Safety at Textbound

Last updated: 11 October 2026

You're talking to AI, not a person

Textbound is an interactive story. The character who texts you is an AI character: you choose Vantar, Venn or Morrow, and each of them is one of the story's AI characters. Their messages are part of a work of fiction: on the web, most of them are written ahead of time around the choices you make, and when AI replies are switched on, replies to what you type are written by an AI model. No human writes or reads their replies in real time.

We remind you of this in several places:

• a screen before the story starts
• a label in the chat header with your character's name (for example "Venn · AI character") that's always visible
• a reminder each time you open the story, repeated every 3 hours if you keep reading
• "(AI)" in every notification the iPhone app shows

AI can be wrong. Don't rely on a character for advice about health, money, legal matters or safety.

Adults only

AI companion chatbots may not be suitable for some minors. Textbound is for adults 18 and older.

• Everyone enters a date of birth before the story starts. Anyone under 18 is blocked, and that decision is stored on our server and in your browser so it can't simply be retried. We don't keep the date of birth itself.
• If something in a chat indicates a reader is under 18, we pause the story, lock it, and review it by hand.
• Our ads target adults only, and the iPhone app is listed as 18+ on the App Store.
• All characters are fictional adults.

Our suicide and self-harm protocol

We keep this protocol in place before any character can chat with anyone. It has four parts.

1. Detection

• Every message you type is checked automatically before anything else happens to it, and before it could ever be sent to an AI model. The check is an automated screen of every typed message for signs of suicidal thoughts or self-harm, using a curated list of phrases maintained and tested by us.
• A phrase list misses many ways people express distress. It is not a clinical tool and has not been clinically reviewed. If you're struggling, please contact a crisis line near you directly (see the list above).
• We test the check against a set of example messages, including indirect and slang phrasings, and re-test it whenever we change it.

2. Response: we step out of the story

• If the check fires, the character does not reply in character. Instead, Textbound shows a message from us that says plainly that the character is AI and can't help in a crisis. What you wrote is not added to your story and is not sent to any AI model.
• The message refers you to free crisis lines for the country you're in, with one-tap buttons: 988 in the US (plus Crisis Text Line, HOME to 741741) and Canada, Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland (plus Shout, SHOUT to 85258, in the UK), Tele-MANAS on 14416 in India, and Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia. It also names the local emergency number (for example 911, 999, 112 or 000), and everywhere else it points you to findahelpline.com. We pick the country from your connection, so the full list is always one tap away as well.
• The story pauses until you choose to continue. When you do, it resumes on a calm line, and we don't show sign-up prompts in that session.
• Crisis resources are always one tap away in the reader ("Help") and at /crisis-resources.

3. Prevention: characters don't produce self-harm content

• Our characters never encourage, describe, romanticize or give methods for suicide or self-harm. The scripted story never uses self-harm as a plot device.
• When AI replies are on, every AI reply is checked before you see it. If it fails, you get the scripted story line instead.

4. Records, review and reporting

• When the protocol fires, we record only that it happened and when. We don't store your message text, your account, or your browser in these records.
• We review our crisis and character copy ourselves and re-test the screen whenever we change it.
• Starting in 2027, we'll report to the California Office of Suicide Prevention each year, as California law requires. The report covers how many times we showed crisis referrals and the protocols described here. It contains no personal information.

What characters will and won't do

• In: romance, slow-burn tension, jealousy, morally grey characters, danger aimed at other characters in the story, and kissing.
• Out: sexual content (romance fades to black), coercion or abuse of you, explicit violence, any minor or minor-looking character, age-play.
• Characters don't claim to be human. Ask the character who texts you if they're real and they'll tell you they're an AI character. They don't give medical, legal or financial advice.

Healthy use

• Textbound is a story with an ending, not a replacement for the people in your life, and not therapy.
• After about 90 minutes in a day, the character encourages you to take a break. Characters also nudge you toward friends and offline life from time to time.
• New scenes unlock on your own story clock, with quiet hours on by default (11pm–8am for evenings). On the web we don't send notifications. In the iPhone app, a "next scene is ready" notification is scheduled on your phone only if you allow notifications, never during quiet hours, and you can turn on a discreet mode that hides the character's name and the preview.

Reporting a message

• Tap Report under any message from a character. The message is hidden right away, and our team reviews every report within 48 hours.
• On the web, characters never message you outside the story page. In the iPhone app you can mute or block the character who texts you, which stops their notifications.
• You can also email support@heyjarvo.com about anything that worries you.

Your data

• You can see, edit and delete everything the character remembers on its memory screen (What he knows, What she knows or What they know, depending on who texts you).
• You can delete your chats, the character's memory of you, or your whole account at any time. Deletion is immediate in the app and completed in our systems (including backups) within 30 days.
• If AI replies are on, we name the AI provider (Anthropic) and ask for your permission before anything you type is sent to it. It's a paid service whose terms say your data isn't used to train models.
• Full details are in our Privacy Policy.

Contact

Gitesh Shastri · support@heyjarvo.com. We reply within 2 business days, and to reports within 48 hours.