Ethics, Safety & Security Statement

We know that trust is essential when helping people to plan for the last stage of life. After all, how can Violet truly support someone on their journey if they don't feel comfortable sharing sensitive information with us? That's why safety is the cornerstone of everything we do at Violet. From the development and testing of our technology and our meticulous protection of user data, to the professional training and supervision of our human Violet Guides. We prioritise the safety of those who rely on our support.

We also understand the need for transparency. So, even as an early-stage company, we have been clear to articulate our values and principles below. These guide our practices, define our culture and tell you what you need to know about Violet, our technology, and the approach we take to ensure your safety and peace of mind. We have also outlined our current approach to the use of AI below, along with our more detailed Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Purpose: 

Transforming the last stage of life.

Vision: 

A world where everyone talks about, plans for and manages the last stage of life properly, so it’s the best experience it can be for everyone involved.

Mission: 

To build a transformative service at the intersection of human experience and technology innovation that helps everyone to plan for and manage the last stage of life.

Values:

  • Head and heart. We are committed to leading this work with a commercial head, and a compassionate heart. We intend to hold both in balance, so we can grow a financially sustainable business that can touch the lives of millions of people.
  • Have courage. We recognise that this is not a topic for everyone. But it’s one of the few entirely universal, deeply human experiences that we will all have to face, as we care for people we know and love, and eventually plan our own last stage of life. We intend to have the courage and perseverance to give this overlooked life stage the attention it deserves, in service of better outcomes for people, and the system.
  • Be human. Death is a profoundly human experience. In order for our work to be understood and accepted by the people who need it most, we believe we must always lead with empathy, and demonstrate respect, acceptance, consideration, appreciation, listening, and openness, towards each other, and every one in the ecosystem.

Principles:

  • Do no harm, safety and reliability come first.
  • You only have to tell us your story once.
  • Meet users where they are at, emotionally and practically.
  • Privacy protection and security are non-negotiable, particularly with personal data.
  • Be transparent and honest, particularly about the use and limitations of AI.
  • Fairness, with users, customers and each other.
  • Feedback is encouraged, valued and acted upon. It makes us better.
  • Human oversight is constant and we hold ourselves accountable.

The above have been developed in line with Australia’s AI Principles, ISO/IEC42001, ISO27001, GDPR and the current Australian Privacy Act and Principles 1988.

Violet’s current use of AI

Violet is currently utilising Open AI’s GPT-4o foundation model via their API Platform to power the Violet Companion conversational interface; both pre-registration on our homepage, and post-registration and whenever a returning user is logged-in. 

Violet Companion has been designed as an emotionally intelligent, empathetic assistant with extensive knowledge about the last stage of life. She is trained on proprietary content and IP created by Violet, our Violet Guides, and our clinical advisors over many years of delivering human support services. The process of training and fine-tuning Violet is an ongoing effort. 

Conversations (known as Threads) between Users and Violet are stored by OpenAI (currently indefinitely during OpenAI’s API Assistant Platform beta period, and likely to move to 60 days thereafter). Conversations with Violet pre-registration are not identifiable with a specific user. Following registration and whenever a returning user is logged-in, these threads can be identifiable with that user. This ‘memory’ enables Violet and the user to see and refer to previous conversations if implemented in the platform, offering significant value to the user over time. Rather than having to start every conversation again, Violet will remember what you discussed before. However, no threads, data or conversations are shared with OpenAI to train their LLM.

We are not currently using the Violet Companion interface to collect any user data or content, although it is likely that a user may want to discuss quite sensitive topics, opinions, and personal circumstances. In fact, we explicitly discourage Users from sharing personal data or content in conversation with Violet. This uploaded content and data is collected through conventional input Q&A methods and is governed by our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. No personal data is collected prior to registration.

Post-registration and whenever a returning user is logged-in, Violet is trained to use the user’s <First Name> and <Connection’s Preferred Name> when appropriate, to create a level of personalisation and intimacy.

Violet’s technology

Our technology stack has been selected with flexibility, security and reliability as a priority. Together with our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, internal values, principles and operational policies, and our adherence to the highest levels of compliance. Together they form the basis of our nascent information security management system (ISMS).

Supabase

  • Supabase is an open-source framework offering backend services for the development of web and mobile applications. All data is encrypted using AES-256 at rest and protected via TLS while in transit. Row Level Security provides strict data protection and privacy policies for authenticated users. Supabase is SOC-2 Type 2 and HIPAA compliant. https://supabase.com/security 

Provider: AWS

Region: Oceania (Sydney) (ap-southeast-2)

Vercel

  • Vercel is a highly scalable and secure cloud platform specialising in hosting static websites and executing Serverless Functions via an edge computing network. Vercel is SOC-2 Type 2, HIPAA and GDPR compliant, and ISO/IEC27001 certified. https://vercel.com/security 

Region: Sydney (syd1)

OpenAI

  • OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research lab consisting of both for-profit and nonprofit arms, dedicated to advancing digital intelligence in a way that is safe and beneficial to humanity. User data in the Violet Companion prompt includes <First Name> and <preferred Connection’s Name> only. Assistant session data, stored as ‘threads’, is deleted once the session concludes. No threads or data is shared back with OpenAI. https://openai.com/security/ 

Region: Auto-routing.

Cloudflare

Hubspot

Google Workspace

Koalendar

Zoom