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Privacy Policy

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (988 Lifeline/988) Privacy Policy outlines how the 988 Lifeline collects, maintains, uses, discloses, and processes your personally identifiable information (PII) when you access the 988 Lifeline website and services. PII is information that can be used to distinguish or trace a person’s identity, either alone or when combined with other information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual. General examples of PII can include:

a.     Name, email address, work address, phone number, Social Security number.
b.     Medical or financial information and counseling notes.
c.     Files for a specific health condition that contains a list of treated patients.

By using any aspects of the 988 Lifeline services and website, you consent to this Privacy Policy and to the 988 Lifeline’s collection, maintenance, use, disclosure, and processing of your personal information, all as described in this Privacy Policy.

The 988 Lifeline is a 24/7 direct, nationwide crisis service consisting of federal, state, and local support. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (“SAMHSA”) provides federal funding and support to states, territories, a network administrator, and crisis contact centers. The network administrator administers the 988 Lifeline in accordance with a cooperative agreement with SAMHSA. The administrator is committed to carefully protecting your personal information in connection with the website and the 988 Services (call, text, chat, and videophone) that the 988 Lifeline provides.

Related policies and information that also apply to your use of the 988 Lifeline:

●      988 Lifeline Confidentiality FAQ
●      988 Lifeline Terms of Service
●      988 Lifeline Accessibility Statement

Key points and terms in this policy include:

Types of Users: The policy distinguishes between “help seekers,” who seek support by contacting the 988 Lifeline via call, text, chat, or videophone, and “site visitors,” people who are simply browsing the 988 Lifeline website.

Purposes of PII Data Collection: Collected data helps to provide services, which include quality care services, care continuity and coordination of care, inquiry response, service and website improvements, website security, research, health insurance billing, and for other purposes that are required by law.

Tracking Technologies: The 988 Lifeline uses cookies and other tracking technologies for analytics, recognizing returning site visitors, and enhancing the website experience. You can block cookies from your computer by opting out.

Data Sharing: The 988 Lifeline shares data with contracted service providers as needed for help seekers. This data sharing complies with applicable federal and state laws.

Data Security: The 988 Lifeline implements data security measures in alignment with federal and state laws to protect user information.

Policy Changes: Updates to the policy may occur. We recommend that you review this policy periodically. The 988 Lifeline will communicate major changes affecting your rights with a reasonable notice.
People with concerns about data security can contact the 988 Lifeline’s Privacy Officer. See contact information at the end of this document.

What Does This Policy Cover?

This Privacy Policy covers how the 988 Lifeline uses and discloses personal information that the 988 Lifeline gathers from you, beginning at the time that you first access our website or call, text, chat or use videophone. The 988 Lifeline administrator, and the individual 988 crisis contact centers (over 200 – view list) are dedicated to maintaining the privacy, integrity, and security of the personal information that the 988 Lifeline receives from help seekers.

What PII Do We Collect?

We use the term “Personal Information” to refer to information that the 988 Lifeline gathers that could be used to identify or contact you and any identifiable information the 988 Lifeline gathers concerning your use or potential use of 988 Lifeline services.

The information that the 988 Lifeline crisis contact centers collect about you is what you voluntarily tell crisis contact centers, whether that is through phone, text, chat, or videophone. When you are connected to a counselor, that person will take notes on the conversation. This means that any information you share in a conversation may be documented, along with the counselor’s impressions and the steps they took to help you.

The information collected could include:

1.) Contact information: First and last name, email address, phone number, or other contact information. This applies to information you give about yourself and about another person or other individuals if you are reaching out to help someone else.

2.) Counselor notes about your interaction, services, and care (including recommended resources, connections to emergency services, and follow-up care) that are provided.

3.) Your Internet Protocol (IP) address: This is a unique numerical label assigned to every device connected to the internet, essentially acting like an online address that allows devices to communicate with each other by identifying their location on the network.

4.) Details of your device’s characteristics and functionality (e.g., device type, browser, operating system, mobile network information).

5.) The pages and documents that you viewed on the website. See cookies for more information about cookie consent.

6.) Your general location for phone routing to the closest local crisis contact center. Learn more about call routing.

7.) Call recordings or chat/text transcripts used to improve 988 service or to evaluate complaints.

Why Does the 988 Lifeline Collect Personal Information?

