Privacy Policy

The short version

• Your files are encrypted on your Mac before they upload. We store scrambled data we cannot read.
• We collect the minimum needed to run your account and subscription — mainly your email.
• We never scan your files, train AI on them, show ads, or sell your data.
• We use no analytics and no tracking cookies.
• You can see, correct, export, or delete your data at any time.

The rest of this page is the detail behind those points, written to satisfy Canadian (PIPEDA), European/UK (GDPR), and California (CCPA/CPRA) privacy law.

Who we are

ColdStorage is operated by ColdStorage at 2290 Avalon Dr., Burlington, Ontario, Canada. We are the party responsible for your personal data (the "data controller"). For anything about privacy or your data, email legal@m.coldstorage.sh.

What we collect

• Your email address, so you can sign in and we can reach you about your account. Sign-in is passwordless, managed through Amazon Cognito.
• Your name — if you sign in with Google (Google shares it) or enter a display name during setup.
• Your subscription and billing status: your plan and whether it's active. Payment is handled by Paddle; your card details go to Paddle, never to us.
• A record that you accepted these terms, and when.
• Your answers to the two optional setup questions, if you choose to answer them — they're skippable, and we use them only to understand who ColdStorage is for.
• Records of any file retrievals you request, so we can carry them out and bill them at cost.
• Your files — stored only as encrypted data we cannot read. They're scrambled on your Mac before they upload.
• Basic technical data such as IP addresses and timestamps in our servers' logs, used to keep the service running and secure.

How we use it

We use what we collect only to run ColdStorage: to give you your account, storage, and subscription; to process payments, tax, and refunds through Paddle; to keep the service secure and prevent abuse; to answer you when you get in touch; and — only if you answer them — to learn who ColdStorage is for from the optional setup questions.

For anyone in the EU or UK, our legal bases under the GDPR are: performing our contract with you (your account, storage, and subscription), meeting legal obligations (tax and accounting), our legitimate interests (a secure, working service), and your consent (the optional survey and Google sign-in, which you can withdraw at any time).

What we never do

• We never scan your files.
• We never train AI on your data.
• We never run ads or sell your data.
• We use no third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking of any kind.

Your files and your encryption key

Your files are encrypted on your Mac with a key that only exists on your devices. We store only scrambled data and an encrypted copy of your key that we cannot unlock — this is what "zero-knowledge" means. We cannot read your files, and we cannot recover your key for you.

You're shown a one-time recovery code at setup. It is the only thing that can unlock your key on a new device. If you lose it and you're signed out of every device, your files cannot be recovered — not by you, and not by us. That's the honest cost of encryption we can't bypass.

Who processes your data

We keep the list of companies that help us run ColdStorage short, and each only handles the data it needs for its job:

• Amazon Web Services — encrypted file storage (S3 Glacier Deep Archive, in Canada) and account sign-in (Cognito).
• Paddle.com — payments, billing, and tax, as our Merchant of Record. Your card details go to Paddle, not to us.
• Neon — the database holding your account record (name, plan status, and your encrypted key — never your files or card details).
• Google — only if you choose Sign in with Google, to confirm who you are. You can use an email code instead and skip Google entirely.
• Vercel — hosting for our website and account service.

We don't use any advertising, analytics, or tracking companies.

Where your data is stored, and international transfers

ColdStorage runs on infrastructure in more than one country:

• Your encrypted files are stored with Amazon Web Services in Canada (the ca-central-1 region, Montréal).
• Your account database is hosted by Neon in the United States (AWS us-east-2).
• Payments and tax are handled by Paddle, which operates internationally.
• If you sign in with Google, Google processes that sign-in on its global infrastructure.
• Our website and account service are hosted by Vercel.

If you're in the EU, UK, or elsewhere, this means your data may be processed outside your country. Where that happens, we rely on our providers' standard contractual clauses and equivalent safeguards.

Cookies

Our website uses a single first-party cookie that remembers your light/dark preference. It doesn't track you, and it isn't shared with anyone. We set no analytics or advertising cookies.

When you buy or manage a subscription, Paddle's checkout may set cookies it needs to process the payment; those are governed by Paddle's own privacy policy.

How long we keep your data, and deleting it

While your account is open, we keep your account and subscription data for as long as you use the service.

You can ask us to delete your account and everything in it at any time — email legal@m.coldstorage.sh from your account address. We remove your account record and stored files within 30 days, except anything we're required to keep for tax or legal reasons (billing records held by Paddle, for example).

If your subscription lapses, your archive goes read-only and is kept through a roughly six-month grace period with reminders before anything is removed — we never delete over a single lapsed card. If we ever wind the service down, you get at least six months' notice to take your archive elsewhere first.

Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask what personal data we hold about you and get a copy, correct anything that's wrong, export your data (you can pull your files back anytime, and ask us for the rest), and delete your account and data. To do any of these, email legal@m.coldstorage.sh; we'll respond within the time your local law requires (30 days in Canada, one month under the GDPR).

If you're in the EU or UK (GDPR), you also have the right to object to or restrict certain processing, to withdraw consent, and to data portability, and you can lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

If you're in Canada (PIPEDA), you can access and correct your personal information and complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

If you're in California (CCPA/CPRA), you have the right to know what we collect, to delete it, to correct it, and not to be treated differently for exercising these rights. We do not sell or share your personal information, and we never have.

How we protect your data

• Your files are encrypted on your Mac before they leave it, with a key we can't unlock.
• Everything travels over encrypted connections (TLS).
• Stored files are encrypted again at rest by Amazon S3, on top of your own encryption.
• Each account can only reach its own files, enforced by per-user cloud permissions and short-lived credentials — no account can read another's data, and we hold no long-lived keys to your storage.

No system is perfectly secure, but zero-knowledge encryption means that even in a worst case, what sits in storage is data nobody but you can open.

Children

ColdStorage is for adults. You must be at least 18 (or the age of majority where you live) to use it, and it isn't directed at children. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 18; if you believe a child has given us personal data, email legal@m.coldstorage.sh and we'll delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the product changes. If a change is material, we'll give reasonable notice. The date at the top always shows when it was last updated.

Contact

For privacy questions or to exercise any of your rights, email legal@m.coldstorage.sh, or write to ColdStorage at 2290 Avalon Dr., Burlington, Ontario, Canada. For general help, use support@m.coldstorage.sh.