Last updated: July 12, 2026

1. Introduction

Letterdove ("we," "us," "the Service") is a small, independently operated project. This policy describes what information we collect, how we use it, and what rights you have regarding your information.

2. Information We Collect

Account information. When you register, we collect your name, email address, and a password. Your password is stored as a one way cryptographic hash. We never store or have access to your plaintext password.

Correspondence content. We collect the full text of the letters you write and the replies generated by our AI personas.

About You profile. On your profile page, you can optionally share your birth month and day (no year), pronouns, hobbies and interests, and anything else you'd like your pen pals to know. This is entirely optional, shared with every persona you write to rather than just one, and can be left blank or cleared at any time.

Usage information. We collect timestamps, which persona you have corresponded with, and the delivery status of each letter.

Payment information. If you subscribe to a paid plan, payment is processed by Stripe. We do not collect or store your full card number.

3. How We Use Your Information

To generate a reply, the content of your letter is sent to DeepSeek, a third party AI provider, so it can write a response from your chosen persona. If you've filled out any part of your About You profile, relevant parts of it are included too, so your pen pal has basic context about you regardless of which persona you're writing to.

To give your pen pal a working memory across letters, your letter content is also sent to OpenRouter to generate a numerical representation of its meaning. That representation is stored on a server we control and is used to recall relevant past letters when a new reply is written.

Every letter you submit, and any changes you make to your About You profile, is automatically screened, using both fixed pattern matching and the AI model itself, for signs of self-harm, suicidal thinking, or intent to harm another person. This screening applies to everything, not only content that turns out to contain something concerning. Section 5 explains exactly what happens when something is flagged.

Once notifications are available, we will use your email address to let you know when a new letter has arrived. We will not use it for anything else without asking you first.

4. Categories of Information and Who We Share Them With

We do not sell any category of personal information, and we have not sold personal information in the twelve months before this policy's last update.

5. Automated Safety Screening

This is the section we most want you to read carefully.

All letters are automatically screened as described in Section 3. If a letter is flagged, the persona's reply does not continue as a normal letter. Instead, you receive a message right away that steps outside the correspondence to offer real crisis resources, including the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and the Crisis Text Line. This response is generated automatically and delivered immediately, without the usual delay.

A flagged letter may be reviewed later by the person who operates Letterdove, for safety and product improvement purposes. We do not monitor correspondence in real time, and we cannot promise that a flagged letter will be seen by a person within any particular window of time, or at all. Please do not rely on Letterdove to notice or respond to an emergency.

Letterdove is not a crisis service, a medical service, or a substitute for care from a licensed professional. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, contact your local emergency number directly. In the United States, you can also call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or text HOME to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line.

Our Terms of Service include further disclaimers about the nature of AI generated content.

6. What We Do Not Collect

We do not collect your physical location, your contacts, your photos, or anything from your device beyond what you type into the Service. We do not use advertising trackers.

7. Data Retention

We keep your account and correspondence for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we delete your associated data within 30 days, except where we are required to keep it by law.

8. Your Rights

You can download a full copy of your account information and correspondence at any time from your profile page, without needing to ask us first. You can also delete your account and everything tied to it at any time, in the same place. If you would rather make either request by email, you can reach us at [email protected]. If you live in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or a place with similar protections, you may have additional rights under local law, including the right to object to how we process your information and the right to file a complaint with your local data protection authority.

9. Age Requirement

Letterdove is meant for people eighteen years of age or older. We rely on the age you give us when you register and do not currently verify it independently.

10. Security

Passwords are hashed and never stored in plain text. Letterdove is run by one person rather than a dedicated security team, and we cannot promise the same level of protection a larger company might offer. We take reasonable precautions, but no service can guarantee perfect security.

11. Changes to This Policy

If we make a change that matters, we will tell registered users directly, not just update this page quietly.

12. Contact

Questions or requests about this policy can be sent to [email protected].