Privacy Policy

This policy applies to conversations on Fireside Project’s Psychedelic Support Line as well as post-conversation surveys and call logs. It also applies to our website and mobile app.

We’ve tried to write this policy in a clear and easy-to-understand way. To do so, we’ve decided to present it as a series of questions and answers. If you have questions about it, we encourage you to email us at info@firesideproject.org.

We ask that you review this policy before using the support line or submitting a survey response about your experience using the support line. By using the support line or submitting a survey response, you are agreeing to this policy.  

We’ll update this policy from time to time, and each update will become effective as soon as we post it here. (So, in other words, right now, you’re reading the most up-to-date version of this policy.)

Part One: Psychedelic Support Line

1. What is the Psychedelic Support Line?

Fireside Project operates the Psychedelic Support Line, which provides non-clinical emotional support to callers during and after their psychedelic experiences.

We want to be very clear about some of the key limits on the scope of the support line:

  • We do not provide any pre-trip support or advice.

  • We do not provide medical care, medical assessments, psychotherapy, or any other type of professional service.

  • We are not a substitute for 911 or any other emergency service. If you believe you or someone with you may be experiencing a medical emergency or any other kind of emergency, please immediately call 911.

  • We are not a suicide hotline. If you have a plan, means, or intention to die by suicide, please immediately call 988 or 911. If you need non-emergency medical care or assistance, please contact a doctor or other medical professional.

You’ll see the term “personal information.” That means information that can be used to identify you, like your full name, email address, telephone number, or home address.  It does not include information that has been de-identified such that it can no longer be used to identify you.

You’ll also see the term “caller.” That means someone who has called or texted the Psychedelic Support Line.

2. Can I text with the support line?

Yes. You can reach the support line by calling or texting 6-2FIRESIDE/ (623) 227-4913. If you text Fireside Project, you agree to receive text/SMS messages that may be placed with an automated dialer. Message and data rates may apply.  

3. Is the Psychedelic Support Line confidential?

Yes, with the exceptions that are required by law or otherwise discussed in this policy. One such exception is if a caller’s life or the life of another person may be in immediate danger. In that case, if the caller has provided us with an address, we may call 911 or other emergency services. As another example, we’d comply with any court-ordered requirement to disclose your information.

4. Must callers disclose any information to the Psychedelic Support Line?

No. Our volunteers are trained not to affirmatively request personal information, and callers may reveal as much or as little information as they want. 

5. Does Fireside Project make any guarantees or warranties about our services?

No. We’ll do our best, and we will try to keep improving our services. But we can’t make any guarantees or warranties. Our services are “as is” and “as available.”

We disclaim all warranties, both express or implied, including the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. This disclaimer applies to all damages or injuries, including those caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect or delay in operation or transmission, whether for breach of contract, tortious behavior, including negligence, or any other cause of action.

6. Is Fireside Project liable for the actions taken by callers during or after their time on the Psychedelic Support Line?

No. You assume all risks for your use of the support line. Neither Fireside Project, nor any of our employees, volunteers, or agents shall have any liability for or in connection with (1) actions taken or not taken by you or a third party, during, after, or as a result of your use of the support line, or (2) the unavailability of the support line.

7. Does the Psychedelic Support Line provide advice on which illegal substances to take, whether to take illegal substances, or the dosage of any such substances?

No. Fireside Project does not encourage or condone any illegal activities, including but not limited to the use of illegal substances such as psychedelics. Nothing that any person working for the support line says or does should be construed as advice or encouragement to engage in, or condonement of, any illegal conduct, including but not limited to consuming psychedelics. Any decision to engage in any illegal conduct is yours and yours alone.

8. Do volunteers on the Psychedelic Support Line provide recommendations?

No. We do not recommend or endorse any person, product, or service. We may provide referrals to certain websites or sources of information. When we do provide such referrals, they are provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an endorsement of the information contained on such websites. Fireside Project does not independently vet or verify the credentials or representations contained on other websites. Each person should use their own discretion and conduct their own due diligence.

9. Does the Psychedelic Support Line provide recommendations to underground psychedelic therapists?

No. As noted above, Fireside Project does not encourage or condone any illegal activities, including but not limited to the consumption of psychedelic substances. Nothing that any person working for the support line says or does should be construed as advice or encouragement to engage in any illegal conduct, including the consumption of psychedelic substances. Any decision to engage in any illegal conduct is yours and yours alone.

