Privacy Policy

Somewhere Real is a place to write, read, share stories, discover other people and participate in private peer communities called Circles.

Your privacy matters here, especially because people may choose to write about personal or sensitive parts of their lives. This Privacy Policy explains what information Somewhere Real collects, how it is used, when it may be shared, how long it may be kept and the choices you have.

By using Somewhere Real, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Information You Give Us

When you create or use a Somewhere Real account, you may provide information such as:

• your name or display name;
• email address;
• username or handle;
• profile photograph;
• Journal name and description;
• stories, drafts and Summaries;
• Journal Sections and Topics;
• photographs, captions and image descriptions;
• comments;
• Likes, follows, shares and Journal recommendations;
• Circle posts and comments;
• recovery Milestones or a recovery date, if you voluntarily use those features;
• reports and beta/product feedback;
• notification preferences;
• birth month and birth year, provided temporarily for age eligibility verification; and
• other information you choose to provide.

Somewhere Real uses birth month and birth year only to determine whether you meet the applicable age requirements for the service. Raw birth month and birth year are not retained after the age verification process is completed. Somewhere Real may retain a limited private eligibility value or future eligibility date necessary to enforce age restrictions without keeping your raw birth information.

You control what you choose to write about. Some writing may contain highly personal information, so please think carefully about what you choose to make public.

2. Public Information

Information you intentionally publish publicly may be visible to other people.

Depending on the feature and audience you select, this may include your:

• display name;
• handle;
• profile photograph;
• public Journal and Journal description;
• public stories and photographs;
• Topics and Sections associated with public stories;
• comments on ordinary stories;
• Likes, shares and other public engagement information; and
• stories or Journals you choose to share or recommend.

Other people may copy, screenshot or otherwise retain information they are able to see. Somewhere Real cannot guarantee that another person will delete a copy they made while content was available to them.

3. Story Privacy and Audience Choices

Somewhere Real provides audience controls for Journal entries.

Depending on the feature, these include:

Everyone — visible to the public or Somewhere Real users as provided by the service.

People who follow me — visible only to people authorized through the applicable Follow relationship.

Only me — private to your account.

Drafts are not published.

Somewhere Real uses technical access controls to enforce these choices. However, no internet service can guarantee absolute security.

4. Circles

Circles are private peer-community spaces where people may talk about shared life experiences.

Current Circles may include topics such as recovery and sobriety, veteran life, grief and loss, pet loss, divorce and separation, cancer, caregiving and disability, and starting over.

Sensitive Circle membership is private by design.

Your membership in a sensitive Circle is not displayed on your public Profile or Journal.

Other Circle members do not see your ordinary Somewhere Real name, handle, public Journal or Profile through your Circle activity. Instead, Circle discussions use privacy-protective labels such as Original Poster and Circle Member.

Circle-only posts do not appear in your public Journal, global Search, global Topics or ordinary Wander.

Somewhere Real still knows which account owns Circle activity

Circle participation is private from other users, but it is not anonymous to Somewhere Real.

Somewhere Real securely associates Circle activity with the authenticated account that created it so that we can provide ownership controls, editing and deletion, enforce Community Guidelines, investigate reports, prevent abuse and address legitimate safety or legal concerns.

The details you choose to write may also reveal your identity even when your account name is hidden.

Other Circle members may be able to copy or screenshot content they can see.

5. Circle + My Journal

Circle-only posting is the default for sensitive Circle content.

If you deliberately choose to also publish Circle-related writing to your public Journal, Somewhere Real provides a warning that the Journal version will be associated with your normal public Somewhere Real identity.

Choosing to publish a Journal version may therefore publicly associate you with information you originally discussed privately inside a Circle.

6. Recovery Information and Milestones

Within Recovery & Sobriety, you may voluntarily provide a recovery date or choose to share a recovery Milestone.

A saved recovery date is private to your account unless you deliberately choose to share related information.

Somewhere Real does not publicly infer or announce that someone has relapsed because they:

• change or remove a recovery date;
• remove a Milestone;
• stop participating;
• leave a Circle; or
• otherwise change their behavior on Somewhere Real.

We do not automatically label people as being in recovery, having PTSD, having cancer, having a disability or possessing another sensitive characteristic based on which Circles they join or what they read.

7. Need Help Now

Some sensitive Circles provide a Need help now? area containing links or information for external crisis, emergency, treatment or support resources.

Opening Need help now? is not recorded as a moderation report and is not used to publicly label you or infer that you are experiencing a crisis or have a particular diagnosis.

Somewhere Real is a peer community. It is not an emergency service, healthcare provider, treatment program, therapist or crisis-response service.

8. AI-Assisted Writing

Somewhere Real uses OpenAI's API for optional AI-assisted writing features such as Shape and Summary.

AI processing occurs when you deliberately choose an AI-assisted action. Simply arriving at the Shape screen does not send your story to OpenAI.

When you use Shape or Summary, Somewhere Real may send the text of your Journal story to OpenAI so that the requested feature can be provided. For very long stories, the story may be processed in multiple parts.

Depending on the action, the request may also include information directly related to the writing task, such as:

• a correction you provide;
• a previously generated Summary;
• or an AI-generated understanding of the story that you approved.

