Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 16, 2026

1. What We Collect

When you sign up for Dear Patience, we collect:

• Your full name — used as the sender name on delivered emails.
• Your real email address — used for authentication and message delivery, and shown to the people you correspond with (see below).
• Your chosen username — your Dear Patience address (e.g. you@dearpatience.com).

When you use the Service, we also handle the email messages you send and receive through Dear Patience, including subject lines and body content.

Who can see your real email address. Letters travel between Dear Patience addresses, but correspondence is between people, and people who write to each other know each other’s addresses. Once you have written to another Dear Patience user, invited them, or accepted their invitation, they can see the real email address behind your Dear Patience address on their desk — and you can see theirs once they have done the same. When you invite someone who does not have an account yet, the invitation tells them your name and your real email address so they know who is writing. Someone without an account who writes to you first is shown only your Dear Patience address.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use your data solely to operate the Service:

• Authenticate you via one-time email codes.
• Route and delay messages between you and your connections.
• Send you transactional notifications (e.g. “your letter is on its way”).

We do not sell your personal data or use it for advertising.

3. Message Storage

Messages are stored on our servers for the duration of the delivery delay and may be retained after delivery for operational, safety, and compliance purposes. We may access message content as needed to operate, maintain, and improve the Service.

4. Who We Share Data With

We share data only with the third-party services required to operate Dear Patience:

• Supabase — database hosting and authentication.
• Postmark — inbound email processing and outbound email delivery.
• Stripe — payment processing for the paid plan. Stripe receives your email address and your card details, which we never see or store.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to anyone.

5. Data Security

We use industry-standard measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (TLS), row-level security policies on our database, and limited access to production systems. However, no system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

6. Your Rights

You may:

• Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct inaccurate data.
• Delete your account, which will remove your profile and all associated data.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@dearpatience.com.

7. Cookies

Dear Patience does not use tracking cookies or third-party analytics. We use browser local storage only to maintain your login session.

8. Children’s Privacy

The Service is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Contact

Questions about your privacy? Reach us at privacy@dearpatience.com.