Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 6, 2026

Dr. ICU ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website askdricu.com (the "Service"). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your choices regarding your data.

We take your privacy seriously — especially given the health-related nature of questions you may ask. Please read this policy carefully.

1. Information We Collect

Information You Provide

Data Type	When Collected	Purpose
Health questions	When you ask Dr. ICU a question	To generate AI responses via the Anthropic API
Email address	When you subscribe to the digest	To send you health content updates

Information Collected Automatically

Data Type	Purpose
IP address	Rate limiting and abuse prevention
Browser/device type	Analytics and service improvement
Page interactions (questions asked, links clicked, features used)	Analytics and service improvement
Timestamps	Analytics and rate limiting

We do not use cookies for tracking. Analytics are collected via lightweight event beacons.

2. How We Use Your Information

AI Response Generation: Your questions are sent to Anthropic's Claude API to generate health information responses. Anthropic processes this data under their privacy policy. Anthropic does not use API inputs to train their models.
Service Improvement: We analyze aggregate usage patterns (popular topics, error rates, feature usage) to improve Dr. ICU.
Digest Emails: If you subscribe, we use your email address solely to send health content updates. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Abuse Prevention: IP addresses are used for rate limiting to prevent misuse. They are stored temporarily in server memory and not persisted to a database.

3. Health Information — Special Considerations

We are not a HIPAA-covered entity. Dr. ICU is not a healthcare provider, health plan, or healthcare clearinghouse. Your questions are not protected health information (PHI) under HIPAA.

However, we recognize that health questions may contain sensitive personal information. We recommend:

Do not include personally identifiable information (full name, date of birth, Social Security number, insurance ID) in your questions.
Ask general health questions rather than sharing specific medical records or test results with identifying information.

Your questions are transmitted to Anthropic's API over encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS). We do not store the full text of your questions in persistent databases beyond what is needed for the active conversation session.

4. Third-Party Services

We integrate with or link to the following third-party services:

Service	Purpose	Data Shared
Anthropic (Claude API)	AI response generation	Your questions and conversation context
Vercel	Website hosting and serverless functions	Standard web request data (IP, headers)
Affiliate partners (Quest Health, MyStart Health, Hims, TeleWellnessMD, and others)	Health service referrals	Only if you click an affiliate link — standard referral parameters, no health data

When you click an affiliate link, you leave our site and are subject to that partner's privacy policy. We do not share your health questions, email address, or personal information with affiliate partners.

5. Affiliate Disclosure

Dr. ICU participates in affiliate programs. When the AI suggests a next step (such as lab testing or a telehealth evaluation), the associated link may be an affiliate link through which we earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Affiliate relationships do not influence the AI's health information or recommendations. The AI generates responses based on medical evidence, not commercial partnerships.

For full details, see the Affiliate Disclosure section in our Terms of Service.

6. Data Retention

Questions: Conversation context is held in browser memory during your session and is not stored on our servers after the session ends.
Analytics events: Aggregated and anonymized; individual events are not tied to identifiable users.
Email addresses: Retained until you unsubscribe, at which point they are deleted within 30 days.
IP addresses: Held in temporary server memory for rate limiting only; not logged or persisted.

7. Data Sharing & Sales

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We do not share your data with third parties for their marketing purposes.

We may disclose information if required by law, legal process, or government request, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Dr. ICU or others.

8. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you
Delete your personal data (email subscription, etc.)
Opt out of analytics tracking
Withdraw consent for email communications at any time

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@askdricu.com.

California Residents (CCPA)

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, request its deletion, and opt out of its sale. We do not sell personal information. To make a request, email privacy@askdricu.com.

EU/EEA Residents (GDPR)

If you are located in the EU/EEA, our legal basis for processing your data is legitimate interest (providing the Service) and consent (email subscriptions). You have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing, and port your data. Contact privacy@askdricu.com to exercise these rights.

9. Children's Privacy

Dr. ICU is intended for users aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

10. Security

We use industry-standard security measures including:

HTTPS/TLS encryption for all data in transit
Serverless architecture with no persistent user data stores
Rate limiting to prevent abuse
API keys stored as server-side environment variables, never exposed to clients

No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. Your continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

12. Contact Us

For privacy-related questions or requests:

Email: privacy@askdricu.com