Privacy policy

1. The short version

• We use your card's details only to make it, post it and look after your order.
• We never contact the person you're sending to and never add them to a list.
• We never sell your data and never send marketing emails.
• We never use your message, your cover sentence or your handwriting to train AI models.
• When you pay, we make you an account so you can see your orders. You sign in with a code we email you. There's no password, and you can delete the account any time.
• We delete your message once your card is posted, and the recipient's name and street address soon after.

2. Information we collect

When you design and order a card:

• the sentence you describe your cover with, the covers made from it, and the one you choose,
• your message and sign-off,
• the recipient's name and postal address, and the date the card should arrive,
• your name, postal address and email address, and
• if you choose to have the pen write in your own hand, a photo of your handwriting sample,
• if you start your cover from a photo, that photo, and
• anything you add to your cover in the editor: words, stickers and photos.

Automatically, when you visit:

• your IP address, browser and device details, and the pages you request, in our server and security logs,
• how you use the site, through Google Analytics on snailgram.com.au, and
• where you came from, such as a referring site or the campaign tags in a link or ad.

When you pay for a card: we make an account under your email address, so you can see your orders on snailgram.com.au/account. It holds only your email address. To sign in, you type it and we email you a one-time code.

When you contact us: your email address and what you write to us.

When you use the help chat: the questions you ask. They're answered as you ask them and not kept (see section 9), so please don't type addresses or payment details into it.

Payments are processed by Square. Square collects your card or wallet details directly. We never see or store your full card number. We receive a payment reference, the amount, and the card type and last four digits.

Without the recipient's name and address and your email address, we can't make or post your card.

3. Information we don't collect

• You don't sign up or make a password to order. The account we make when you pay needs only your email address.
• We don't ask for government ID or your date of birth.
• We don't use social media tracking pixels.
• We don't collect the recipient's email address or phone number.

4. How we use your information

• to make your covers, write your message and post your card in time for your date,
• to take payment, issue receipts and handle refunds and chargebacks,
• to email you about your order, such as confirmation, posting and any problem with it,
• to show you your orders, their status and tracking numbers when you sign in,
• to answer your questions and resolve complaints,
• to prevent fraud and misuse, including enforcing what can't be sent under our terms, and to keep the site secure,
• to understand how the site is used and measure our advertising, so we can improve it, and
• to meet our legal obligations, such as tax record-keeping.

We don't use your message, cover sentence or handwriting for marketing or profiling. We won't show your card or quote your words in our marketing unless you give us permission.

5. The person you're writing to

When you give us someone's name and address, you confirm that you're allowed to share it with us so we can post them a card. We use it only to post the card and handle any problem with its delivery. We never contact them, and the card is from you, not from us.

Your message may include personal or sensitive details. Our team handles it only to make and post your card.

6. Your message, cover and handwriting

• Everything is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest, and stored with Amazon Web Services in Sydney, Australia.
• Our team sees your card only to write, check, pack and post it. Otherwise, we access it only when the law requires it or to fix a problem you've raised.
• Your covers are made by image-generation services from your sentence alone, or from your photo if you ask for it to be painted. We don't send your name, message or addresses to make them, and the services aren't told who you are.
• A photo you keep as it is stays with us in Australia. It's only sent to an image-generation service if you choose to have it painted, and the studio asks you first.
• Photos you upload are checked automatically for content that can't be printed (see section 13).
• The words, stickers and photos you add in the editor are kept as instructions, and our own server in Sydney draws them on your cover to print it.
• Your handwriting sample is used only to teach the pen your hand, and your hand is used only for cards you order. We never use it for anyone else's card.

7. Who we share information with

We share only what each provider needs to do its job:

• Amazon Web Services Australia hosts the site, stores our data in Sydney, delivers the website (CloudFront), sends order emails (SES), keeps customer accounts and emails sign-in codes (Cognito), suggests addresses as you type them (Amazon Location Service), checks uploaded photos for content that can't be printed (Rekognition) and answers the help chat (Bedrock, hosted in Australia).
• Image-generation services make covers from your sentence, and paint your photo when you ask for that. They receive only the sentence or the photo, never your name, message, addresses or email address.
• Cloudflare, Inc. checks that requests to make covers come from a person rather than a script (Turnstile). It receives your IP address and browser details.
• Australia Post carries and delivers your card. It sees the recipient's name and address on the envelope.
• Square AU Pty Ltd processes card and wallet payments and refunds, and issues tax invoices.
• Fastmail Pty Ltd hosts our snailgram.com.au mailboxes, so it holds emails you send us.
• Google Australia provides Google Analytics, which measures how the site is used. It never receives your message, addresses, email address or payment details. Google Fonts serves the site's typefaces, so Google receives your IP address when pages load.
• Discord Inc. notifies our team when an order is paid. These notifications never include names, addresses, emails or messages.

Our providers must keep your information confidential and use it only to provide their service to us. We remain responsible for how they handle it. If we add or change a provider that receives personal information, we'll update this section first.

We may also disclose information when the law requires it, to prevent serious harm or fraud, or to a buyer or successor if our business is sold or restructured.

