Terms of Service

1. What ColdStorage is

ColdStorage is a downloadable macOS application that backs up photos and files you choose to long-term cloud storage. You pick what to upload; the app encrypts each file on your Mac before it leaves the machine, and stores the encrypted data in Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive.

It is not a sync service and it keeps no version history. Getting files back is a recovery, not an instant download: you are shown an exact fee and wait time first, and nothing starts until you approve it.

2. Who can use ColdStorage

You must be at least 18 (or the age of majority where you live) and able to enter a binding contract to use ColdStorage.

Sign-in is passwordless: you use Sign in with Google or a one-time code sent to your email, so there are no passwords to manage. You're responsible for keeping your devices, your account, and especially your recovery code (see section 7) secure, and for everything that happens under your account.

3. Your subscription

The app is free to download. Storage is a paid subscription, sold in capacity tiers (500 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB) on a prepaid term of one, two, three, or five years, charged up front.

Each term is a rate lock — that many years at the price shown when you buy. If our own costs rise during your term, we absorb the difference until the term ends.

Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of the term unless you cancel. We remind you before a renewal is charged.

Payments are processed by Paddle.com, our Merchant of Record and reseller. Paddle handles billing, tax, and receipts; your card details never touch our systems. Your purchase is also subject to Paddle's buyer terms.

4. Cancelling, and what happens if a payment lapses

You can cancel at any time from the app or the customer portal. See our Refund Policy for money-back terms.

If a subscription lapses or you cancel, your archive is not deleted. It becomes read-only — browsable, with nothing new going in — and is kept through a grace period of about six months, with clear reminders and a final warning before anything is removed. We never delete an archive over a single lapsed card.

5. Recovering your files

Retrieving data from deep storage carries a real cost that Amazon charges us. We pass that through at cost, with no markup. Before any recovery, you see the exact fee and ready-time and must approve it. Retrieval fees are usage charges for work performed on your request and are separate from your subscription.

6. Your files and your responsibilities

Your files are yours. You keep all rights to what you upload, and you are responsible for having the right to store it and for using ColdStorage lawfully.

• Only upload data you own or have permission to store.
• Don't use ColdStorage to store or share unlawful content, or to break the law.
• Don't upload malware, or anything that infringes someone else's rights.
• Don't try to break, overload, reverse-engineer, or gain unauthorized access to the service or to other accounts.
• Keep your Mac, your account, and your recovery code secure.

7. Your encryption key and recovery code

Your files are encrypted on your Mac before they upload, 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 people mean by "zero-knowledge": we cannot read your files, and we cannot recover your key for you.

When you set up your account you're shown a one-time recovery code. It is the only thing that can unlock your key on a new device, so keep it somewhere safe. If you lose your recovery code and you're signed out of every device, your files cannot be recovered — not by you, and not by us. That trade-off is what makes the encryption real, and we'd rather be honest about it than pretend otherwise.

8. Availability

We work to keep the service available but don't guarantee uninterrupted access, and deep-archive recovery is inherently not instant by design — retrievals take time and carry a fee you approve first. We may occasionally pause the service for maintenance or updates.

If we ever wind the service down, you get at least six months' notice to take your archive elsewhere before anything is deleted. It's a commitment we publish and stand behind: your archive shouldn't disappear because our business did.

9. Disclaimers

ColdStorage is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, to the fullest extent the law allows. We don't warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or fit for every purpose. Nothing here affects consumer-protection rights you have that can't be waived under the law where you live.

10. Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, and our total liability is limited to the amount you paid for your subscription in the twelve months before the claim. Nothing here limits liability that can't be limited by law — including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

11. Indemnification

If someone brings a claim against us because of how you used ColdStorage or content you stored — for example, because you didn't have the right to store it — you agree to cover the reasonable costs of dealing with that claim, to the extent the law allows.

12. Suspension and closing an account

We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms — for example, storing unlawful content or trying to attack the service — and where we reasonably can, we'll tell you why and give you a chance to put things right first. You can close your account at any time. A subscription that simply lapses is covered by section 4, not this one — we don't delete an archive over a lapsed payment.

13. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the product changes. If a change is material, we'll give reasonable notice. Continuing to use ColdStorage after a change means you accept the updated terms.

14. Governing law and contact

These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario, Canada, and any disputes will be handled by the courts there — without affecting consumer-protection rights you have where you live. You can reach us at support@m.coldstorage.sh, or by mail at 2290 Avalon Dr., Burlington, Ontario, Canada.