Somnus Explained · Issue Nº 02
Every Use
Has a
Purpose.
The night is used to score the night. That is the purpose, and the only one.
Editor's Note: This is installment Nº 02 of Somnus Explained, a series on who we are, what we build, and the principles that guide the work. The principles themselves are set out in How We Work. This series expands on them.
Most privacy pages list what a company might do with your information. The list is long and the words are soft. A purpose like “improving our services” can cover almost anything.
We start from the other end. Every use has a purpose, and for your nights there is one. The night is used to score the night.
Why it matters
Data gathered for one reason tends to find new ones. A recording kept for a score becomes a recording kept for a model, then for a partner, then for an ad. Each step looks small. Together they turn a wellness app into something you never agreed to.
A purpose stated in advance is a line anyone can check us against. You can. A provider can. So can we, a year from now, when the pressure to bend is higher.
Why it is hard
A single purpose is a constraint, and constraints cost something. Audio that could train a model is audio we choose not to have. A use that might pay is a use we do not add quietly.
We are also early. Commitments are easiest to make before there is pressure to bend them, and hardest to walk back once they are published. That is why we publish them now.
How we think about it
One purpose
The night is used to score the night. No ads. We do not sell your nights.
Nothing to train on
Your audio never reaches us, so nothing is trained on it. That limit does not depend on anyone remembering a rule. The sound is simply not there.
Sharing is yours
Sharing is an action you take. Connecting your information to a provider is your action, never a setting we flip. Installing the app is not sharing.
New uses are announced first
If we ever add a use, we will say so first, in plain language, before it ships. You will hear it from us before you see it in the product.
How it works
- The audio stays on your phone. BSA, our acoustic engine, scores the night on the device.
- What can leave is a short set of numbers, and only when you choose to send them.
- Nothing is shared until you share it.
- If the score does not need a piece of data, the app does not ask for it.
Nightsong is a wellness app. It does not diagnose, screen for, or treat any condition. Care decisions stay with you and the clinician you bring it to.
Questions we ask
- What is this for, and can we say it in one sentence?
- Does the score need this data, or would we only be collecting it?
- Can a person see what leaves the phone, and stop it?
- If we added this use, would we be glad to announce it first?
In short
Every use has a purpose. For your nights, the purpose is the score. No ads. No sale. Nothing trained on your audio. Sharing is yours to start. A new use gets announced before it ships.
A note on the paperwork
Our privacy policy and our terms are the governing documents for how information is handled, and they say in legal language what this installment says in plain language. If those two ever disagree, that is a defect. Tell us, and we will fix it.
In installment Nº 03, we explain why we say de-identified, not anonymous, and the layers behind that choice.
We are glad to talk further about how we think and how we build. Reach us at [email protected].