10. Are there restrictions on how callers can use the Psychedelic Support Line?

 Yes, please see our Terms of Use. In summary, you may not use the support line:

  • For any unlawful purpose;

  • In a way that violates any federal, state, local, or international law or regulation;

  • To exploit, harm, or attempt to exploit or harm minors or any other person;

  • To threaten, harass, or otherwise abuse Fireside Project, its employees, partners, agents, contractors, volunteers, or others;

  • To impersonate or attempt to impersonate another person or entity;

  • To engage in any conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone’s use or enjoyment of Fireside Project or any of its services, or which may harm Fireside Project or users of our services, or expose us to liability;

  • To copy, adapt, decompile, reverse engineer, attempt to discover the source code of or make derivative works of any of Fireside Project’s services, including but not limited to the Psychedelic Support Line or the software console used by volunteers;

  • To interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of Fireside Project’s services, including but not limited to the Psychedelic Support Line.

11. What happens if someone violates this policy?

Fireside Project, at our sole discretion, reserves the right to terminate an individual’s access to the support line.

PART TWO: ANONYMIZED CONVERSATIONS

12. Do some helplines record calls?

Yes. Examples include the Veterans’ Crisis Line, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, the Substance Abuse and National Mental Health Administration’s (SAMSHA) National Helpline, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988), 911, and California’s Peer-Run Warmline. Statewide and county hotlines also routinely record calls for the same reasons.

13.Does Fireside Project record conversations?

Yes. Fireside Project saves conversations that have been stripped of personal information. To do this, Fireside Project uses third-party technology to delete personal information. That third-party does not save the recordings. That said, no anonymization service is 100% perfect.

14. Are callers notified that Fireside Project records anonymized conversations?

Yes. All callers receive a message advising them of this at the beginning of the call.

15.  Can callers ask Fireside Project to delete the anonymized conversation?

Yes!  If you’d like your anonymized conversation deleted, please email info@firesideproject.org .

16.  Why does Fireside Project record anonymized conversations?

We are supporting people during some of their most vulnerable, healing, and transformational moments. The nature of this work creates a responsibility for us to work tirelessly on continuing to improve our skills and training and develop our knowledge. A key way we do this is by studying anonymized conversations and evaluating what worked, where we might improve, and what lessons we can draw. We then use this knowledge to better train our volunteers and supervisors.

We also record anonymized conversations to make sure our policies and procedures are being followed, including those regarding confidentiality, boundaries, and ethics. This is for the protection of our callers, our volunteers and staff, and our organization. 

PART THREE: USE OF ANONYMIZED CONVERSATIONS, SURVEY RESPONSES, AND CALL LOGS

Part Three applies to anonymized conversations, post-call surveys, and call logs.

Fireside Project sends post-call surveys to learn about each caller’s experience and improve our service. Those surveys give the option to provide contact information so that Fireside Project can ask follow-up questions. Callers are not required to include any personal information. 

Fireside Project’s volunteers fill out anonymous call logs after every conversation. Call logs include categories of information such as whether the call involved someone tripping or integrating a past trip, as well as a summary of the call.

17. Do you ever sell, rent, or license these anonymized conversations, call logs, or post-call surveys outside to third parties?

No.

18. Are these anonymized conversations, call logs, or post-call surveys shared outside of Fireside Project? 

No, except as explained here:  

  • If a caller’s life or safety or the life or safety of another person may be in immediate danger, we may call 911 or 988;

  • We would share this information if required by law. This includes complying with a lawfully issued subpoena, assuming we are able to comply with the subpoena and assuming appropriate efforts to quash the subpoena have exhausted;

  • We may share this information to enforce our Terms of Use and to protect the rights, privacy, safety, or property of Fireside Project or its users. 

19. What steps does Fireside Project take to protect these anonymized conversations?

We take reasonable security precautions, including encryption, administrative, technical, and physical measures, to protect your information from loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.

We store the anonymized conversations on servers and we only permit approved Fireside Project personnel and authorized third parties to access those servers. Although we take appropriate measures to safeguard against unauthorized disclosures of information, no system is perfect, and we cannot assure you that your information or communications will never be disclosed in a manner inconsistent with this policy. We make no representations or warranties regarding the sufficiency of our security measures to prevent unauthorized access or interception by third parties.

