The Mobile Therapy system app is called SelfEcho. Currently the SelfEcho app is available on the iPhone via the Apple App Store and on Android via the Google Play Store. In order to use the app you will require an activation code, provided by your clinician. This code, as well as a link to download the app, is sent to you automatically by email when your clinician enrolls you in Mobile Therapy.

For iOS/iPhone Users:

1. Are you using an iPhone 5, 5S, 6 or 6+?

The SelfEcho app is optimized for newer iPhones, including the 5, 5S, 6 and 6+. If you are using an older device the app may still run but will not be able to utilize all of the same features that newer iPhones offer.

2. Are you running the latest version of iOS (Apple’s iPhone software)?

The SelfEcho app is designed to run on iOS 7.1 and newer. To check if your software is up to date follow these steps:

1. Open “Settings” on your iPhone
2. Select “General” from the list
3. Select “Software Update” from the list
4. If an update is available click “Install Now” to download

      (Keep in mind that your phone may need to be plugged in or connected to Wi-Fi before you can install the update)

3. Have you updated your SelfEcho app recently?

We are continually releasing new versions of the app with improvements. To update you app follow these steps:

1. Open the “App Store” on your iPhone
2. Click on the “Updates” icon in the lower right-hand corner
3. A list of apps will appear. If SelfEcho is listed and has a blue button on the right that says “Update”, click this button

(Depending on your settings you may have to enter you iTunes password before you can update the app)

 

For Android Users:

1. Are you using an newer (past 2 years) Android device?

The SelfEcho app is optimized for newer iPhones, including the (TBD). If you are using an older device the app may still run but will not be able to utilize all of the same features that newer offer.

2. Are you running the latest version of KitKat (Google smartphone software)?

The SelfEcho app is designed to run on KitKat 4.4.4 and newer. To check if your software is up to date follow these steps:

1. Open “Settings” on your Android device
2. Select “Software Updates” from the list
3. If an update is available click “Install Update” to download

      (Keep in mind that your phone may need be plugged in or connected to Wi-Fi before you can install the update)

3. Have you updated your SelfEcho app recently?

We are continually releasing new versions of the app with improvements. To update you app follow these steps:

1. Open the “Google Play Store” on your Android Device
2. Click on the “Updates” icon in the lower right-hand corner
3. A list of apps will appear. If SelfEcho is listed and has a blue button on the right that says “Update”, click this button

(Depending on your settings you may have to enter you Google Play password before you can update the app)

 

Still having issues?

MT is a new technology and software always has bugs. If you believe you have encountered a technical issue please visit www.selfecho.com/reportbugs and complete the form provided. We appreciated your patience and cooperation in helping us to quickly resolve any issues.

Only your clinician has access to the information you input while using the SelfEcho app. As a client your data is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Federally law prohibits transfer of Personal Health Information (PHI) without explicit consent from the individual to whom the PHI belongs.

 

MT is a company run by leading psychology research professors who are very interested in using MT data to advance clinical and academic knowledge and improve the human condition. Your data may be used for Institutional Review Board approved research purposes however; your data will have been made completely anonymous (stripped of all personally identifying information) and aggregated with the anonymous data of thousands of other users.

 

You own your PHI and are entitled to access it. We recommend consulting with your clinician if you are interested in seeing your data as such information is intended to be interpreted by a healthcare professional. To request a copy of your data as a csv or excel file please send an email request with your full name, registered, email address, and the name of your clinician to data@selfecho.com.

MT holds privacy in the highest regard. Our system conforms to all HIPAA digital and physical security protocols, which are comparable to the security standards used for high-level banking transactions. Our database and access to the web application are SSL secured and encrypted to meet AES standards. All data is stored at a maximum security SSAE 16 Type II (formerly SAS 70) certified facility that deals specifically with HIPAA protected data. We take many additional precautions to protect privacy including requiring: strong passwords, automatic logouts, automatic logging of access, data backups, powerful firewalls, and limiting access to only those individuals who absolutely need it to do their jobs.

Some data is collected actively, meaning that it requires input from you; other data is collected passively, meaning that once you authorize access, it will occur periodically without any additional action or input required.

 

Active data includes the questions and brief surveys you complete: things like how you feel, if you are at work or home, what you are doing and whom you spend time with. These are customized by your clinician and help gather data about your current state and situation so that your clinician can better understand how you are doing and how certain situations affect you.

 

MT also accessed your phone’s accelerometer, a small sensor built into your smartphone that monitors movement. This allows the system to understand how many steps you have taken and how active you are.

 

GPS data is also accessed. Currently location information is only used to help you more quickly complete the surveys about where you have been. If you are uncomfortable with MT having access to your location services you can skip authorization when you install the SelfEcho app or disable location services in your phones settings. Disabling location services however, interferes with some of the functions of the SelfEcho app.

 

If you have connected your Facebook, the system pulls in your profile photo for your app home screen and passes your status updates through our linguistic analysis program. Your status updates are never recorded, nor does any human ever have any access to them, only the numerical analyses are stored.

 

If you have connected your Google account, the system periodically accesses your Gmail email messages and your calendar events. Email text is analyzed through our linguistic analysis program to help your clinician deduce information about how you are feeling and how you are communicating without you having to manually check-in. Your email text is never recorded, nor does any human ever have access to them, only the numerical analyses are stored. Calendar information is used to assist in the timing of check-in notifications. Like email text, this information is never stored and never accessed by any human.

 

If your clinician requests it, MT may also gather information about communications on your mobile device. This includes the amount, timing, and duration of phone calls placed and the amount and timing of text messages sent. No data is collected about the content of calls or texts, nor does MT have access to any contact information (such as name or phone number) of the receivers.

Once you have downloaded the SelfEcho app, launch it and let it run in the background of your iPhone (do not manually swipe it up to close it). Periodically you will receive notifications that ask you to check-in. When you receive these, simply complete the requested survey.

Your clinician determines the number of times you are asked to check-in each day. You will receive notifications throughout the day alerting you to complete a check-in. If you miss a check-in or you want to report an event you can launch the app and check-in manually at any time. On the home screen of your app you will see a chart with a horizontal line midway up the y-axis, this line is positioned at your daily check-in goal. As you check-in the chart will reflect your participation and when you reach your daily goal the bar for the current day in the chart will turn from orange to green.

If this happens, please contact our customer support by email. We recommend finding updating the app. You can find instructions under the “My app is crashing, broken or otherwise not working properly” section of this FAQ.

The MT app uses your smartphones location services and accelerometer, both of which consume some battery. During controlled testing of the app, the impacts on battery life were between 5-10%. Your batter life depends on many factors including the number and type of applications you have running, screen brightness, how much data you are streaming and use of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Mobile Therapy’s text analysis is powered by a state of the art 15+ year research-based technology called Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC). Over the last three decades, researchers have provided evidence to suggest that people’s physical and mental health can be predicted by the words they use. LIWC was developed by several of the world’s leading psychologists and linguists in order to provide an efficient and effective method for studying the various emotional, cognitive, structural, and process components present in individuals’ verbal and written speech samples. If you have Authorized MT to do so, the system processes your sent emails and Facebook status updates through the LIWC system to passively obtain information about your emotional status and health. More information on how LIWC works is available at www.liwc.net.

NOTE: Email messages and Facebook updates are never stored. Text samples are accessed periodically and immediately processed then discarded. Only the algorithmic and numerical outputs from LIWC are recorded in the MT database.