Who runs this
I'm Chris Liu-Beers, and I run Group Relay through my studio, Tomatillo Design LLC, in Durham, North Carolina. Questions about any of this go to privacy@group-relay.org.
What is kept, and why
- Your email address and name, added by your group's administrator. That is how the group reaches you.
- Messages sent to a group, kept in the group's archive for two years so administrators can see what went out and to whom.
- Delivery records: whether each copy was delivered, bounced or marked as spam. These keep the lists clean and protect the service.
- Administrator actions, such as adding or removing a member, so there is a record of who changed what.
Nothing is collected about whether you open a message or click a link. There are no tracking pixels and no analytics on member email.
Who can see it
- Your group's administrators can see your address and name.
- Other members cannot. Each person gets their own copy, addressed only to them.
- Addresses are never sold, rented or shared outside the organization that runs your group.
- Mail is delivered through Amazon Web Services (Amazon SES) in the United States, which processes it on Group Relay's behalf and nothing more.
Leaving, and what happens after
Every message has a leave link, and your email program's Unsubscribe button works too. Leaving takes effect immediately, with 24 hours to undo. Once you have left, you can only be added again if you ask the administrator to.
Addresses that bounce or report a message as spam stop receiving mail from every group on the service at once.
When an organization stops using Group Relay, its members, archive and records are deleted within 30 days, and backups within 30 days after that.
Terms, briefly
- Groups are set up by invitation for organizations I work with. Each organization is responsible for adding only people who have asked to be on its list.
- Only people on a group's posting list can write to it, and their identity is checked before a message goes out. Forged mail is dropped.
- I may pause a group that is sending unwanted mail or bouncing heavily, and I'll tell the organization why.
- Messages are the words of the people who sent them. I read a group's archive only to answer an abuse report or a support request, and every time I do, it's logged.
- I provide the service as is and in good faith, and I may change or withdraw it with reasonable notice.
To report a problem with a message you received, email abuse@group-relay.org.