Ethics & Trust

Last updated: 2026-09-08

You are considering trusting us with the words you most want to survive you. That deserves straight answers, including to the uncomfortable questions.

1. We will never fake you

We do not use AI to clone your voice, generate messages in your style, or build a chatbot that speaks as you — not now, and not as a future upsell. Everything delivered in your name is something you actually wrote or recorded.

This is a deliberate line. A synthetic version of someone who has died can say things they never said, to people who cannot tell the difference. We think that causes harm to grieving people, and we would rather not be in that business. When your family hears your voice here, it is because you spoke.

2. Your words are yours

  • Message content is encrypted and stored under your account.
  • We do not sell your data, and we do not use your messages to train AI models.
  • We do not read your messages except where strictly required to operate or debug the service, or where the law requires it.
  • You can export or permanently delete everything at any time from Settings — see our Privacy Policy for your full GDPR/CCPA rights.

3. The people you write to have a say

Recipients confirm their address before we schedule anything to them, and every message we send includes a way to opt out. Nobody is enrolled into receiving messages from us without their agreement, and anyone who opts out stays opted out — including for messages scheduled long in advance.

4. What happens if we shut down

We are a small company. It would be dishonest to promise a hundred-year guarantee from an organisation that may not outlive its founders, so we do not make that promise. What we commit to instead:

  • If we wind down, we will give advance notice and a window to export everything you have stored.
  • We deliberately do not sell a “lifetime, pay once” plan, because it would be selling a guarantee we cannot honour.
  • Your media is stored so that it does not depend on a third-party cloud account staying alive after you are gone.
  • We keep an export path open at all times — your legacy should never be trapped inside one company.

For the formal limits of our liability, read the Terms of Service. This page is our intent; the Terms are the contract.

5. If your subscription lapses after you die

A card expiring is not consent to delete someone’s last words. If your account is in good standing when a passing is confirmed, your scheduled legacy messages are locked in for delivery regardless of later billing. We also keep running check-ins for a grace period after a payment failure, precisely because a failed payment is sometimes the first sign that something has happened.

6. No dark patterns

  • No streaks, no guilt, no “you haven’t written in 3 days”. Our writing prompt changes weekly and asks nothing of you.
  • Reminder emails are optional and switchable off in Settings.
  • Cancelling takes effect at the end of the period you paid for, and is done in the app — no retention maze, no phone call.
  • We do not use fear of death as a sales tactic. This is a product about love.

7. The alive-check is not surveillance

We check in on a schedule you choose, and you can pause it (travel, hospital) at any time. Emergency contacts are only involved after repeated missed check-ins, and legacy delivery requires confirmation — never a single missed email. We do not track your location or monitor your activity to infer whether you are alive.

If you are grieving, or struggling

Writing about mortality can bring things to the surface. We are a software company, not a counselling service — please reach out to people who are.

In immediate crisis

  • US: call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline)
  • UK & ROI: Samaritans — 116 123
  • India: AASRA — 9152987821; Vandrevala Foundation — 9999 666 555
  • Elsewhere: befrienders.org lists helplines worldwide

Grief support

Helpline numbers change and vary by country — please confirm the current details for where you live.

Hold us to this

If we ever fall short of what is written here, tell us: legal@soulboundstories.com. If this page and the product ever disagree, the product is the bug.