Privacy Policy

We collect only what we need to match you well and deliver real mail:

• Account and application details — your name, email address, and the information you share when you join the waitlist, reserve a Founding Membership, or complete your member profile (such as your city, age range, and correspondence preferences).
• Mailing information — the delivery address you provide so letters and your Welcome Kit can reach you.
• Correspondence status — the state of your letters (written, sent, received) so we can keep you gently informed. We do not read the contents of your letters.
• Usage information — basic analytics about how visitors use the site, described below.

Dearly is built on a simple promise: you can exchange real, handwritten letters without ever giving a stranger your home address. Letters are routed through Dearly's forwarding process — your match writes to you care of Dearly, and we forward the letter to the address you have on file. Your mailing address is never shared with your match or any other member.

Because physical mail is involved, your address is handled only by the people and service providers who need it to prepare and forward your letters. We ask that you extend the same courtesy: never include another member's personal details anywhere a letter could carry them without their clear consent.

• To match you thoughtfully with a correspondent.
• To forward letters and deliver your Welcome Kit.
• To manage your membership and billing.
• To write to you — membership updates, correspondence status, and occasional letters from Dearly you can opt out of at any time.
• To understand how the site is used and improve it.

We do not sell your personal information. Full stop.

We use privacy-respecting analytics (including Google Analytics 4 and the Pinterest Tag) to understand which pages resonate and where visitors come from. These tools may set cookies or use similar technologies and collect information such as your device type, approximate location, and pages visited. You can control cookies through your browser settings; the site will still work, though some measurement will be less accurate.

We send transactional email (reservation confirmations, membership and correspondence updates) and, if you opt in, occasional letters from Dearly. Marketing email always includes an unsubscribe link; transactional email continues as long as your membership is active because it is how your membership works.

We work with a small number of trusted providers to operate Dearly — payment processing, email delivery, hosting, analytics, and newsletter management. They receive only the information needed to perform their service and are bound by their own privacy obligations. We do not authorize them to use your information for their own marketing.

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of what we hold — encrypted connections, access limited to those who need it, and care in how mailing information is handled. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, so we cannot promise absolute security, but protecting your trust is something we take personally.

We keep your information for as long as your membership is active and for a reasonable period afterward to meet legal, accounting, and operational needs. Mailing addresses are retained while correspondence is in progress. When information is no longer needed, we delete or de-identify it.

You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information at any time by writing to us. You may also unsubscribe from marketing email, disable cookies in your browser, or close your membership. We will honor requests subject to the limits the law allows and the records we are required to keep.

Dearly is a membership for adults. You must be 18 or older to join, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us information, please contact us and we will remove it.

If this policy changes, we will update the date above and, for material changes, let members know by email before the change takes effect.

Questions about your privacy are always welcome: connect@dearlyconnect.com