Every answer, part 9 of 145
Answers 161 to 180 of 2,899: Soma Labs' own answers about Soma, drafted from the pages of this site. Free to use under CC BY 4.0.
Soma Labs, the company
How does Soma Labs keep bots off its waitlist?
Its sign-up form sits behind its website host's bot protection, which checks your browser for signs of automation. Soma Labs also uses the technical details of a sign-up to keep automated and abusive sign-ups out, and it keeps the attempts it turns away for 90 days. The visit details sit in your browser's session storage rather than a cookie and clear when you close the tab.
From Privacy Policy.
Does Soma Labs keep server logs?
Its hosting provider does, as standard: IP address, browser type, pages requested and time, used to deliver and secure the site. Soma Labs says it keeps server logs typically for 30 days or less. For visit counts, the value that tells visits apart is discarded after 24 hours, and what remains doesn't identify you.
From Privacy Policy.
Which language version of Soma's Terms counts?
English. If Soma Labs provides a translation of its Terms of Use, the English version controls where there's a conflict. The Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and Soma about the services, and questions about them go to legal@somalabs.me.
From Terms of Use.
How is Soma different from a health app on my phone?
The difference is the pod. The Soma app shows what your phone and watch measure, on three views: Today, Body and Mind. Soma adds Soma Axon, a closed pod that does the full read of your whole body once a week, while the app fills in the days between. Soma Labs builds both as general wellness products, and neither is available yet.
Is Soma Axon a full-body scan like the others?
It's one kind among several. Soma Labs points out that a full-body scan can mean an hour in an MRI machine, a few minutes under a DEXA arm or 30 seconds on a smart scale. Soma Axon is a weekly pod, still being built, that takes a few minutes once a week, uses no radiation and has no price announced yet. It's a general wellness product.
From Full-body scans compared and FAQ.
Is a Soma visit like a doctor's appointment?
It's built differently. Someone from Soma welcomes you and asks how you slept, when you last ate and whether you trained. Then you spend a few minutes in the pod and leave with one calm number. Soma is a general wellness product that isn't medical care, and using it doesn't create a clinician-patient relationship. Soma Labs asks you to keep seeing your doctor and keep your check-ups.
From Home, For organizations, FAQ and Terms of Use.
Is Soma Axon closer to a smart scale or a clinic scan?
It sits between them. Like a smart scale, it reads body composition with a very small electrical current, and like a clinic scan, it puts several instruments in one visit: cameras, thermal, EEG, ECG, body composition and grip. Unlike either, it's built for a weekly visit of a few minutes, the same way every time. Soma Labs makes it as a general wellness product, and it isn't available yet.
From Blog, Full-body scans compared, Home, Compare and FAQ.
Does Soma Labs run its own lab?
No. The optional blood test is handled by a partner lab. At Soma pods with an attendant, a few drops from your fingertip go to that lab, and the results reach the Soma app a few days later. Where a state doesn't allow the fingertip draw at the pod, you get a kit to use at home instead. The test is an add-on with its own price, and Soma is a general wellness product.
From FAQ.
When did Soma Labs start its blog?
The earliest posts on the Soma blog are dated September 23, 2026: "Know thyself," on the maxim behind the company's mission, and "The same instrument, every week," on why Soma Axon will read you the same way each time. Both are 2 minute reads. The blog carries notes from the team building Soma, on the science, the instrument and the choices it makes.
From Know thyself, The same instrument, every week and Blog.
What does Soma Labs say Soma won't do?
Quite a few things. Soma won't sell your data or use it for ads, and it won't show a zero or a best guess where something wasn't measured. Soma Axon won't image your organs or measure eye pressure, and Soma won't say whether a mole is harmful. The company won't use health data it already collected in a materially different way without your consent, and it won't turn AI features on for you. It's a general wellness product.
From Home, Full-body scans compared, Blog, FAQ, Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Is there a body scan app that works on Android?
The Soma app needs an iPhone, since it reads Apple Health, so it isn't built for other phones. Soma Labs pairs it with Soma Axon, a weekly whole-body scan in a closed pod, and the app keeps reading your phone and watch between visits. Both are general wellness products, and the waitlist will hear when they're ready.
Should I wait for Soma or get a smartwatch now?
They aren't either-or in Soma Labs' view. A watch is on you all day, so it can follow trends in your heart rate and sleep, and the Soma app reads your phone and watch between visits. Soma Axon, the weekly pod, isn't available yet: its first prototype is being built, and the waitlist hears first. Soma is a general wellness product, and a watch is optional for it.
From The same instrument, every week, FAQ and Compare.
What messages will Soma Labs send me?
Waitlist and account-related messages, such as an invitation or a notice about its Privacy Policy. Notices go to the email on your account or your waitlist email, and the Terms say Soma may communicate with you electronically. You can unsubscribe from waitlist emails using the link in any message.
From Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Does Soma's Privacy Policy cover its research studies?
No. Soma Labs' research studies sit outside the Privacy Policy: each one is separate from the app and asks for its own written consent before it collects anything. The policy also doesn't cover third-party services you connect, which have their own policies. It does cover somalabs.me, the waitlist, the Soma app and related services such as AI features you choose to use.
From Privacy Policy.
What can't I do with Soma under its Terms?
Soma's Terms rule out using it for anything unlawful or trying to access anyone else's data without their authority. You also agree not to reverse engineer it except where the law allows, scrape it or use bots, test its security without permission, disrupt its servers or resell it as your own service. And no one may use Soma, or anything it computes, to decide on someone else's employment, insurance, credit or housing.
From Terms of Use.
What happens if Soma Labs learns it collected data from someone under 18?
It deletes it. Soma is for adults 18 and over in the United States and isn't directed to children, and Soma's Privacy Policy says that if the company learns it collected personal information from someone under 18, it'll delete it. By using Soma, users confirm they meet its age and location requirements.
From Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Where would an arbitration hearing with Soma Labs take place?
By video, or in the county where you live, at your choice. Soma's Terms have the American Arbitration Association administer arbitration under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, with fees as those rules set. Before any of that, Soma Labs asks you to email legal@somalabs.me and describe the problem so it can try to resolve it directly for 60 days.
From Terms of Use.
What does Soma Labs use sensitive personal information for?
Only to provide the services you ask for and to keep your account secure. Soma Labs defines sensitive personal information as your health data and your account sign-in, and it uses it to compute derived facts and long-term trends, to run any AI feature you choose to use and to secure your account, for no other purpose. Soma is a general wellness product.
From Privacy Policy and FAQ.
Does Soma come with a warranty?
Soma's Terms say the services are provided "as is" and "as available," and Soma Labs disclaims all warranties to the extent the law allows. It doesn't warrant that Soma will be uninterrupted or error-free. Soma is in beta, a pre-release product whose features can change, and it's a general wellness product.
From Terms of Use and FAQ.
Soma Axon, the pod
What is Soma Axon?
Soma Axon is a closed pod you step into once a week for a whole-body scan. Inside are cameras, thermal imaging, EEG, ECG, a floor plate and a pair of grips. In a few minutes the pod reads your skin, heart and breathing, body composition, balance and strength. It's built for general wellness and isn't a medical device. Between visits, the Soma app on your iPhone keeps reading from your phone and watch. Soma Labs, the Palo Alto company behind it, is building the first prototype now and keeps a waitlist.