This Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy is a standalone document published in compliance with the Washington My Health My Data Act, RCW 19.373.030(1)(b). It applies to Washington state residents and describes how Vela collects, uses, and shares consumer health data. For information about other personal data we collect, see our general Privacy Policy.
1. Categories of consumer health data we collect
Vela collects the following consumer health data, as defined by RCW 19.373.020(8):
- Self-reported health conditions (e.g., HSV-1, HSV-2, HPV, HIV+, Hepatitis B or C, and similar conditions relevant to stigma-free dating). You choose which conditions, if any, to share on your profile.
- Inferential health data derived from your use of Vela. Because Vela is a dating app specifically for people living with STDs and chronic conditions, having an account may itself indicate that you are a person managing a health condition. We treat this inference as consumer health data.
- Biometric data from face verification (3 selfie frames for liveness detection at sign-up). See the Biometric data section of our general Privacy Policy for full details.
2. Purposes for each use
- Self-reported conditions: to enable stigma-free matching between users living with similar conditions. You choose what to display on your profile and what to share (if anything) with individual matches.
- Inferential health data: to operate the service. We do not use this inference for advertising, marketing, or sale.
- Biometric data (face verification): to verify you are a real person (liveness detection) and prevent bot accounts from infiltrating a platform where users share sensitive information.
3. Sources of consumer health data
All consumer health data is collected directly from you. We do not purchase, license, or infer consumer health data from any third party, data broker, advertising identifier, or public record.
4. Third parties with whom consumer health data is shared
Self-reported health conditions: your conditions are encrypted on your device before leaving your phone, using a key stored only on your device. The encrypted ciphertext is stored on our cloud infrastructure (Supabase). Neither Vela nor Supabase can read the plaintext. Your conditions are shared only with matches you expressly authorize through the in-app health sharing flow, and only that match's device can decrypt what you shared (end-to-end encryption using the recipient's public key).
Biometric data (face photos): transmitted to Anthropic (Claude Haiku) for liveness detection processing on Vela's behalf. Anthropic retains inputs for up to 30 days for safety monitoring (or longer only if flagged for Usage Policy compliance, per Anthropic's published terms), then permanently deletes them. Anthropic does not use inputs for AI training.
Inferential health data (account existence): not shared with any third party for any commercial purpose.
No sale of consumer health data. Vela does not sell, lease, trade, or otherwise profit from consumer health data. Our revenue model is subscription-only.
5. How to exercise your rights
Under RCW 19.373.070, Washington residents have the following rights regarding their consumer health data:
- Right to confirm and access: you can confirm whether we collect, share, or sell your consumer health data, and obtain a copy of the data we hold. Use the in-app Settings → Export my data feature, or email [email protected].
- Right to withdraw consent: you can withdraw your consent to the collection and sharing of your consumer health data at any time. Use the in-app Settings to edit or remove shared conditions, or to revoke any individual match's access to your health status.
- Right to delete: you can request permanent deletion of your consumer health data. Use the in-app Settings → Delete account flow, or email [email protected]. Because your conditions are encrypted with a key stored only on your device, destroying the key — which happens on account deletion — renders any stored ciphertext permanently unreadable.
- Right to non-discrimination: Vela will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.
We will respond to requests within 45 days. You may designate an authorized agent to make requests on your behalf. To appeal a denied request, email [email protected] with "MHMDA Appeal" in the subject line.
6. Contact us
Washington residents may also file a complaint with the Washington State Attorney General's Office at atg.wa.gov.