Terms of use

Who we are

Driftlight is run by Ifeoluwa Oladosu, in Nigeria (“we” or “us”). By joining or using Driftlight, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use Driftlight.

Who can use Driftlight

• You must be 18 or over.
• Give us true details when you join, especially your date of birth.
• One account per person. Keep access to your email safe, because that's how you sign in.

Your lanterns

• The words you write are yours.
• By sending a lantern, you let us store it, check it, deliver it and show it to the people who catch or receive it, for as long as it travels and stays in their keepsake jar. This ends when you delete your account.
• Lanterns to strangers are anonymous. Please don't write anything that could identify you or anyone else.
• Once someone has read your lantern, we can't make them forget it, so only send what you're happy to share.

Lanterns to people you know

• Only send a lantern to an email address or username if you believe that person would welcome it.
• Anyone can stop receiving lanterns at any time, and we will always honour that.
• Signing anonymously hides your name from the person, not from us. If a lantern is reported, we can see who sent it.

Keeping Driftlight kind

• Follow the community rules.
• Every note is checked before it travels. We may hold back, remove or refuse any lantern that breaks the rules.
• We may warn you, pause your account or close it if you break these terms, or if we need to in order to keep people safe or follow the law. If you think we got it wrong, tell us.
• Don't try to break, overload, copy or get around how Driftlight works, including its safety checks and limits.
• We may change or take back a username that is misleading, offensive or pretends to be someone else.

Light, levels and looks

Light points, levels, stamps and lantern looks are just for fun. They have no money value, can't be sold or swapped, and may change as Driftlight grows.

Driftlight Plus

• Plus is optional. Catching, releasing and replying to lanterns always stay free.
• Plus comes in two tiers, each a one-off pass paid in naira through our payment provider, Paystack: Plus for 1 month (₦3,000) or 1 year (₦25,000), and Premium Plus for 1 month (₦5,000) or 1 year (₦40,000). Premium Plus includes everything in Plus. The price is always shown before you pay. Cards from abroad may be charged a conversion fee by your bank.
• Plus never renews by itself. We'll email you 3 days before your pass ends. Nothing is charged unless you choose to buy again.
• Your pass starts as soon as your payment is confirmed. If you buy more time on the same tier, it's added to the end, so you never lose days. Each tier's time runs separately: if you have Plus and buy Premium Plus, your remaining Plus time carries on after Premium Plus ends.
• Plus currently includes unlimited personal lanterns (with a fair-use limit of 50 new personal lanterns a week, to prevent spam), a photo in the letter, group letters, “Open when…” letters, every-year lanterns, scheduled lanterns, and every lantern look. Premium Plus adds special stationery (extra occasions and letter papers), longer letters (up to 600 characters), a printable “Year in light” keepsake and journey videos. We may add to Plus over time. We won't remove these during a pass you've already paid for.
• Photos (Plus): you can add one photo to a personal lantern. Only add photos you have the right to share, and that the people in them would be happy to share. Photos are checked like words, before they're sent, and must follow our community rules: no nudity, violence, or private details like ID cards, bank cards or phone numbers.
• Group letters (Plus): you can start a letter that friends sign. Anyone with a Driftlight account and the link can add a line (and a photo), which is checked like any note. Their name and line appear in the letter, and are seen by the person who started it, the others who signed, and whoever receives it. If the letter has an event pass, they also appear in its storybook, which the person who started it can download and share. The person who started the letter can remove any line before it's sent, and you can remove your own. A letter can be for someone else or for the person who started it. A letter for yourself closes at the time you choose and arrives in your own inbox; until then you see how many have signed, but not what they wrote. Any group letter can have a closing time, which can be extended once. When the letter is sent, whoever receives it also sees how many cities and countries the lines came from (from each signer's home city on Driftlight, as totals only).
• Keeping a letter you received: you can download any letter sent to you as a PDF, as often as you like. You can also make a silent video of it on your own device: 1 a month free, 3 with Plus and 5 with Premium Plus, and a letter from an event pass comes with 10 videos of its own. Unused videos don't carry over to the next month.
• Event passes: anyone can buy an event pass for one group letter they started (for a wedding, a big birthday or a farewell), opening it to up to 100 (₦50,000), 200 (₦75,000), 350 (₦100,000) or 500 (₦150,000) signatures. It's a one-off payment through Paystack, for that one letter only, and you don't need Plus. Moving to a bigger pass costs only the difference. The pass also gives that letter every stationery, a photo, scheduling, a QR code to print for guests, and a storybook of every line and photo that the person who started it can download, and 10 videos of the letter for whoever receives it. Custom stationery (the letter's own colours and a cover photo, on the letter, the QR card and the storybook) comes with Premium Plus, or can be added to a letter with an event pass for ₦10,000; cover photos follow the same rules as any photo. Guests still need a free Driftlight account to sign, and every line and photo is checked like any note. The same refund rule applies: if you were charged by mistake, charged twice, or the pass didn't work as described, contact us within 14 days and we'll refund you. If you delete your account, or the letter, the pass ends with it.
• Every-year lanterns (Plus): a scheduled lantern can be set to go again every year at the same moment. We email you a few days before each one. You can stop it any time from your inbox. If your Plus has ended when the next one is due, it pauses and we let you know.
• Refunds: if you were charged by mistake, charged twice, or Plus didn't work as described, contact us within 14 days and we'll refund you.
• If you delete your account, your Plus ends with it. If we pause or close an account for seriously breaking these terms, we don't refund the rest of a pass.
• Scheduled lanterns (Plus): Plus members can choose when a personal lantern is delivered, from 5 minutes to 18 years ahead (perfect for “open on your 18th birthday”), to a username, an email address or a link they share. It's checked by the kindness check when you write it. You can cancel it any time before it's delivered. If your Plus ends before then, lanterns you've already scheduled are still delivered. We'll keep a scheduled letter (and its photo) safely until it's delivered. If you delete your account before then, it's deleted and never sent. If Driftlight ever closes before then, we'll tell you first and give you a way to keep it.
• Extra lanterns: if you've used your 2 free personal lanterns for the month and don't have Plus, you can buy one extra personal lantern for ₦500, paid through Paystack. It's used only once your free lanterns for the month are spent, and it never expires. The same refund rule applies: if you were charged by mistake, charged twice, or it didn't work as described, contact us within 14 days and we'll refund you. If you delete your account, any unused extra lanterns end with it.
• If we ever close Driftlight, we'll refund the unused part of any pass.

Driftlight is not a crisis service

Lanterns are small kindnesses, not professional advice or support. If you're in danger or struggling, please contact local emergency services or someone who can help.

Our promises, and their limits

• We work hard to keep Driftlight safe, kind and running, but we can't promise it will always be available or free of mistakes.
• Lanterns are written by other people. We check them, but we aren't responsible for what others write.
• As far as the law allows, we aren't responsible for indirect losses from using Driftlight. Nothing in these terms takes away rights you have by law.

Leaving Driftlight

You can delete your account at any time from Your light. Our privacy notice explains what is deleted and what stays. We may close Driftlight one day; if we do, we'll give you notice first.

Changes, law and contact

• If we change these terms in an important way, we'll tell you in the app before the changes apply.
• These terms are governed by the laws of Nigeria.
• Questions or problems? Contact Driftlight. We'd always rather sort things out together.