Terms of use

Effective October 16, 2026

1. Agreement to these terms

These terms are an agreement between you and Postocracy (“we,” “us”). By using postocracy.org or placing an order, you agree to these terms and to our privacy policy. If you don't agree, please don't use the service.

2. What Postocracy does

Postocracy lets you write a message that we print on a physical postcard and mail through the U.S. Postal Service to the public officials you choose. We start with officials serving the Portland Public Schools area: Portland City Council, the Mayor, the PPS Board of Education and Superintendent, Oregon state legislators, and the Governor.

We act as an intermediary. Printing and mailing are performed by our print partner (Lob), and payments are processed by Stripe. We are nonpartisan. We don't write, endorse, or take positions on the messages people send.

3. Who can use the service

You must be at least 18, or have a parent or guardian place the order for you.
You must be able to enter into a binding agreement.
You may not use the service if we have previously blocked you from it.

You don't need an account. Each order is a separate transaction, tracked with a private link we give you.

4. Your message and your responsibility

You own what you write. To fulfill your order, you give us a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, screen, reproduce, print and mail your message, name and return address, and to share them with the service providers who help us do that. This license ends when your order is complete and your data is deleted under our retention policy. We won't publish your message, reuse it in other postcards, or use it for promotion without asking you first.

You are solely responsible for your message. By placing an order, you confirm that:

the name and return address you give are your own, and you're authorized to use them;
the message is yours to send and doesn't infringe anyone else's rights; and
the message follows the rules in section 5.

5. Content and conduct rules

Messages may not contain:

threats of violence or harm toward anyone, or incitement or glorification of violence;
harassment, intimidation, or content intended to frighten or abuse the recipient or their staff;
hateful slurs or attacks targeting people based on protected characteristics;
sexual content, or any content sexualizing minors;
encouragement of self-harm;
statements you know to be false that defame a specific person;
another person's private personal information shared without consent;
anything unlawful, or that violates the acceptable-use policies of Lob, Stripe or USPS mailing rules.

When using the service you also may not:

impersonate another person or organization, or use a name or address that isn't yours;
use stolen payment methods or attempt fraud or chargeback abuse;
send bulk or automated orders, or use scripts or bots to access the site;
probe, scrape, overload or interfere with the site or its security; or
use the service for commercial advertising or solicitation.

Strong opinions and sharp criticism of public officials are welcome. Threats and abuse are not.

6. Screening and refusal of service

Every message is automatically screened before printing, using OpenAI's moderation service. Messages it flags are held for review by a person. We don't otherwise monitor or edit messages, and screening doesn't mean we endorse a message.

We may decline to send any message that we believe, in our reasonable judgment, breaks these terms. If we decline a message before it's printed, we refund your payment in full. We may also cancel orders that appear fraudulent. We may report credible threats of violence to law enforcement, and we will preserve related records when required by law.

7. Pricing, payment and refunds

Pricing. Prices are in U.S. dollars and set to cover printing, First Class postage and payment processing, plus a small buffer for refunds and operating costs. The exact price, with a breakdown, is shown before you pay. We may change prices for future orders.
Payment. Payments are processed by Stripe under Stripe's terms. We never receive or store your card number.
Before printing. If your postcards haven't been sent to the printer yet (for example, while they're in review), you can cancel for a full refund by emailing help@postocracy.org with your tracking link.
After printing. Once your order has been submitted to the printer, usually within minutes of payment, it can't be changed, canceled or refunded, except as described below.
Our errors. If a card fails to print or mail because of a problem on our side, we'll resend it or refund that card.
Returned mail. If USPS returns a card as undeliverable because an official's address in our records was wrong, contact us and we'll resend it or refund that card.

Refunds go back to your original payment method and usually appear within 5–10 business days.

8. Printing and delivery

Cards are mailed USPS First Class. Delivery usually takes 4–7 business days after printing. Expected dates are estimates, not guarantees.
We aren't responsible for mail delayed, lost or damaged by USPS, or held up by government mail screening and security processing.
We can't guarantee that an official will personally read or respond to your postcard. Offices handle mail in their own way.
Officials' names and office addresses come from public sources and are updated as officeholders change. If an official leaves office, your card may be delivered to their successor or office. If we can't find a named legislator for your district, the card is addressed to the office for that district.

9. Postcards are not private

A postcard is an open piece of mail. Your message, name and return address are printed on it and can be read by anyone who handles it, including print-facility workers, postal employees, mailroom and security screeners, and the recipient's staff. Once delivered, your postcard belongs to the recipient, and correspondence with public officials may be subject to Oregon public records laws. Don't include anything you wouldn't want others to see.

Anyone with your private tracking link can see your order's status and recipients, but not your message, name or address. Keep the link to yourself. How we handle your data is described in our privacy policy.

10. Emails we send

We send one confirmation email with your tracking link for each order. If you opt in, we also email you when your postcards are mailed and delivered. We don't send marketing email, and we don't sell or share your email address. We don't send text messages.

11. Third-party services

The service relies on independent providers, including Lob (printing and mailing), Stripe (payments), OpenAI (message screening), Resend (email), Supabase and Vercel (hosting), and public mapping services from the U.S. Census Bureau and City of Portland (district lookup). Their own terms govern their services. We aren't responsible for their acts or omissions, or for third-party websites we link to.

12. Our site and designs

The Postocracy name, website, software and postcard designs belong to us or our licensors. You may use the designs only on postcards sent through the service. If you send us ideas or feedback, we may use them freely, with no obligation to you.

13. Disclaimers

The service is provided “as is” and “as available.” To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We don't warrant that the site will be uninterrupted or error-free, that officials' information is always current, or that a postcard will achieve any particular result. No security measures are perfect, and we can't guarantee that information you send us will never be accessed without authorization.

14. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we and our volunteers, officers and service providers won't be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost data, profits or opportunities, arising from your use of the service. Our total liability for any claim relating to the service is limited to the amount you paid for the order the claim relates to. Some jurisdictions don't allow certain limitations, so some of these may not apply to you.

15. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Postocracy, its volunteers, officers and service providers (including Lob and Stripe) from any claims, losses, damages and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising from your message, your breach of these terms, or your violation of any law or anyone else's rights.

16. Suspension and termination

We may change, limit or discontinue any part of the service, and may refuse orders or block anyone who violates these terms. If we stop the service, we'll fulfill or refund orders already paid for. Sections 4 through 9 and 12 through 18 continue to apply after your use ends.

17. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Oregon, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. If you have a concern, please email legal@postocracy.org first. Most issues can be resolved quickly, and both sides agree to try in good faith to resolve a dispute informally for at least 30 days before filing a claim. Either side may bring an individual claim in small claims court. Otherwise, disputes will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Multnomah County, Oregon, and you and we consent to their jurisdiction.

18. General terms

Changes. We may update these terms. The effective date at the top shows when they last changed. The terms in effect when you place an order apply to that order. Using the service after a change means you accept the updated terms.
Entire agreement. These terms and the privacy policy are the entire agreement between you and us about the service.
Severability. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest remain in effect.
No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision isn't a waiver of our right to do so later.
Assignment. You may not transfer your rights under these terms. We may transfer ours to a successor organization that continues the service under terms at least as protective of you.

19. Contact

Questions, cancellations and refunds: help@postocracy.org
Legal notices: legal@postocracy.org
Privacy requests: privacy@postocracy.org