our tools support people facing emotional challenges, we build safety directly into the architecture.

This includes:

  • Crisis-aware language

  • Encouragement to seek professional help

  • Safe completion refusals when a user is in danger

  • Automatic redirection to crisis resources where appropriate

  • Strict avoidance of harmful or triggering responses

Our AI is supportive, not permissive.
It will never encourage self-harm, substance abuse, or dangerous behavior.

6. ETHICAL TRAINING PRACTICES

We do not use:

  • Questionable online scraping

  • Non-consensual conversations

  • Personal data sourced without permission

  • Exploitative datasets targeting vulnerable populations

Instead, our models are shaped by:

  • Public domain sources

  • Ethically licensed datasets

  • Controlled training data created by volunteers and our community

  • Synthetic data designed to simulate healthy communication patterns

We believe empathy can be taught, but only through ethical means.

7. ACCOUNTABILITY & OVERSIGHT

We maintain:

  • Internal review processes

  • A rotating safety and ethics advisory group

  • Community reporting channels

  • Transparent updates about changes or improvements to our tools

If something goes wrong—or even feels wrong—we fix it.

8. INCLUSIVITY & ACCESSIBILITY

Everyone deserves access to supportive technology.

We commit to:

  • Accessible language

  • Screen-reader friendly design

  • Multilingual tools where possible

  • Inclusive perspectives in training data

  • Respecting cultural, gender, and identity differences

AI must support every voice, not just the majority.

9. NONPROFIT PRIORITY

We are a charitable organization—not a corporation.

This means:

  • No shareholders

  • No profit extraction

  • No incentives to manipulate engagement

  • Tools built for the public, not for revenue

Our mission—not money—shapes every decision.

10. A LIVING ETHICS PRACTICE

Technology evolves.
So will our standards.

We commit to ongoing updates, community input, and continuous improvement of our ethical frameworks.
As AI changes, mental health needs shift, or new challenges emerge, we will adapt our approach to ensure maximum safety and care.

OUR PROMISE

We promise to build AI that listens without judgment, supports without harm, and uplifts without exploitation.

We promise to protect your privacy, your dignity, and your humanity.

We promise to place ethics before efficiency, safety before scale, and people before technology.

This is more than policy.
It is the foundation’s heartbeat.

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