✅ PART 1: ETHICAL AND REGULATORY GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPERS OF THE AI COACH
🎯 Purpose:
To provide the BPD Coach development team with a clear, academically and professionally sound framework to ensure the tool operates ethically, legally, and safely within the UK.
1. 💼 Foundational Principles
All features, scripts, and interactions must adhere to the following core principles:
- Do No Harm (British Psychological Society, NICE, NHS values)
- Informed Consent
- Confidentiality and Privacy
- Transparency of AI Use
- Evidence-Based Interventions Only
- Respect for Vulnerable Users
2. 🧠 Clinical Scope & Limits
- The tool must not provide:
- Clinical diagnoses
- Treatment recommendations
- Risk assessments
- Emergency support
- It can provide:
- Psychoeducation grounded in DBT, MBT, CAT, Schema Therapy, or GPM
- Guided skills and role-plays for carers
- Resources, reflection prompts, and signposting to support services
- Each answer must include:
- A disclaimer about the tool not being a substitute for therapy
- Crisis signposting (e.g. Samaritans, 999) if a risk situation is flagged
3. 📘 Academic and Professional Standards
The following sources should inform development:
- British Psychological Society (BPS):
Ethics Guidelines for Internet-Mediated Research
Link - NICE Guidelines for Borderline Personality Disorder
Link - UK GDPR & Data Protection Act 2018
Privacy by Design, Data Minimisation, User Rights - Online Safety Act 2023
Duties to reduce harmful content and ensure safety in digital mental health contexts
4. 🔐 Data Privacy & Security Requirements
- Comply with UK GDPR:
- Data minimisation (store only what is needed)
- Clear, accessible privacy policy
- Explicit consent for data use
- Right to access, modify, delete user data
- Use secure hosting, encryption (at rest and in transit), and two-factor authentication for admin dashboards.
5. 🚨 Crisis Escalation Protocol
- If a user inputs terms indicating suicide, self-harm, or immediate risk, the Coach should:
- Pause interaction
- Display a crisis message
- Signpost to 999, Samaritans (116 123), or Shout (text 85258)
- Recommend contacting a GP or local emergency service
6. 📜 Transparency and Consent
- The tool must clearly communicate:
- That it is an AI, not a human
- Its purpose and limitations
- How user data is used and stored
- At account creation or first use, the tool must obtain:
- Informed consent (tick box with terms summary + link to full terms)
- Age confirmation (18+)
- Permission to store anonymised use data (optional, for research)
7. 🧪 Testing and Evaluation
- Pilot testing with a sample of carers and expert reviewers
- Feedback loop for error reporting and suggestion submission
- Academic oversight (e.g. ethical advisory board or university ethics submission)
✅ PART 2: USER DOCUMENTATION — LIST OF REQUIRED FORMS AND POLICIES
To remain compliant and user-focused, the following documents/forms are recommended:
Document | Purpose |
Terms of Use | Legal agreement covering acceptable use, liability, and disclaimers |
Privacy Policy | Explains how personal data is collected, stored, and protected |
Consent Form | Optional tick-box at sign-up confirming understanding and agreement to use |
Informed Use Summary | A one-page plain English summary of how the Coach works, its limits, and when to seek real-world help |
Crisis Information Sheet | A downloadable PDF with national crisis resources, helplines, and emergency contacts |
Feedback and Complaints Form | Allows users to report problems, unsafe responses, or ethical concerns |
Accessibility Statement | Confirms that efforts have been made to make the site usable by people with disabilities |
Ethics Statement | Short statement that this tool is built on BPS and NICE principles, and reviewed by clinical advisors |