20. Does Fireside Project sometimes aggregate information for use in presentations?

Yes. For example, Fireside Project may do a presentation stating that 40 percent of our callers indicated they called to integrate a past psychedelic experience.

PART FOUR: FIRESIDE PROJECT’S WEBSITE

21. What information is collected on the website?

First, we collect information that you voluntarily provide when you make a donation, sign up to receive information or our newsletter, register to participate in an event, or apply to volunteer with Fireside Project. For example:

  • If you choose to become a member or donor, you may provide us with your full name, your email address, your mailing address, and your credit card information, as well as your membership username and password;

  • If you apply to volunteer on the support line, you provide us with your name and contact information, information about your references, your education and employment history/experience, professional credentials, online identifiers, and any other information contained in your resume or your application materials.

Second, as you interact with the website, we collect certain information passively through our server and third-party analytics tools.  This includes traffic data, web request forms, page views, and information about your computer and internet connection, including your IP address and browser information.  We may collect similar information from emails you receive from us that can help us track which emails are opened and which links are clicked by recipients.

We use certain cookies, pixel tags, and other technologies to help us understand how you use our website and personalize your experience. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent.  If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this site may then be inaccessible or not function properly.

22. Do you ever sell, rent, or license donors’ personal information?

No. 

23. Can minors use the Fireside Project website?

Our website is not intended for children under the age of 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 16.  If you believe a child under the age of 16 has disclosed personal information to us, please contact us at info@firesideproject.org, and we will delete that information immediately

24. What does Fireside Project do with information provided on the website?

When you provide us with personal information on our website, we might use it to:

  • Process your donation or recurring donations, including to email you receipts and thank you notes;

  • Create and maintain any membership account that you create;

  • Communicate with you by email or postal mail to send you information such as newsletters about our programs, services, and events, unless you have directed us not to contact you;

  • Communicate with you regarding volunteer and donation opportunities;

  • Help us improve our programs and services;

  • Bring to our attention community needs or gaps in services;

  • Help us analyze trends and statistics regarding donations;

  • Protect the security and integrity of our website and our business;

  • Comply with the law and any court-ordered requirement to disclose your information

25. How is this information shared?

We may share aggregate, de-identified information collected through our website with third parties to promote, maintain, and improve our operations and services. 

We may share personal information to fulfill the purpose for which you provided it (for example, to process your donation).  We may also share such information with volunteers who are assisting Fireside Project so that they can perform their duties.  We also share information with third parties who provide operational and professional services, such as website hosting, information technology and infrastructure, analytics, email delivery, credit card processing, and auditing.

Finally, we may also disclose your personal information to comply with any court order, law, or legal process, to respond to any government or regulatory request, to enforce or apply our terms of use, or if we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect rights, property, or safety.

26. What about when I interact with Fireside Project on social media?

If you engage with Fireside Project on a social media platform, you may be sharing your personal information with your friends associated with your social media account, to other website users and to your social media account provider, in connection with your social sharing activity.  Your use of social media is not governed by this privacy policy but instead by the privacy policy of the specific social media platform.

27. Can I ask Fireside Project to update, change or delete my personal information?

You may make a request regarding any personal information we may have of yours by emailing us at info@firesideproject.org, after which you will be prompted to confirm your request. In handling deletion requests, we will follow the standards set out in California law and will decline to process requests only if there is a specific reason.  For example, we may decline to process a deletion request if we need the information to comply with the law, ensure the security and integrity of our systems, or protect physical safety.

28. Does Fireside Project offer emotional support resources on its website?

Yes, our website may link to other websites and online resources. Such links are provided for informational purposes and convenience only. We do not recommend or endorse any person, product, or service. When Fireside Project provides links on its website, the links are provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an endorsement of the information contained on such websites. Fireside Project does not independently vet or verify the credentials or representations contained on other websites. Each person should use their own discretion and conduct their own due diligence when accessing external links and websites.  If you interact with a third-party website or online resource, your use of that third party website or online resource is not covered by this policy.

29. How do you protect information collected on the website?

To protect your information, we have put in place security measures designed to protect your information from accidental loss and unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure, and you should understand this before interacting online, including with our website. 

This policy is effective as of May 6, 2024.