Privacy Policy — Storage Studio

DRAFT — REQUIRES LEGAL REVIEW BEFORE PUBLICATION.

This Privacy Policy describes how Techtonic Systems Media and Research LLC ("we", "us", "our") processes personal data in connection with the Storage Studio desktop application (the "Software").

We are committed to the principle that the Software runs on your Mac, and your data stays on your Mac. Storage Studio is a local utility. It does not transmit your files, file paths, file contents, folder structures, or usage patterns to any server we operate.

1. Quick-read summary

Your files (Documents, Downloads, app data, etc.) — stay on your Mac. Never transmitted by Storage Studio.
File paths, folder names, sizes — recorded in local manifests on your Mac. Not transmitted.
Cloud account credentials — held by the bundled rclone tool on your Mac. We never see them.
License key — stored as a file with owner-only permissions, mirrored to your chosen NVMe drive. The transaction identifier you typed at activation is sent to our server once during activation and on each periodic heartbeat.
Update / manifest check — periodic HTTPS call to our server. Sends only your IP and a User-Agent identifying the app version + macOS major.
Camera / microphone — not captured. We only detect whether they are in use by another app, to pause heavy operations during meetings.
Usage heartbeat — we collect numbers, nothing else. Throughout the day, the app keeps two running counters locally on your Mac: a tally of bytes freed and a tally of bytes moved. Every ~12 hours we send just those two integers to our server so they can be added to your lifetime totals. We do not receive any data, any file, any file name, any folder name, any path, any source, any destination, any rule, any schedule, any device name, any application name, any thumbnail, any preview, any timestamp of any individual operation, or any other metadata of any kind. The payload is two numbers and the license that owns them. Our server derives a country and region code from your connecting IP (no GPS, no permission prompt) so the admin dashboard can show "active in N countries", and updates your license's lifetime totals so the app can show "X reclaimed / Y moved across your devices". Your IP itself is never stored.
Crash reports — none collected in this version.

2. Who this Policy applies to

This Policy applies to all individuals who install or use the Software, anywhere in the world. Region-specific provisions for the European Union and United Kingdom (GDPR / UK GDPR), California (CCPA / CPRA), India (DPDPA 2023), Canada (PIPEDA / Quebec Law 25), and other jurisdictions appear in §11.

3. Personal data we process

3.1 Data processed entirely on your Mac (never transmitted to us)

The Software reads, writes, and stores the following on your Mac. We do not have access to it. It does not leave your Mac through Storage Studio.

File and folder metadata — paths, sizes, modification times, code signatures, file modes — for files you instruct the Software to move, relocate, hash, or back up.
Move manifests — records of in-flight transactions, kept in the Software's private data folder on your Mac for crash recovery. Auto-deleted on successful completion.
Transfer history — a record of the cloud transfer jobs you've configured. Includes endpoints, schedules, and status.
Configuration — your rules, schedules, and preferences.
Daily storage snapshots — for the Storage Charts window, on a 365-day rolling window.
License key — stored in the Software's private data folder with owner-only file permissions, and mirrored to a hidden state folder on your NVMe drive. If your internal disk is encrypted (FileVault), the file is encrypted at rest.
Cloud account credentials — held by the bundled transfer engine in its own encrypted configuration. We never see, read, or transmit these.
Camera and microphone activity flag — a single Boolean reflecting whether ANY app is currently using your camera or mic, used by smart-mode to pause auto-actions during meetings. No video or audio is ever captured.

Retention. This data is retained on your Mac for as long as you keep the Software installed, plus the retention windows the Software itself enforces (e.g. 365-day history cap, 7-day self-backup rolling retention). Uninstalling the Software does not delete these files by default — see §10 for how to fully erase.

3.2 Data that crosses the network

The Software opens HTTPS connections to one endpoint only: storagestudio.us (operated by us, hosted on Cloudflare).

(a) Manifest / update check

Frequency: on app launch + once every 24 hours while running.

Data sent: standard HTTPS request headers including your IP address (necessary for any HTTP transaction); a User-Agent identifying the Software version and macOS major version. No identifying cookies, account IDs, or installation IDs.

Data received: current manifest JSON listing the latest available version, license behaviour, trial duration, and any in-app messages we wish to display.

(b) License activation and heartbeat

Frequency: once during activation, then a periodic heartbeat (every 1 day for Monthly/Annual, every 7 days for Lifetime).

