Privacy notice

Protagonist is an AI career guide at protagonistguide.com, operated by Protagonist (getprotagonist.com). This page says what we store when you use it on iMessage or the web, who else sees it, and how to have it deleted. Last updated 2026-10-22.

This page

This page sets no cookies and loads no ads, pixels, analytics or other third-party scripts. It does not collect anything you type. When you tap the button, your own device opens a text message or the chat.

What we store

Your messages and the AI's replies.
Your plan card: the step, the date you picked, and whether you reported it done.
If you text us: your phone number or Apple Account email address so we can reply, and a hashed copy used for rate limits and alerts.
If you arrived from an ad: the campaign details in the address (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term, utm_content and the ad click id gclid) on the web, or the short campaign code in your first text. We attach them to your conversation record so we can count which ads bring people here.
That you confirmed you are 18 or older and accepted these notices, with the time.
Simple event counts tied to a random session id, not to a name, for example: that you started, passed the 18+ question, got a step, created a card, reported it done, stopped, or (on Explore) asked about programs, degrees or schools. That last one is a count only; nothing about you goes to any school.

Why we use it

Operations: to reply to you and keep the service working.
Safety: messages are checked for signs of crisis so a person on our team can be alerted, and so the guide can give you 988, 741741 and 911 information.
Measuring whether people complete their step: we count how many people get a step and how many report finishing it, so we can tell whether the guide helps.

We do not sell your information, we do not share it with advertisers, and we do not use ad pixels. Protagonist staff and the people who run our servers can read stored conversations, to improve the guide, check its quality, investigate problems and keep it safe.

Who else sees it

OpenRouter: the AI model service that writes replies and screens messages for crisis. We ask for zero data retention. The model providers behind it handle data under their own terms.
Sendblue: delivers iMessages, under its own terms.
Our hosting and backups: copies of our database kept on our own systems.
Where the guide looks up public web pages to check a link or a fact, it sends a search query it writes from your words to a search provider, under that provider's terms.

Stopping

Reply STOP on iMessage and we stop messaging you at once. We keep your identifier on a do-not-message list so we never message it again. STOP does not delete your conversation.

Delete your data

Text or type "delete my data" in the conversation, or email [email protected]. We then delete your conversation, card and stored contact details from our systems.

How long we keep it

We keep a conversation until you ask us to delete it.

Who this is for

You must be 18 or older. We do not knowingly keep information from anyone younger.

Changes

We will update this page and its date if this changes.