Last updated July 15, 2026
Terms of use, without the maze.
Using Dear Self Diary means agreeing to what follows. We've kept it short and honest; the privacy page covers how your data is treated.
Who can use it
You need to be at least 16 years old. Keep your sign-in email and passphrase to yourself — your account is for you alone.
What this is — and isn't
Dear Self Diary is a private journal: a place to notice your moods, energy, sleep, and days. It is not medical care, therapy, or mental health advice, and it isn't built to detect or respond to a crisis. If you're struggling, please reach out to a professional or a local helpline — your diary will be here when you get back.
Your key, your responsibility
Everything you write is end-to-end encrypted with a key made from your passphrase. We never have that key, which means we can never reset it or recover your writing. If you lose both your passphrase and your recovery code, your diary is gone for good — by design. Please keep your recovery code safe, and use the export in Settings for your own backups.
Being decent
The social corners of the app — friend requests, shares, reactions — are for kindness between people who chose each other. Don't use the service to harass anyone, break the law, probe or overload our systems, or try to read data that isn't yours. We can suspend or close accounts that do.
No promises, within reason
The service is provided as-is, without warranties of any kind. We work hard to keep it running and your sealed pages safe, but we can't promise uninterrupted service or flawless software. To the fullest extent the law allows, our total liability to you is limited to the amount you've paid us to use the service — which, today, is nothing.
Leaving
You can export everything and delete your account in Settings at any time; deletion is immediate and permanent. We may close the service someday — if so, we'll give you notice and time to take your diary with you.
Changes and questions
If these terms change in a way that matters, we'll say so on this page before the change takes effect. These terms are governed by the laws of the place where the service's operator is established. Questions: hello@dearselfdiary.example.