Privacy Policy

Flotsam ("we," "us," or "our") is a thought-collection service that lets you capture ideas, tasks, notes, and pictures by texting an AI-powered contact. This Privacy Policy explains what we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have.

Information we collect

Information you provide

• Phone number. When you sign up, we associate your account with the phone number you use to text Flotsam. This is the only personal identifier we require.
• Message content. The text, links, and images you send to your Flotsam number are stored so you can review them later in the web interface.

Information generated automatically

• AI-generated metadata. We process your messages with a large language model (Anthropic Claude) to categorize and annotate them (for example, labeling a message as a task, thought, or reference). These derived labels and annotations are stored alongside your messages.
• Session data. We issue a signed authentication cookie (JWT) when you log in so we can keep you signed in. We do not use third-party advertising or analytics cookies.
• Basic request logs. Our hosting provider records standard server logs (IP address, user agent, timestamp) for security and reliability.

How we use your information

• To deliver the core product: storing, categorizing, and displaying the thoughts you send us.
• To authenticate you via SMS magic links and keep you signed in.
• To send you service-related messages (for example, login codes).
• To monitor, secure, and improve the service.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use your message content to train AI models. We do not sell or share your phone number with third parties for their own marketing or promotional purposes.

Service providers

We rely on a small number of vendors to operate Flotsam:

• Twilio — delivers SMS messages to and from your phone.
• Anthropic — provides the Claude language model used to categorize and annotate messages.
• Neon — hosts our PostgreSQL database.
• Railway — hosts the web application.
• Stripe — processes payments if you subscribe to a paid plan.

Each provider only receives the information they need to perform their function, and they are bound by their own privacy and security commitments.

Data retention

We retain your account information and messages for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal data within a reasonable period, except where we are required to keep it for legal or security reasons.

Your choices

• You can request a copy of your data or ask us to delete your account at any time.
• You can stop using the service at any time by no longer texting your Flotsam number. Standard message and data rates from your mobile carrier may apply.
• Message frequency varies based on your usage of the service. Message and data rates may apply.

Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including encrypted transport (HTTPS), signed authentication tokens, and access controls on our database. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Children

Flotsam is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Material changes will be communicated through the service.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Reach out to us and we will do our best to help.