Safety
The characters in Herly are AI. They aren't people, and they aren't a crisis service. If you're in danger right now, call your local emergency number.
When someone talks about suicide or self-harm
An automated check reads messages for signs that someone is thinking about ending their life or hurting themselves. It reads for meaning, not only words, so "work is killing me" or a sword fight in a story is left alone.
When it finds those signs:
- The app shows a crisis line for your country right in the conversation, with a button to call or text it.
- The character is told to take it seriously, stay with you, and encourage you to talk to someone who can be there with you.
- She never describes a way to hurt yourself and never encourages it. Her reply is checked, and if it falls short, it isn't shown.
- She pauses the messages she would otherwise send you first, until you write again.
The same check reads what you write in About you when you save it.
When someone talks about hurting another person
The character is told to take it seriously, never to help or encourage it, and to say plainly that she doesn't want you to. Her reply is checked the same way.
What we keep
We count how many times a crisis line was shown. The count holds no messages and nothing that identifies you. Where the law asks, we report that count once a year.
Crisis lines
- United States and Canada: call or text 988
- United Kingdom and Ireland: Samaritans, 116 123
- Australia: Lifeline, 13 11 14
- New Zealand: call or text 1737
- Anywhere else: findahelpline.com