We built Be In The Know for people in a vulnerable moment, so we collect as little as we can and we say plainly what happens with it.
1. What we collect
Questions and conversations. The questions you ask JO and the answers you receive are stored so your conversation can continue and, if you have an account, follow you across devices. Before a question is stored, we automatically remove things that look like Social Security numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, and street addresses.
Account information. If you create an account, we store your email address and a securely hashed version of your password. We never store your password itself. We use your email address only when you ask us to - for example, to send a password-reset link you requested. We never send marketing email.
Usage safeguards. To enforce fair daily question limits, we store a random guest token on your device and a one-way hashed fingerprint of your IP address. We do not store your raw IP address with your conversations.
Errors. If something breaks, technical error details are sent to our error-monitoring service so we can fix it.
2. How your questions are processed
JO's answers are generated with Google's Gemini AI service. When you ask a question, the text of your question and the legal source passages we retrieve are sent to Google for processing, subject to Google's API terms. We do not send your email address or account details with your questions.
3. What we do NOT do
We do not sell your data. We do not show ads. We do not share your conversations with employers, landlords, courts, or government agencies. We do not ask for your name, criminal record, case numbers, or other identifying details - and we encourage you not to include them in your questions.
4. Service providers
We rely on a small set of providers to run the Service: MongoDB Atlas (database hosting), Vercel (application hosting), Google (AI processing, as described above), and Sentry (error monitoring). Each receives only what it needs to do its job.
5. Cookies and device storage
If you sign in, we set one cookie that keeps you signed in. It is httpOnly (not readable by scripts) and expires after 30 days. For guests, we store a random token and your conversation reference in your browser's local storage so your chat survives a page refresh. We use no advertising or tracking cookies.
6. Retention and deletion
Conversations and account data are kept while your account is active. Guest conversations are automatically and permanently deleted after about 90 days of inactivity. You can permanently delete your account and every conversation saved to it yourself at any time from your account page. You can also email beintheknowjustaskjo@gmail.com from the address on the account and we will remove it for you.
7. Children
The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.
8. Changes
If this policy changes, we will update the effective date above. Meaningful changes will be noted on the site.
9. Contact
Privacy questions: beintheknowjustaskjo@gmail.com
See also our Terms of Use and About page.