Privacy policy
Certimail lets you mail a letter by USPS Certified Mail or First-Class Mail from inside Muse. To do that we have to handle the letter, the addresses on it, and your payment. This policy explains exactly what we collect, who else touches it, and how long we keep it. We wrote it to be read.
Certimail is operated by Georgina Hawley, an individual and the sole developer. In this policy, "we" and "us" mean her. You can reach us at support@certimail.guaranteecheck.org.
Short version: we use your letter and addresses only to print and mail your letter. We do not sell your information, we do not use it for advertising, and we delete the letter text and addresses from our records 90 days after your order is finished.
What we collect
Information you give us through Muse
- The full text of your letter.
- The recipient's name and mailing address.
- Your name and return address as the sender.
- The mail service you choose and the number of pages.
- Your email address, if you provide it or enter it at checkout, so we can reach you about your order.
Muse is run by Meta. Meta passes us the details of a request when you ask Muse to use Certimail. We do not receive the rest of your Muse conversation, and we do not know your Meta account identity beyond what is needed to complete the order. How Meta handles your conversations is covered by Meta's own privacy policy.
Payment information
Payments are handled by Stripe, including Stripe Link if you use it. Your card and bank details go to Stripe and never reach our systems. We receive only a payment reference, the amount, the status (paid or refunded), and your email address if you entered one at checkout.
Order information we create
For each order we keep an order ID, the date, the mail service, the price, the order status, the Stripe payment reference, the print vendor's letter reference, and the USPS tracking number once the letter is mailed.
Launch-list emails
If you email us to join the launch list, we keep the email address you send from and nothing else. We use it for one purpose: a single email when Certimail becomes available in Muse. We will not use it for anything else or share it. We delete it after we send that launch notice, or sooner if you ask. To be removed at any time, email support@certimail.guaranteecheck.org and say so.
Website visits
This website may use privacy-friendly Cloudflare Web Analytics to count visits. It does not use cookies and does not track you across other sites. Cloudflare hosts the site and may log standard technical data such as IP address and browser type to deliver pages and protect against abuse.
How we use it
- To price your order, take payment, print the letter, mail it, and tell you where it is.
- To send a launch notice to people who asked for one.
- To check each letter automatically for threats and harassment before it is mailed (see "Content check" below).
- To refund you if the letter cannot be mailed.
- To answer your support emails, prevent fraud, keep accurate financial records, and meet legal obligations.
We do not use your letters or addresses to build advertising profiles, to market to you or the recipient, or to train AI models.
Who else handles your information
| Who | Why | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| PostGrid | Print and mail vendor | The letter, the recipient and sender addresses. PostGrid prints the letter and hands it to USPS, and keeps data under its own privacy policy. |
| USPS | Delivers the letter | The addresses on the envelope, as with any mail, plus certified tracking data. |
| Stripe | Payments and refunds | Payment details and your email address. |
| Cloudflare | Website hosting and analytics | Standard web traffic data. |
| Meta (Muse) | The assistant you use to place the order | Whatever you type to Muse. They also receive the results we send back to Muse, such as the price and order status. |
The recipient of your letter will read it and can see your return address, as with any mail. A mailed letter cannot be recalled or deleted, and we cannot control what the recipient or USPS does with it.
We may also disclose information if the law requires it, such as a valid subpoena or court order, or when needed to protect people from fraud, threats or other serious harm. We do not sell or rent your information.
Content check
Before payment, an automated check scans letter text for direct threats and harassment. If a letter is refused, nothing is charged and nothing is mailed. The check is software only. We do not read your letters as part of normal operation. A person may look at a specific letter if needed to resolve a support request you send us, investigate suspected abuse, or comply with the law.
How long we keep it
- Letter text and the sender and recipient addresses: deleted from our records 90 days after the order is finished (mailed, or refunded).
- Minimal order record (order ID, date, mail service, price, status, payment and tracking references): kept for 7 years for bookkeeping, tax and fraud-prevention purposes. It does not contain the text of your letter.
- Launch-list emails: deleted after we send the launch notice, or on request.
- Support emails: kept as long as needed to help you and to keep a record of what we agreed, then deleted.
- Print vendor, payment processor and USPS: they keep data on their own schedules under their own policies.
Your choices
You can email us to ask what we hold about an order, to correct it, or to delete it sooner than the schedule above. We will respond within 30 days. We can delete what is in our records. We cannot make PostGrid, Stripe, USPS or Meta delete their copies, but we will point you to how to ask them. We will honor these requests wherever you live, including Texas.
Security
We send data only over encrypted connections, keep payment details off our systems by using Stripe, and limit access to order data to what is needed to run the service. No system is perfectly secure, so please do not put in a letter anything you would not be willing to mail.
Who can use Certimail
Certimail is for people 18 or older in the United States. We do not knowingly collect information from children.
Changes
If we change this policy we will update the date at the top. If a change affects how we use information we already hold, we will tell people with open orders by email where we have their address.
Contact
Questions, requests or complaints: support@certimail.guaranteecheck.org. Certimail, operated by Georgina Hawley.