Information gathered enables the 988 Lifeline:

Security and referral purposes

  • To manage the security of the site.
  • To do everything we can to ensure that anyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline and is identified as in immediate danger receives immediate care (to the extent possible). This may mean connection to 911/Emergency Medical Services.
  • To identify or contact you and any identifiable information the 988 Lifeline gathers concerning your use or potential use of 988 Lifeline services.
  • With your consent, and as appropriate during the interaction, the 988 Lifeline counselor may share your information to help connect you in the moment with other services that could help you with your clinical need or when sharing that information is necessary for your care and safety.

Research related and improving services

  • To personalize and improve our website and 988 Lifeline Services.
  • To respond to your inquiries, whether from site visitors or help seekers.
  • To provide connections to resources, referrals, and tailored help that meet your specific needs and circumstances, including support after your contact with the 988 Lifeline.
  • To obtain your feedback on our services.
  • To understand who is using 988 Lifeline Services and how those services are performing.
  • To provide supervision, training, and quality improvement to 988 Lifeline crisis counselors.
  • To conduct research that reports results in aggregate form such as patterns around the use of the 988 Lifeline and referrals from 988.
  • Call recordings or chat/text transcripts used to improve 988 Lifeline service or to evaluate complaints.
  • The 988 Lifeline uses Tracking Technologies for a variety of purposes that the 988 Lifeline believes to be necessary or helpful in improving or assessing the performance of the website and online 988 Lifeline services (for example, as part of our analytics practices, recognizing returning site visitors, and enhancing the website experience).
  • The website uses cookies to enhance the experiences of help seekers and site visitors by understanding how they engage with and navigate our website and the 988 Lifeline Services.
  • If you choose to interact with us or our partners on social media sites by posting to our pages, tagging us (or using certain hashtags or other identifiers) in posts, or participating in activities, we may collect certain information from the social media account you use to interact with us, including the name associated with the account, the account handle, recent activity, the content of any posts in which we are tagged, and other information that may be contained on your social media profile to allow us to respond to the posts and understand and engage with our audience.
  • The 988 Lifeline automatically receives and records usage information from your browser on our server logs whenever you interact with the website or other online communication aspects of the 988 Services (e.g., chat or videophone). The 988 Lifeline may use this usage information to provide you with support. The 988 Lifeline also may use this usage information to recognize you when you arrive at the website from an external link such as a link appearing on a third-party site or in an email generated by us. We discuss this type of technology in more detail under “Tracking Technologies” above. Our website also collects usage information to determine how often site visitors and help seekers use parts of the site or other aspects of 988 Services so that the 988 Lifeline can improve its services and support as many help seekers in the best ways possible.

Legal reasons

  • To fulfill any requirements imposed on us or the 988 Lifeline by applicable laws and regulations.
  • 988 Lifeline shares data with contracted service providers as needed for help seekers. This data sharing complies with applicable federal and state laws.
  • to provide services, which include quality care services, care continuity and coordination of care, inquiry response, service and website improvements, website security, research, health insurance billing, and for other purposes that are required by law.
  • The 988 Lifeline does not require you to verify your identity to receive services, but you may be required to verify your identity to exercise certain rights. Your rights in relation to your Personal Information varies depending upon state laws.
  • If you are a help seeker, the 988 Lifeline may share, transfer, or otherwise disclose your Personal Information to entities that are authorized to receive that information for legally permitted purposes.
  • The 988 Lifeline may use that De-identified data without restriction in any way permitted by applicable law.

How Long Does the 988 Lifeline Keep Your Personal Information?

The 988 Lifeline and crisis contact centers maintain all contact records for a minimum

period of three years. The crisis contact centers have created policies and procedures for the safe storage and access of your contact records, along with appropriate destruction of records following the required maintenance period.

Also, each individual crisis contact center has created policies and procedures for the safe storage and access of any recordings and transcripts, along with appropriate destruction of such recordings and transcripts following the required maintenance period. These crisis contact centers are required to comply with all applicable state and federal laws.

The 988 Lifeline will only keep your personal data for a minimum of three years up to as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we are allowed to use them, as set out in this Privacy Policy, or as required by law.

What are my individual rights?