8. Overseas disclosure

We store your information in Australia. Some providers may access or process it from overseas:

• the United States, for email hosting support, payment processing and hosting support, and for Discord notifications (which contain no personal details),
• the United States and other countries where Google runs data centres, for analytics and fonts,
• Singapore, Malaysia and the United States, where image-generation services make covers from your sentence and paint photos you ask to have painted, and
• the United States and other countries where Cloudflare operates, for the check that you're a person.

A photo you keep as it is isn't sent overseas.

9. How long we keep it

• Your message: deleted once your card is posted.
• The recipient's name and street address: removed 14 days after delivery is recorded, or 60 days after posting if it isn't. We keep the suburb, state and postcode longer, to understand where cards go.
• Covers and cover sentences: covers you didn't choose are deleted within four months. The cover you chose is deleted 60 days after posting, in case you need it reprinted.
• Your photos: photos you upload, and covers made from them, are deleted within a week unless you order with one. A cover with your photo on it is then deleted 60 days after posting, like any other.
• Records of covers made: what each cover cost us and when it was made, with no picture, sentence or photo, about 13 months, for our accounts.
• Daily limits on covers: a scrambled form of your IP address, used to count how many covers you've made, two days.
• Your handwriting sample: the photo is deleted once the pen has learned your hand. The learned hand is kept so you can use it again, and deleted 12 months after your last card or sooner if you ask.
• Your name on the envelope: removed at the same time as the recipient's name and street address.
• Saved cards that aren't posted: the message, the recipient's address, your name, the cover and your handwriting photo are deleted 60 days after you save the card.
• Cards you ask us to email a link to: the card as it stood (its covers, message, the recipient's address, your name and any handwriting photo) is kept on our servers for 30 days so the link works on any device, then deleted. We keep only a scrambled form of the link, so the card can only be opened with the link we emailed you.
• Designs you don't save: stay only in your browser (see section 10), never on our servers.
• Other order details, such as dates and status: up to 18 months.
• Your account: until you delete it on the orders page or ask us to. Sign-in codes stop working after a few minutes. Deleting the account doesn't delete order records any sooner than this list says.
• Your email address: kept with your order reference so we can help with past orders and tell whether a card is your first, for the new customer discount, until you ask us to delete it.
• Support emails: as long as we need them to resolve the matter.
• Help chat questions and answers: not stored on our servers or in our logs. The conversation stays in your browser tab (see section 10).
• Server and security logs: 90 days.
• Payment and transaction records: about seven years, as tax law requires.

10. What's stored in your browser

• Google Analytics cookies (_ga and _ga_*), on snailgram.com.au only. You can block them in your browser settings or with Google's opt-out browser add-on.
• The card you're designing, so you can pick up where you left off.
• Your handwriting photo, until you remove it or order.
• The painted covers you've made today, so you can choose from them again.
• Your language choice.
• A sign-in cookie (sg_account), only once you sign in to see your orders. It keeps you signed in for up to 30 days, or until you sign out or delete your account. The page's scripts can't read it, and it's only sent to our sign-in service.
• Your help chat conversation, until you close the tab.

Apart from the sign-in cookie, these stay on your device until you order, or until you ask us to email you a link to your card (see section 9). Clearing this site's data in your browser removes all of them.

11. Security

• Data is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS. The site is HTTPS only.
• Only people who need it to make, post or support your card can see it, and access is limited to what they need.
• If a data breach is likely to cause serious harm, we'll tell you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires.

You can report a security issue under our responsible disclosure policy.

12. Seeing, correcting or deleting your information

You can ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, or ask us to correct or delete it, by emailing support@snailgram.com.au with "Privacy request" in the subject line. We may need to confirm who you are first. We'll reply within 30 days, at no charge. If we refuse, we'll explain why in writing.

You can also see your orders, and delete your account, yourself on the orders page.

Once a card is posted, we can't change it. Information we've already deleted can't be recovered.

13. Automated checks

We run routine automated checks, such as confirming that an address is complete and its suburb, state and postcode match, that an email address is valid, that an uploaded photo or a cover sentence has nothing in it that can't be printed, and that the site isn't being misused. We don't make automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you. A person reviews any order we decline.

14. People in the EU, EEA or UK

If the GDPR or UK GDPR applies to you, the controller is AWS, CYY & Co. Pty Ltd as trustee for Mumu, Lulu & Co. We rely on these legal bases:

• contract: to make and post the card you ordered, and to show you your orders,
• legitimate interests: to keep the site secure, prevent fraud and improve the service, and
• legal obligation: to keep tax records.

You can ask to access, correct, erase, restrict or move your data, or object to how we use it. Email support@snailgram.com.au with "GDPR data request" in the subject line, and we'll reply within one month. We can't erase records the law requires us to keep. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

15. Marketing

We don't send marketing emails. We email you only about your order or when you've contacted us.

16. Children

Snailgram isn't for people under 18. If you think a child has given us their information, contact us and we'll delete it.

17. Changes to this policy

When we update this policy, we'll change the date at the top of this page. If we make an important change, we'll summarise it on the site. You can ask us for earlier versions.

18. Contact and complaints

Email support@snailgram.com.au, or write to PO Box 169, South Melbourne VIC 3205, Australia. We'll acknowledge your complaint within one business day and aim to resolve it within 30 days.

If you're not satisfied with our answer, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au, on 1300 363 992, or by post to GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001.