Privacy policy

Last updated 6 July 2026.

ifyoufind.me exists to reconnect lost items with their owners without exposing who either party is. Privacy isn't a setting here: it's the point. This page explains what we collect, why, and how long we keep it.

Who's responsible for your data

ifyoufind.me is operated by the ifyoufind.me team, who acts as the data controller for the personal data described below. Questions about how your data is handled or requests to access or remove it can be sent through our contact form.

What we collect

• Owner email. Used to sign you in (we're passwordless, so there are no passwords to store) and to notify you when someone finds your item. It is encrypted at rest.
• A finder's optional contact. A finder is never required to identify themselves. If they choose to leave an email so you can reply, we encrypt it at rest and use it only to deliver your replies.
• Messages. The conversation between an owner and a finder, kept only as long as needed to carry the exchange (see retention below).
• Minimal operational data. Enough to run the service safely and stop abuse, and no more: the principle regulators call data minimisation. Where we need to recognise a request source (for example, to block code-guessing), we store a keyed hash, not the raw IP address.

What we never do

• We never show the finder your email address or phone number.
• We never show you the finder's contact details unless they chose to share them.
• We never sell your data, and we don't run third-party advertising.
• Our notification logs record recipients only as a keyed hash, never in the clear.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand aggregate traffic to the site: roughly how many people visit, which pages, and where they came from. It's on by default, but if your browser sends a “Do Not Track” signal we leave it off unless you turn it on. We never use it for advertising or remarketing, never use it to identify an individual finder or owner, and never share a conversation's message content with it. Google processes any data collected under its own privacy policy.

You can turn analytics on or off for this browser at any time:

How long we keep it

Conversations expire automatically after a period of inactivity, and a scheduled purge removes old records and clears the hashed identifiers tied to them. Your account stays until you delete it; deleting your account removes your data from the live service.

The contact form

When you use our contact form, your message and the email address you provide are forwarded to our support inbox so we can reply to you. We use that address only to respond.

Contact

Questions about your data, or want it removed? Reach us through the contact form and we'll help. See also our Terms of Service.