Privacy Policy

Effective Date: December 14, 2025 Version: 2.0 

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1. Introduction
VetBattleBuddy ("we," "us," or "our") is dedicated to providing U.S. military veterans with a secure, digital ally for post-service support. Our mission is to eliminate delays in care, prevent suicide, and restore dignity to every veteran's life.

We are committed to protecting your privacy with government-grade security. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclosure, and safeguard your information when you visit our website or use our mobile, web, and desktop applications.

By using VetBattleBuddy, you consent to the data practices described in this policy.

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2. Information We Collect
We collect information to provide comprehensive support across claims, health, career, and community domains. This includes:

A. Personal & Military Information (PII)
Identity Data: Name, date of birth, and contact details.

Service Records: Branch of service, MOS/AFSC/Rating codes, deployment history, and separation data.

Government Identifiers: VA file numbers, DoD ID numbers, and integration data via PIV/CAC authentication.

B. Protected Health Information (PHI) & Biometrics
As a HIPAA-compliant platform, we collect sensitive health data to assist with claims and wellness:

Medical Records: Diagnoses, medications, lab results, and clinical notes synced via EHR interoperability (VA VistA, Cerner, etc.).

Biometric Data: Heart Rate Variability (HRV), sleep patterns, resting heart rate, and activity levels collected via wearables (Apple HealthKit, Google Fit).

Voice Data: Audio recordings and transcripts from our Voice and NLP interfaces for clinical documentation and query processing.

C. Usage & Device Data
Technical Data: IP address, browser type, device identifiers, and operating system.

Location Data: Used specifically for Congressional Liaison Automation to determine your congressional district for advocacy support.

3. How We Use Your Information

 

We utilize a Domain-Driven Design architecture to process data for specific purposes:

VA Disability Claims (FDC): To analyze evidence, identify conditions, and auto-generate narratives (Statement in Support of Claim) using OCR and AI analysis.

Crisis Intervention (Guardian Classifier): We analyze biometric patterns and language to detect distress or suicide risk levels (Low to Critical) and trigger proactive intervention workflows.

Career Transition: To translate military skills (MOS) to civilian jobs and match you with opportunities via USAJobs.gov integration.

Health & Wellness: To provide 7-day wellness forecasting, chronic condition management (e.g., diabetes, PTSD), and virtual therapy matching.

Service Improvements: To train our AI models (RAG System) to better understand veteran queries, ensuring strict anonymization of data used for training.

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4. Artificial Intelligence & Automated Processing
VetBattleBuddy utilizes advanced AI, including Azure OpenAI (GPT-4o-mini), for chat, document analysis, and decision support.

Transparency: You have the right to know when you are interacting with an AI.

Human Oversight: Critical decisions, particularly regarding medical advice or legal claims, should always be reviewed by a professional.

Data Isolation: Your personal data is processed in a secure Azure Government environment and is not used to train public commercial AI models.

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5. Disclosure of Your Information
We do not sell your data. We share information only in the following circumstances:

Federal Agencies: With your explicit permission, we transmit data to the Department of Veterans Affairs (via Lighthouse API) and Department of Defense to file claims or retrieve records.

Emergency Services: If our Guardian Classifier detects an imminent risk of harm to self or others, we may share location and status information with emergency responders or the Veterans Crisis Line (988) as part of our safety protocol.

Trusted Service Providers: We use Azure Government Cloud (FedRAMP High) to host our infrastructure. All providers are bound by Business Associate Agreements (BAA) and strict confidentiality.

Legal Requirements: If required by law, court order, or governmental regulation.

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6. Security of Your Information
We employ Defense-in-Depth and Zero-Trust architecture to protect your data:

Encryption: All data is encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.2+).

Access Control: We use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and biometric verification.

Audit Trails: We utilize Hyperledger Fabric blockchain technology to create an immutable, tamper-proof audit trail of who accesses your records.

PHI Protection: Health data is stored in a dual-storage architecture (encrypted originals + anonymized vectors) to maximize privacy.

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7. Data Retention
We adhere to a strict retention policy:

General Retention: We retain user data for 7 years to comply with medical record retention standards and potential VA appeal timelines.

Account Deletion: Upon request for deletion, data is removed from active systems, though encrypted backups may be retained for the mandatory retention period before being permanently purged.

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8. Compliance
HIPAA: We comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regarding the security and privacy of your health information.

FedRAMP & NIST: Our security controls map to NIST 800-53 and FedRAMP Moderate/High standards to ensure federal compliance.

Accessibility: Our platform is WCAG 2.1 AA compliant to ensure usability for all veterans.

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9. Your Rights
Depending on your location and applicable laws, you may have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you.

Request corrections to your military or medical history data within our system.

Request an export of your data (e.g., generated claim letters or medical summaries).

Opt-out of certain AI-driven features (though this may limit functionality like automated wellness forecasting).

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10. Contact Us
If you have questions about this privacy policy or our security practices, please contact our Privacy Officer:

Email: thtobey@vetbattlebuddy.ai

Website: www.vetbattlebuddy.ai