Last updated: May 31, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how Joel's AI Friends ("the Service", "we", "us"), a personal, non-commercial hobby service operated by Joel Thornton, handles information. The Service provides AI assistants by invitation to people the operator personally knows. It is not directed at the general public. If you have any questions, contact us at botrequest@joelpt.net.
The short version
- We collect only what we need to run your assistant and do the tasks you ask of it.
- We never sell your data, and we never use it for advertising.
- We do not use your data — including any Google data — to train AI models.
- You can ask us to delete your assistant and its data at any time.
Information we collect
- Messages you send. The content of your conversations with your assistant, so it can respond and remember context.
- Basic contact identifiers. The username, handle, or phone number you use on the messaging platform through which you reach your assistant, and any email you send to us.
- Content you provide. Anything you ask your assistant to work with (text, links, files, tasks).
- Google account data — only if you choose to connect it. See the section below.
Google user data
Connecting a Google account is optional. If you choose to connect one, you authorize the Service — through Google's own OAuth consent screen — to access certain Google services on your behalf. Depending on what you ask your assistant to do, this may include:
- Gmail — reading, drafting, sending, and organizing email (it does not permanently delete mail).
- Google Calendar — viewing and managing events.
- Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides — viewing and working with your documents.
We access and use this data solely to perform the specific tasks you ask your assistant to carry out. We store Google user data only as needed to complete those tasks and to maintain your assistant's working context, on access-controlled storage that is isolated to your own assistant. We do not sell Google user data, do not use it for advertising, and do not use it to train, develop, or improve generalized AI/ML models. You can revoke the Service's access at any time from your Google account permissions page.
Limited Use. Joel's AI Friends' use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
How your information is processed and shared
We do not sell your information or share it with advertisers. To operate the Service, your information is processed by a small number of trusted providers, strictly to deliver the features you use:
- Anthropic — provides the Claude AI models that power your assistant; your messages are processed by Anthropic's API to generate responses.
- The messaging platform you use (for example Discord or WhatsApp/Meta) — carries the messages between you and your assistant, under its own privacy policy.
- Google — if you connect your Google account, to provide the Google services described above.
- ClickUp — if you ask your assistant to manage tasks or to-dos for you.
- Web search — if you ask your assistant to look something up online, your query is used to perform that search.
We may also disclose information if required by law, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of users or the operator.
Data retention
Your assistant keeps a record of your conversation so it can maintain context over time. We keep this for as long as your assistant is active. You can ask us to delete your conversation history, your connected Google access, or your entire assistant at any time by emailing botrequest@joelpt.net; we will delete it within a reasonable period, except where we are required to retain it by law.
Security
We take reasonable measures to protect your information. Each assistant's data — including any connected Google credentials — is kept in storage isolated to that single assistant. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Children
The Service is not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their information. If you believe a child has used the Service, contact us and we will delete the information.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above. Continued use of the Service after a change means you accept the updated policy.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your data? Email botrequest@joelpt.net.