  • The 988 Lifeline does not require you to verify your identity to receive services, but you may be required to verify your identity to exercise certain rights. Your rights in relation to your Personal Information varies depending upon state laws.
  • Your rights may include the ability to make the following requests. In some cases, such requests may require that you provide your proof of identification and verification that person requesting information was the initial help seeker. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that your identity has been verified before executing requests. If the information can’t be verified, the request will not be fulfilled.  You have the right to:
    • Access your specific data, as well as confirm your approval to process data. Processing can include collecting, storing, retrieving, using, disclosing, deleting, modifying, sharing or destroying your data. This also may include the categories of data to whom we disclosed your information.
    • Transfer or obtain a copy of your record in a structured, machine-readable, or portable format.
    • Correct or amend your information if it is incomplete, inaccurate, or outdated.
    • Request deletion. Subject to applicable law, we may either delete or de-identify this data rather than deleting it completely.
    • Restrict or limit excessive or unlawful processing, where the accuracy of the data is contested.
    • Object to or opt-out of processing of your data, depending on state and federal laws. Revoke (or manage) consent where it is the basis for processing, which may include cases where the data is sensitive or is the data pertaining to children. Where consent is revoked, we will not further process that data unless required or otherwise permitted by applicable law.
  • Restrict or limit. In some jurisdictions, you may have the right to restrict some processing of your data if the data is sensitive and used for purposes outside of requested services. You may contact the Privacy Officer (see contact details below) to inquire about restricting data.

Exercising your rights

Submitting a Request

To submit a request as described above, please Contact Us, email our Privacy Officer, or send a letter [KE2] to the following address:

Vibrant Emotional Health
80 Pine Street 18th and 19th floor
New York, NY 10005

You may also submit a request by calling: 347-834-2235

Request Verification

We can only respond to your request to the Privacy Officer if it is verifiable. Because the 988 Lifeline does not require verification of your identity when we provide service, a court order may be required for you to access your record.

We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable help seeker request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded as deemed by the 988 Network Administrator. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

Tracking Technologies

The 988 Lifeline website may use various tracking methods or technologies (“Tracking Technologies”) to store or collect your usage information (data collected on how a user interacts with a product, service, or system, including interaction patterns and frequency of use), including information about your visits to or interactions with our site and the online aspects of the 988 Lifeline services. The 988 Lifeline uses Tracking Technologies for a variety of purposes that the 988 Lifeline believes to be necessary or helpful in improving or assessing the performance of the website and online 988 Lifeline services (for example, as part of our analytics practices).

Tracking Technologies may include the following technologies and methods as well as any subsequent technologies and methods later developed to perform similar functions:

Cookies. Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that the 988 Lifeline transfers to your device through your browser to enable our systems to recognize your browser and to tell us how and when you visit pages in our website or online aspects of the 988 Lifeline Services. The website uses cookies to enhance the experiences of help seekers and site visitors by understanding how they engage with and navigate our website and the 988 Lifeline Services. Regular cookies may be disabled or removed generally by adjusting certain settings available as part of most browsers. In some (but not all) cases, these tools can block those cookies in the future. Each browser that you use would need to be set separately, and different browsers offer different functionality and options in this regard. In addition, these tools may not be effective for certain types of cookies (e.g., HTML5 cookies). You may also accept or reject cookies when you visit our website via the Cookie Consent banner. These cookie settings will apply to your session and have an auto-expiration.

Embedded Scripts. An embedded script is programming code designed to collect information about your interactions with the website and the online 988 Services, such as a link that you may click on. Embedded scripts are temporarily downloaded onto your device. Embedded scripts remain active only while you are connected to the website and are then deactivated or deleted.

This Privacy Policy refers only to the use of cookies and other Tracking Technologies by the 988 Lifeline administrator and does not cover the use of any Tracking Technologies by any other third parties. To confirm how any third party collects or uses your information, please refer to that third party’s website.

Google Analytics: 988 Lifeline may employ tools provided by Google Analytics to support advertising and website analytics. This means that third-party vendors, including Google, may show you public health campaign advertisements created by 988 Lifeline and its agencies on non-government websites. The Google Analytics Privacy Policy is available at https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/ 

Third-party websites and applications used by the 988 Lifeline

The 988 Lifeline maintains pages or accounts on third-party websites to better engage and communicate with the public. Third-party websites are websites that we do not maintain or control. We have accounts on some third-party websites so we can connect with people interested in the 988 Lifeline.

Examples of third-party websites that the 988 Lifeline uses include YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and X/Twitter.

When you are interacting with the 988 Lifeline for social media or help-seeking purposes on third-party websites, their privacy policies apply.

