OUR TERMS OF CORRESPONDENCE

Privacy.

We ask for a small piece of your story, not your whole life. Here is what happens to it.

Who we are

This is an independent story-gathering project operated as The Listening Department. The related websites—The Unusual People Project, The Unsent Words Project, Stranger Frequency and Open Line—use the same intake system. Some contributors may later be invited into an audio conversation intended for possible public release. This is not an academic or government study.

What we collect

We collect the short story and optional follow-up you submit, your voluntary name or alias, your interest in a conversation, whether you want a follow-up, and a contact email only if you choose to provide one for follow-up. We record a receipt number, source website, and submission date. Cloudflare provides security checks and rate limiting; we use a keyed hash to limit repeated requests rather than intentionally storing your raw IP address in the application database.

How it is used

We read submissions privately to consider potential conversations or editorial topics. We may email people who consent to follow-up. Submitting does not grant us permission to publish your words, record your voice, or share a recording publicly. We will request separate, explicit permission if we wish to record or publish anything.

Where it goes

Cloudflare hosts the site, verification service, and submission database. Resend sends a copy of each submission to our private Gmail inbox, operated by Google, for review. Those providers may process data in other countries according to their service policies. We do not sell submissions or use them for advertising targeting.

How long it is kept

The application deletes database submissions after 90 days through a scheduled cleanup process. That is not a promise that all copies disappear at the same time: notifications in Gmail, Resend delivery records, and provider backups may remain longer until deleted or expired under their respective processes. A selected conversation may require separate records and permissions.

Your choices

You can share without giving a name or email; if you ask for follow-up, an email address is required. To request access, correction, or deletion, include your receipt number if available and write to inbox@thelisteningdepartment.com. We may need to confirm ownership of the information before fulfilling a request. Applicable rights and exceptions depend on your jurisdiction.

What not to send

Please do not include account passwords, financial or medical identifiers, highly sensitive details about other people, or information you do not have permission to share. This website is not an emergency or crisis service.

Last updated: October 26, 2026.