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Handoff

Privacy Policy (Beta)

Effective date: November 2, 2026 Handoff Network LLC · 5900 Balcones Drive, Ste 100, Austin, TX 78731 · privacy@handoffnetwork.com

This is our Privacy Policy for Handoff's early-access (beta) period. We will update it before general launch and let you know when we do.

1. Who we are and what Handoff is

Handoff ("Handoff," "we," "us") is an invite-only professional referral network operated by Handoff Network LLC. It helps licensed mental-health clinicians refer clients to, and check availability with, other clinicians they trust.

What Handoff is not. Handoff is not a healthcare provider and does not provide clinical services. We are not a HIPAA "covered entity," and we do not act as a "business associate" of our members. Handoff is designed so that protected health information (PHI) — information that identifies a specific client together with their care — is never submitted to or stored on the platform. Referrals are made using de-identified criteria chosen from fixed lists (for example, presenting-issue category, insurance type, or level of care). Client location is never stored, and each referral is labeled with a generated reference code rather than anything identifying the client. Exchanging a client's identity or contact details happens directly between clinicians, outside of Handoff. Members agree not to enter client-identifying information (see our Terms of Service).

2. Information we collect

Membership applications. When you apply to join, we collect your name, email, city and state, credentials, license number, website or LinkedIn, practice details, who referred you, and any note you include.

Account and professional profile. Your name, email address, professional credentials, practice details (specialties, approaches, populations served, languages, insurance and payment accepted, rates, service areas, in-person or telehealth, availability), optional public contact details and links, bio, and profile photo.

Referral and availability information. The de-identified criteria you choose when you send a referral or availability check, your referral activity and responses, and your connections, endorsements, and posts within the network.

Information about other clinicians you add. Members can save professional contacts who aren't Handoff members ("private contacts"), including their name, email, phone, credentials, practice details, and the member's notes, and can send them availability requests by email. See Section 7 if you're a clinician who received a message from Handoff without being a member.

Text messages. If you turn on text messaging, we collect your mobile number, a record of the consent you gave (including the wording and date), outgoing notices, delivery status, and recognized replies such as YES, STOP, or an availability choice. Handoff does not store the content of unrecognized free-form replies. Text notices contain a case reference and link, never client-identifying details.

Email and messaging records. Your email preferences, a record of optional emails we've sent (with the recipient's address stored in hashed form), and a record of addresses that have unsubscribed, so we can keep honoring those requests.

Technical information. Our hosting providers keep standard request logs, which include IP addresses. Handoff itself does not store visitors' IP addresses. To prevent abuse of our membership application form, we briefly keep a scrambled (hashed) version of the applicant's IP address and email address, then delete it within 24 hours. As we improve Handoff, we may also collect information about how the service is used, such as which features are used and where people get stuck.

We do not intentionally collect client PHI. If client-identifying information is submitted by mistake, we may remove it, and we ask members to remove it. Submitting it violates our Terms of Service.

3. How we use information

We use information to:

  • review membership applications and professional identities using websites and public professional information;
  • provide and operate the referral network, including matching and showing availability;
  • create and secure accounts and verify sign-ins;
  • send messages needed to run your account (such as sign-in links and referral and availability notifications) and, with the ability to unsubscribe, optional messages (such as reminders);
  • honor unsubscribe and text opt-out requests;
  • prevent abuse and enforce our Terms of Service;
  • understand how Handoff is used and improve it; and
  • comply with the law.

4. How we share information

  • Within the network, as Handoff is designed to work. Your profile and availability are visible to other members, and referrals and availability checks are shared with the clinicians you send them to.
  • With service providers that process information on our behalf:
    • Supabase — database, sign-in, and file storage
    • Vercel — website hosting and scheduled jobs
    • Resend — sending email
    • Telnyx and Twilio — sending and receiving text messages, depending on the configured provider
    • Cloudflare and Squarespace — domain, DNS, and email-forwarding services
    • Google — the inbox where emails sent to our support and privacy addresses are received
  • For legal and safety reasons, to comply with the law, respond to lawful requests, or protect the rights and safety of our members, the public, or Handoff.
  • In a business transfer, such as a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, subject to this policy.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for targeted advertising.

Mobile information and text consent. No mobile information or text-message opt-in consent will be sold or shared with third parties for promotional or marketing purposes. We use messaging service providers to deliver Handoff texts and honor opt-out requests.

5. How long we keep information

  • Account and profile information, including your private contacts, endorsements, posts, and any therapy groups you list: kept while your account exists and deleted when your account is deleted (see Section 6).
  • Referrals: we reduce the dates on every referral to the year (for example, January 1, 2026) as soon as the referral is finished or deleted, or 30 days after it was created, whichever comes first. Finished referrals, and the responses and notifications tied to them, are permanently deleted 90 days after they're finished. Referrals that are still open are kept until they're finished.
  • Notifications: deleted after 30 days.
  • Weekly availability check-in answers: deleted after 180 days.
  • Membership applications: an approved application is kept with your account. An application we turn down is deleted 180 days after the decision.
  • Invitations: if an invitation isn't used, the invited person's email address is deleted 90 days after the invitation expires.
  • Application-form abuse checks: the hashed IP address and email are deleted within 24 hours.
  • Email-delivery records (with the address in hashed form): deleted after 90 days.
  • Text-message records: deleted after one year. Records of your consent and opt-out choices (such as STOP, START, or YES, and our confirmations) are kept for five years, so we can show that we honored them. If you delete your account sooner, your text-message records are deleted with it.
  • Reports about a member's conduct: kept until reviewed, then deleted three years after the decision.
  • Unsubscribe and opt-out records: kept so we can continue honoring your request, even if you delete your account.

6. Your choices and rights

  • Email and text preferences. You can manage optional messages in your account settings and unsubscribe using the link or opt-out in any optional message. You can stop text messages at any time by replying STOP. We may still send messages needed to operate your account.
  • Access and correction. You can view and update your profile in the app. You may also ask us to provide or correct the personal information we hold about you by emailing privacy@handoffnetwork.com.
  • Deleting your account. You can delete your account yourself at any time: choose Delete account from the menu under your profile photo. Before you confirm, the page lists what will be deleted. You can also email privacy@handoffnetwork.com and we will do it for you. Deleting your account permanently deletes your sign-in, profile, photo, and the information tied to them, including referrals you sent and your text-message records. A few things stay:
    • referrals colleagues sent you stay in their records, so they can see what happened with their client, with your name removed (they're then deleted on the schedule in Section 5);
    • groups you started stay open for their other members;
    • unsubscribe and opt-out records, so we never contact you again after you've asked us to stop; and
    • anything else we must keep to comply with the law.

We will respond to requests within a reasonable time and as required by applicable law.

7. If you're not a Handoff member

A member may have saved your professional contact information or sent you an availability request through Handoff. You can unsubscribe from any such message using the link it contains, and you can ask us to remove your information by emailing privacy@handoffnetwork.com.

8. Security

We use administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards to protect information, including encryption in transit, access controls, database-level permissions, and logging. No method of transmitting or storing information is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Where information is stored

Handoff is hosted in the United States. If you use Handoff from outside the U.S., your information will be processed in the U.S.

10. Who may use Handoff

Handoff is for licensed professionals aged 18 or older. It is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will post the new effective date and, for material changes, notify you. Continuing to use Handoff after a change means you accept the updated policy.

12. Contact us

Questions or requests: privacy@handoffnetwork.com Handoff Network LLC, 5900 Balcones Drive, Ste 100, Austin, TX 78731