For people who get our messages

Got a text or call from StandingBy?

StandingBy is a safety check-in app. If an alert from us reached you, someone who knows you added you as a person to contact if they stop checking in, and a check-in they expected did not arrive, or they asked for help. Other texts from us only answer something you did, such as agreeing to be a contact, or, if you use StandingBy yourself, are about your own account and check-ins.

What it means

The message tells you what StandingBy knows: the person has not checked in, and how long it has been. It does not know why. Often it is a flat battery, no signal, or a forgotten phone. That is why the message asks you to try to reach them, and nothing more.

You may get more than one message:

• A follow-up if they still have not checked in, sometimes as a call. Automated calls use a recorded voice and say the same thing as the text. You may get two calls close together.
• A request for help if they press SOS in the app, even if they checked in recently.
• A link to where their phone last reported being, if they chose to share it with you. It stops working once that alert is resolved. StandingBy keeps the location from an alert for 30 days after the alert ends. If you are worried about the person, contact the police. They can ask us to keep it longer.
• An update when they check in or stop monitoring. If they are still using StandingBy, it says you may hear from this number again. It never says it was a false alarm or that they are safe, because StandingBy cannot know that.

Sometimes that update asks you to call them and confirm they are OK. That is because an all-clear can be sent under pressure. Hearing from them directly is the only way to be sure.

Why a number you do not know

Messages come from a StandingBy number, not the person's own phone, because their phone may be switched off or out of reach. The person who added you may have sent you a link to save the number. If you have that link, saving the number means our calls are less likely to be silenced.

Is this a scam?

Our messages will never:

• ask for money, a password, a bank or card number, or a security code,
• ask you to install anything before telling you what is happening,
• link anywhere except standingby.io and app.standingby.io.

Alerts to contacts also never include the person's phone number, anyone else's name or number, or anything private about their plans. (A check-in confirmation to a StandingBy user can name the contacts who will be told.) If a message claiming to be from StandingBy does any of these things, it is not from us. Please forward it to support@straightasoftware.com.

How to stop our messages

If more than one person has added you, withdrawing online stops our messages about one of them, and replying STOP stops our messages about all of them.

• Withdraw online. This stops our messages about the person you choose, and changes nothing about anyone else who added you. The link the person sent you lets you withdraw while it still works (links expire after 30 days). At any time, you can also withdraw on our website after confirming your number with a one-time code, without the link.
• Reply STOP to any text from the StandingBy number that alerted you. That stops our texts and automated calls to your number about everyone who has added you, not only one person. We send one text confirming it.
• Or tell us any other way, for example by emailing support@straightasoftware.com with your number, and whether you mean one person or everyone who added you. We act on what you ask.

Once you opt out, StandingBy will not be able to reach you about the people you stopped, even if they do not check in. After a STOP, that is everyone who added you. We tell each person affected, straight away, that we can no longer contact you, so they can choose someone else. If you replied STOP and change your mind, text START to the same number. We reply that texts can reach you again; if your alerts cannot restart that way, a second text asks you to confirm your number on our website. If you stopped another way, confirm your number on our website to agree again. After a STOP, agreeing again on our website also needs that texted START before we contact you.

Reply HELP to a text from the StandingBy number for information about our messages. Message and data rates may apply. The full terms are on the text message and call terms page.

What we store about you

Your phone number, and the name the person gave you when they added you. Also whether the number can receive texts and calls, whether you agreed to be contacted or opted out and when, the record that you confirmed your number with a code, the exact version of the wording you agreed to, whether you tapped to save our number, and a record of what we sent you. We do not sell your number or use it for marketing. You can ask us to delete your information by emailing support@straightasoftware.com: we stop contacting you at once, and 30 days later remove you from the lists of the people you agreed to be contacted about, unless you agree again before then. The privacy policy explains what we keep and for how long.