Last updated: July 28, 2026 · Our commitment to the permanent archive
In brief: We are committed to keeping this archive online permanently. This page explains exactly how we do that — our backup strategy, hosting infrastructure, moderation transparency, ownership records, and what happens if the worst occurs.
Own A Sentence is designed to last. Permanence is not a marketing claim — it is a technical and operational commitment built into every layer of the platform.
The archive is finite by design: one million sentence slots, each claimable once. Once the archive is full, no new sentences can be added. This means the archive eventually becomes a fixed, complete record — like a published book — rather than a continuously expanding database with growing operational costs.
Revenue from sentence claims is used to fund ongoing hosting, domain renewal, backup infrastructure, and maintenance. We do not rely on advertising, third-party data sales, or subscription fees. The economics of the platform are designed so that a fully or partially claimed archive generates sufficient revenue to fund its own permanent maintenance.
In the event we decide to permanently discontinue the Service, we commit to:
The sentences database is backed up automatically on a scheduled basis. Our backup strategy includes:
In the event of a catastrophic server failure, we commit to restoring the archive from backup within a reasonable time. No data loss beyond the most recent backup window is expected.
The Own A Sentence platform is hosted on a dedicated Server with the following characteristics:
The platform is built on standard, well-documented programming technology. This means the archive is not dependent on proprietary infrastructure that could become unavailable. Any competent system administrator can maintain or migrate the platform given the codebase and a database export.
We do not use third-party cloud services that store sentence data. All sentence content resides on our own server infrastructure under our direct control.
We believe in being honest about how the archive is maintained. Our moderation system operates as follows:
We do not publish live moderation statistics, as these could be used to reverse-engineer our blacklist patterns. However, we commit to publishing annual transparency summaries covering the volume of sentences submitted, approved, flagged, and rejected.
Every claimed sentence creates a permanent, timestamped database record containing:
Because we store email addresses as one-way hashes, we cannot look up your record by email address. Your sentence number is the permanent identifier for your ownership record. Keep your sentence number, your certificate PDF, and your Stripe payment receipt — these are your proof of ownership.
Ownership records are included in all backup exports and will be preserved in any archive download made available upon discontinuation.
The platform is built to require minimal ongoing maintenance once stable:
We commit to maintaining the archive in a publicly accessible state as long as it is technically and financially feasible to do so. This commitment is not legally enforceable — no such commitment can be — but it reflects the founding intent of the platform. The archive exists to be permanent. We intend to honour that.
For questions about archive preservation, data portability, or long-term sustainability: Contact form — General enquiry.
To request a copy of your ownership record or a data export: Contact form — Privacy / GDPR.
Own A Sentence uses only essential session data to keep forms secure, prevent abuse, remember this notice during the current browser session, and process payments through Stripe. We do not use advertising trackers. Sentences you submit may become part of the public archive.