Polo Storage

This article describes how the storage of Polos works and how you can manage content in the app. It also describes how we can help preserve the Polos of a loved one who is reported as deceased.

How Storage of Polos Works

All customers can send as many Polos as they want to as many people as they want, and there is no limit on how long Polos can be.

We will store the Polos in all your chats for free for 12 months. If you want us to store your Polos for longer than 12 months, you have the option to either upgrade to Marco Polo Plus or Plus Family, join someone else’s Plus Family Plan, or get Unlimited Storage (for ease of reference, we’ll call customers who do this “Subscribers”).

Even if you're not a Subscriber, you can still keep your Polos for longer than 12 months by saving them to your device.

The specifics of how it works:

For our community using our free version of Marco Polo, Polos are stored free in your account for 12 months.

That 12-month timeline starts the month the Polo is sent. After 12 months, the Polo is moved from your chat archive to trash near the first of the following month. Once in trash, you have an additional month to download and save Polos before they are removed from your account.

For example, if you sent or received a Polo on any day in August 2023, it will move to trash early September 2024, and it will be removed from your account early October 2024. When Polos are removed from your account, it means you no longer have access to that content in your Marco Polo account. However, the people in chats with you who received the Polos you sent them may still have access to those Polos if they are Subscribers.

If you get Plus or Unlimited Storage after your Polos are moved to trash, your Polos will be restored to your chat archive. Also, if you get Plus or Unlimited Storage at any time after Polos have been removed from your account, any Polos that have not already been deleted from a chat will be restored to your chat archive.

If you're a Plus or unlimited storage subscriber or you're on a Plus Family Plan or Plus Pass, you have unlimited storage of Polos. This means that Polos will not be moved to trash or removed from the chats in your account. Instead, you will be able to access Polos in your chats for an unlimited time as long as you have a subscription or are on a Plus Family Plan or Plus Pass.

If the sender chooses to delete any of their Polos, however, then those Polos will be deleted from both free and subscribing accounts, and they will be deleted from our servers.

Removal and Deletion of Polos

☝️There is a difference between the removal and deletion of Polos.

Polos that are removed from an account may still exist in the accounts of others and on our servers. Deleted Polos are permanently deleted from all accounts and from our servers.

For removal, if you're a free customer, once Polos have exceeded the storage period, they will be removed from your account. When Polos are removed from your account, it means you no longer have access to that content in your Marco Polo account. However, the people in chats with you who received the Polos you sent them may still have access to those Polos if they are Subscribers. If you are a Subscriber, no Polos will be removed from your account due to storage limits while you have a Subscription.

For deletion, if everyone in a chat is a free customer, all Polos that exceed the storage period will be removed and permanently deleted from everyone’s account who is in that chat and from our servers.

Your ability to manage content

You have control over and can manage the Polos you have created and sent.

You have a more limited ability to manage the Polos that you received, which were created and sent to you by others.

For Polos you have sent, you can permanently delete them, download and forward them, and restrict others from downloading and forwarding them.
For Polos you have received, you have the ability to remove them from your account and to download and forward them (if the sender has not restricted you from doing so).

Restrict others from downloading or forwarding Polos you sent

We have provided tools so you can restrict others from downloading or forwarding Polos you sent by adjusting your privacy settings.

The privacy settings can be accessed and changed by:

Tapping on the Settings icon,
Selecting Privacy, and
Toggling on “Restrict people from downloading or forwarding Polos I’ve sent them,” for everyone or specific people

Save Polos to your device

All customers can download to your device and forward to others the Polos you’ve sent. You can also download and forward the Polos you’ve received unless the sender has chosen to restrict you from downloading and forwarding.

You can download Polos in the storyline and the chat archive

From the storyline, you can download individual Polos by pressing the Polo thumbnail and selecting “Save to Device.”
From the chat archive, you can download multiple Polos by tapping the checkmark in the upper right side of the screen, multi-selecting the Polos you want, and selecting “Download.”

You will also have the option to export all Polos in a chat. This functionality will be available before Polos are removed from your account due to expiration of the storage period.

Delete Polos you’ve sent

You can delete Polos you’ve sent. When you do, they will be permanently deleted from your account, any recipient’s account, and from our servers.

Within the app: You can permanently delete Polos you’ve sent that are still available to you in the App. From the storyline, you can do this by pressing on the Polo thumbnail and then selecting and confirming “Delete.” From the chat archive, you can do this by playing the Polo and then selecting and confirming “Delete.”
Through customer support: You may request the deletion of all your sent Polos or all your sent Polos in a particular chat by emailing customer support at privacy@marcopolo.me. Also, if your sent Polos are no longer available to you within the App, and those Polos have not already been deleted, you may request deletion from customer support.

To the extent someone else in a chat with you has saved to their device or shared a Polo you sent, that Polo will continue to exist outside the App even if you permanently delete it from all accounts and our servers.

Remove Polos you’ve received

You can also remove from your account any Polos you have received from others

You can do this in the storyline and the chat archive.

From the storyline, press on the Polo thumbnail and then select and confirm “Remove.”

From the chat archive, you can do this by playing the Polo and then selecting and confirming “Remove.”

Deceased Customers

If an account holder is reported as deceased, their account and Polos will be protected from deletion as described here.

All Polos will be preserved within existing chats for one year beyond when they would otherwise expire, and the account will be protected from deletion due to inactivity for three years. In other words, the Polos will continue to be viewable in a chat for an additional year for free customers and you will be able to see your loved one’s name and profile photo within existing chats for 3 years after they last opened the app.

This will give friends and family of the deceased account holder additional time to rewatch their Polos within the App. It will also give friends and family additional time to download and save Polos of their loved one unless they had set their Privacy Settings to restrict downloading of their sent Polos.

You can report a loved one as deceased by filling out this form and providing an obituary or death certificate 💛 Our Team will reach out to confirm that it's been preserved or if we have any trouble processing the request.