Somewhere Real does not send the following with these AI requests:

• your name or display name;
• handle;
• email address;
• internal account ID;
• Profile information;
• Journal name;
• photographs;
• photo captions or image descriptions;
• comments;
• Circle membership;
• Circle posts or comments;
• recovery date;
• Milestones;
• Need Help Now activity; or
• moderation reports.

Circle content has no direct path to the AI writing system. However, if you independently write about a sensitive subject—such as recovery—in an ordinary Journal story and then choose Shape or Summary, that Journal story text is processed like any other Journal story.

What Somewhere Real stores from AI

Your original Full Story is not overwritten by AI.

Depending on the feature, Somewhere Real may store AI-assisted material that you approve, such as:

• the current Summary;
• the approved understanding or “heart” of the story; and
• an approved representative line.

Regenerating AI content replaces the current generated version. Previous Summaries may remain temporarily as part of a published story's edit history until that story is deleted.

Somewhere Real does not intentionally store raw AI prompts, raw provider responses, AI token counts or AI provider request IDs.

Deleting the story deletes its associated AI-generated content and edit history from Somewhere Real. Deleting your account removes your stories and their associated AI content.

OpenAI data handling

Somewhere Real uses OpenAI's Responses API with storage disabled for these requests (store: false).

OpenAI currently states that data submitted through its API is not used to train or improve OpenAI models by default unless the API customer explicitly opts in. OpenAI also states that standard API abuse-monitoring logs may contain prompts and responses and are generally retained for up to 30 days, subject to limited legal or safety-related exceptions. Somewhere Real has not represented itself as having OpenAI Zero Data Retention unless and until that setting is specifically enabled for the applicable OpenAI account/project.

Somewhere Real does not intentionally place story text into its own AI failure logs.

9. Search and Beta Insights

Somewhere Real collects limited information about searches performed through the main global Search feature so we can understand what people are trying to find and improve discovery.

This may include:

• the submitted search term;
• date and time;
• a randomly generated browsing-session identifier;
• number and types of results returned; and
• limited follow-up events, such as opening a story, Journal or Topic, or beginning to write shortly after a Search.

Search Insights are not stored with your Somewhere Real account ID.

Raw Search Insight records are generally deleted after approximately 90 days. Longer-lived aggregate statistics may be retained without account or session identifiers.

Somewhere Real does not include the following in Beta Search Insights:

• Circle Search;
• Circle membership or participation;
• recovery dates;
• Milestones;
• Need Help Now activity; or
• moderation and safety activity.

10. Information Collected Automatically

When you use Somewhere Real, technical systems and service providers may automatically process information necessary to provide, secure and troubleshoot the service.

This may include:

• browser or device information;
• technical request information;
• timestamps;
• session and authentication information;
• error information; and
• security or abuse-prevention information.

We aim to limit collection and retention to information reasonably necessary to operate, secure and improve Somewhere Real.

11. How We Use Information

We may use information to:

• create and maintain your account;
• provide Profiles, Journals, stories and Circles;
• enforce audience and privacy choices;
• provide Search and discovery;
• process comments, Likes, follows, shares and notifications;
• maintain preferences;
• provide AI-assisted writing when you choose it;
• respond to reports;
• enforce Community Guidelines;
• prevent spam, harassment, abuse and misuse;
• investigate safety or security concerns;
• troubleshoot technical problems;
• improve Somewhere Real;
• comply with valid legal obligations; and
• protect Somewhere Real, its users and others.

12. What We Do Not Do

As of the Effective Date of this Policy:

• We do not sell your personal information to advertisers.
• We do not publicly expose sensitive Circle membership.
• We do not use Need Help Now activity for advertising.
• We do not use Circle reading behavior to publicly label or diagnose users.
• We do not expose sensitive Circle membership lists to ordinary users.
• We do not automatically contact police, employers, family members, military commands, treatment providers or other third parties merely because someone discusses distress, participates in a Circle or opens Need Help Now.
• We do not automatically use AI to decide whether a serious accusation is true, whether someone is suicidal, or whether authorities should be contacted.

If these practices materially change, this Privacy Policy will need to be updated.

13. Service Providers

Somewhere Real uses third-party service providers to operate the service.

These may provide functions such as:

• website hosting and delivery;
• database infrastructure;
• authentication;
• file and photograph storage;
• application infrastructure; and
• AI processing.

These providers may process information on our behalf as necessary to provide their services.

Somewhere Real currently uses services including Netlify for website hosting/delivery and OpenAI for the optional AI functionality described above. Other infrastructure providers may be used for database, authentication and storage functions.

We do not authorize service providers to use personal information for unrelated purposes merely because they provide infrastructure to Somewhere Real.

14. Sharing Stories and Passages

Authors may choose whether eligible public stories can be reshared within Somewhere Real.

When sharing is enabled, another user may share an eligible story or a limited passage from it. Shared content remains attributed to the original author and links back to the original story or Journal.

If the original story becomes unavailable or the author disables sharing, Somewhere Real is designed to stop displaying the original writing through that share.

