What the coach can use, what leaves the app, which model answers, and which controls are live.
Higher Self can make mistakes. It is not a doctor, therapist, emergency service, financial adviser, or substitute for professional care.
What happens when you use Higher Self
Higher Self uses the information needed to answer your request and provide optional personalization.
Current
Current behavior
Anthropic and OpenAI are approved Higher Self providers. The current production route is Anthropic.
Higher Self is available only inside an authenticated BeTheOne account.
Messages travel over encrypted network connections. Higher Self is not end-to-end encrypted.
Automated Higher Self email and Telegram coaching are disabled.
Optional feature
Your choices
You can use Higher Self without optional personalization.
You can control which optional information categories Higher Self may use.
You can inspect or delete saved Higher Self memories in the app.
For privacy, access, or deletion requests, contact [email protected].
The request path
From your question to a grounded reply
A simplified view of how a Higher Self request is processed.
01Current
You ask
Your message and recent conversation provide the immediate question. The app saves your message locally so the conversation can continue.
02Optional feature
A small context envelope is built
If personalization is enabled, Higher Self selects relevant allowed categories for the current conversation.
03Current
The API verifies the request
BeTheOne verifies that the request comes from an authenticated account before processing it.
04Current
The active provider generates the reply
The active provider receives your message and only the selected context needed for this request. Higher Self must not claim access to information that was not included.
05Optional feature
You can see why
A data-used receipt names the categories, source type, and freshness that influenced the reply without exposing sensitive values on the first view.
Data selection
Relevant to this conversation, not everything in your account
Personalization is on by default for signed-in accounts. Higher Self still selects only the categories needed for the current conversation. You can turn any category off at any time in Higher Self settings.
May be selected
Profile and onboarding answers
Your daily disciplines and completion state
XP, level, streak, and summaries of your own activity patterns
Recent emotions or check-ins you have allowed
Selected health signals you have allowed BeTheOne to read
Your creator profile and your own recent creator content
Recent Higher Self messages and selected memories
Privacy-safe accountability aggregates when the feature is enabled
Not included by default
Active goals, because they are not populated in the current Higher Self request
Your feed as general coaching context
A friend’s private posts, journals, chats, health data, emotions, or detailed activity
Another person’s private content without a clear purpose and valid consent from everyone affected
Any category you have turned off in Higher Self settings
Unrelated categories that are not needed for the current coaching intent
Context receipt
Used for this reply
The receipt names categories and provenance, not the private values themselves.
Discipline progress
User dataUpdated recently
Streak
User dataUpdated today
Coaching preference
Remembered preferenceSaved by you
It did not use your feed or private friend content.
Coach contract
Warm, candid, and accountable to the evidence
A normal reply should feel like a short conversation, not a lecture.
How it should reply
Reflect briefly, name one relevant truth, offer one concrete next move, then ask at most one natural question.
Use a more demanding tone only when accountability is relevant.
Make plans longer only when you ask for a plan.
Keep recommendations traceable to user data, a remembered preference, BeTheOne content, or a researched source.
What it must never do
Invent or inflate progress
Diagnose, prescribe, manipulate, shame, or threaten
Claim access to goals, friends, health, memories, or other data that were not included
Turn a vulnerable disclosure into a discipline judgment
Grounding example
Higher Self should base accountability on the information actually provided for the reply, not assumptions about you.
Models and providers
The provider is disclosed, not hidden behind “our AI”
01
Current production route
Anthropic is the only active production route. Anthropic and OpenAI are the only approved Higher Self providers.
02
OpenAI evaluation
OpenAI is approved as the only second-provider candidate, but it is not active in production and no evaluation winner has been selected.
03
Provider processing
Under standard terms, provider API content may be retained for up to 30 days, with limited safety, legal, abuse-prevention, and feedback exceptions.
BeTheOne does not enable provider use of Higher Self API data for model training.
BeTheOne does not use provider-managed conversation storage for Higher Self.
OpenAI Higher Self requests use store: false.
Anthropic remains active in production until the frozen evaluation and founder approval are complete.
Zero-data-retention and EU regional processing are optional future improvements, not current promises.
The server and approved model provider must process readable message text and allowed context to generate a reply. Calling that end-to-end encrypted would be inaccurate.
Verified controls
Encrypted network connections
Account authentication is required
Access to stored account data is restricted
Private conversation content is prohibited from product analytics
Important limits
Higher Self must process readable message text to generate a response, so it is not end-to-end encrypted.
AI providers may retain data under their terms and legal obligations.
Do not use Higher Self for emergencies or as a substitute for professional advice.
Retention
Different data needs different limits
Retention depends on where the data is processed. We avoid promising deletion timelines that have not been verified end to end.
Data
Current disclosure
Control or gate
Conversations on your device
Stored on your device.
You can manage conversations in the app. Device and operating-system backups may follow separate retention rules.
Cloud chat backup
Private, access-controlled storage may be used to preserve your conversation and preferences.
For an access or deletion request, use the available in-app controls or contact [email protected]. We do not promise an unverified deletion deadline.
AI-provider processing
Provider API content may be retained for up to 30 days under standard terms, with limited safety, legal, abuse-prevention, and feedback exceptions.
BeTheOne does not enable API data for model training or provider-managed conversation storage. OpenAI Higher Self requests use store: false.
Operational request logs
Limited operational metadata may be retained.
Metadata only. Raw private message, journal, image, prompt, and reply content is prohibited.
Product analytics
Events and aggregates only. Raw journal and chat text is prohibited.
Retention follows the applicable Privacy Policy and configured analytics controls.
Proactive coaching
External coaching is off until each channel earns consent
Automated Higher Self email and Telegram coaching are currently disabled.
In-appPushEmail: offTelegram: off
A future external channel requires its own explicit opt-in. Enabling one channel must not enable another.
Quiet hours, frequency caps, topic controls, pause or mute, and one-step unsubscribe must be verified before launch.
Lock-screen and external previews must remain generic. Journal, emotion, health, goal, or friend details stay inside the authenticated app.
In-app and push behavior must be validated before automated email or Telegram coaching is enabled.
Safety and support
AI guidance has limits
Higher Self can support reflection and next steps, but it cannot assess your full situation or guarantee that advice is correct.
It must not diagnose conditions or prescribe treatment.
Higher Self is designed to avoid exposing private information or turning vulnerable disclosures into discipline judgments.
When immediate danger or self-harm may be present, ordinary coaching should pause and region-appropriate help should take priority.
If you may be in immediate danger, contact local emergency services now.