If you have an account or profile with a third-party website and choose to follow, like, friend, or comment on a page or social media account managed by the 988 Lifeline (e.g., 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Facebook page,) certain PII associated with your account may be available to us based on the privacy policies of the third-party website and your privacy settings within that website. We do not share PII available through these websites. You can revoke our access to the information you provide at any time by amending the appropriate settings from within your account settings on the applicable social media sites.

If you choose to interact with us or our partners on social media sites by posting to our pages, tagging us (or using certain hashtags or other identifiers) in posts, or participating in activities, we may collect certain information from the social media account you use to interact with us, including the name associated with the account, the account handle, recent activity, the content of any posts in which we are tagged, and other information that may be contained on your social media profile to allow us to respond to the posts and understand and engage with our audience.

Information from your browser or device

The 988 Lifeline automatically receives and records usage information from your browser on our server logs whenever you interact with the website or other online communication aspects of the 988 Services (e.g., chat or videophone). The 988 Lifeline may use this usage information to provide you with support. The 988 Lifeline may also use this usage information to recognize you when you arrive at the website from an external link such as a link appearing on a third-party site or in an email generated by us. We discuss this type of technology in more detail under “Tracking Technologies” above. Our website also collects usage information to determine how often site visitors and help seekers use parts of the site or other aspects of 988 Services so that the 988 Lifeline can improve its services and support as many help seekers in the best ways possible.

You may set your browser to refuse or disable these data collection methods, but doing so may change your experience with the website or the 988 Lifeline services. For example, the website may not recognize or respond to your browser in the same way with “do not track” technologies employed.

Some states use telecom fees to support 988 services much like they do for 911. You may see a telecom fee on your cell phone bill, but this is not related to your individual contact with 988. This is a fee approved by your state that may appear monthly on your bill if applicable.

Data Sharing

Who do we share your information with? And why?
With your consent, and as appropriate during the interaction, the 988 Lifeline counselor may share your information to help connect you in the moment with other services that could help you with your clinical need, or when sharing that information is necessary for your care and safety. Examples of this are:

  • Facilitating a mental health counseling appointment
  • Finding a shelter placement
  • Making a mobile crisis referral for you
  • Intervening in a life-threatening situation

Note that: Using the 988 Lifeline is free. When you call, text, or chat the 988 Lifeline, your conversation is confidential.

Privacy is an individual’s right to control their personal information and decide who has access to it. Confidentiality is an organization’s duty to protect and manage sensitive information entrusted to them. If you are a help seeker, the 988 Lifeline may share, transfer, or otherwise disclose your Personal Information to entities that are authorized to receive that information for legally permitted purposes. Examples could include:

  • Complying with applicable laws
  • Responding to a subpoena or warrant of a court of law or a court with similar legal authority with jurisdiction
  • Enforcing conditions of use
  • Complying with our contractual obligations
  • Protecting the rights, property, or safety of the 988 Lifeline administrator and/or crisis contact centers.
  • Ensuring continuity of care, billing purposes, or quality assurance as required or allowed by state and federal laws and regulations. You have the right to request opting out of the sharing of your Personal Information for the purposes of care coordination and/or payment.
  • In accordance with local center agreement to share data with state (see “Data Security Guidance for States Accessing 988 Data”).

The 988 Lifeline also shares information gathered during 988 Lifeline conversations in aggregate (combined non-identifiable data numbers) in reports provided to funders and the community at large about the use of our service, and the needs of people seeking help.

To both determine effectiveness and help improve service, the 988 Lifeline may engage with external research teams who would have access to 988 Lifeline conversation data under strict confidentiality and data protections, e.g., limited access and HIPAA Privacy Rule.  In most cases, a researcher will be required to obtain a legally effective informed consent from the individual or from the individual’s legally authorized representative, unless there is an exemption or waiver of informed consent under applicable laws and regulations.

If necessary and required by law, the 988 Lifeline will disclose any breach of the security, confidentiality, or integrity of your Personal Information, including, without limitation, breaches of your unencrypted, electronically stored Personal Information or Health Information (as defined by applicable laws). To the extent permitted by applicable laws, the 988 Lifeline may make these disclosures to you in the most expedient manner and time possible and without unreasonable delay, so long as we have a means of contacting you and it is consistent with the legitimate needs of law enforcement and any other measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and assists to restore the reasonable integrity of the data system.

The 988 Lifeline only shares Personal Information from help seekers in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Contracted Parties:

The 988 Lifeline employs other people and companies to perform tasks on our behalf such as IT companies and cloud storage providers, and the 988 Lifeline must share your information with them to provide services to you. In addition, to the extent the 988 Lifeline shares Personal Information with these parties, the 988 Lifeline shares with them only the amount of information that is minimally necessary to assist us.

