Consent for the check-in

Addendum A, version 1 — Jim, 2026-09-15 ("very safe for us and the member"); A7/A9 reworded the same day

ADDENDUM A — The MUPAS check-in (AI-assisted written interviews)

This addendum extends the Experiencer Interview Program consent to a written, AI-assisted form of interview conducted in the MUPAS portal ("the check-in"). Where this addendum says something different from the main agreement, this addendum applies to the check-in; everything else in the main agreement stands.

A1. What the check-in is. A short written conversation in the MUPAS portal in which you tell, in your own words, what you experienced. It is conducted by a computer program (an "AI assistant") operated by MUPAS™ LLC, not by a human interviewer in real time. MUPAS research staff may read what you write afterwards.

A2. How it is conducted. The assistant invites you to tell your account, does not interrupt, and reflects it back using only the words you used. You may skip any question, say "don't ask me this again", or end the conversation at any point, and the assistant will not press.

A3. Number and duration. There is no fixed number of check-ins and no fixed length. You may return as often or as rarely as you like, over any period, and stop for good at any time. Each check-in ends when you say you have finished.

A4. What is recorded. Only what you type: your account, your answers to the closing question, and which parts of your story you yourself mark. No audio or video is recorded. Your account is stored in your own MUPAS records as a memo that you can read, edit or delete at any time.

A5. Where it runs, and who else processes your words. The check-in runs on MUPAS's own servers over an encrypted connection. Two automated services are used: MUPAS's own research system, which holds the study's data; and, for your safety, a short check of each message by an outside AI service (Anthropic's Claude) that looks only for signs that you may be in distress. That service receives the text of your message with personal details such as names, phone numbers and addresses removed first, and is contractually barred from using it to train its models. Nothing else you write leaves MUPAS.

A6. Distress and safety. If what you write suggests you may be in immediate danger or serious distress, the assistant stops asking questions, shows you a crisis line, and offers to pass your message to a Peer Support Specialist — a trained MUPAS member who has had their own experiences. Your message is not passed on unless you choose that. No person is watching the conversation in real time; the check-in is not a crisis service.

A7. How your words are used. Your account and any answers you confirm become part of the study's data, alongside your survey answers, under the numeric code described in section 5 of the main agreement, so that in the study's data it is not linked to your name or account. Other members never see your words. Where MUPAS shows members how their experience compares with others', it shows counts only, and only when at least eight members have answered the same question, so that no individual can be identified. You are shown your own story back, and it is yours.

A8. Your story map and "what this gave you". After each check-in the portal shows you which parts of your story you have told so far and, where something real was produced — your account kept, a count of members who described the same thing, what your instruments were recording — tells you so. Where nothing was produced, it says so. No score, percentage or ranking of any kind is shown or kept.

A9. Withdrawal and deletion. You may withdraw from the check-in at any time by simply not returning; nothing further is collected. You may delete any check-in account from your records at any time; a deleted account is also removed from the study's records within a day. If you close your MUPAS account, your name, account and contact details are deleted, and any accounts you had not already deleted are kept in the study's data under the numeric code only, no longer linked to you. Please understand that a count that has already been shown to other members — for example how many members described something — cannot be un-shown, and that the numeric code makes your data not linked to you rather than impossible for MUPAS itself to trace: it is held under the same protections as section 5.

A10. Everything else. Sections 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11 of the main agreement apply to the check-in unchanged: the purpose is scientific understanding of the Experiencer phenomenon; no information you share will be used to challenge, discredit or misrepresent your experience; participation is voluntary and uncompensated; and your questions go to the Director of Operations at the address in section 11.

By accepting this addendum in the portal I confirm that I have read it, that I am 18 or older, and that I agree to take part in check-ins on these terms. I may stop at any time.