Inspire21 has shared inspirational stories since 2000. It is published by XFORTIFIDE LLC (“we”, “us”). This policy explains what we collect, why, and what you can do about it. The short version: you can read everything without an account, we keep as little as we can, and we never sell your information.
Reading the site
You don’t need an account to read Inspire21.
- Counting reads and hearts. To show which stories are most read and loved, we count views and hearts. We don’t store your IP address. We store a scrambled code made from it that changes every day, so it can’t be used to follow you from one day to the next. The codes used for counting reads and limiting spam are deleted after a day or two. A heart keeps its code, so the same visitor can’t heart a story twice in one day.
- Your hearts. The stories you’ve hearted are remembered in your own browser (local storage), so the heart stays filled in. Clearing your browser data removes them.
- Visitor statistics. We use Google Analytics to learn which stories people read, how they find us (for example from a search or a Facebook post), and which pages need improving. It records things like the pages you visit, roughly where you are (country or city), your device and browser, and how you scroll and click, and it uses cookies to recognize a returning visitor. We don’t send Google your name or email address, and we only look at the totals. How Google uses this information. You can opt out with Google’s browser add-on.
- Search runs in your browser, so the search box itself sends nothing to us. Google Analytics notes which words were searched, so we can tell what readers look for.
- Hosting and security. The site runs on Cloudflare, which handles every request (including your IP address) to deliver pages and protect the site from attacks.
Cookies and ads
Advertising helps keep Inspire21 free. Our ads are provided by Google AdSense. Google and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to show ads, limit how often you see the same ad, measure results and, where allowed, show ads based on your interests and visits to this and other websites.
- You can control personalized ads at Google’s My Ad Center, or opt out of interest-based ads from many companies at aboutads.info (US) or youronlinechoices.eu (Europe).
- How Google uses information from sites that use its services.
- If you’re in the European Economic Area, the UK or Switzerland, Google asks for your consent before using cookies for ads or statistics. In US states with privacy laws, you can opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of your information for targeted ads. You can change these choices at any time with the Privacy & cookie settings link at the bottom of every page.
- You can also block or delete cookies in your browser’s settings. The site still works without them.
Apart from Google’s advertising and Analytics cookies described above, Inspire21 doesn’t set cookies. Your browser does keep two small things for you, on your own device only: the stories you’ve hearted, and a draft of a story you’re writing on the Share your story page, which is deleted once you send it.
Email newsletter
If you sign up for our emails, we store your email address, the page you signed up from, and when you subscribed and confirmed. We send a confirmation email first, and nothing else until you confirm. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing takes effect immediately.
If you ask for the free Read-Aloud Pack, you also join the newsletter, and we store where you lead groups (if you tell us), which of the pack’s follow-up emails we’ve sent, and whether you reserved a spot in the weekly edition. We use this only to send the pack and those emails, and to count which kinds of groups the pack helps.
Sending us a story
When you send a story, we collect your name, email address, the story, an optional sentence about you, and your confirmation that you wrote it (and, for true stories, that it really happened).
- Your name, story and the sentence about you are published on the site if your story is accepted, along with an author page that lists your stories.
- Your email address stays private. We use it only to tell you about your story and to connect your future stories to the same author page.
- Every submission is checked with the help of an AI service (Anthropic’s Claude) for quality, originality and suitability, and lightly copyedited. The story text is sent to that service for this purpose only. Anthropic doesn’t use it to train its models.
Notes to authors and the contact form
If you leave a note for an author, or write to us through the contact form, we collect your name, your email address (optional for notes) and your message. We use them to read and answer your message and, for notes, to pass your message on to the author.
Forms and spam protection
Our forms use Cloudflare Turnstile to tell people from spam bots. It checks your browser without puzzles in most cases. Each form also has a daily limit per visitor, counted with the same scrambled daily code described above.
Sharing buttons and social media
The Facebook and X buttons on stories are plain links. They don’t load anything from those companies until you click them. Our pages on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and X are covered by those companies’ own privacy policies.
Who helps us run the site
We never sell your personal information, and we don’t share it with anyone except the companies that help us run the site, and only for that purpose:
- Cloudflare: hosting, database, spam protection and story illustrations
- Resend: sending our emails
- Anthropic: AI checking of submitted stories
- Google: advertising and visitor statistics (Google Analytics)
We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect our readers or the site from abuse.
How long we keep it
- Daily read and spam-protection codes: a day or two. Hearts: kept with their daily code, which can’t be traced back to you.
- Newsletter details: while you’re subscribed. After you unsubscribe, we keep only a record that you opted out.
- Stories and author details: for as long as the story is published, or until you ask us to remove them.
- Contact messages and notes: as long as needed to answer them.
Your choices and rights
You can ask us to see, correct or delete the information we hold about you, or to take down your published story, at any time. Just write to us through the contact form. Depending on where you live (for example in the EU, UK or California), you may have additional rights under local law, and we’ll honor them. If you’re in Europe, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Children
Inspire21 is written for adults and families, and isn’t directed at children under 13. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you think a child has sent us their information, please contact us and we’ll delete it.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we’ll update it here and change the date at the top. For significant changes, we’ll also let newsletter subscribers know.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Write to us through the contact form.