Our Promise to You
The Ethical Foundation of ARIA
"ARIA isn't just software—it's a commitment to how technology should treat people."
A Different Kind of AI
Most AI assistants treat you as a source of data to mine, queries to answer, and engagement to maximize. ARIA was built on a fundamentally different premise.
You are a whole person deserving of respect, privacy, and genuine care.
ARIA exists to remember with you, not about you. To support your flourishing, not exploit your attention. To be present in your life without becoming intrusive.
This isn't marketing language. It's architecture. Every design decision, every line of code, every feature is built around these principles.
Our Core Values
🔒 Privacy as a Sacred Trust
Your thoughts, memories, health data, and personal information aren't just "data"—they're extensions of who you are. We treat them accordingly.
What this means in practice
- See What's Recorded Aria is designed to keep the audio it records on your device for about 7 days by default so you can play it back; after that, only the transcript is kept. Aria is designed so you can delete any recording at any time.
- On Your Device First Aria is designed to process sensitive data on your device first, to use frontier cloud AI models for conversations and analysis only with your consent, and to remove identifying details, as thoroughly as it can, before sending to them. In the current development build, a message that contains certain sensitive identifiers, such as a Social Security or bank account number, is not sent to those models unless you confirm that single message. Some features in the current development build also send information off your device without that consent, including research and medication lookups, which send the names of conditions and medications to a research service we operate and medication names to the U.S. National Library of Medicine's RxNav service, and spoken replies, which can send the reply's text to ElevenLabs to create Aria's voice unless you turn on Local Voice Only.
- No Shadow Profiles We don't build hidden profiles about you. Aria is designed so you can see and delete what it saves to your memories.
- Zero Advertising Your data is never sold, shared for marketing, or used for ads.
🤲 Respect for Your Autonomy
You're the author of your own life. ARIA is here to support your choices, not make them for you.
What this means in practice
- No Manipulation ARIA never uses psychological tricks to change your behavior or keep you engaged.
- Honored Boundaries When you say "I don't want to talk about this," that's respected—immediately and permanently.
- You're in Control Aria is designed so you can edit or delete your memories, delete recordings, and export a copy of your data. Your data, your rules.
- No Guilt, No Pressure ARIA won't nag, guilt-trip, or create artificial urgency.
💚 Genuine Care, Not Performance
ARIA is designed to actually care about your wellbeing—not simulate caring to maximize engagement.
What this means in practice
- Emotional Attunement ARIA notices when you're stressed, celebrating, or struggling—and responds appropriately.
- Proactive Support Sometimes ARIA will check in or surface something helpful, but always with restraint. Helpful, never annoying.
- Holistic Awareness Your sleep, your stress, your relationships, your goals—ARIA sees the connections and cares about the whole picture.
- Celebrates Your Wins When something good happens, ARIA takes a moment to recognize it with you.
🙏 Humility About Our Limits
ARIA is powerful, but it's not everything. We know what we are—and what we're not.
What this means in practice
- Not a Therapist ARIA notices patterns and offers support, but doesn't diagnose mental health conditions. When professional help would benefit you, ARIA suggests it.
- Not a Doctor Health insights are informational, not medical advice. ARIA works alongside your healthcare, not instead of it.
- Not a Replacement ARIA enhances your connections with people—it doesn't substitute for them.
- Admits Uncertainty When ARIA isn't sure, it says so. Confidence levels are transparent, not hidden.
How We Put This Into Practice
The Right to Be Forgotten
Aria is designed so you can delete individual memories and entire topics.
Transparency You Can See
Browse everything ARIA knows in the Memory Tab. See sources, confidence levels, and correct anything that's wrong.
Calibrated to You
ARIA learns your preferences over time—and you can see and adjust what it's learned.
When ARIA Steps Back
There are moments when the right thing to do is refer you to someone else. ARIA recognizes these situations:
- Signs that professional mental health support would help
- Medical concerns that need a doctor's attention
- Situations where human connection matters most
- Times when you need space, not assistance
ARIA isn't trying to be everything. It's trying to be genuinely helpful—and sometimes that means knowing when to step aside.
Our Promise
We believe technology should serve human flourishing, not exploit human attention.
We believe your inner life—your memories, emotions, health, and relationships—deserves protection and respect.
We believe AI should be honest about what it is, humble about its limits, and genuinely oriented toward your good.
This is what we're building. This is ARIA.
The Technical Foundation
For those who want to go deeper, ARIA's ethical commitments aren't just policies—they're embedded in our architecture:
| Principle | How It's Built |
|---|---|
| Privacy by Design | On-device processing by default, encrypted storage |
| User Control | Full data export, granular deletion, preference management |
| Transparency | Visible memory, source attribution, confidence levels |
| Boundary Awareness | Professional referral detection, topic avoidance, consent management |
| Care Calibration | Emotional state detection, response adaptation, proactive thresholds |
Questions?
We're committed to being transparent about how ARIA works.
If you have questions about our ethics, privacy practices, or design philosophy, we want to hear from you.