Privacy Policy
Last updated: 2 August 2026
At Letters From A Friend Abroad, your privacy matters.
This Privacy Policy explains what personal information I collect, why I collect it, how I use and share it, how long I keep it, and the rights you may have.
This policy applies when you:
Visit the Letters From A Friend Abroad website
Place an order
Purchase or manage a membership
Join the email list
Contact me
Participate in a survey, giveaway, or other mail-club activity
1. Who Is Responsible for Your Information?
Letters From A Friend Abroad is responsible for deciding how and why your personal information is used. Under data-protection law, this means that Letters From A Friend Abroad is the data controller.
Business name: Letters From A Friend Abroad
Owner: Eliana Bergman
Business address:
Helsingörsgatan 6
164 44 Kista
Sweden
Email: lettersfromafriendabroad@gmail.com
2. Personal Information I Collect
Depending on how you interact with Letters From A Friend Abroad, I may collect the following information:
Contact information
Your name
Your email address
Your postal address
Your telephone number, if provided
Order and membership information
Products or memberships purchased
Order number
Order date
Subscription status
Billing and renewal dates
Cancellation details
Discount codes used
Shipping status
Replacement or refund information
Customer-service history
Payment information
Payments are processed by third-party payment providers.
I may receive limited payment-related information, such as:
Payment status
Payment method
Billing address
The last digits of a payment card
Transaction or payment reference numbers
I do not personally receive or store your complete payment-card number.
Birthday information
Certain annual memberships may include a birthday letter.
If you choose to receive this benefit, I may collect your birthday month and day. I do not need or request your birth year.
Communications
I may collect information you provide when you:
Send me an email
Complete a contact form
Reply to a survey
Leave an order note
Request a replacement or refund
Contact me through social media
Submit a review or testimonial
Website and device information
When you visit the website, the website platform and related service providers may automatically collect limited technical information, such as:
Internet Protocol address
Browser type
Device type
Operating system
Pages visited
Approximate location based on an Internet Protocol address
Referring website
Date and time of the visit
Cookie or similar technology identifiers
The exact information collected depends on the website, payment, email, and security services in use.
3. Information I Do Not Intentionally Collect
I do not intentionally request sensitive categories of personal information, such as information about:
Health
Religion
Political opinions
Ethnic origin
Sexual orientation
Biometric or genetic data
Please do not include sensitive personal information in order notes, emails, or other communications unless it is necessary for me to assist you.
4. How I Collect Your Information
I may collect personal information:
Directly from you
Through the website and checkout
Through your customer or membership account
From payment processors
From website and email service providers
From postal or delivery services
Through cookies or similar technologies
Through communications you send to me
From social-media platforms when you contact me there
5. How I Use Your Information
I may use your personal information to:
Process and confirm orders
Take and verify payments
Create and manage memberships
Prepare and personalize letters and envelopes
Mail letters, postcards, passports, keepsakes, and birthday letters
Provide audio access
Communicate about orders, memberships, renewals, and deliveries
Correct mailing addresses
Handle cancellations, withdrawals, replacements, complaints, and refunds
Investigate missing or damaged mail
Respond to questions and customer-service requests
Maintain accounting, tax, and business records
Prevent fraud, misuse, or unauthorized transactions
Protect the website and business
Improve products, services, and the customer experience
Send marketing emails when permitted
Comply with legal obligations
Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims
6. Legal Bases for Using Your Information
I only use personal information when I have a lawful reason to do so.
Depending on the situation, I may rely on the following legal bases:
Performance of a contract
I use information when it is necessary to provide something you have ordered or requested.
For example, I use your:
Name and mailing address to send your letter
Email address to confirm your order
Order information to manage your membership
Birthday month and day to provide an included birthday letter
Payment status to confirm that an order has been paid
Without this information, I may not be able to fulfil your order or membership.
Legal obligation
I may process and retain information when required to comply with tax, accounting, consumer-protection, fraud-prevention, or other legal obligations.
Consent
I may rely on your consent when you:
Subscribe to marketing emails
Voluntarily provide birthday information
Agree to optional cookies
Give permission for a review, photograph, or testimonial to be published
You may withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing consent does not make earlier processing unlawful.
