Effective date: May 16, 2026
This policy explains what Kept Word collects, how we use it, and the choices you have over your data. We have tried to write it in plain language. If anything is unclear, contact us and we will explain it directly.
Kept Word ("Kept Word," "we," "us") is a living memory service operated by Human Underneath. We are the data controller for the information you provide through this app and our website at keptword.com.
Kept Word is a Human Underneath product and part of the Continuity System, a family of applications focused on memory, daily presence, and what people leave behind.
Account information. When you create an account we collect your email address and your name. Your password is hashed with bcrypt before it is stored. We never see or store the plaintext.
Pre-signup contact. When you start the signup form, we collect your name and email at the first step, before you finish setting a password. This lets us re-reach you if you do not finish signup, and subscribe you to our newsletter if you opted in at that step. If you do not complete signup, we retain the name and email until you ask us to remove it. Email support@keptword.com to request removal.
Content you create. This is the heart of what we hold. It includes:
Preferences you set. During onboarding and in Settings, you tell us things like your relationship to your receivers, the pronouns to use, your celebration preferences, the tone you want your prompts to take, and your reminder preferences. We store these so the app can personalize what it surfaces to you and your family.
Usage data. When you use the app, our servers receive standard request information: timestamps, browser type, device type, IP address, and the IANA timezone your browser reports (used to compute streak day boundaries in your local time). We do not run third-party advertising trackers. We use a small set of product analytics tools to understand how the app is being used in aggregate.
Cookies. We use one cookie: an httpOnly session cookie that keeps you logged in. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.
We use your information to:
We do not sell your data. We do not share it with advertisers. We do not use your content to train AI models.
If you opt in at signup, when you toggle the preference in Settings, or by replying to one of our messages, you may receive occasional Kept Word newsletters and updates about other products in the Continuity System (currently Kept Word and My Daily Place, both operated by Human Underneath). We send these no more than a few times a month.
What's covered. Product news, new feature announcements, occasional reflections from the Human Underneath team, and updates about other apps in the Continuity System.
What's never covered. We do not share your email with third-party marketers. We do not sell your email. We do not include third-party advertising in any message we send.
How to opt out. Every marketing email contains a one-click unsubscribe link in the message header and a visible "unsubscribe" link in the footer. You can also toggle the preference off at any time in Settings, or email support@keptword.com.
Transactional emails (account confirmations, password resets, milestone notes, time capsule deliveries, Legacy Keeper notifications) are sent regardless of your marketing preference, because they are part of operating the service.
We share data with the following categories of recipients.
AI providers. Kept Word relies on three categories of AI service providers, each of which receives only the data they need to return a result:
These providers process the data on our behalf and do not use it to train their public models. Their own privacy policies apply to that processing.
Payment processor. If you upgrade to a paid plan, payment information is collected and processed by Stripe. We never see or store your card number. Stripe's privacy policy governs payment data (Stripe).
Email delivery. Transactional and milestone emails are delivered by an email delivery provider on our behalf. That provider processes the recipient address and the message contents we send.
Service providers. We rely on third-party vendors for hosting, storage, error monitoring, and product analytics. These vendors are bound by data protection agreements that restrict their use of your information to providing the service. We do not list them all by name here because that list changes over time and the meaningful disclosure is the categories of processing. If you would like the current list of vendors we use, email support@keptword.com and we will share it.
We will also share information if we are legally required to (court order, lawful subpoena), or to investigate fraud or protect the safety of our users.
When a feature in Kept Word uses AI, your relevant content is sent to the provider listed above:
We do not use your content to train AI models. AI processing is part of how Kept Word works and cannot be turned off individually. The features above all rely on it.
Voice capture is the most sensitive thing we hold. We treat it accordingly.
If your account is placed in Memorial Mode (see below), your voice model is preserved on the same basis so loved ones can continue to hear you. The same deletion rights still apply if your Legacy Keeper or estate requests it.
Your Space is reachable at a private URL that contains a long random token (your "share token"). Anyone with the link can view what is shared, without logging in. This is intentional, because the people you want to read your Space may never sign up for an account.
You can revoke or rotate your share token at any time. Doing so breaks every existing link.
If you create individual receiver records, each receiver gets their own share token. Answers, letters, and photos you mark as specific to a single receiver are visible only to that receiver's link. Anything marked as universal is visible on every receiver's link.
We do not require receivers to create accounts. When a receiver visits your Space, our servers receive standard request information described above. We do not associate that traffic back to a person unless the receiver chooses to identify themselves.
You can name a Legacy Keeper in Settings. When you do, we email that person a private activation link with a one-time code.
If your Legacy Keeper later activates the link, your account enters Memorial Mode. Everything you built is preserved. The plan is moved to a free preservation tier and the activation link is consumed so it cannot be reused. The Legacy Keeper may also provide a date of birth and a date of passing to be shown on the memorial banner.
We do not flip an account into Memorial Mode for any other reason. We do not act on family requests that arrive outside the Legacy Keeper link without an additional verification process.
You have full control of the data you have given us:
If you are in the EU, UK, or California, you have additional rights under GDPR and CCPA (including the right to object to processing and to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority). To exercise any of these rights, contact us.
We keep your information for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we hold it for 30 days in a grace period so you can restore it, then remove it from our active systems. Backups containing your data expire on a rolling 30-day window.
If we identify an account as inactive (no logins for an extended period), we may notify you and eventually delete the data. We will always send a warning email before any automated deletion.
We use industry-standard practices to protect your data:
No system is perfectly secure. If we ever discover a breach affecting your data, we will notify you and the appropriate authorities as required by applicable law.
Kept Word is intended for adults aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly create accounts for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under that age. If you believe an under-18 has provided us with information, contact us and we will delete the account.
We may update this policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will email registered users and post the update inside the app at least 14 days before it takes effect. The "Effective date" at the top reflects the most recent revision.
Email: support@keptword.com
Postal: Human Underneath, Chicago, IL 60601
We aim to respond to privacy questions within 7 business days.