Porchlight · privacy in plain words
Who can see what
For residents, families and staff. The formal versions are the resident agreement, the family agreement and the privacy policy.
What gets recorded
Only what a resident says after tapping the big button, one answer per question. Nothing is recorded before the resident (or their legally authorized representative) agrees, either by tapping "I agree" on their own device or by signing the paper form staff keep on file.
Who can hear and read the stories
| Who | What they can see |
|---|---|
| The resident | Their own app. No password; it opens from a printed QR card or the community's tablet. |
| Family members the resident's community invites | Each has their own private link and agrees to the family terms first. They can listen to every story, read the transcripts and a family biography, download them, and record voice replies. Every invited family member sees the same stories, except any story the resident chose to keep from family (see below). |
| Community staff with a Porchlight login | The stories and transcripts, the "Know Your Resident" one-page briefing, and a weekly digest of activity. Staff at other communities cannot see them. |
| Newsletter and bulletin-board readers | Only short excerpts that a staff member has approved, and only if the community sends a newsletter or prints a "Story of the Week". Nothing goes out automatically. |
| Book buyers | A family member can order a printed book. By default it is a private copy that is not listed anywhere. A family can choose to list it publicly for sale; the paper consent form asks the resident about that. |
| Porchlight | The founder can access an account to fix a problem when a community asks. Stories are never sold or used for advertising. |
The resident chooses who hears each story
Every story has a "Who can hear this" setting, and the choice belongs to the resident. Staff set it with them, and the resident can change the line quoted in their own introduction from their own app.
- Family and care team (the default): on the family page and in the staff briefing.
- Care team only: staff can hear it; it never appears on the family page, in family emails or in the downloadable transcript.
- Kept private: the recording is kept, but it is left out of the family page, the staff briefing and the printed "About me" card.
The resident also hears the introduction staff will read about them, and can say "yes, that's me" or record what to change. The one line quoted "in their own words" is copied exactly from what they said, and is never rewritten.
Where AI is used, and where it isn't
Recordings are sent to service providers that turn speech into text and write summaries (the staff briefing, the family biography, highlights). The full list is on the subprocessors page. AI does not choose the questions: people wrote them, and they are asked in a fixed order that staff can shape by marking what applies to the resident and which topics to leave out.
What Porchlight does not do
- It does not detect distress or diagnose anything. If a story raises something worrying, the staff who read it take it to the right person, the same as any conversation.
- It does not make anything public on its own.
- It does not rush anyone. There is no timer; a question waits until the resident taps Next.
How to stop, and how to delete
- To stop: tell any staff member. They turn recording off on the resident's page that day, and the resident's app goes back to the agreement screen.
- To delete: ask staff to delete the stories. That removes every recording, transcript and summary for that resident from Porchlight. Copies a family member already downloaded, or books already printed, can't be recalled.
- Family members can withdraw from their own page at any time.
Questions? Ask the community's staff, or use the contact form.