Legitimate interests
I may use information when it is reasonably necessary to operate and protect the business and those interests do not override your privacy rights.
This may include:
Preventing fraud
Securing the website
Maintaining basic business records
Understanding general business performance
Responding to customer-service issues
Establishing or defending legal claims
Improving the mail-club experience
You may have the right to object when I rely on legitimate interests.
7. Birthday Information
If your membership includes a birthday letter, you may choose to provide your birthday month and day.
I use this information only to manage and send the birthday benefit, unless another use is clearly explained to you.
I do not need your birth year.
Providing birthday information is optional. If it is not provided, is provided incorrectly, or is provided too late, I may be unable to send the birthday letter at the intended time.
You may ask me to correct or delete your birthday information by emailing lettersfromafriendabroad@gmail.com.
8. Payments
Payments are handled by secure third-party payment providers.
These providers process payment and billing information according to their own privacy policies and legal obligations.
I do not personally store complete credit-card or debit-card information.
Payment providers may use information to:
Authorize payments
Prevent fraud
Process refunds
Manage recurring payments
Meet financial and legal obligations
9. Preparing and Mailing Your Order
To prepare and mail an order, I may use your name, mailing address, order selection, membership type, and other fulfilment details.
Your name and address may be:
Printed or handwritten on an envelope
Added to a postal or customs form
Shared with a postal operator
Shared with a delivery or fulfilment provider
Provided to customs authorities where required
Letters may be prepared or mailed while I am located in Sweden, Serbia, Nigeria, Georgia, or another country.
This means your name, address, and limited order information may be accessed or processed outside your country when necessary to prepare or deliver your order.
10. Email Communications
Order and membership emails
I may send emails necessary to manage your purchase or membership, including:
Order confirmations
Payment confirmations
Renewal notices
Mailing updates
Address questions
Audio-access information
Delay notices
Cancellation confirmations
Replacement or refund communications
These are service communications and may still be sent if you unsubscribe from marketing emails.
Marketing emails
If you join the email list or otherwise agree to receive marketing, I may send emails about:
New featured cities
Order deadlines
Available spaces
Past-letter releases
Membership options
Behind-the-scenes updates
Promotions and discount codes
Other Letters From A Friend Abroad news
You can unsubscribe at any time by selecting the unsubscribe link in an email or contacting me.
Unsubscribing from marketing does not automatically cancel an order or membership.
11. Cookies and Similar Technologies
The website and its service providers may use cookies and similar technologies.
Cookies are small files or identifiers used to operate websites, remember preferences, maintain security, process checkout, understand website use, or support marketing.
Cookies may include:
Essential cookies
These cookies are necessary for functions such as:
Website security
Shopping-cart operation
Checkout
Payment processing
Account access
Remembering privacy choices
Analytics cookies
These may help measure how visitors use the website and which pages or content are most useful.
Marketing cookies
These may be used to measure advertising or show relevant content on other websites or platforms.
Where required by law, non-essential cookies will not be used without your consent.
You can manage available choices through the website’s cookie banner or browser settings. Blocking certain cookies may prevent parts of the website from working properly.
The cookies and tools used may change if the website platform or connected services change. This Privacy Policy and any cookie notice will be updated where appropriate.
12. Who I Share Information With
I do not sell your personal information.
I may share personal information only when reasonably necessary to operate Letters From A Friend Abroad, provide your order, or comply with the law.
Recipients may include:
Website and ecommerce platform providers
Payment processors
Membership and subscription providers
Email marketing providers
Website-hosting providers
Cloud-storage providers
Postal services
Shipping and delivery providers
Printing or fulfilment providers, where needed
Accounting, tax, legal, or professional advisers
Fraud-prevention and website-security providers
Government, regulatory, customs, tax, or law-enforcement authorities where legally required
These providers may only receive the information reasonably necessary for their services.
I may also disclose information when necessary to protect my rights, customers, business, or the public, or in connection with a sale, transfer, or restructuring of the business.
13. International Data Transfers
Some service providers may store or process information outside Sweden or the European Economic Area.
Your information may also be processed in another country when I prepare or mail letters while living or travelling abroad.
