Terms of Service

By accessing or using the DeeplyHeard platform (the "Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not access or use the Service.

You must be at least 18 years of age to use the Service. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement.

DeeplyHeard is an online peer support community that connects individuals navigating major life transitions, including grief, divorce, job loss, serious illness, new parenthood, empty nest, recovery, and financial crisis. The Service provides:

• Private journal (visible only to you)
• Mood check-ins and milestone logging (visible only to you)
• Community posts, reactions, and comments with your choice of pseudonymous identity
• Peer encouragements: anonymous, pre-written messages sent to others in your community
• Guided journey programs and structured content filtered to your life transition
• Stage progression and graduation as you move through your transition
• Go-Dark Mode: a voluntary pause from community activity (see Section 6)

DeeplyHeard is a peer support platform. It is not a mental health treatment service, crisis intervention service, medical service, or substitute for professional therapy, counseling, or medical advice. DeeplyHeard does not employ licensed mental health professionals and does not provide clinical care of any kind.

DeeplyHeard provides peer connection during life transitions. It does not provide crisis intervention, emergency mental health services, or clinical care of any kind.

IF YOU ARE IN CRISIS, EXPERIENCING THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE OR SELF-HARM, OR NEED IMMEDIATE SUPPORT, PLEASE CONTACT ONE OF THESE FREE, ALWAYS-AVAILABLE SERVICES:

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 (free, 24/7)
• Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741 (free, 24/7)
• Trevor Project (LGBTQ+ youth): call 1-866-488-7386 or text START to 678-678
• Veterans Crisis Line: call 988 and press 1

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911 or your local emergency number.

Nothing on DeeplyHeard constitutes professional advice. You should always consult qualified mental health professionals for clinical guidance.

To use the Service, you must: (a) be at least 18 years of age; (b) be a human individual — automated accounts, bots, and non-human agents are not permitted; (c) maintain only one account; and (d) provide accurate information during registration and use.

If you are found to have created multiple accounts or to have misrepresented your eligibility, DeeplyHeard reserves the right to terminate all associated accounts immediately.

You may register for the Service using an email address and password only. DeeplyHeard does not offer registration via third-party identity providers such as Google, Apple, or Facebook.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. You agree to notify DeeplyHeard promptly at support@deeplyheard.org if you become aware of any unauthorized use of your account. DeeplyHeard is not liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to maintain account security.

Go-Dark Mode is a voluntary feature that lets you pause your activity on DeeplyHeard for a set period of time. When Go-Dark Mode is active:

• The platform shows a quiet screen with no community feeds, posts, or notifications
• You will not receive digest emails or check-in reminders during the pause
• Crisis resources (988 and Crisis Text Line) remain visible at all times
• Your data, posts, and settings are preserved exactly as you left them
• You can return early at any time from the quiet screen

Go-Dark Mode is not a form of account suspension. It is a tool for taking space when you need it.

You retain all ownership rights in content you submit to the Service ("User Content"), including journal entries, posts, comments, mood logs, and milestones.

By submitting User Content, you grant DeeplyHeard a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, display, and transmit your User Content solely as necessary to operate the Service. This license does not permit DeeplyHeard to sell, license, or otherwise exploit your User Content for any purpose beyond operating the Service.

DeeplyHeard does not use User Content to train artificial intelligence or machine learning models.

Peer Encouragements: When you send an encouragement, a pre-written message selected by DeeplyHeard is sent anonymously to a member of your community at the same stage. You do not author these messages. Delivery is not guaranteed, and the recipient will not know the message came from you.

You represent and warrant that your User Content does not violate any applicable law or third-party right.

You agree not to use the Service to:

(a) Harass, threaten, intimidate, or harm any other user; (b) Impersonate any person or entity, or falsely represent your affiliation with any person or entity; (c) Attempt to identify, de-anonymize, or expose the real-world identity of any other user; (d) Post content that glorifies, encourages, or provides detailed methods for suicide or self-harm. This platform follows safe messaging guidelines — if you are struggling, we encourage you to share your experience without detailed descriptions of means or methods; (e) Transmit spam, unsolicited commercial communications, or automated messages; (f) Post content that is illegal, defamatory, obscene, or that violates the rights of any third party; (g) Scrape, crawl, or otherwise extract data from the Service by automated means; (h) Attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service or breach any security measure; (i) Use the Service for any commercial purpose without express written consent from DeeplyHeard; (j) Violate any applicable local, state, national, or international law or regulation.

