Privacy Policy

Storm Developments
Storm Cellar - S3-Compatible Object Storage

Effective Date: April 12, 2026
Last Updated: April 12, 2026

1. Who We Are

Storm Developments is a Canadian cloud infrastructure company based in Ontario, Canada. We operate Storm Cellar, an S3-compatible object storage service hosted on Canadian infrastructure.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use Storm Cellar, and what rights you have over that information.

Privacy Officer and Contact:
Mathew Storm
Storm Developments
Ontario, Canada
contact@stormdevelopments.ca

2. Our Commitment

Storm Developments is committed to compliance with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and its ten fair information principles, which form the foundation of this policy.

We collect only what we need. We keep it only as long as necessary. We do not sell it. We do not share it except as described in this policy.

3. What Personal Information We Collect

We collect only the personal information necessary to provide and operate Storm Cellar.

Account information:

Your email address
Your chosen username
Your password (stored as a one-way hash - we cannot recover it)
Account creation date

Usage and technical information:

IP address at time of login and API requests
Bucket names and storage usage metrics (object count, total size)
API key names and permissions (not secret key values - those are never stored)
Timestamps of account activity

Support communications:

Any information you provide when contacting us by email

What we do not collect:

The content of files you store in Storm Cellar. We do not read, index, or analyze your stored data.
Payment information (Storm Cellar is free during the alpha period)
Tracking cookies or third-party analytics data
Location data beyond IP address

4. Why We Collect It

We collect and use your personal information for the following purposes only:

To provide the service: Creating and managing your account, authenticating access, serving your stored data
To operate and maintain infrastructure: Monitoring storage usage, enforcing quotas, diagnosing and fixing technical problems
To communicate with you: Sending service notices, responding to support requests, notifying you of changes to these terms or the service
To enforce our Terms of Service: Investigating violations of our Acceptable Use Policy
To comply with legal obligations: Responding to lawful requests from Canadian government authorities

We will not use your personal information for any purpose not listed here without first obtaining your consent.

5. How We Collect It

We collect personal information:

Directly from you when you register an account or contact us
Automatically when you use the service (IP addresses, usage metrics, access logs)

We do not purchase personal information from third parties or collect it from external sources.

By creating an account, you consent to the collection, use, and storage of your personal information as described in this policy.

You may withdraw consent at any time by closing your account. Withdrawal of consent means we will delete your personal information in accordance with Section 10 of this policy, and you will no longer be able to use Storm Cellar.

For the purpose of providing you with the service, some data collection is necessary and cannot be opted out of while remaining a user.

7. Where Your Data Is Stored

All personal information and stored data is hosted on servers physically located in Canada, operated by Storm Developments.

We do not transfer your personal information or stored files to servers outside Canada.

Our servers run on dedicated hardware leased from Canadian Web Hosting, operating out of eSecureData's Vancouver facility. Storm Developments controls the operating system and all software running on these servers; Canadian Web Hosting and eSecureData provide physical hosting and network connectivity but do not have logical access to your account data or stored files.

We use the following third-party services: Canadian Web Hosting / eSecureData for dedicated server infrastructure, and Stripe for payment processing on paid plans. We do not use third-party analytics, advertising, or data broker services.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share it with advertisers, data brokers, or marketing platforms.

We may share your personal information only in the following limited circumstances:

Legal requirements: If required by a valid Canadian court order, warrant, or other lawful legal process, we may be required to disclose account information. Where permitted by law, we will notify you before complying.

Safety: If we have a good-faith belief that disclosure is necessary to prevent imminent harm to a person, we may share relevant information with appropriate authorities.

Business transfer: If Storm Developments is acquired or its assets are transferred, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before this occurs and you will have the opportunity to close your account.

Payment processing: We use Stripe to process payments. When you subscribe to a paid plan, your payment information is collected and processed directly by Stripe and is never stored on our servers. Stripe is a US-based service and their privacy policy applies to payment data. See stripe.com/privacy.

We will never share your information beyond what is described above.

9. How We Protect Your Information

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:

Passwords are stored as one-way hashes and cannot be recovered
All connections to Storm Cellar use TLS encryption in transit
API secret keys are shown once and never stored in recoverable form
Access to production systems is restricted to authorized personnel
Infrastructure management uses mutual TLS and HMAC-signed commands via Storm Pulse

No system is completely secure. If we become aware of a security breach that creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will notify you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as required by PIPEDA.

10. How Long We Keep Your Information

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active.

When you close your account:

Your stored files and buckets are deleted from our storage infrastructure within 30 days
Your account record (email, username, usage history) is deleted within 30 days
Access logs may be retained for up to 90 days for security and fraud investigation purposes, after which they are deleted

We do not retain backups of deleted data beyond these periods.

11. Your Rights Under PIPEDA

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

Access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. We will respond within 30 days of receiving a written request. We may charge a minimal administrative fee as permitted under PIPEDA.

Correction: If any personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to request that we correct it.

Deletion: You may request deletion of your personal information by closing your account or by contacting us directly. See Section 10 for deletion timelines.

Withdrawal of consent: You may withdraw consent for any non-essential processing at any time. See Section 6.

Complaint: If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada:

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
30 Victoria Street
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 1H3
priv.gc.ca
1-800-282-1376

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at contact@stormdevelopments.ca. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing your request.

12. Cookies

Storm Cellar uses a session cookie to keep you logged in to the web dashboard. This cookie is:

Strictly necessary for the service to function
Not used for tracking or advertising
Deleted when you log out or your session expires

We do not use third-party cookies, analytics cookies, or advertising cookies.

13. Children's Privacy

Storm Cellar is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If you believe we have collected information from a minor, contact us immediately at contact@stormdevelopments.ca and we will delete it.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top and notify you by email at least 14 days before changes take effect, except where changes are required immediately by law.

Your continued use of Storm Cellar after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

15. Contact and Complaints

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, contact our Privacy Officer:

Mathew Storm
Storm Developments
Ontario, Canada
contact@stormdevelopments.ca

We will respond to all privacy inquiries within 30 days.