Where data-protection law requires safeguards for a transfer outside the European Economic Area, I will rely on an approved legal mechanism where applicable, such as:
A European Commission adequacy decision
Standard Contractual Clauses
Another legally recognized safeguard
A specific legal exception where appropriate
Different countries may have different privacy laws. I take reasonable steps to use providers and arrangements that protect personal information in accordance with applicable law.
14. How Long I Keep Information
I keep personal information only for as long as it is reasonably needed for the purpose for which it was collected or to meet legal obligations.
The retention period depends on the type of information.
For example:
Active membership information may be kept for the life of the membership.
Order, payment, tax, and accounting records may be kept for the period required by applicable law.
Address and delivery information may be retained while needed to fulfil orders and resolve postal issues.
Customer-service communications may be retained while necessary to handle questions, disputes, replacements, or legal claims.
Birthday information may be kept while the applicable membership benefit remains active or until you ask for it to be deleted, unless continued retention is legally required.
Marketing information may be kept until you unsubscribe, withdraw consent, or the information is no longer needed.
Security and fraud-prevention records may be kept for as long as reasonably necessary to protect the website and business.
When information is no longer needed, I will delete it, anonymize it, or securely dispose of it where reasonably possible.
Certain information may need to be retained after a deletion request when retention is required by law or necessary to establish, exercise, or defend a legal claim.
15. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on where you live and the circumstances, you may have the right to:
Access
Ask whether I process your personal information and request a copy of it.
Correction
Ask me to correct information that is inaccurate or complete information that is incomplete.
Deletion
Ask me to delete your personal information in certain circumstances.
The right to deletion is not absolute. I may need to retain information to comply with legal obligations or handle legal claims.
Restriction
Ask me to temporarily limit how your information is processed in certain circumstances.
Objection
Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
You may object to direct marketing at any time.
Data portability
Request certain information you provided in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format when the legal requirements for portability apply.
Withdraw consent
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
Complain to a supervisory authority
You may complain to a data-protection authority if you believe your information has been processed unlawfully.
In Sweden, the supervisory authority is:
Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten
Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection — IMY
You may also be entitled to complain to the appropriate supervisory authority in the country where you live or work.
16. How to Exercise Your Rights
To make a privacy request, email:
lettersfromafriendabroad@gmail.com
Please explain what you are requesting and provide enough information for me to identify the relevant account, order, or communication.
I may need to request additional information to verify your identity before fulfilling a request. This is intended to prevent personal information from being disclosed to an unauthorized person.
I will respond within the time required by applicable law.
Privacy requests are normally free. However, a reasonable fee may be charged or a request may be refused where permitted by law, including when a request is clearly unfounded or excessive.
17. Automated Decision-Making
I do not currently use personal information to make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects.
Payment providers and fraud-prevention services may use automated systems to assess transactions according to their own privacy policies.
18. Security
I take reasonable organizational and technical steps to protect personal information against:
Unauthorized access
Accidental loss
Misuse
Alteration
Disclosure
Destruction
These steps may include using reputable website and payment providers, restricting access, maintaining account security, and using secure systems where reasonably available.
However, no website, email system, payment platform, storage service, or postal process can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
Please contact me promptly if you believe your information or account has been compromised.
19. Social Media and External Links
The website or emails may link to social-media platforms, audio platforms, artist websites, or other third-party services.
Those services operate under their own privacy policies. I am not responsible for how an independent third party processes information after you leave my website or choose to interact with its service.
If you contact me publicly through social media, information in your message may be visible to other users. For private order questions, please contact me by email instead.
20. Children’s Privacy
Letters From A Friend Abroad is not directed toward children under 12.
I do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 12 without appropriate authorization from a parent or legal guardian.
An adult may purchase a letter or membership for a child. In that situation, the adult is responsible for providing the necessary information and confirming that they are authorized to do so.
If you believe a child has provided personal information without appropriate permission, contact me so I can review and, where appropriate, delete it.
21. Changes to This Privacy Policy
I may update this Privacy Policy when:
The website changes
New services or providers are introduced
The way information is used changes
Legal requirements change
When the policy is updated, the revised version will be posted on this page and the “Last updated” date will be changed.
Where required, I will provide additional notice of material changes.
22. Contact
For privacy questions, concerns, or requests, contact:
Eliana Bergman
Letters From A Friend Abroad
Helsingörsgatan 6
164 44 Kista
Sweden