At GrandparentsVoice.com we take every possible precaution and make every possible arrangement to ensure that your letters are delivered securely and successfully.
Make no mistake, storing data for such a long period of time is no easy task, but we are confident in our ability to do it.
The three key methodologies we use to provide our service are encryption, format redundancy, and storage redundancy.
Once a letter is locked, the normal link between it and your account is severed and replaced by an encrypted link which uses one of the strongest encryption algorithms currently available. This may seem excessive, considering we aren't storing credit card details or other sensitive information, but we take your privacy very seriously. Even our admins are unable to determine the author of a locked letter.
Letters can only be accessed using the code that is generated when they are locked, and this is only possible once 75 years have passed. The code is the only piece of information that you need to keep safe and pass on so that the intended recipient is able to enter it once the letter's destiny date is reached. Your account login credentials are only required for writing and locking new letters.
The backups of each letter are also encrypted, and can similarly only be accessed using the letter's code.
Technology advances rapidly, and it's very likely that many of the file formats and storage mechanisms used today will be replaced or updated, and eventually become unreadable. To account for this, we store letters in multiple formats which are very widely used. This minimises the risk of the data becoming obsolete even in the unlikely event that letters are not migrated to future formats.
In addition to being stored on our web server (in both the database and as regular files), backups of every letter are stored on two separate devices in a separate and secure location. This protects against the possibility of software or disk failure, as well as against other unforseen events (theft, fire, force majeure etc.).
There is little else that can be additionally done to ensure letters are delivered to recipients 75 years in the future. While a 100% guarantee is impossible, we hope the above information answers any practical concerns you may have on the performance of our site. Please also note that as the principal promoters of this site we ourselves have committed our letters to our great grandchildren exclusively to the site and that members of this family run social enterprise, based in the Yorkshire Dales, will retain long term guardianship of the concept and the site.