AI Customer Assistant Disclosure and Terms of Use

Effective Date: February 9, 2026
Essence of Melanin
Owned and operated by 8x10designs, Duchess Arrita Robinson
Email: hello@essenceofmelanin.com
Phone: 484-378-9108

AI Customer Assistant Notice

Essence of Melanin uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to enhance your shopping experience and provide customer support. This disclosure explains how our AI customer assistant works, what data it collects, its limitations, and your rights.

By interacting with our AI customer assistant, you acknowledge and agree to the terms outlined in this policy.

What Is Our AI Customer Assistant?

Our AI customer assistant is an automated conversational agent that uses artificial intelligence and voice technology to:

  • Answer questions about our products
  • Provide information about orders and shipping
  • Assist with navigation of our website
  • Offer product recommendations
  • Provide customer support
  • Share information about our brand and designs

The assistant uses advanced AI technology to provide accurate and helpful responses in both text and voice formats.

Important Limitations

Not a Human Representative

Our customer assistant is AI-powered, not a human. While we strive for accuracy, the assistant:

  • May occasionally provide incorrect or incomplete information
  • Cannot make complex judgment calls that require human discretion
  • May misunderstand nuanced or ambiguous questions
  • Cannot handle every customer service scenario

For complex issues, financial disputes, or sensitive matters, please contact us directly at hello@essenceofmelanin.com or 484-378-9108.

Not Professional Advice

The assistant does not provide:

  • Legal advice
  • Financial advice
  • Medical advice
  • Professional counseling or therapy
  • Binding commitments or contractual agreements

Any information provided by the assistant is for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as professional advice.

Limited Authority

The AI customer assistant cannot:

  • Process refunds or returns (you must contact us directly)
  • Make exceptions to our policies
  • Provide discounts or special pricing not available on the website
  • Access your payment information or process payments
  • Make binding legal commitments on behalf of Essence of Melanin

Accuracy Disclaimer

While we train our AI assistant to provide accurate information:

  • We do not guarantee 100% accuracy of assistant responses
  • Information provided may become outdated as our products and policies change
  • Technical errors or glitches may occasionally occur
  • The assistant should not be your sole source of important information

Always verify critical information (such as pricing, shipping dates, or policy details) by reviewing our website or contacting us directly.

Data Collection and Privacy

Information Collected

When you interact with our AI customer assistant, we collect:

  • Conversation content: The text or voice inputs you provide and the assistant’s responses
  • Voice data: If you use voice features, your voice recordings are processed by our AI service provider
  • Session information: Date, time, duration of interaction
  • Technical data: IP address, browser type, device information
  • User behavior: Pages visited before and after assistant interaction

How We Use Assistant Data

We use information from assistant interactions to:

  • Provide you with responses and assistance
  • Improve assistant performance and accuracy
  • Train and refine our AI models
  • Analyze customer needs and preferences
  • Identify technical issues and bugs
  • Ensure compliance with our policies
  • Prevent fraud and abuse

Third-Party Processing

Your assistant interactions are processed by third-party AI service providers. These providers may:

  • Process and analyze your voice and text inputs
  • Store conversation data temporarily for service delivery
  • Use anonymized data to improve their AI technology

We have agreements with our AI service providers to protect your data, but we do not control their data practices. We encourage you to understand that AI processing involves third-party technology partners.

Data Retention

  • Active session data: Retained during your browsing session
  • Conversation logs: May be retained for up to 12 months for quality assurance and improvement purposes
  • Voice recordings: Processed in real-time and may be temporarily stored according to our service provider’s retention policies
  • Anonymized data: May be retained indefinitely for analytics and AI training

Your Data Rights

You have the right to:

  • Access: Request a copy of your assistant conversation data
  • Delete: Request deletion of your conversation history (subject to legal retention requirements)
  • Opt-out: Choose not to use the assistant feature
  • Correct: Request corrections to any personal information collected

To exercise these rights, contact us at hello@essenceofmelanin.com.

