Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 20, 2026 · The same statement as in the Vieressa app.

1. Data Controller

Here and Now Consulting Oy (Business ID: 3009606-6), Hamina, Finland. Email: info@vieressa.fi

2. Data We Collect

We collect only data necessary to provide the Vieressa video phone service.

  • Account data: username, email, password (stored hashed), display name, language preference, profile image. Optionally — if you provide them — real names (first, middle, last), phone number, and, for device users (CLIENT role), birth date for age-appropriate care context. These optional fields are never required and can be removed at any time.
  • Device data: device name, hardware ID, configuration, IP address, assigned contacts, and — for native mobile installations — structured hardware metadata captured at registration (manufacturer, model identifier, human-readable model name where available, operating-system version, and whether the device is a simulator) used for compatibility checks, fault diagnosis, and to distinguish real devices from emulators in admin views. We also store push-notification tokens (Google FCM on Android) used solely to deliver incoming-call and alert notifications, along with device status signals such as battery level and charging state so authorised family members and caregivers can see at a glance whether their loved one's device needs attention.
  • Call data: call participants, start/end times, duration, call room identifier, end reason. Conference calls (up to 4 participants in one room) store the same fields per participant, linked by a shared conference identifier. Call audio and video are not recorded.
  • Wellness analysis (planned feature, not currently active): the service does not currently generate or store call transcripts or wellness scores. If this changes, we will update this policy and request your explicit consent before any such processing begins.
  • Session data: IP address, browser/device information, login timestamps.
  • Technical cookies: authentication token (functional, essential) and language preference. We do not use tracking, analytics, or advertising cookies. On the website www.vieressa.fi we use cookieless Plausible visitor statistics (servers in the EU), which store no cookies or personal data.
  • Profile images and family photos: profile images you upload and family photos added to your loved one's device are stored in private storage on Google Cloud (europe-north1, Finland) and accessed via time-limited secure URLs. Images are deleted when they are removed from the service or when the account is deleted.
  • Location data: when a CLIENT device shares its location with browser permission, its latest GPS position (latitude, longitude, accuracy) is stored. Location is visible to authorized family members and caregivers for safety purposes. We store only the latest location, not a history. You can disable location sharing in your browser settings at any time.
  • Device telemetry: hardware-managed devices and IoT devices may report technical status (battery, connectivity, firmware version, configuration state). Telemetry is used for device management and fault diagnosis — not for tracking the user. Only administrators and authorised caregivers can view it.
  • Interaction events: the elderly user's view sends UI events (e.g. which screen was opened, which button was pressed, timestamps), which are stored linked to the user and the device. They are used to improve usability. No message content or speech is stored.
  • Microsoft Teams link (optional; not yet in use): if you choose to connect your Microsoft work or school account so you can place and receive calls between Vieressa and Microsoft Teams, we store your Microsoft object identifier, display name, and the access and refresh tokens Microsoft issues to us on your behalf. This data is used only to authenticate you against Microsoft's Teams and Azure Communication Services on your behalf, and is removed when you disconnect the link or delete your account. When the Vieressa mobile app is installed on your device and you have linked a Teams account, the app registers an encrypted push channel with Microsoft's Azure Notification Hub so incoming Teams calls can wake the app even when it is backgrounded or the screen is locked. Only the push-wake routing metadata (a device-scoped token and an opaque call identifier) is shared with the Hub; the call audio and video never pass through this channel.
  • Subscription and payment data: the family's service tier, trial and billing period dates, subscription status, and the customer and subscription identifiers issued by our payment processor Stripe. You give your payment card details directly to Stripe (Stripe Payments Europe Ltd., Ireland), which processes them as an independent controller; we never see or store the card number. Stripe receives the family administrator's email address and name from us for receipts.
  • Support contacts: when you write to tuki@vieressa.fi or info@vieressa.fi, we process your name, email address and the content of your message in order to reply to you. Messages are stored in the Google Workspace email service, and reply drafts are prepared with AI assistance using Anthropic's Claude service; a person reviews and approves every reply before it is sent. Only the message content and the sender's name are passed to the AI service, and the service does not use the messages to train its models. Support messages are deleted no later than 12 months after the matter is closed. Please do not send health data or passwords to support; a message that contains health data is always handled by a person. Legal basis: performance of the contract and legitimate interest (customer service).

