Effective date: 09/02/2026. This policy applies to inhandstories.com (the "Site"), your In Hand customer profile, our text-message service, and the printed digests we create and mail on your behalf (together, the "Services"). In Hand [, LLC], a Maine company ("In Hand," "we," "us"), operates the Services from the United States, for customers in the United States.
In Hand exists to carry family news and photos from the people who share them to the person they love - nothing more. We are a subscription business: our customers pay us, so we never need to sell data or run advertising. This policy explains, in plain language first and precise language second, what we collect, why, who can see it, and what your choices are.
In plain terms: We collect what you give us to run your family circle and mail your digest - and very little else.
Information you provide. When you create a customer profile we collect your name, email address, mobile phone number, password, and payment details (card information is collected and stored by our payment processor, not by us - we keep only the card’s last four digits and expiration date for your reference). When you set up a digest we collect your recipient’s name and mailing address, the delivery schedule you choose, and your relationship to the recipient.
Content your family shares. We collect the messages, updates, and photos that you and invited members of your circle submit by text message or through the Site, together with the date and phone number or account they came from, so we can attribute each contribution correctly in the digest.
Information about other people. Some of what you give us is about someone else - your recipient’s name and postal address, and the names and mobile numbers of family members you invite. We use that information only to operate your circle and deliver your digest, and for no other purpose. By providing it, you confirm you have permission to share it with us.
Information collected automatically. Like nearly every website, our Site logs basic technical data: IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, and the date and time of visits. We use a limited set of cookies described in Section 8. We do not use this data to build advertising profiles.
What we deliberately do not collect. We do not ask for, and ask that you not submit, sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, government IDs, health or financial account details. Text messages are used as written to us, so anything sensitive a family member includes travels at their own choice.
2. How We Use Information
In plain terms: We use your information to run In Hand - to build and mail your digest, bill your subscription, and support you.
We use the information described above to:
What we will not use it for: we do not sell or rent personal information; we do not use your family’s content or data for advertising (unless you opt-in, share a public review, or are part of a marketing and advertising special where this clause is waived); we do not use your photos or messages to train artificial-intelligence models; and we will not use information collected for one purpose for an unrelated purpose without telling you first.
In plain terms: Texting is how most families use In Hand, so here are the ground rules: you opt in, we tell you what to expect, and STOP always works.
Consent. You join the In Hand texting service only by opting in - by entering and confirming your mobile number during signup, or by accepting an invitation from your family circle and replying to our confirmation text. Consent to receive texts is never a condition of buying anything else from us.
What we send. Service messages related to your circle and digest: confirmations that your photo or update was received, reminders before a digest deadline, and account or delivery notices. We will send marketing texts only if you separately agree to them. Message frequency varies with your family’s activity. Message and data rates may apply.
Opting out and help. Reply STOP at any time to stop receiving texts (we will send one final message confirming your opt-out). Reply HELP for help, or contact us at hello@inhandstories.com. Opting out of texts does not close your account; you can still use the Site.
Your number stays here. Phone numbers and consent records collected for texting are used to run the texting service and are never shared with third parties for their marketing. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
4. Who Can See What: Sharing Within Your Circle
In plain terms: Your circle is private. Nothing is public, nothing is searchable, and only people you invite can contribute or see contributions.
5. Mailed Digests and Printing
In plain terms: To put a digest in your loved one’s hands we have to print it and mail it. Here is exactly who touches it along the way.
Print and mail partners. We use professional print-and-mail vendors to produce each digest and deliver it through the U.S. Postal Service. To do that job, a vendor receives only what must appear on or in the mail piece: the digest contents (your family’s messages and photos) and the recipient’s name and mailing address.
Physical mail. Once a digest enters the mail, it travels like any letter: sealed, addressed only to your recipient. Please remember a printed digest is a physical copy in your recipient’s home - choose what your family shares with that in mind.
Recipient information. Your recipient’s name and address are used to deliver digests and for nothing else. We do not mail your recipient anything except the digests you ordered [and, if you choose, service notices you approve]. If your recipient (or someone acting for them) asks us to stop mail or delete their address, we will honor it and let you know.
In plain terms: Your photos are yours. We handle them only to put them in your digest, and we never scan faces, sell them, or train AI on them.
In plain terms: Short list: vendors who help us run the service, the law when it truly requires it, and a successor if the company is ever sold — under this same policy. That’s it. We never sell your data.
In plain terms: A few cookies keep you signed in and tell us if the Site is working. No advertising trackers.
In plain terms: We keep your information while your account is active, and for defined, limited periods after — then it’s gone.
In plain terms: We protect your family’s information with real safeguards, and we’ll tell you quickly if something ever goes wrong.
We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information we hold, including encryption of data in transit (TLS) and at rest, access limited to personnel who need it for their role, reputable U.S.-hosted cloud infrastructure, and vendor contracts requiring equivalent protection. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security — but if a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and the appropriate authorities as required by law, promptly and plainly.
In plain terms: You can see, correct, download, or delete your information — and we extend those rights to everyone, not just where a statute makes us.
Wherever you live in the United States, you (and your recipient) may ask us to:
To exercise any right, email hello@inhandstories.com from the address on your account or write to us at the address below. We will verify your identity (to make sure no one else can access your family’s information), respond within 45 days, and never charge for a first request or treat you differently for exercising your rights. If we decline a request, we will explain why, and you may appeal by replying to our decision; residents of some states may also contact their state Attorney General. Authorized agents may act for you with signed permission. California residents: California’s "Shine the Light" law lets you ask about disclosures to third parties for their direct marketing — our answer is that we make none.
In plain terms: Kids appear in In Hand digests all the time — in photos their grown-ups share. But kids themselves can’t open accounts.
The Services are for adults. You must be at least 18 to create a customer profile, and at least 13 to be invited to contribute to a circle (contributors 13–17 may participate only with a parent or guardian’s permission, through that parent’s circle). We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13. Photos and stories about children shared by their parents or family are part of the family’s content and are protected like everything else in the circle — never public, never used for advertising unless explicitly consented to, never used for AI training, and never subject to facial recognition. Parents and guardians may review or delete content about their child by contacting us at hello@inhandstories.com; if we learn we have collected information directly from a child under 13, we will delete it.
In plain terms: IRight now, we don't use cookies or similar technoligies.
We don't use cookies for tracking, analytics or advertising. As of Sept 2, 2026, inhandstories.com sets no cookies of its own.
Some parts of the site load files from other companies in order to work:
— Webflow hosts this website and delivers its images, styles and scripts.
— Google Fonts provides the typefaces used here.
— Stripe handles payment when you subscribe. Stripe sets its own cookies on its own checkout page, governed by Stripe's privacy policy rather than this one.
None of these place advertising or tracking cookies on your device on our behalf. We do not sell or share your personal information, and we do not use it for cross-context behavioural advertising.
If we ever add analytics or advertising tools, we will update this policy and say so here.
In plain terms: If we change something that matters, you’ll hear it from us.
We may update this policy as the Services and the law evolve. The current version, with its effective date, lives at this page, and we keep prior versions available on request. For material changes — anything that expands what we collect, how we use it, or who can see it — we will notify account holders by email (and by text, for members who joined by text) at least 30 days before the change takes effect, and where the law requires it we will ask for your consent. We will never apply a material change retroactively to information collected under an earlier version without your consent.
Questions, requests, or concerns about privacy - or anything in a digest - are welcome any time:
In Hand [, LLC] · Attn: Privacy · hello@inhandstories.com
We answer privacy messages from a person, not an auto-responder, within [5] business days.