Voice Data Considerations

If you use voice features with our customer assistant:

  • Your voice is recorded and transmitted to our AI service provider for processing
  • Voice data is converted to text for assistant analysis
  • Voice recordings may be temporarily stored for quality and service improvement
  • You should not share sensitive personal information via voice if you are concerned about privacy

Voice data is subject to the same privacy protections as text data, but please be aware that voice data contains unique biometric characteristics.

Age Restrictions

Our AI customer assistant is not intended for use by children under 13 years of age.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through our assistant. If you are under 13, please do not use the assistant or provide any personal information.

Parents and guardians: If you believe your child has used our assistant and provided personal information, please contact us immediately at hello@essenceofmelanin.com.

User Responsibilities

When interacting with our AI customer assistant, you agree to:

Appropriate Use

  • Use the assistant for legitimate customer service and information purposes
  • Provide accurate information when asked
  • Respect the limitations of AI technology
  • Do not attempt to manipulate the assistant’s functionality

Prohibited Conduct

You may not use the assistant to:

  • Harass, abuse, or send offensive messages
  • Share illegal content or promote illegal activities
  • Attempt to extract proprietary information or reverse engineer the AI
  • Input personal information of others without their consent
  • Spam or send repetitive queries designed to disrupt service
  • Test the assistant’s boundaries with inappropriate or harmful content
  • Impersonate others or provide false information
  • Use the assistant for commercial purposes without authorization

Violations may result in immediate termination of assistant access and potential account suspension.

Security Measures

We implement security measures to protect your assistant interactions, including:

  • Encryption of data in transit (SSL/TLS)
  • Secure storage of conversation logs
  • Access controls limiting who can view assistant data
  • Regular security audits and updates
  • Monitoring for suspicious or malicious activity

However, no system is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee the absolute security of your data.

Assistant Availability

Our AI customer assistant is generally available 24/7, but:

  • Service may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance, updates, or technical issues
  • We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the assistant at any time
  • Performance may vary based on server load and internet connectivity

We do not guarantee uninterrupted assistance availability.

No Recording by Users

You may not record, screenshot, or otherwise capture assistant conversations for commercial purposes without our written permission.

You may save or screenshot conversations for your personal reference only.

Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law:

  • We are not liable for any damages arising from your use of or reliance on the AI customer assistant
  • We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of assistant responses
  • We are not responsible for decisions you make based on assistant information
  • We are not liable for any data breaches or unauthorized access by third parties, despite our security measures

Use of the AI customer assistant is at your own risk.

Human Support Alternative

You always have the option to contact a human representative instead of using the assistant:

Email: hello@essenceofmelanin.com
Phone: 484-378-9108
Business Hours: Monday – Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM EST

We encourage you to contact us directly for:

  • Complex issues requiring human judgment
  • Sensitive personal or financial matters
  • Formal complaints or disputes
  • Requests that require account access

Transparency and Continuous Improvement

We are committed to transparency about our use of AI technology:

  • We clearly identify when you are interacting with an AI assistant
  • We continuously monitor and improve assistant performance
  • We welcome feedback about your assistant experience
  • We update our AI systems regularly to enhance accuracy and safety

Your feedback helps us improve. If you have suggestions or concerns about the assistant, please let us know at hello@essenceofmelanin.com.

Changes to Assistant Technology

We reserve the right to:

  • Update or replace our AI customer assistant technology
  • Change assistant features and capabilities
  • Modify how we use and store assistant data
  • Integrate additional AI services or providers

We will notify you of significant changes by updating this disclosure with a new effective date.

Governing Law

This AI Customer Assistant Disclosure is governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is subject to our general Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Contact Us

For questions, concerns, or requests regarding our AI customer assistant, please contact:

Email: hello@essenceofmelanin.com
Phone: 484-378-9108
Subject Line: “AI Assistant Inquiry”

By using our AI customer assistant, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to this AI Customer Assistant Disclosure and Terms of Use.

Last Updated: February 9, 2026