3. Legal Basis for Processing

We process data under: (a) Contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) — account, device, call, subscription and payment data to provide and bill the video phone service; (b) Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR) — retaining payment records as required by accounting law; (c) Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) — session and technical data for service security and improvement; (d) Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) — for optional email notifications, which you can withdraw at any time.

The Vieressa service does not currently process special categories of data (Art. 9 GDPR). If future features introduce health-related processing, we will update this policy and collect your explicit consent beforehand.

4. Data Retention

Account data is retained while your account is active; when you delete your account, all personal data is permanently removed within 30 days. Call records are retained while your account is active so that you can access your call history. Voicemails are automatically deleted 30 days after recording. Login sessions are auto-revoked after 90 days of inactivity. Security audit logs are retained for 180 days and then purged. HTTP server logs are retained separately as described in the Server Logs and Security section. Payment transactions and receipts are kept in Stripe and in our accounting for the period required by Finnish accounting law (six years from the end of the financial year), also after account deletion. You can request deletion at any time through your profile settings or by contacting us.

Voicemails

If you enable voicemail in your profile settings, other users can leave you a short audio or video message when you do not answer a call. Video messages are generated automatically with a written transcription to support accessibility. This is an opt-in feature, and processing is based on your explicit consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)). You can withdraw consent at any time by disabling the feature in your profile.

  • Retention: voicemails are automatically deleted 30 days after recording. You can also delete an individual message at any time, which removes it from storage immediately.
  • Access: only the recipient can play back a voicemail. Family members and caregivers may see in the call history that a voicemail exists but cannot listen without the recipient's consent.
  • Storage: messages are stored in private, encrypted storage on Google Cloud (europe-north1, Finland). Playback uses short-lived signed URLs (2-minute validity).
  • Withdrawing consent: disabling voicemail prevents new messages from being left for you. Messages already in your inbox remain until you play or delete them, or until the 30-day retention expires.

5. Server Logs and Security

Our servers log every HTTP request: your full IP address, user agent, timestamp, request path, and response code. Logs are retained for 12 months and then automatically deleted. Lawful basis: legitimate interest (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f), Recital 49) for network and information security, abuse prevention, incident response, and debugging.

5. Your Rights

Under GDPR, you have the right to: access your data (Art. 15), rectify inaccurate data (Art. 16), erase your data (Art. 17), restrict processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20), and object to processing (Art. 21).

  • You can export all your personal data at any time from your Profile settings.
  • You can permanently delete your account and all associated data from your Profile settings.

6. International Transfers

Your personal data is stored in the EU. The application, the database and files (profile images, family photos and voicemails) are hosted on Google Cloud in the europe-north1 region (Hamina, Finland). Video calls are relayed through our own LiveKit server in the same environment; call audio and video are not transferred outside the EU. Service emails are sent through Google Workspace. When the weather is shown, our servers send an approximate location (latitude and longitude rounded to two decimals, roughly a 1 km grid) to Open-Meteo (open-meteo.com, EU-based) to retrieve a local forecast; no account identifiers are transmitted. Incoming-call notifications for the Android app are delivered through Google Firebase Cloud Messaging. Firebase Cloud Messaging and Google Workspace are global Google services; any transfers outside the EU rely on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and, where applicable, standard contractual clauses. Only a device-scoped push token and a short trigger payload (call identifier and caller name) are sent to the notification service — call audio and video never pass through it. The Microsoft Teams connection is not yet in use. If it is introduced, authentication and call signalling will be routed through Microsoft Azure Communication Services and Microsoft Teams, and we will update this policy before it is taken into use. Payments are processed by Stripe (Stripe Payments Europe Ltd., Ireland); the Stripe group operates globally, and any transfers outside the EU rely on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses. Support messages are handled in Google Workspace, and reply drafts are prepared with the Claude service of Anthropic PBC (United States); transfers outside the EU rely on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and, where needed, standard contractual clauses, and the messages are not used to train models.

7. Changes to This Policy

We will notify you of material changes to this policy. Continued use after notification constitutes acceptance, and you may be asked to re-accept the updated policy.

8. Contact

For privacy inquiries: info@vieressa.fi. You may also lodge a complaint with the Finnish Data Protection Authority (tietosuoja.fi).