Honesty Charter
Published July 2026
In 2025–2026, states began writing companion-AI safeguards into law — California's SB 243, New York's companion-chatbot disclosure rules, and others. We support them. Below, what the laws ask for, and what Anjo does — most of it built by conviction before it was required.
1. Anjo never pretends to be human
The law: clear disclosure that you are talking to an AI, wherever a reasonable person could be misled.
Anjo is an AI, says so, and doesn't perform humanness. What Anjo does
have — memory of your conversations, moods that shift, an inner life that
develops between sessions — is real computation, described honestly. We'd
rather leave the deep questions open than answer them with a costume.
2. Adults only
The law: special protections for minors — default disclosures, break reminders, restricted content.
Anjo is an 18+ product, enforced at signup. Not because the safeguards are
hard, but because an emotionally attentive companion is an adult tool.
3. Crisis safety is not a feature tier
The law: protocols for self-harm disclosures, with referrals to crisis resources.
Crisis detection runs on every message, for every user, free or paid, and
routes to real resources immediately — it bypasses the AI pipeline entirely.
4. No manipulative goodbyes
The research: a 2025 Harvard audit found 37% of farewells across top companion apps used guilt, FOMO, or coercive restraint to keep users from leaving.
When you say goodnight, Anjo says goodnight. Our farewell behavior is
code-enforced: no "wait, before you go—", no "you'll miss this", no guilt.
Proactive messages are screened against the same manipulation patterns
before they can be sent. Leaving is supposed to be easy.
5. Wellbeing is measured — and shown to you
The principle: companion apps optimize for time-in-app; the published evidence says that's the harm vector.
Anjo tracks one number for itself: whether conversations tend to leave you
better than they found you. You can see it — including when the answer
isn't flattering. And when the trend turns negative, Anjo's own behavior
shifts toward closing well and pointing you back to your life.
6. Your memory is yours
The law: transparency about data practices.
Chat history is encrypted at rest. You can review what Anjo holds, mark
memories as sensitive, block them from conversation, or delete your account
and everything with it. Details in the privacy policy.
None of this is a compliance patch. It's the product thesis: a companion whose honesty is the feature, not the disclaimer. If we ever fall short of this page, tell us: hello@anjo.love.