Terms of service

By accessing or using Dear Future, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the service. We may update these terms from time to time; the "Last updated" line will change when we do.

Dear Future lets you write messages or letters, pay by card, and create protected preservation records with private receipts, verification details, certificate downloads, and recovery kit materials. The service is designed for long-term preservation, but availability of networks, partners, and infrastructure can change over time.

You do not need a crypto wallet, seed phrase, or exchange account to pay. Dear Future handles preservation flows in the background after card payment, subject to successful processing and technical constraints.

During beta, paid messages are usually preserved within 24 hours. Some preservations may be reviewed or processed manually so we can check that records are created correctly. You will receive email updates after payment and once preservation is complete.

If a paid preservation does not complete, we will either complete it manually where possible or refund you. Please keep your receipt link and contact us if your preservation appears delayed, failed, or unclear.

You are responsible for the content of your messages, for complying with applicable laws, and for reviewing everything carefully before you pay. Once preservation completes successfully, you should treat the message as final for the purposes of the service.

Preservation is intended to create durable records. Once a message has been successfully preserved or inscribed, changing or deleting it may be limited, impractical, or impossible, including where technically possible on our side, because of how external networks and protocols behave. Dear Future does not promise legal permanence or that any particular chain or protocol will remain available forever.

Receipts and public verification pages provide details that support checking preservation status. They are tools for confidence and audit-style checking, not a guarantee of future availability of every third-party system.

Recovery kits may contain your recovery key and protected preservation data. You are responsible for saving them safely and for controlling who can access them. Anyone with the recovery key and required recovery materials may be able to read the message outside Dear Future.

Within Dear Future, reveal timing rules are applied in the product. If someone uses recovery materials outside the app, those tools may not enforce the same timing. In other words, out-of-band recovery could bypass in-app reveal schedules depending on how files are used.

Prices, taxes, and fees shown at checkout are part of the contract for that purchase. Payment processing is handled by Stripe according to its own terms and privacy notice.

Paying for a message does not mean preservation has completed instantly. During beta, payment places your message into the preservation queue, and preservation is usually completed within 24 hours.

If a paid preservation has not completed or has failed, contact us and we will review the situation. If we cannot complete the preservation, we will refund you.

Once a message has been successfully preserved or inscribed, refunds are normally not available because the preservation action is final, irreversible, and incurs non-recoverable network and protocol costs.

Dear Future aims to keep services available, secure, and accurate, but we cannot guarantee uninterrupted or error-free access. Maintenance, outages, upstream providers, or changes to supported networks may affect the product from time to time.

You agree not to misuse the service: no unlawful content, no harassment, no attempts to break security or overload systems, and no use that infringes others' rights. We may suspend or refuse service where needed to protect users or the platform, within applicable law.

Dear Future is not a law firm, financial adviser, therapist, or estate planner. Content on the site does not constitute professional advice. Seek appropriate professionals for regulated matters.

To the extent permitted by UK law, Dear Future is not liable for indirect or consequential losses arising from use of the service, including loss of profits, loss of data where you did not keep backups or recovery kits, or issues caused by third-party networks. Nothing here excludes liability that cannot legally be excluded, such as death or personal injury caused by negligence, or other categories that apply under mandatory consumer rules.

We may update these terms as the product evolves. Continued use after changes take effect means you accept the updated terms, except where law requires a different approach.

Reach us through the Contact page for questions about these terms, receipts, preservation status, failed preservations, or refunds.