Our Family Letters

Privacy Policy

Last updated: January 2025

Your family's stories are precious. We built Our Family Letters with privacy at its heart. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have.

The short version

  • We collect only what we need to deliver the service
  • Your stories belong to you—we never sell or share them
  • We use industry-standard security to protect your data
  • You can export or delete your data at any time
  • We don't use your stories to train AI models

Information we collect

Account information

When you create an account, we collect your email address. This is how we authenticate you and send you updates about your projects.

Storyteller information

You provide us with your storyteller's name and email address so we can send them questions. If you enable voice replies, we also process voice recordings and transcribe them.

Responses and stories

We store the stories your storyteller shares—both the original text (or voice recording) and any processed versions. The original is always preserved exactly as received.

Usage data

We collect basic analytics to understand how people use the service: pages visited, features used, and general engagement patterns. We use PostHog for this, configured to respect user privacy and not track across sites.

Payment information

We use Stripe to process payments. We never see or store your full card number—Stripe handles all payment data securely. We only receive confirmation of payment and basic billing details.

How we use your information

  • Delivering the service: Sending questions, storing replies, generating summaries
  • Communication: Account updates, service announcements, and responding to your questions
  • Improvement: Understanding how people use the service so we can make it better
  • Security: Detecting and preventing abuse or fraud

AI processing

We use AI (Google Gemini) to help clean and organise responses—fixing typos, creating summaries, and identifying themes. Our AI processing is designed to preserve the storyteller's voice exactly, never to invent or interpret.

We do not use your stories to train AI models. Your content is processed only to deliver the service to you.

Data storage and security

Your data is stored securely on servers provided by Supabase (built on AWS infrastructure) in the EU. We use encryption in transit (TLS) and at rest. Access to production data is strictly limited and logged.

Data sharing

We don't sell your data. Ever. We share data only with service providers who help us operate, and only the minimum needed for them to do their job.

Supabase

Database hosting and authentication

Vercel

Application hosting

Postmark

Email delivery

Stripe

Payment processing

Google (Gemini)

AI text processing

ElevenLabs

Voice transcription

PostHog

Analytics

We may also share data if required by law or to protect the safety of our users.

Your rights and choices

Access and export

You can view all your data within the app. We're building a full export feature—in the meantime, contact us and we'll provide a complete export within 30 days.

Deletion

You can delete individual responses or entire projects from within the app. When you delete something, it's permanently removed from our systems. You can also request deletion of your entire account by contacting us.

Storyteller preferences

Storytellers can manage their communication preferences (frequency, pause, or stop) directly from links in each email—no account needed.

Marketing

We don't send marketing emails. The only emails you'll receive are transactional: account confirmations, project updates, and replies to your support requests.

Children's privacy

Our Family Letters is designed for adults to collect stories from family members. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 16. If you believe a child has provided us information, please contact us.

International transfers

If you're outside the EU, your data may be transferred to and processed in the EU where our servers are located. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for such transfers.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we'll notify you by email or through the app before they take effect.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data? We're happy to help.

joe@ourfamilyletters.com or visit our contact page.