Is it anonymous?
We never ask for your name, email or phone number, and there are no accounts. Your voice is still your voice, though: if you mention names, places or details, people who know you may recognise you, so leave them out.
To stop one connection sending lots of notes, the server keeps a record tied to your IP address and the time you sent your note, for a short while. That record is never published, and a published note shows only the day it arrived, not the time. Like most websites, our web server logs also record IP addresses, and those logs are kept for 14 days.
Emailing a recording to us instead is not anonymous, because your email address comes with it.
How do I leave a voice note?
Go to the intake desk and press the record button. Allow the microphone when your browser asks, say what you want to say, then press the square to stop. Listen back, re-record or discard it if you like, then press Send to the archive.
Notes can be up to three minutes long. Recording works in current browsers on phones and computers; some older browsers can't record. You can leave one note every six hours.
What happens to my recording?
It goes into a private review queue, not straight onto the site. Every note is reviewed before anything is published, and notes that aren't approved aren't published.
An approved note gets the next file number and appears in the Intake Room as the latest file, and in the Archive. Published notes may also be shared, or cut into short clips, on our Instagram and Threads.
Can I get my note removed?
Email hello@theofficeofquietarchive.com with the file number (or, if it hasn't been published, roughly when you sent it) and ask for it to be taken down. Copies that other people have already saved or shared elsewhere are outside our control.
Why only one note every six hours?
It keeps the archive quiet and stops one connection flooding the review queue.
Who listens?
Anyone who visits. The archive is public and free, and there's nothing to sign up for.
Is the group chat anonymous?
You choose a display name; there's no account. Next to each name is a small flag for the country your connection appears to come from. Messages are short, rude words are masked, and only the most recent messages are kept.
What's the rain?
Ambiance (beta) plays an hour of rain underneath the notes, with its own volume. Turn it on under the player in the Intake Room. It only streams while it's on.