ABOUT TRUEISH

The things we don't say out loud.

Trueish is an anonymous home for human stories and confessions about relationships, family, desires, fears, money, loneliness, awkward moments, and thoughts that are hard to say. Read someone else's truth; share your own.

Stories may be true or fictional. True / Made up voting captures reader opinion; it is not a fact check.

Why I built Trueish

Some of the most honest things about us are the hardest to say out loud. A desire that feels difficult to explain. A fantasy. A fear. A thought about a relationship that keeps returning.

Being open can feel risky. Even people close to us can respond in ways that hurt, and the fear of being judged can leave important things unsaid.

I created Trueish because I wanted to make room for those words. A place where someone could share a part of themselves without having to publish their real name or protect a familiar social image.

I wanted it to feel personal to each person who finds it: a place to put a thought into words, read someone else’s story, and perhaps recognise a feeling they thought belonged only to them.

My hope is that Trueish makes a little more room for honesty, curiosity, and care in how people listen to one another.

Get in touch

Questions and feedback · Creator collaborations and partnerships

Contact Trueish through our Telegram bot. Messages go to a private team chat, and replies arrive from the bot. Please do not send passwords, card details or private story-access links.

Community guidelines

Protect people's privacy, share only content you have the right to share, mark sensitive stories, and treat others with respect. Stories and images are reviewed before publication.

Read the full publication rules.

Privacy

No account or email is required. A random browser cookie is hashed on the server for votes, reactions, comments, and limits. Clearing it limits duplicate protection; we do not fingerprint visitors. The same hashed cookie is what limits the wishes board to one wish per browser. Infrastructure may process network data for security.

Email notifications are optional. When you request them, your address is encrypted and may be linked internally to several stories or comments you choose to follow; a keyed digest is used to prevent duplicate subscriptions. It is never displayed publicly and is not used for marketing. A revocable, time-limited browser cookie lets a confirmed device add subscriptions without another email. Pending requests are deleted after 7 days, and unsubscribed contact data after 30 days. Technical delivery records are retained for 30 days. Encrypted backups follow the separately documented backup retention schedule, so deletion from backups is not immediate.

Push notifications are optional too. If you turn them on, your browser gives us a delivery address for its push service (for example Google or Apple) and encryption keys, which we store with the same hashed browser cookie. That is how we know which replies are to your comments; on a device where you manage your story, it is also linked to that story. Notifications never contain story titles or comment text, and their content is encrypted so the push service cannot read it. Turning notifications off deletes this record at once; if your browser stops accepting them, it is disabled automatically and deleted after 30 days.

You can link your devices with a one-time code so replies to comments from any of them reach you. Linking stores only the same hashed browser cookies, grouped together; the code itself expires after 10 minutes and works once. “Unlink this device” or turning notifications off removes the link right away.

The weekly “Best of the week” email works the same way: your address is encrypted, it is used only for that email, and every issue has a one-click unsubscribe link.

Afterdark is a separate editorial collection for adult readers. If you enter it, your confirmation that you are 18 or older is remembered with a browser session cookie. This is your own declaration; no identity document is collected. For optional Telegram Stars purchases, Trueish stores a Telegram account identifier, the purchased story, amount and payment identifiers for access and payment support. A private, one-time link connects a browser to that account. Payment takes place in Telegram; Trueish does not collect card details. Payment support can review unavailable purchases and refunds. Questions, collaboration enquiries and payment-support messages sent through our bot are copied to a private operator chat, and replies return through the bot. For these conversations, Trueish stores a Telegram account identifier and message-routing identifiers, not message text. Reply-routing records are removed after 30 days by its cleanup schedule; account and payment records are retained for bot access and payment support. The Telegram copies follow Telegram’s own retention rules.

Terms

Stories and comments may be removed. Explicit stories are not public in this version. Do not rely on anonymity to break the law or harm others. Published stories and wishes may also be featured, anonymously, on Trueish’s social media accounts and other sites; see Sharing beyond Trueish.