This document reflects the strategy we've refined since our founding in 2021, incorporating feedback from our team and the wider community. While the journey to widespread mental wellness support is ongoing, this Charter will guide us in acting in the best interests of humanity throughout our development.
Umbrella Journal's mission is to ensure that everyone has access to tools that promote mental well-being—by which we mean accessible and effective systems that assist individuals in maintaining a positive mindset and overcoming negative thought patterns. We aim to directly build safe and beneficial technologies that seamlessly integrate psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, and mental health practices. To that end, we commit to the following principles:
We commit to using any influence we obtain to ensure our mental health solutions benefit all, avoiding any uses that could harm individuals or unduly concentrate power.
Our primary duty is to humanity. We anticipate needing to marshal substantial resources to fulfill our mission but will always act diligently to minimize conflicts of interest among our employees and stakeholders that could compromise broad benefit.
We are committed to conducting the research required to make our mental health tools safe and effective, and to promoting the broad adoption of such research across the mental health community.
We are concerned about mental health innovation becoming a competitive race without adequate safety and ethical considerations. Therefore, if a value-aligned, safety-conscious project advances in a way that could benefit from our support, we commit to stop competing and start assisting this project. We will work out specifics in case-by-case agreements.
To be effective at addressing mental health's impact on society, Umbrella Journal must be at the forefront of mental health innovation—policy and advocacy alone are insufficient.
We believe that technological advancements will have a broad societal impact on mental well-being, and we'll strive to lead in areas directly aligned with our mission and expertise.
We will actively cooperate with other research and policy institutions; we seek to create a global community working together to address mental wellness challenges.
We are committed to providing public goods that help society navigate the path to better mental health. Today, this includes publishing much of our research, but we expect that safety and privacy concerns will shape our sharing practices in the future, increasing the importance of collaborative safety, policy, and standards research.
We prioritize the ethical development and deployment of our technologies. Our solutions are created with respect for user autonomy, promoting positive mental health without manipulation or unintended negative consequences.
We are committed to upholding the highest standards of privacy and data security. We ensure that users' personal thoughts and information remain confidential and protected, preventing misuse or unauthorized access.
We maintain open communication about how our technologies work and how user data is handled. Building trust with our users is paramount to our mission, and we strive for transparency in our actions and decisions.
We are dedicated to promoting positive mental health practices, helping users identify and overcome negative thought patterns through supportive and non-judgmental guidance.
We acknowledge the significant impact our technology can have on society and take responsibility for its role in the mental health space. We are devoted to using our innovations to make a positive difference in the lives of our users.
