A headstone lasts a century. Here's how we treat the video behind it.

The fair question every family asks before engraving a code into granite: what if you disappear? This page answers it plainly, and it is the commitment we hold ourselves to.

Where your files live

Finished memorial videos, cover photographs and the original footage you upload are stored in private, encrypted object storage. Nothing is public by default — a memorial page only serves media once you publish it, and each playback link is minted fresh and short-lived rather than being a permanent open URL.

Backups

• The database holding memorial records is backed up automatically every day.
• Uploaded media is retained in versioned storage: replacing a video does not destroy the previous cut, so an accidental overwrite is recoverable.
• We keep your original uploads, not just the published edit, so a memorial can be rebuilt from source if a delivered file is ever lost.

Family Archive — keep your own copy, always

Every published memorial can be downloaded in full from your dashboard: the video file, the cover image and the QR code as both a high-resolution PNG and a vector SVG. We strongly recommend you keep that download on your own drive and give a copy to one other family member. A memorial you hold yourself can never be taken away by a company's misfortune.

How long the QR code keeps working

A QR code points at a permanent address on thevoicetheyleave.com/m/<name>. That address never changes once published — not when you edit the video, not when you swap the cover photo, not when you rename anything else on the site. Engrave it once.

One-time packages include long-term hosting: we keep the page online for as long as our service is operating, under the commitments on this page. We deliberately do not use the words “lifetime, guaranteed forever” — no young company can honestly promise that, and the download you keep yourself is what actually makes the story permanent. Subscription plans keep a page live while active; if a subscription lapses, the page is paused rather than deleted — visitors see a respectful notice, and the same code starts working again the moment it's reactivated. We do not delete memorial media because of a missed payment.

Who owns the media

You do. Uploading a video, a photograph or a voice recording does not transfer ownership to us. You grant us only the limited licence we need to store, edit where you have asked for editing, and display the memorial you asked us to publish. We do not use family media for advertising, we do not train models on it, and we do not sell it. Full wording is in our terms of service.

How many copies exist

• The live copy served to visitors, in private encrypted object storage.
• Prior versions of any file you have replaced, retained rather than overwritten.
• A daily backup of the records that tie the media to the memorial page.
• Whatever copies you keep from your Family Archive download — the copy we most want you to have.

If you cancel or stop paying

A lapsed subscription pauses a page; it does not delete it. Visitors who scan see a respectful notice, and the same code works again the moment the plan is reactivated. One-time packages are not affected by subscription status. We will never hold your media hostage: you can download your originals whether or not a plan is active.

How relatives update a memorial

The person who created the memorial owns it and can invite family members as collaborators from the dashboard. Ownership can also be transferred outright — for example, from a funeral director to the family, or from a parent to an adult child — and the QR code and page address stay the same throughout. If the owner has died or lost access, write to us and we will verify and re-assign the memorial to the next of kin.

If the QR plaque is damaged or lost

The plaque is just a printed pointer to a permanent address. If it weathers, cracks, or is stolen, sign in and re-download the artwork at any time — PNG for printers and vector SVG for engravers, at true physical scale for headstone, urn and bench placements. There is no charge to re-download, and the replacement scans to exactly the same page.

Deletion is yours to request

You can unpublish at any time, and you can ask us to delete a memorial and its files permanently. We honour deletion requests within 30 days and confirm in writing when it's done. See our privacy policy for the full detail.

If The Voice They Leave ever stops operating

Our commitment, in order:

• You get at least 90 days' notice by email to every address on file before any service change that would affect a published memorial.
• You get your files. Before any shutdown we make a bulk export available: every video, photograph and QR asset for every memorial you own.
• We look for a home for the pages. We would seek to transfer the domain and hosted memorials to another operator or a nonprofit archive so existing QR codes keep resolving.
• Nothing gets sold out from under you. We do not sell memorial media or family contact details, and any successor is bound by these same terms.

Questions

If something here isn't clear, write to hello@thevoicetheyleave.com and a person will answer. You can also read the help centre or our terms of service.