Better Stop Suicide

Warning: *Privacy Not Included with this product

Better Stop Suicide

Review date: April 25, 2023

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Mozilla says

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People voted: Super creepy

Suicide kills over 700,000 people around the world every year and that number is likely conservative. Research has shown people are more likely to turn to tech-driven help than in-person help for suicidal thoughts, which can make suicide prevention apps a good option for intervention and treatment.

Better Stop Suicide is one of many suicide prevention apps available. The app is free and offers users access to helpful techniques such as feel-better tasks, emotional needs checks, and the ability to record your own life-saving message. The same company that makes this free suicide prevention app also makes a subscription based mental health app. Both apps have the same privacy policy, which we found pretty vague in detailing how much data is collected and how exactly all that data is used. Just last year, another suicide prevention support line got in hot water when it was reported they were sharing users' anonymized data to their for-profit company for marketing purposes. All in all, if this app will help you with suicidal thoughts, that probably outweighs our privacy concerns. However, we really would love to see an app focused on such vulnerable people commit to doing better, or at least being less vague, about protecting their users' privacy.

What could happen if something goes wrong?

First reviewed April 20, 2022. Review updated, April 25, 2023

In revisiting this app in 2023, we are unable to tell if this app is still supported by its developer Better App Company. This is a concern because it is still available to download in the Google Play Store (it no longer seems to be available for download in the Apple App Store, at least in the US). It appears from information in the Google Play Store the app was last updated in October, 2020. And the privacy policy -- which was a hot mess when we first reviewed this app in 2022 -- hasn't been updated since September 2018. Even though is still appears you might be able to download this app, we recommend you don't as we still can't confirm it meets our Minimum Security Standards, we have questions about it's privacy, and it appears it isn't supported by the developer any longer.

Read our 2022 review:

Holy vague and messy privacy policy Batman! Better Stop Suicide's privacy policy is bad. Like, get a failing grade from your high school English teacher bad. Take the second sentence in the privacy policy, "Contact us at if you have any questions or problems regarding the use of your Personal Data and we will gladly assist you." Yeah, they just plain old omitted the way to contact them. We did find a contact email at the very bottom of their privacy policy and emailed them multiple times with questions about the app's privacy and security and received no response. So, that "gladly assist you" part seems like it might be a tad overstated.

Then there is the overall vagueness of the policy, which says it was last updated in 2018. They make statements like, "Data we gather | Information you have provided us with | This might be your email address, name, billing address, home address etc - mainly information that is necessary for delivering you a product/service or to enhance your customer experience with us." That's a lot of "might", "etc", and "mainly" vagueness in one statement. But hey, it's good to know the data they gather is the information you provide them. That's helpful.

What can we deduce from their extremely vague and poorly written privacy policy? (What can we say? We like things like punctuation and clarity here at *Privacy Not Included.) Well, it does seem like Better Stop Suicide gathers a fair amount of personal information -- including name, email. home address, and IP address. They also say they gather information from "trusted partners" but we have no idea who those "trusted partners" might be as they say they link to them but then provide no link. They also say they can gather information about your from public sources.

So, what might Better Stop Suicide do with all this personal information they gather? That is pretty vague too. At one point in their privacy policy they say, "We might process your Personal Data for additional purposes that are not mentioned here, but are compatible with the original purpose for which the data was gathered." That's a pretty broad statement for how they plan to use your data that could go beyond what they do mention like providing services, communications, and potentially ads.

Their privacy policy also states, "We reserve the right to anonymise Personal Data gathered and to use any such data. We will use data outside the scope of this Policy only when it is anonymised." Which is a little concerning because it's been shown to be pretty easy to de-anonymize user data. But hey, Better Stop Suicide does state in their privacy policy, "We do not share your Personal Data with strangers." So, there's that.