DeeplyHeard reserves the right to determine in its sole discretion whether conduct violates these Terms.

DeeplyHeard may review content that has been flagged or reported by other users. The following describes what moderators can and cannot see:

Moderators can see: posts and comments that have been reported, the content of those posts and comments, and the pseudonymous identity associated with them.

Moderators cannot see: your journal entries (these are stored under access controls that prevent staff access), your mood logs or milestones, or the real identity behind an anonymous post. When you post anonymously, that anonymity is preserved from other users and from staff.

Moderation actions may include removing content, issuing warnings, or suspending or terminating accounts.

DeeplyHeard is a peer support platform, not a confidential clinical relationship. Peer support is not protected by therapist-client privilege or any similar legal protection.

The following circumstances may require DeeplyHeard to disclose information:

Legal process: if DeeplyHeard receives a valid court order, subpoena, or other lawful legal process requiring disclosure, we will comply to the extent required by law. We will notify you if we receive such a request unless we are legally prohibited from doing so.

Imminent danger: in jurisdictions where mandatory reporting applies, or where we have a legal obligation to act, DeeplyHeard may take action to protect the safety of users or others in situations involving imminent risk of harm.

Outside of these circumstances, DeeplyHeard does not share your content or identity with third parties.

DeeplyHeard may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without notice, for conduct that DeeplyHeard determines in its sole discretion violates these Terms or is otherwise harmful to other users, DeeplyHeard, or third parties.

You may terminate your account at any time through your profile settings. Upon account deletion, the following are permanently and irreversibly removed from DeeplyHeard's systems within 24 hours:

• Journal entries associated with your account
• Mood logs and milestones
• All community posts, comments, and reactions you submitted
• Program enrollments and stage progress records
• Your persona and account preferences

Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. DeeplyHeard retains no recoverable copy of the above data following account deletion.

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, DEEPLYHEARD DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

DEEPLYHEARD DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS; THAT ANY CONTENT OR INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; OR THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED.

USER-GENERATED CONTENT IS NOT REVIEWED OR ENDORSED BY DEEPLYHEARD. DEEPLYHEARD MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR SUITABILITY OF ANY USER-GENERATED CONTENT.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, DEEPLYHEARD AND ITS OPERATORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: (a) DECISIONS MADE IN RELIANCE ON CONTENT APPEARING ON THE PLATFORM; (b) EMOTIONAL DISTRESS ARISING FROM INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER USERS; (c) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR DATA; OR (d) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE SERVICE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL DEEPLYHEARD'S AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE EXCEED THE GREATER OF (i) THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU PAID TO DEEPLYHEARD IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR (ii) ONE HUNDRED UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($100.00).

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless DeeplyHeard and its operators from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or in any way connected with: (a) your access to or use of the Service; (b) your User Content; (c) your violation of these Terms; or (d) your violation of any rights of another party.

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT.

Informal resolution first: if you have a dispute with DeeplyHeard, please contact us at support@deeplyheard.org and give us 30 days to resolve it informally before initiating arbitration.

Binding arbitration: if the dispute is not resolved informally, it will be resolved by binding individual arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association (AAA). You and DeeplyHeard each waive the right to a trial by jury and the right to participate in a class action lawsuit or class-wide arbitration.

Opt-out right: you may opt out of this arbitration agreement within 30 days of creating your account by sending an email to support@deeplyheard.org with the subject line "Arbitration Opt-Out" and including your name and the email address associated with your account. If you opt out, disputes will be resolved in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Exceptions: nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking injunctive or other equitable relief in connection with a violation of intellectual property rights or an imminent threat of harm.

Governing law: these Terms are governed by the laws of the United States, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

DeeplyHeard reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. If changes are material, we will provide at least 14 days' notice by email to registered users before the changes take effect. The effective date at the top of this page will be updated to reflect the current version. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of revised Terms constitutes your acceptance of the changes.

The following sections survive termination of your account or these Terms for any reason: Section 7 (User Content license, solely as needed to preserve content already shared with others), Section 10 (Confidentiality Limits), Section 12 (Disclaimer of Warranties), Section 13 (Limitation of Liability), Section 14 (Indemnification), and Section 15 (Dispute Resolution and Arbitration).

For questions about these Terms, contact us at support@deeplyheard.org.