privacy policy

Slowpost is a virtual letter-writing service operated by Summerhouse Holdings, LLC ("we", "us"). This policy explains what we collect when you use Slowpost, what we do with it, and the rights you have over your information.

the short version

Your letters are personal. We treat them as such. We do not read them, we do not sell them, and we do not use them to train advertising models. The only people who can read your letters are you and the people you send them to.

information we collect

To create your account and deliver letters between snails, we collect:

• Account information you provide — your email address, username, display name, region, and any optional profile customization (aura color/shape/orbits, address).
• A securely-hashed version of your password. We never store passwords in plain text.
• Letter content you write — text, decorative stickers, washi tape, glitter, drawings, and any photos of physical letters you upload.
• Letter metadata — sender, recipient, send time, scheduled arrival time, delivery status, and whether the letter has been read.
• Penpal connections — who you have added as a penpal, who has added you, and the status of friend requests.
• Time-capsule and tracking state — letters you have scheduled for future arrival.
• Stamp purchases and credits, where applicable.
• Basic technical data — your authenticated session token, app version, and the requests your device makes to our servers (for security and debugging).

We do NOT collect: your phone contacts, your location, your camera roll beyond the specific photos you choose to attach, advertising identifiers, or behavioral browsing data from other apps.

how your letters are stored

Letters and their decorations are stored in our MongoDB database. Photos attached to physical-mail letters are stored as files on our servers, accessible only via authenticated requests that confirm you are a participant in that letter's thread.

Letters are stored on servers operated by us and our infrastructure providers. They are encrypted in transit (HTTPS / TLS) between your device and our servers. They are stored at rest on encrypted disks provided by our infrastructure host.

When you delete a letter from your archive:

• If you are the only side that has deleted it, we hide it from your view (soft delete). The other person can still read their copy until they too remove it.
• When both sender and recipient have removed a letter, we permanently delete the record from our database and remove any attached photos from disk.

When you delete your account, we permanently delete your profile, your friendships, your inbox, your time capsules, and any pending invites. Letters you sent to others are anonymized (your name is replaced with "(deleted)") but remain readable by the recipient unless they also remove them.

AI features

Slowpost offers optional AI-generated writing prompts and aura name suggestions powered by third-party large language models. When you invoke these features, the specific prompt you submit is sent to our LLM provider (via the Emergent LLM gateway) only for the purpose of generating that response. The full content of your letters is never sent to AI providers unless you explicitly ask the AI to help with that letter. AI providers do not receive your account information.

how we use the data

• To deliver your letters at their scheduled arrival times.
• To show you who has written to you, who has added you as a penpal, and which letters you have sent or archived.
• To authenticate your account and keep it secure.
• To respond to your support inquiries.
• To generate AI prompts only when you explicitly request them.
• To comply with applicable law.

We do not sell your information. We do not share it with advertisers. We do not use letter content for analytics, model training, or any purpose other than delivering it to its intended recipient.

who can see your letters

• You can always see letters you have sent or received.
• A specific letter is visible only to its sender and its recipient.
• A very small number of our engineers may have technical access to the database for debugging or to comply with a lawful request. We do not browse user letters and we have internal access logs.
• We will never disclose the content of your letters to third parties except (a) with your permission, (b) to comply with a valid legal request such as a subpoena, or (c) where necessary to protect the safety of a person.

your rights

You have the right to:

• Access — view your data at any time within the app, and download a full JSON export via Profile → Account → "export my data".
• Correct — change your email, display name, region, address, and aura from within the app.
• Delete — remove individual letters from your archive, or delete your entire account via Profile → Account → "delete account".
• Object — write to us if you want us to stop processing your information in any specific way.

Residents of California (CCPA), the EU/UK (GDPR), and other jurisdictions with similar laws have additional rights, including the right to know what we collect and the right to non-discrimination for exercising these rights. To exercise any right, write to us using the contact email below.

children

Slowpost is intended for users aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, please contact us and we will delete the account.

cookies & analytics

We use a session token (stored securely in your device's keychain or local storage) to keep you logged in. We do not use third-party advertising cookies or cross-site trackers. We may use minimal first-party logging to understand error rates and improve reliability, but this logging does not include letter content.

data retention

We retain your data while your account is active and for a short technical-backup window (no more than 30 days) after you delete your account. Backups are then rotated and permanently destroyed.

changes to this policy

If we update this policy in a meaningful way, we will notify you within the app and update the "effective" date above. Continued use after a change means you accept the updated policy.