Finally, we were unable to confirm if Better Stop Suicide meets our Minimum Security Standards. So all in all, we have a whole bunch of questions about this suicide prevention app. What's the worst that could happen? Well, we're not even sure we can tell from this vague privacy policy. It seems like the company could share your data with just about anyone if they wanted, as long as they aren't a stranger we suppose. People who are dealing with suicidal thoughts need all the help we as a society can give them. This app could possibly help. But holy cow, with such an awful mess of a privacy policy, we'd encourage you to find a better app.

Tips to protect yourself

  • We recommend you chose another app with regular security updates.
  • Choose a strong password! You may use a password control tool like 1Password, KeePass etc
  • Use your device privacy controls to limit access to your personal information via app (do not give access to your camera, microphone, images, location unless neccessary)
  • Keep your app regularly updated - Limit ad tracking via your device (e.g. on iPhone go to Privacy -> Advertising -> Limit ad tracking) and biggest ad networks (for Google, go to Google account and turn off ad personalization)
  • Request your data be deleted once you stop using the app. Simply deleting an app from your device usually does not erase your personal data.
  • When starting a sign-up, do not agree to tracking of your data if possible.
  • mobile

Can it snoop on me? information

Camera

Device: N/A

App: No

Microphone

Device: N/A

App: Yes

Tracks location

Device: N/A

App: No

What can be used to sign up?

No sign-up required

What data does the company collect?

How does the company use this data?

Better Stop Suicide is not clear about their data sharing practices. They also might gather information about you from other sources.

"We use your personal data on legitimate grounds and/or with your consent"

"We might process your Personal Data for additional purposes that are not mentioned here, but are compatible with the original purpose for which the data was gathered. To do this, we will ensure that:

the link between purposes, context and nature of Personal Data is suitable for further Processing;

the further Processing would not harm your interests and there would be appropriate safeguard for Processing.

We will inform you of any further Processing and purposes."

"We might gather information about you that is publicly available."

How can you control your data?

"Processing is limited with a time period. We will not store your personal data for longer than needed." The Privacy Policy includes rights for all users including "Right to erasure - meaning in certain circumstances you can request for your Personal Data to be erased from our records."

What is the company’s known track record of protecting users’ data?

Average

No known privacy or security incidents discovered in the last 3 years.

Child Privacy Information

"We do not intend to collect or knowingly collect information from children. We do not target children with our Services."

Can this product be used offline?

Yes

User-friendly privacy information?

No

Links to privacy information

Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards? information

No

Encryption

Can’t Determine

Strong password

N/A

Security updates

Yes

Last update was in 2020

Manages vulnerabilities

Can’t Determine

Privacy policy

Yes

It's a hot mess, but they do have a privacy policy.

Does the product use AI? information

No

*Privacy Not Included

Dive Deeper

  • Mental health apps have terrible privacy protections, report finds
    The Verge Link opens in a new tab
  • 'Creepy' Mental Health And Prayer Apps Are Sharing Your Personal Data
    Forbes Link opens in a new tab
  • Mental health and prayer apps have some of the worst privacy protections, study claims, finding they 'track, share and capitalize' on users intimate thoughts and feelings
    Daily Mail Link opens in a new tab
  • 10 Things Parents Can Do to Prevent Suicide
    American Academy of Pediatrics Link opens in a new tab
  • Preventing Youth Suicide: Tips for Parents & Educators
    National Association of School Psychologists Link opens in a new tab
  • Challenges with mHealth Apps for Depression and Suicide Prevention
    Psychiatric Times Link opens in a new tab
  • Are Apple users more prone to mental health issues than Android users?
    Peter Grange on Linkedin Link opens in a new tab
  • How to Create a Mental Health App to Track Anxiety and Depression
    aimprosoft Link opens in a new tab
  • Saving Life and Keeping Privacy: A Study on Mobile Apps for Suicide Prevention and Privacy Policies
    SpringerLink Link opens in a new tab
  • User Engagement and Usability of Suicide Prevention Apps: Systematic Search in App Stores and Content Analysis
    JMIR Publications Link opens in a new tab

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