---
title: "Voice and boundaries — Store Free"
project: store-free
tags: [style-guide, voice, boundaries, store-free]
date: 2026-04-23
---

## 1. Audience (one paragraph each)

- **Who we help:** We help people and teams who need a **credible, understandable** way to store, share, or protect digital work—when privacy, integrity, and clear expectations matter. [NEEDS HUMAN CONFIRMATION: lead use case (e.g. file backup vs on-chain attestation vs marketplace)—align copy to the shipped product.]
- **What they already believe:** They believe their files and rights should be **theirs to understand**, not hidden behind black boxes. They are willing to learn basics if we explain them plainly.
- **What they fear or are tired of:** Opaque “trust us” messaging, security theater, buzzwords, and any hint that a tool will fix legal or financial risk it cannot actually remove.

## 2. Positioning (one short paragraph)

- **One-sentence promise:** Store Free is how we help you keep and move digital “stuff” with **clear terms and honest limitations** under the Born Free family. [NEEDS HUMAN CONFIRMATION: replace “digital stuff” with the precise product noun you use in-app.]
- **What we are NOT (anti-positioning):** We are not a bank, law firm, or a promise of unbreakable security. We are not a substitute for backup hygiene, key management, or professional advice where assets or law are at stake.

## 3. Voice (how we sound)

- **Instructional, not performative**—we tell users what to do and what can go wrong.
- **Short steps**; number procedures when it helps; link to full docs for edge cases.
- **Define terms** the first time (e.g. what “permanent” means in our system vs colloquial use).
- **No fear marketing**; we do not use catastrophe imagery to sell features.
- **Respect the reader’s time**; front-load the one thing they need to not lose access.
- **Admit limits** of the product; security and custody copy stays conservative.
- **Calm and precise**; one idea per sentence in critical warnings.

**Good (on-brand) examples**

- You stay in control of your keys: if you lose them, we cannot recover your files; here is what to do before you need recovery.
- This feature reduces risk of [specific loss mode]; it does not remove all risk—see the “Limits” section.
- We log this event so you can verify what changed and when, using the attestation you can inspect yourself.

**Bad (avoid)**

- Unhackable, military-grade, zero risk—sleep soundly.
- We guarantee your files forever with no action on your side.
- The competition is braindead; our vault is a fortress that nobody can ever crack.

## 4. Vocabulary

- **We prefer:** protect, store, access, control, key, verify, attestation, backup, restore, opt-in, documented limits, read-only, audit, transparency.
- **We avoid:** unhackable, 100% safe, guaranteed, dark patterns like “unlimited” when caps exist; belittling users who are less technical; competitor trash talk in official docs.
- **Names:** **Store Free** in prose; project slug and filters `store-free`. **Born Free** and **Knowtation** are sibling references under the same ecosystem—use their official spellings in sentence case and caps as given.

## 5. Claims and boundaries (non-negotiable)

- We do not promise **investment returns** or that any feature produces profit or a particular legal outcome; we are not a substitute for a lawyer, accountant, or tax advisor. [NEEDS HUMAN CONFIRMATION: if Store Free is purely storage, add “no financial product claims.”]
- We do not fabricate **security metrics** (e.g. “we have never been breached” unless a defined statement is true and time-bounded) or **testimonials** we cannot verify.
- When we mention **blockchain**, **wallets**, **keys**, or **compliance** (e.g. records retention, export rules), we stay neutral and accurate; we suggest professional help for regulated situations.
- We treat **competitor** naming sparingly; when we compare, we compare **capabilities and tradeoffs** without defamatory or unsupported statements.

## 6. CTAs and urgency

- **Allowed urgency:** maintenance windows, documented sunsets, “action required by [date]” for breaking changes, honest capacity limits, security disclosure timelines per policy.
- **Forbidden urgency:** fake “your account will be deleted” threats, phony “only 3 slots left” without a real limit, or countdowns that reset artificially.

## 7. AI and disclosure

- For **user-facing** help, docs, or in-product copy that was **AI-assisted** or for **synthetic** media, we disclose per **platform, product, and regional** requirements, and we keep a human in the loop for **security, accuracy, and compliance** text.
- AI does not ship **security guarantees** or **compliance attestation** without human review. [NEEDS HUMAN CONFIRMATION: your security/compliance sign-off list.]

## 8. Review checklist (10 yes/no items)

1. [ ] Are all security and custody claims limited to what engineering has documented?
2. [ ] Is every “we protect you from X” qualified when edge cases exist?
3. [ ] Are product names and capitalization correct (**Store Free**; siblings as listed)?
4. [ ] If keys or self-custody are involved, is loss-of-key behavior stated clearly?
5. [ ] Have we removed absolute claims (“unhackable,” “guaranteed,” “100%”) unless provably true and defined?
6. [ ] If we reference blockchain or attestation, is the explanation technically accurate and non-misleading?
7. [ ] If urgency is used, is the deadline or cap real?
8. [ ] If AI or synthetic content is in the path, is disclosure in place and human sign-off for sensitive text done?
9. [ ] Do we avoid trashing people or other companies; do comparisons stay on facts we can show?
10. [ ] Is the CTA a single next step a user can complete without hidden catches?