Is My Message and Email Address Private on Message to the Future?

Yes, with two caveats worth knowing before you write. According to the site, your email address is kept strictly confidential and used only in connection with MessageToTheFuture, and your message is stored on their servers until it is sent to you — after which the service automatically removes it. The limits: the site reserves the right to remove messages containing advertisements, profanity, or hate speech, and it states that views expressed in messages are not its own.

What the site says about your email address

The published terms are short and specific:

• Email addresses submitted through MessageToTheFuture "will be kept strictly confidential."
• They "will only be used in the context of MessageToTheFuture."

In practice, that means the address is used to deliver your message at the time you chose and to send you a confirmation email shortly after you submit. The site also says a quick confirmation mail arrives later the same day you write your message.

What happens to the message itself

The flow described on the page is:

1. You write a message to "Future You."
2. It is "safely stored on our servers" until the delivery date.
3. You pick when to receive it — 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 6 months, 1 year, 1.5 years, 3 years, 5 years, or 10 years.
4. After sending, "Message To The Future automatically removes your message."

So the message is not kept indefinitely after delivery — deletion is part of the described process, not something you have to request.

The limits on privacy

Two things are explicitly carved out of the confidentiality picture:

The moderation clause means a message is not absolutely private from the operator's perspective — it can be reviewed and removed if it falls into those categories. If your message is a personal reflection, an ambition, or a random thought, that clause is unlikely to matter. If you were planning to write something you would not want anyone else to read, treat the service as a place where a human could look at it under those conditions.

Practical implications before you write

• Use an address you actually monitor. Delivery depends on that inbox, and the confirmation email goes there too.
• Don't put anything in the message you'd regret being seen. The confidentiality commitment covers your email address; the message itself is subject to the moderation clause above.
• Long horizons mean long storage. Choosing 10 years means the message sits on their servers for a decade before the automatic deletion step. If that matters to you, pick a shorter interval.
• The service is free but supported by donations. The page notes it is a free service and that the operator appreciates "a good coffee" to keep it running — this is a voluntary contribution, not a payment for privacy or delivery.

What is not stated

The page does not describe encryption of stored messages, a data retention period for the email address itself, or a formal deletion-request process. If those details matter for your use case, they are not addressed in the material available on the site, so plan accordingly rather than assuming protections that aren't described.