Complete openness about the most beautifully absurd social experiment on the internet
Fetching real-time experiment statistics
Every dollar tracked, every expense documented, every transaction visible. No hidden costs, no surprise fees.
How donations work, how titles are assigned, how the charity will be chosen. Everything explained in detail.
How we protect your data, secure payments, prevent fraud, and maintain the integrity of the experiment.
This experiment is built on complete openness. Every aspect is designed to be transparent, from our real-time financial tracking to our open-source approach to community building. With undefined contributors so far, transparency remains our top priority.
Fetching real-time data from our database
Complete transparency on every process, from donation to title generation to charity selection
Users create an account with Clerk authentication. We store minimal data: email, display name, and optional username.
No personal information beyond what's needed for the wall display and email updates.
Stripe handles all payment processing. We never see or store credit card information.
Stripe is PCI DSS Level 1 certified and handles billions in transactions annually.
Webhook confirms payment, updates database, assigns wall position.
All webhooks are verified with Stripe signatures for security.
AI generates a unique silly title based on the user's one-word comment.
Falls back to pre-written titles if AI fails. Process is logged for transparency.
User appears on the Wall of Why Not with their title and comment.
Position is chronological based on successful payment timestamp.
Complete technical documentation of how the platform works, security measures, and data handling
React framework with App Router
Type-safe JavaScript
Utility-first CSS framework
Accessible component library
Serverless API endpoints
Type-safe database client
Relational database
Deployment and hosting
Payment processing
Authentication & user management
AI title generation
Transactional emails
Next.js React app with server-side rendering
Serverless functions handling business logic
MySQL with Prisma ORM for type safety
Stripe, Clerk, OpenAI, and monitoring tools
Transparency isn't just a feature—it's our core principle. Here's how we ensure complete openness.
Every Friday, we publish a detailed report on finances, progress, and any issues.
All donation data updated in real-time, no delays or hidden information.
All questions answered publicly unless they contain sensitive information.
Annual independent audits of finances and processes, results published.
No question is too small. We believe in complete transparency and will answer everything publicly unless it contains sensitive security information.
Weekly transparency report - Friday, Jan 26th
This experiment only works with complete trust. We promise to maintain radical transparency, answer every question, and never hide anything that affects your decision to participate.