Privacy Policy

Kindness By Mail is built around children’s privacy and safety. We collect only the information needed to operate our reviewed mail program, manage orders and memberships, forward approved letters, and communicate with parents or legal guardians.

Home addresses are never shared between participating families. Letters and replies go through Kindness By Mail first and are reviewed before they are forwarded.

When a parent or legal guardian signs up, places an order, submits a form, mails a letter, or contacts us, we may collect:

• Parent or legal guardian name and email address
• Billing, payment, order, and membership information
• Mailing address for sending and receiving approved letters
• Child’s first name, age or grade, and basic matching preferences
• Information included in child preference forms, submission slips, or intake forms
• Letters, replies, drawings, or other mail submitted for review
• Customer service messages you send to us
• Basic website, order, account, device, and usage information collected through Shopify or related tools
  

Payment information is processed by our payment providers and Shopify-related services. We do not intentionally store full payment card numbers ourselves.

Kindness By Mail is designed to be used by parents or legal guardians on behalf of their children. Children should not create accounts, make purchases, submit forms, or contact us directly without a parent or legal guardian.

We may collect limited child information through a parent or legal guardian, such as a child’s first name, age or grade, interests, and letter preferences. We use this information only to help review, coordinate, match, and forward approved letters through the program.

Parents or legal guardians may request to review, correct, or delete their child’s information by contacting us.

We do not sell children’s information. We do not use children’s information for advertising or targeted marketing.

Letters, replies, drawings, and submitted messages may be reviewed by Kindness By Mail before they are forwarded. This review helps us check for safety, kindness, privacy, and program fit.

During review, we may look for personal contact details, last names, home addresses, school names, phone numbers, email addresses, social media handles, unkind or inappropriate language, concerning topics, requests for secrecy, pressure, or attempts to move communication outside Kindness By Mail.

Personal details or content that does not follow our guidelines may be removed, blocked, returned for correction, or not forwarded.

Approved letters are forwarded through Kindness By Mail. We do not give one family another family’s home address.

We use information to:

• Create and manage customer accounts
• Process orders, memberships, payments, and renewals
• Review submitted letters and replies
• Match or coordinate age-appropriate letter exchanges
• Forward approved mail
• Contact parents or legal guardians about accounts, orders, memberships, letters, replies, safety issues, or customer support questions
• Maintain records needed to operate the program and prevent misuse
• Protect the safety, privacy, and integrity of Kindness By Mail
• Comply with legal, tax, accounting, security, or business requirements
  

We do not use children’s information for advertising.

Kindness By Mail uses Shopify to host our store, process orders, support customer accounts, and help manage purchases and memberships.

When you visit our website, create an account, place an order, or interact with our store, Shopify and related service providers may collect and process information such as contact details, billing and shipping details, order history, device information, usage information, and payment-related information.

Shopify may also process information according to its own privacy practices. To learn more, you may review Shopify’s privacy information through Shopify’s own privacy resources.

We may use parent or legal guardian contact information to send order updates, membership notices, customer support messages, safety-related messages, and other service-related communications.

We may also send occasional marketing or promotional emails to parents or legal guardians. You may unsubscribe from promotional emails at any time. Even if you unsubscribe from promotional messages, we may still send non-promotional messages related to your account, orders, memberships, letters, safety, or customer support.

Children’s information is not used for marketing or advertising.

We share information only as needed to operate Kindness By Mail. This may include:

Shopify: to host our store, process orders, and support customer accounts.

Payment processors: to process payments securely.

Subscription tools: to manage memberships and recurring billing.

Google Workspace or form tools: to receive forms, customer messages, and account-related information.

Mailing and postage providers: to prepare or send approved mail, if used.

Reviewers or support helpers: to help review letters or provide customer support, under privacy expectations or confidentiality agreements.

Service providers: to help with website hosting, analytics, security, customer support, order management, or business operations.

Legal or safety purposes: if required to comply with law, protect children, prevent misuse, respond to a safety concern, or protect the rights and safety of Kindness By Mail or others.

We do not sell personal information for money. We do not share children’s information with marketers, data brokers, or other participating families.

Kindness By Mail does not:

• Sell children’s information
  
• Use children’s information for advertising
  
• Allow children to create their own accounts
  
• Share home addresses between participating families
  
• Allow adult-to-child pen pal communication
  
• Provide open or unsupervised messaging between participants
  
• Allow families to move child communication outside Kindness By Mail through our program

Our website and Shopify store may use cookies and similar technologies to operate the website, remember preferences, support checkout, improve the shopping experience, understand website usage, and help protect against fraud or misuse.

Depending on your location, you may have rights related to cookies, targeted advertising, or certain types of data sharing. You may also be able to adjust browser settings or use available privacy controls.

We keep information only as long as needed to operate the program, manage orders or memberships, handle customer support, maintain safety records, prevent misuse, and meet legal, accounting, tax, or business requirements.

Parents or legal guardians may request deletion of their child’s information. Some records may need to be kept for a limited time when required for order history, accounting, safety, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, or legal reasons.

Parents and legal guardians may contact us to:

• Ask what child information we have
  
• Request a correction
  
• Request deletion of child information
  
• Ask questions about how letters or replies are reviewed
  
• Close an account or request help with membership information
  
• Ask questions about privacy or data use
  

To make a request, email us from the email address connected to your account when possible. We may need to verify the request before making changes.

Depending on where you live, you may have certain rights related to your personal information, such as the right to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of personal information, or to opt out of certain types of data use.

These rights may not apply in every situation. We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

To make a privacy request, contact us using the information below.

We use reasonable safeguards to protect personal information, including limiting access to information needed to operate the program. No system is perfect, but we take children’s privacy seriously and work to reduce unnecessary access, sharing, and storage.

Please avoid sending sensitive information through unsecured channels.

Our website may include links to third-party websites or services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security, or content of third-party websites. Please review their privacy policies before providing information to them.

Kindness By Mail is currently available for U.S. mailing addresses only. We do not currently offer international participation.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the date at the top of this page. If we make meaningful changes to how children’s information is collected, used, or shared, we will take reasonable steps to notify parents or legal guardians.

Questions about this Privacy Policy or your child’s information? Contact us at:

Email: hello@kindnessbymail.com

Mail:
Kindness By Mail
PO Box 526
Shelley, ID 83274