MHTS

Anonymous by Design

The mental health technology must not extract identity in order to offer stabilisation. Emotional support must not be contingent on disclosure.

Requirements

• No name capture
• No email capture
• No identifiable personal data capture

The technology exists to support the person, not to harvest the person.

No Behavioural Surveillance

User presence must never be treated as a data asset. Trust cannot coexist with hidden observation.

Requirements

• No cookies
• No cross-site tracking
• No third-party behavioural profiling
• No undisclosed data flows

Privacy must be structural. Not optional, not policy-based, not implied.

Frictionless Access in Distress

In acute emotional states, friction compounds harm. A stabilisation tool must not introduce barriers at the moment it is most needed.

Requirements

• Immediate use of stabilisation tools
• No login gates
• No registration barriers
• No unnecessary navigation

Access must be immediate, simple, and cognitively light.

Stabilisation Before Interpretation

In distress states, the nervous system must be regulated before reflection, insight, or education is introduced. Sequence of care is part of safety design.

Requirements

• Physiological down-regulation first
• Reflection, analysis, or education second

A dysregulated mind cannot absorb instruction.

No Dependency Engineering

Mental health technology must not cultivate reliance in order to remain relevant. Engagement must never depend on repeated vulnerability.

Encouragement toward skill-building is appropriate. Design that depends on emotional destabilisation for retention is not.

Requirements

• No streak-based retention systems
• No reward loops tied to emotional recurrence
• No artificial urgency or scarcity triggers
• No shame-based reminders
• No notifications designed to reactivate vulnerability

The aim is reduced long-term reliance, not habitual return.

Human Escalation Supremacy

Digital tools must never position themselves as a substitute for human care. Technology may assist regulation, but it must not claim authority over treatment.

Requirements

• Clear access to real human emotional support services
• Clear access to local emergency services

When digital support reaches its limit, human support must be immediately accessible.

Public Accountability

Non-identifiable data collected by the mental health technology must be publicly visible. Emotional and mental health effectiveness and impact must be open to public verification.

Requirements

• Public access to the non-identifiable data
• Clear explanation of how effectiveness and impact are measured
• Explicit confirmation of no third-party behavioural data processors

Transparency strengthens accountability. Accountability protects users.