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Privacy
How Your Health Information Is Protected
Your screening is protected health information. Here is exactly what we collect, who sees it, and what never leaves this building.
Free screening
See If You Qualify
- 10 minutes of questions, nothing to pay
- Reviewed by a mental-health professional licensed in your state
- Signed letter within 15 minutes of approval
- Declined? You are not charged for a letter
HIPAA-aligned · no card required
In Summary
- Your screening answers are protected health information, encrypted in transit and at rest.
- Your letter states you meet the legal definition of disability — never your diagnosis.
- We never sell data or send health information to advertising platforms.
- You may request access, correction, an accounting of disclosures, or deletion.
The Short Version
Your screening answers and your consultation are protected health information. They are encrypted, access is limited to the mental-health professional assessing you and the small support team who need it to run your case, and your letter discloses no diagnosis to your landlord. We do not sell your data, and we do not send your health information to advertising platforms.
How It Is Stored
Technical
- TLS 1.2 or higher in transit; AES-256 at rest for stored records.
- Role-based access control, with mental-health professionals able to see only files assigned to them.
- Multi-factor authentication required for every mental-health professional and staff account.
- Audit logging of every access to a record, retained and reviewed.
- Automatic session expiry, and no clinical data held on personal devices.
Administrative
- Business associate agreements with every vendor that touches protected health information.
- Annual HIPAA training for all staff and network mental-health professionals.
- A named privacy officer, reachable at support@thehealifypet.com.
- Documented breach notification procedure, with notification within statutory timeframes.
- Minimum necessary standard applied to every internal disclosure.
Physical
- Records held with SOC 2 Type II audited hosting providers in US data centers.
- No paper files. Anything received on paper is scanned and shredded.
What Your Landlord Receives
A letter stating that you meet the Fair Housing Act definition of a person with a disability, that an animal alleviates identified symptoms, and that an accommodation is recommended. Your diagnosis, your screening answers, your consultation notes and your treatment history stay with your mental-health professional. If a housing provider asks us for more, the answer is no, and we will tell you they asked.
Your Rights
- Access. Request a copy of your record; we respond within 30 days.
- Amendment. Ask for a correction to inaccurate information.
- Accounting of disclosures. Ask who your information has been shared with.
- Restriction. Ask us to limit certain uses or disclosures.
- Deletion. Request deletion, subject to the record retention periods mental-health professionals are legally required to observe in their state.
- Complaint. To our privacy officer, and to the HHS Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate for a complaint, ever.
How Long We Keep It
Clinical records are retained for the period the treating mental-health professional's state licensing board requires, which is commonly between five and ten years. Incomplete screenings are deleted after 12 months. Payment records are held as long as tax law requires and contain no clinical information.
What We Never Do
- Sell, rent or trade your information.
- Send health information to advertising or analytics platforms.
- Use your clinical answers for marketing.
- Publish a review or testimonial without your explicit written consent.
Free to begin
Find out whether a mental-health professional licensed in your state supports a letter for you.
A note on scope
HIPAA applies to covered entities and their business associates. Our network mental-health professionals are covered entities; TheHealifyPet operates the platform and handles protected health information under business associate agreements with them. This page describes our practices in plain language and is not itself a Notice of Privacy Practices — your mental-health professional provides theirs at the start of your assessment.
Related Reading
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions asked most often about this topic.
Is My Screening Protected Health Information?
Yes. Your answers and your consultation are protected health information, encrypted in transit with TLS and at rest with AES-256.
Who Can See My File?
The mental-health professional assessing you and the small support team who need access to run your case. Access is role-based and every view is logged.
Does My Landlord Ever See My Diagnosis?
No. Your letter states that you meet the Fair Housing Act definition of a person with a disability. The diagnosis stays between you and your mental-health professional.
What if My Landlord Asks You for More Detail?
The answer is no, and we will tell you they asked. Your mental-health professional will confirm the letter is genuine without disclosing clinical detail.
Do You Sell or Share My Information?
No. We do not sell, rent or trade your data, and we do not send health information to advertising or analytics platforms.
How Long Do You Keep My Records?
Clinical records are kept for the period the treating mental-health professional's state board requires, commonly five to ten years. Incomplete screenings are deleted after twelve months.
Can I Ask for a Copy of My Record?
Yes. Request it from our privacy officer and we respond within 30 days.
Can I Ask You to Delete My Data?
You can request deletion, subject to the retention periods mental-health professionals are legally required to observe in their state.
Is TheHealifyPet Itself a Covered Entity?
Our network mental-health professionals are covered entities. TheHealifyPet operates the platform and handles protected health information under business associate agreements with them.
Is the Video Consultation Recorded?
Consultations are conducted over a HIPAA-aligned telehealth platform. Clinical notes are recorded in your file; you can ask your mental-health professional what is retained.
What Happens if There Is a Data Breach?
We have a documented breach notification procedure and notify affected people within statutory timeframes.
Where Do I Complain About Privacy?
To our privacy officer at support@thehealifypet.com, and to the HHS Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate for a complaint.
Start a Screening With Your Privacy Intact
Encrypted intake, minimum necessary disclosure, and a letter that names no diagnosis.