De-identified Data

As described in our Terms of Service, the 988 Lifeline may de-identify Personal Information that you share with us or otherwise process them so that they are no longer attributable or linkable to you without additional information (“De-identified Data”). The 988 Lifeline may use that De-identified data without restriction in any way permitted by applicable law. For example, the 988 Lifeline might use De-identified data to understand, evaluate, or modify the website or the online 988 Services, or to generate statistical information that the 988 Lifeline shares with other third parties who are evaluating, analyzing, accrediting, or researching the 988 Lifeline. When an applicable law requires that the 988 Lifeline use a particular method of de-identifying data or rendering it no longer attributable to you, the 988 Lifeline will comply with that law. Otherwise, the 988 Lifeline may use a method that is appropriate under the circumstances and would not reasonably identify you.

Data Mining

The 988 Lifeline/and or the 988 Lifeline Administrator does not sell your personal data for money or other consideration, nor share it for direct or behavioral marketing purposes to unrelated third parties.

Right to opt-out or object

What are my rights to opt-out?
We are committed to protecting your privacy and confidentiality.

If permitted or required by applicable law, at any time during the call/chat/text, you have the right to opt out of having your Personal Information shared with third parties including other participating health care providers or other people for purposes such as treatment, research, or public health. The exception to this right to opt out is if the help seeker is at imminent risk.

If you wish to opt out of having your Personal Information shared, please contact the 988 Lifeline’s Privacy Officer. See contact information at the end of the Privacy Policy.

Protected Health Information under HIPAA

Notwithstanding any other provisions in this policy, entities covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) must comply with HIPAA requirements when using or disclosing Protected Health Information as defined in the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

Data Security

Is my Personal Information secure?
The 988 Lifeline employs industry-standard administrative, physical, and technical measures designed to safeguard and protect information from unauthorized access, use, and disclosure. In addition, when the 988 Lifeline collects, maintains, uses, discloses, and processes your Personal Information, the 988 Lifeline will do so using systems and processes consistent with the information privacy and security requirements of applicable federal and state laws and best practices.

SAMHSA requires all 988 state and territory grantees to adhere to data security standards through a cooperative agreement. Additionally, states must comply with applicable federal and state laws and regulations. The Network Administrator, through a Network Agreement, provides guidance that each 988 Lifeline crisis contact center must incorporate cybersecurity standards and protections that are consistent with the HHS Cybersecurity Performance Goals to protect 988-related infrastructure and user information. In addition, the 988 crisis contact centers are required to have formal information such as security and privacy policies, refreshed annually, including a security assessment plan. These policies cover all business geographies and functions including those performed by subcontractors.

The 988 Lifeline exercises great care to protect your Personal Information. However, the 988 Lifeline cannot ensure the security or confidentiality of any systems or connections that you use to transmit information to us. Furthermore, although the 988 Lifeline takes great care to protect your Personal Information, the 988 Lifeline cannot guarantee that those who act unlawfully will not succeed in efforts to undermine our security measures. Unauthorized entry to, access to, or use of our systems or locations, hardware or software failure, data loss, and other factors may compromise the security of your information at any time.

If you have reason to believe that your data or your interactions with us are no longer secure or if you have questions related to privacy or data security, you may contact us in any of the manners described at the end of this Privacy Policy.

Future updates to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated periodically after consultation with SAMHSA to reflect changes in our data practices related to Personal Information. We will post the most recent version of this Privacy Policy on the website and indicate at the top of the privacy policy when it was most recently updated. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will become effective when posted.

Use of information the 988 Lifeline collects is subject to the Privacy Policy (and, as relevant, the Confidentiality FAQ) in effect at the time the information is used or disclosed. You are responsible for checking this Privacy Policy periodically for changes. By continuing to use or access the website or the online 988 Lifeline Services after any changes come into effect, you agree to be bound by the updated Privacy Policy.

Privacy Contact Information

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or the 988 Lifeline’s privacy practices, please Contact Us, email our Privacy Officer, or send a letter to the following address:[KE4]

Vibrant Emotional Health
80 Pine Street 18th and 19th floor
New York, NY 10005

You may also call: 347-834-2235

We will make every effort to respond to your questions, concerns, and requests within a reasonable time.

Last Updated: August 2026