Circle-only content cannot be publicly reshared through this feature.

15. Reports, Moderation and Safety Records

Users may report stories, comments, accounts, shares or Circle content for review where reporting is available.

When something is reported, Somewhere Real may preserve a copy of the reported content as it existed at the time of the report. This allows legitimate moderation or safety review even if the original content is later edited or deleted.

Authorized administrators or moderators may access reports, preserved evidence and related moderation records.

These records are not publicly available.

Some moderation, safety, security or legal records may be retained after an account or content is deleted when reasonably necessary for:

• safety;
• abuse prevention;
• dispute handling;
• legal compliance;
• responding to valid legal requests; or
• preservation obligations.

Retention of a restricted moderation record does not keep a deleted user's public Profile or Journal active.

16. Legal and Emergency Requests

Somewhere Real does not automatically disclose user information merely because someone claims to represent law enforcement or describes a request as an emergency.

Legal and emergency requests may be reviewed and validated before information is disclosed.

We may preserve or disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with valid legal process or applicable law, or to respond to a legitimate emergency request where disclosure is permitted or required by law.

17. Account Deletion

You can delete your Somewhere Real account through Account & data in your Account settings.

Account deletion is designed to remove your account and public presence, including applicable:

• Profile and Journal;
• Sections;
• stories and drafts;
• uploaded photographs;
• comments;
• Likes;
• follows and followers;
• shares and Journal recommendations;
• Circle memberships;
• Circle posts, comments and Likes;
• recovery dates and Milestones;
• notifications; and
• account-specific settings and preferences.

When another person previously shared your story or a passage from it, deletion prevents your deleted writing from remaining publicly available through that share.

Uploaded files belonging solely to your deleted content are removed from active storage.

Limited moderation, safety, security or legal records may be retained when reasonably necessary as described above. Such records remain restricted and do not remain part of your former public account.

18. Data Retention

We retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to:

• provide Somewhere Real;
• maintain your account;
• fulfill the purposes described in this Policy;
• maintain security;
• prevent abuse;
• resolve disputes;
• enforce applicable rules; and
• comply with legal obligations.

Different categories of information may have different retention periods.

For example, raw Beta Search Insights are generally retained for approximately 90 days, while limited moderation evidence may be retained longer where there is a legitimate safety, security or legal reason.

When information is no longer reasonably necessary, we aim to delete or de-identify it as appropriate.

19. Security

Somewhere Real uses administrative and technical measures intended to protect information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction.

These include HTTPS, access controls and server/database-side authorization for sensitive functions.

Sensitive Circle membership and content are protected through access rules rather than merely being hidden visually.

However, no internet service or security system can guarantee absolute security.

20. Age Requirements

You must be at least 13 years old to create a Somewhere Real account.

During signup, Somewhere Real asks for your birth month and birth year before collecting the information needed to create your account. This information is used to determine whether you meet the minimum age requirement.

If the information provided indicates that you are under 13, you cannot create an account.

Raw birth month and birth year are not retained after age eligibility is verified. Somewhere Real may retain a limited private eligibility value or future eligibility date necessary to enforce age restrictions.

Somewhere Real is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly allow children under 13 to create accounts.

If we learn that an account belongs to a child under 13, we may take steps to delete the account and associated information.

Sensitive Circles

You must be at least 18 years old to join Somewhere Real's sensitive Circles.

Sensitive Circles currently include:

• Recovery & Sobriety;
• Veterans;
• Grief & Loss;
• Pet Loss;
• Divorce & Separation;
• Cancer;
• Caregiving & Disability; and
• Starting Over.

If Somewhere Real does not already have sufficient private age-eligibility information for your account, you may be asked to provide your birth month and birth year before joining a sensitive Circle.

Raw birth month and birth year are not retained after that verification is completed.

Age eligibility for sensitive Circles is enforced through the service's authorization systems and is not based only on whether a Join button is displayed.

Age information and eligibility status are not displayed on your public Profile or Journal and are not shown to other Circle members.

21. Your Privacy Choices

Depending on the feature, you can:

• edit your Profile and Journal;
• choose story audiences;
• keep stories private or in draft;
• edit or delete stories;
• control whether eligible stories may be reshared;
• manage notification preferences;
• join or leave eligible Circles;
• edit or delete your Circle content;
• Block other users;
• report content or accounts; and
• permanently delete your Somewhere Real account.

22. U.S. Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live and whether applicable legal requirements and thresholds are met, you may have rights regarding personal information.

These may include rights to request access to, correction of, or deletion of certain personal information and other rights provided by applicable law.

To submit a privacy request, use the Contact form available through Somewhere Real and select “Privacy request.”

We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests.

23. Changes to This Privacy Policy

Somewhere Real may update this Privacy Policy as the service evolves.

If we make material changes, we may provide notice through Somewhere Real or by other appropriate means and update the Last Updated date above.

We encourage you to review this Policy periodically.

24. Contact Us

For questions or concerns about privacy, your information, or this Privacy Policy, use the Contact form available through Somewhere Real.

Website: GoSomewhereReal.com

Effective Date: October 2, 2026

Last Updated: October 2, 2026