TERMS

Terms of use

Plain rules for a small, free service. Your words stay yours. We ask you to be kind and to keep a copy of anything that matters.

Last updated 6 October 2026. Questions: [email protected].

Your letters are yours

You own what you write. You give us permission to store it, encrypt it and show it to the person it is addressed to, and, only if you ask us to share a letter on the public shelf, to show the version you approve to anyone. You can withdraw that permission by deleting the letter or taking it down.

Using Open When

You must be 13 or older.
Write to people who would want to hear from you. Do not use Open When to harass, threaten or deceive anyone, to send spam, or to send anything illegal.
Do not try to open letters that are not yours, or to break or overload the service.

We may remove a letter or block an address that breaks these rules. Anyone who receives a letter can stop all email from Open When in one tap.

Keep your own copy

Open When is free and offered as it is. We work to keep every letter safe and delivered on its date, but we cannot promise that any service will exist, unchanged, for years to come. For a letter meant for the far future, download your own copy and keep it somewhere you trust. If we ever had to close, we would give writers notice and time to download their letters.

Liability

To the extent the law allows, Open When is not liable for indirect losses, or for a letter that is lost, late or read by someone the writer did not intend because a link was shared.

Changes

We may update these terms. The date at the top tells you when they last changed.