AskHaven Bridge Assistant Privacy Policy

The AskHaven Bridge Assistant is a ChatGPT-based Custom GPT used by the AskHaven project team for project coordination only. It is operated by Vertex Prime Group LLC in support of the AskHaven platform, which is co-developed with El Bethel Missionary Baptist Church.

The Bridge Assistant is not a public crisis line, not a public resource navigator, and not a substitute for the main AskHaven help experience. It is used internally for AskHaven development, content review, diagnostics, and resource verification work.

When authorized team members use the Bridge Assistant, it may send project-related messages to a private bridge API operated as part of the AskHaven infrastructure. These messages stay on a dedicated coordination channel and are used to keep the project team aligned on tasks, questions, answers, file references, and status updates.

The Bridge Assistant does not send raw AskHaven user conversations through the bridge. End-user conversations from the public AskHaven help experience are kept separate from the coordination bridge and are governed by the main AskHaven service.

To protect the privacy of community members and partners, users of the Bridge Assistant should not enter:

• Personal identifying information — names, phone numbers, email addresses, or street addresses of community members.
• ZIP codes or other location details that, combined with other facts, could identify a specific person.
• Raw transcripts or copies of conversations from the public AskHaven help experience.
• Account credentials, API keys, or other secrets.
• Protected health information, immigration status, financial account details, or similarly sensitive personal data.

When sensitive situations need to be discussed for project planning (for example, patterns observed in domestic-violence, mental-health, or child-welfare resource gaps), they must be summarized anonymously, with all identifying details removed. Describe the pattern, not the person.

The bridge API is protected by an API key. The key is configured directly in the ChatGPT Custom GPT Action authentication panel and is not shared with end users, displayed in the GPT instructions, or exposed in any public materials. Only authorized AskHaven team members can configure or rotate this key.

Coordination messages are sent over HTTPS. The team follows least-privilege practices: keys are stored in environment variables, not in source code or chat logs, and they are rotated when needed.

The Bridge Assistant is intended for the AskHaven project team and trusted collaborators working on:

• AskHaven product development and code changes
• Content review and editorial work
• Diagnostics, monitoring, and incident coordination
• Resource verification and database updates
• Partnership and operational planning

Public AskHaven users should not use this assistant. They should use the main AskHaven help experience at askhaven.org, which is designed for anonymous, free resource navigation in English and Spanish.

6. Data retention

Coordination messages sent through the bridge are retained only as long as needed to support active project work. Because team members are instructed not to send personal information through the bridge, the messages should not contain identifiable data about community members. If a message is found to contain such data by mistake, it will be removed promptly.

7. ChatGPT and OpenAI

The Bridge Assistant runs on ChatGPT (operated by OpenAI). When a user talks to the Bridge Assistant inside ChatGPT, OpenAI's own privacy practices apply to that conversation. AskHaven and Vertex Prime Group LLC do not control how OpenAI processes those interactions, which is why team members are instructed never to enter personal data, secrets, or raw user conversations into the Bridge Assistant.

8. Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated as the AskHaven project evolves. The effective date at the top of the page reflects the most recent change. Material changes will be communicated to authorized Bridge Assistant users.

9. Contact

Questions about this policy or about the Bridge Assistant should be sent to the AskHaven project team via askhaven.org. The platform is operated by Vertex Prime Group LLC in partnership with El Bethel Missionary Baptist Church.