I never post here but I'm a huge fan of this and what you're doing. I am going to share this around with folks I know will benefit from this.
Launch HN: Quirk (YC S19) – Open-Source Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
61–70 of 95 posts
Re: Launch HN: Quirk (YC S19) – Open-Source Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Because we're a paid product, we have little incentive to read your thoughts or strip-mine your data. We're in the business of making you feel better; we're not reading your deepest darkest secrets to figure out how to sell you shoes or something. We don't want to know your thoughts. Unless someone explicitly tells us otherwise, we treat them like passwords. I trust you when you say this, and I trust that you are b…
> I do not trust the incentive structures of Silicon Valley to permit you to adhere to this principle. Neither do I! My point is more so that we try to take steps not just to say "hey we don't read your thoughts" but also to align the incentive systems so that 10 years down the line we're at least pointed in the right direction.
Why not switch to a Patreon model and give people simple “export all data as markdown/json” inside every version of the app?
In that way there’s less incentive for the business to become potentially untrustworthy, but if it does, people’s emotional investments are still protected by being firmly in their own hands.
Re: Launch HN: Quirk (YC S19) – Open-Source Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
What user data do you store? Do you sell user data? How do you protect user data? I trust your founding story, and I truly believe you are acting in good faith, with positive intentions. I think your rationale for a subscription model is wise & insightful. However, recent history has taught me to be cynical. I have to think there's a market for more and higher-resolution emotional profiles to open up new targeted adv…
To answer the obvious question: we don't store your thoughts. We store anonymous behavioral info like strings of "USER-a23o13jaf signed on to a free trial." Then our bug-checking system also stores some anonymous device info like what phone you're using, how big it is, the language you're on, that sort of thing. We don't sell your data. That's pretty scummy. We protect user data by collecting as little as possible an…
To improve trust: allow each user to see the raw data that’s sent with every request and when. Default telemetry to on as you’re open about collecting it (and it necessary for debugging), but allow people to turn it off completely.
You could even store it on-device just in case a user has a problem later and decided to help by sending past telemetry.
Re: Launch HN: Quirk (YC S19) – Open-Source Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
#64How do you guarantee privacy? I know it's open source, but I can't see how I can check that the app store version is an exact copy of the OSS version. Obviously, I really would not like to see my most intimate thoughts end up for sale at some information broker.
This is a great question. Is there a technical way to prove that an iOS or Android app is built from a specific git commit revision? And what about a web app? I know that these apps are signed but can a signed app be tagged with a transparent revision number which cannot be tampered with. Kind of like a sha2 hash that can be reproduced by building the same source code.
Re: Launch HN: Quirk (YC S19) – Open-Source Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
#651) How will migration to new iOS devices work if the thoughts are only stored locally? 2) I popped the app open when I found it, but haven't used it yet. One thought I had then, I'll share here: if it doesn't have a mode similar to the Lotus Bud app, it might be nice to have something like that. Basically, you can set up the Lotus Bud app to check in randomly during the day (window of time, and frequency are both con…
1 - At the moment, we don't. :( One of the next things we'll be working on is an end-to-end encrypted cloud sync. So we won't storing the "raw" thoughts, but you'll still be able to get access to them. 2 - Ah, our reminder notifications kind of work like that, but we'll probably try to make that more configurable as the days go on.
1 - DayOne (and to a lesser extent 1Password) had problems from this. Both supported Dropbox initially which was great for privacy-conscious users as it was user-controlled sync, and easier on the company as they didn’t have a server infrastructure (or much of the accountability). They’re both now pushing for sync to their own cloud (helps drive the subscription model) and it’s starting to show if you look at the behaviour of those same privacy-conscious folks.
I think it may be a mistake to move to “trust our black box” cloud sync in your case as you’re asking trust of the very people who in some cases have feared trust backfiring for their whole lives.
Re: Launch HN: Quirk (YC S19) – Open-Source Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
#66I've actually been building something similar myself. Although mine is mostly just for tracking stuff in your life and forming statistical analysis from the data. And I do nearly everything server-side.
I think you guys should set up a website to explain and promote this a bit better. Basically how you introduced it here but just on a website.
Re: Launch HN: Quirk (YC S19) – Open-Source Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
#67I've actually been building something similar myself. Although mine is mostly just for tracking stuff in your life and forming statistical analysis from the data. And I do nearly everything server-side. I think you guys should set up a website to explain and promote this a bit better. Basically how you introduced it here but just on a website.
Check it out! :) www.quirk.fyi
Re: Launch HN: Quirk (YC S19) – Open-Source Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
#68I was dissapointed to open the app again - I had been using it frequently when I switched to paper thought-records. When I reopened it I was greeted with a paywall.
Alternatives on iOS exist such as Thought Record that are free. Until there is an obvious value proposition that differs from free alternatives, I see no need to pay merely for a 'quirkier' interface.
Re: Launch HN: Quirk (YC S19) – Open-Source Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
#69I was dissapointed to open the app again - I had been using it frequently when I switched to paper thought-records. When I reopened it I was greeted with a paywall. Alternatives on iOS exist such as Thought Record that are free. Until there is an obvious value proposition that differs from free alternatives, I see no need to pay merely for a 'quirkier' interface.
This is due to a bug where some folks didn't get caught up as "free forever."
Send me an email and I'll fix this for you and give you the app for free: ejc@quirk.fyi
Hopefully you'll like the new version as well!
Re: Launch HN: Quirk (YC S19) – Open-Source Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
#70I've actually been building something similar myself. Although mine is mostly just for tracking stuff in your life and forming statistical analysis from the data. And I do nearly everything server-side. I think you guys should set up a website to explain and promote this a bit better. Basically how you introduced it here but just on a website.
Check it out! :) www.quirk.fyi
Cool thanks! Now this explains a lot more of what I'd want to hear as a potential user