Privacy
Last revised: 19 September 2026.
MyHelpGroup is an Android app that lets a small group of people know you are well, and tells them quickly when you are not. This page explains what the app collects, where it goes, and what never leaves your phone.
Who is responsible
The controller of your personal data is Cesar Bremer Pinheiro. Write to support@myhelpgroup.com about anything on this page, including to exercise the rights described below. Further identification details of the controller are provided on request to the data subject, or to the Brazilian data protection authority (ANPD).
Before anything else
MyHelpGroup does not replace public emergency services, and it is not a medical device or a monitoring service. In an emergency, call your local number first — 911 in the United States, 112 in Europe, 190 or 192 in Brazil.
What the app collects
| What | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The identifier, name, e-mail address and language you type | Once, when you register | To create your account and confirm your e-mail address |
| A device identifier and cryptographic keys generated on your phone | Once, when you register | To authenticate this phone to the server |
| Your location | See the section below | So your group can find you when you raise an alert |
| Network status: the address your phone uses, connection quality, round-trip times | With every status message, about every 25 seconds | To keep the connection alive and to choose the nearest server |
| The next five scheduled check-in times | With every status message | So the server knows your schedule even after a long interruption |
| Alerts and emergencies you send, and who confirmed, is on the way, or arrived | When you use them | To show everyone in the group what is happening |
| Groups, invitations and roles | When you use them | To keep the group together |
| An activity log of the app itself | Sent in batches | To diagnose failures |
| Audio from the microphone | Only while the voice monitor is running | To hear a keyword or a shout — see the third parties section |
About your location, precisely
The app asks for location permission and collects new positions only while it is open in the foreground. It deliberately does not use Android’s background location permission.
However, the last known position stays in the app’s memory and is sent to the server with every status message — about every 25 seconds — for as long as the background service is running. If you never grant location permission, the position sent is zero.
Where your data goes
The server stores the data above so your group can see it. Beyond that, these third parties receive something:
| Who | What they receive |
|---|---|
DeepSeek (api.deepseek.com) | When you open the AI assistant: your message, the last 80 lines of the app’s activity log, and the network report. Do not type anything into the assistant you would not send to a third party. |
| Google speech recognition | Audio, when the voice monitor uses Android’s built-in recognition. The offline engine, when installed, recognises speech on the phone and sends nothing. |
Overpass (overpass-api.de) | Coordinates, when the app looks up places near you |
Google Maps or Apple Maps (maps.google.com, maps.apple.com) | Coordinates, when you open navigation |
| Amazon SES | Your e-mail address, to deliver the validation code when you register |
alphacephei.com, github.com, storage.googleapis.com, drive.google.com, drive.usercontent.google.com | Nothing about you. The app downloads voice and language model files from these addresses. |
What never leaves your phone
- Your contacts. When you ask the assistant to call or text someone by name, the name is matched against your address book on the phone. The address book is never uploaded.
- Your private cryptographic key. Only the public half is sent.
Permissions the app requests, and why
| Permission | What it is for |
|---|---|
ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION, ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION | Share your position with your group during an alert |
RECORD_AUDIO | Hear an emergency keyword or a shout, while the voice monitor is on |
READ_CONTACTS | Call or text someone from your address book by name |
SEND_SMS | Send an emergency message with your location |
CALL_PHONE | Place an emergency call from inside the app |
ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION | Tell a car crash apart from a dropped phone |
POST_NOTIFICATIONS, USE_FULL_SCREEN_INTENT, SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW, VIBRATE, MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGS | Show and sound an alert, even over the lock screen |
SCHEDULE_EXACT_ALARM, REQUEST_IGNORE_BATTERY_OPTIMIZATIONS, WAKE_LOCK | Make the check-in happen at the time you chose, and not minutes later |
FOREGROUND_SERVICE, FOREGROUND_SERVICE_HEALTH, RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED | Keep the connection alive, and restore it after the phone restarts |
INTERNET, ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE, ACCESS_WIFI_STATE, CHANGE_WIFI_STATE | Reach the server, and survive a change of network |
Every automatic detector — fall, impact, shake, shout, pressure, running, flip — is off by default. You turn on the ones you want.
Legal basis
Under the Brazilian LGPD (Law 13.709/2018), we process your data on the basis of your consent (art. 7, I), of the performance of the service you asked for (art. 7, V), and, for alerts, of the protection of life and physical safety (art. 7, VII). Under the European GDPR, the corresponding bases are art. 6(1)(a), (b) and (d).
How long it is kept
Account data and group membership are kept while your account exists. Alerts and their delivery status are kept while the message is open and for as long as your group may need to consult it. Activity logs are kept for diagnosis and discarded as they age. Ask us to delete your account and everything tied to it is removed.
Your rights
You may ask to confirm whether we process your data, to access it, to correct it, to delete it, to receive it in a portable form, to withdraw consent, and to know with whom it has been shared. Write to support@myhelpgroup.com; we answer within the period the law allows.
Children
MyHelpGroup is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly create accounts for them.
Security
Every message between the app and the server is authenticated and encrypted. The server is operated on nodes in more than one country, deliberately, so that a failure in one place does not leave anyone without help.
Changes
When this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it. Material changes are announced in the app.