How It Works

Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon Chatbot is not a real person, it is a personality created by Population Foundation of India (PFI) and AI for Good, using computer software: an ‘artificial intelligence’. Chatbot will receive and send messages, and also share stories about experiences of issues around adolescents and sexual and reproductive health and rights. The content of the stories and information supplied has been developed by the PFI. Chatbot has a profile on Facebook, but the software application is hosted on another system called The Bot Platform (TBP), which is connected to Facebook using an application programming interface, or API.

You contact Chatbot by sending messages using Facebook Messenger or from user’s Facebook profile. You have to be signed into Facebook when you use Facebook Messenger. When you message Chatbot, it is like messaging anyone else on Facebook. The Chatbot profile will receive and keep copies of your messages, and also the messages which it sends back. These messages all stay within Facebook. However, for the artificial intelligence to work, your messages are also processed by TBP. As well as your messages, TBP will receive some information from Facebook:

1. Your name (first name and last name)
2. Your general location (not your precise address)
3. Your time zone

TBP does not store this information. Facebook will create a random user ID which TBP stores, and uses when it processes your messages. This means that the messages that are on TBP are anonymous. Most of the time, TBP will not keep copies of your messages. However, if you ask something that Chatbot does not recognise, TBP will keep the message and share it with the (human) software developers. The software developers will use messages like this to train Chatbot so that it can understand more complex questions. Remember, these messages are anonymous, your name is not attached to them. These messages will go to PFI and AI for Good. If you choose to include personal information in your messages to Chatbot – for example your name, and details about your life and current situation – please be aware that it may be shared with these organisations. TBP will also keep anonymous data about the messages, to analyse what sorts of questions are asked, what stories are read, and how people are using Chatbot.

Terms of Use

Chatbot is open for anyone over the age of 13 to use, and is not to be used by anyone under that age. It does not give legal advice, and will not tell you what to do. We (PFI) intend for Chatbot to be available any time of day or night, but access may be limited, or drop out, for reasons beyond our control, or we may need to suspend the service without notice. We do not make any promises to you about how Chatbot will work, or that you will have any particular outcome from using the service. We ask that you do not send any messages or pictures containing inappropriate content (for example, anything abusive, harmful or illegal), or do anything to try and disrupt the service. We will block or bar anyone who we feel is abusing the service. The intellectual property remains with PFI.

Your Privacy

Chatbot relies upon Facebook and Facebook Messenger, and we don’t have any control over Facebook, or how you use it. If there are any technical issues, bugs, or security breaches within Facebook then they may affect Chatbot. Also, please be careful about keeping your login details private, and use a complex, unique password to access Facebook. This is to make sure that no-one else can log in to your account and see your message history, which will include your messages to Chatbot.

You can delete your messages to Chatbot, but this won’t affect the copies which are on the Chatbot profile. Every message you send is received and stored within Facebook on the Chatbot profile page. We will keep your messages on the Chatbot profile for a year unless you tell us to delete them. This is in case you want to share your conversation history with anyone, for example, a therapist, or advisor.

When you send the first message to Chatbot, you are sharing with TBP your name, general location and time zone. If you do not want to share these details then you cannot use the service. Also, remember that if you include personal information in your messages then this may be shared with PFI.

The purpose of processing your information is to provide the Chatbot ‘smart companion’ service, which includes keeping your messages for up to a year in case you want to share them. The legal basis for processing your information is your consent, which you can withdraw at any time. If you would like to withdraw your consent for processing then send us an email, and all your personal information will be deleted. If you want to know what information Chatbot holds about you then you can ask to see a copy, by sending us an email request. You will be sent any information free of charge, normally within 30 days.

We take your privacy seriously. We follow security standards which are recognised as best practice. All of your messages are encrypted, and your information is stored on systems which are also encrypted. The Chatbot profile on Facebook is kept private, and access is restricted. We have data processing agreements with the third-party services which we use (Facebook, The Bot Platform). These require our partners to comply with EU data privacy laws, keep your information safe, and to notify us if anything happens which might compromise the security of your data.

Facebook stores information on servers across the world, and so your messages on the Chatbot profile may be stored outside the European Economic Area (EEA). TBP is hosted by Amazon Web Services, on servers in the United States. Both Facebook and TBP are signed up to the EU-US privacy shield, which the European Commission has decided is adequate to enable transfers outside the EEA.