Data sent: your purchaser email address, your Stripe transaction identifier (pi_… or sub_…), and a one-way hashed machine fingerprint derived from your Mac's IOPlatformUUID and macOS install date. The fingerprint is irreversible — it cannot be used to identify your Mac in isolation.

Data received: a signed JWT confirming your license status, valid until the next heartbeat.

(c) Usage heartbeat (lifetime totals + active-region count)

Frequency: once every ~12 hours (server-jittered between 11.5 and 12.5 hours so a fleet of installs never thunders the endpoint at a fixed cadence). Skipped silently when offline; resumes when the network is available. Skipped on idle Macs that have nothing to report.

The payload, exhaustively. What we send is two integers, plus the license token that owns them. Nothing else. The full body of every heartbeat looks like this:

{
  "token":                          "<your license JWT>",
  "app_version":                    "4.19.1",
  "period_storage_saved_bytes":     12345678901,
  "period_data_transferred_bytes":  98765432101,
  "period_started_at":              "2026-05-26T12:34:56Z"
}

That's all of it. Two byte counts (running totals the app keeps locally throughout the day), the version string, and a timestamp for when those counters started.

No data. No metadata. No exceptions. We do not receive — not now, not as a future addition, not as a debug aid:

Any file contents.
Any file name. Any folder name. Any path.
Any source path, destination path, account, endpoint, bucket, hostname, port, or credential.
Any rule, schedule, filter, or selector.
Any device name, hostname, serial number, or MAC address.
Any application name (other than "Storage Studio" itself in the version string).
Any per-operation timestamp, count, or detail. We don't even know how many operations contributed to the byte counts.
Any thumbnail, preview, hash, signature, or fingerprint of any file.
Any other metadata of any kind.

The two integers are aggregate running sums. They cannot be reverse-engineered into a list of operations because the inputs already collapsed into a single running total before they reached our server. The numbers can answer one question — "how much did Storage Studio help this user with, in total?" — and nothing else.

The actual bytes those numbers refer to stayed on your Mac (for relocations and Tier moves) or moved directly between your Mac and the third-party storage account you configured (for transfers). They never touched our infrastructure.

Data received: a server-computed timestamp for the next heartbeat, plus your account's updated lifetime totals which the app then displays as "X TB reclaimed across your devices / Y TB moved through Storage Studio" on the popover.

Location: Cloudflare's edge tells our Worker which country and region (e.g. "Maharashtra", "California") the connecting IP belongs to. We store only the country code and region name against your license. Your IP itself is never stored on our side. We use this to display "Active in N countries" on the admin dashboard. No precise location, no city, no GPS, and no permission prompt — country/region are derived from the IP your connection already uses to reach our server, not from anything we ask your Mac for.

Retention: indefinite while the license remains active, as part of the per-license profile. Email <support@storagestudio.us> to delete this telemetry block from your license row at any time without affecting your license itself.

(d) Webhook-driven status (no client call)

When Stripe notifies us of a subscription change (cancelled, payment failed, refunded, etc.), the server updates its mirror of your license. Your Mac picks this up at the next heartbeat. No additional data is collected from you.

3.3 Data Stripe processes on our behalf

Stripe processes your billing details, payment card information, billing address, and tax data directly. We don't see card numbers; we see receipts. Stripe's privacy notice: stripe.com/privacy.

4. Purposes and lawful bases

| Purpose | Data | Lawful basis (GDPR/UK GDPR) | |---|---|---| | Validate license | email + transaction ID + fingerprint | Contract (§6(1)(b)) | | Process payments | (Stripe handles) | Contract | | Detect software updates | IP + version + macOS major | Legitimate interest (§6(1)(f)) | | Detect license sharing | hashed fingerprint | Legitimate interest | | Display lifetime impact + geographic coverage | license-bound byte counts + IP-derived country/region | Legitimate interest (§6(1)(f)) — minimal data, no precise location, no IP retention | | Support / abuse handling | email and your message contents | Legitimate interest |

We do not sell or rent personal data. We share personal data only with:

Stripe (payment processing, billing). Privacy notice.
Cloudflare (infrastructure provider for the backend). Privacy notice.
Brevo (transactional email — internal staff communications only; not used for marketing). Privacy notice.
Law enforcement, when required by valid legal process.

6. International transfers

Backend hosted on Cloudflare's globally distributed network. Logs and license records reside in Cloudflare's managed database infrastructure (currently within EU/US infrastructure depending on edge proximity). For EU/UK data subjects, transfers outside the EEA/UK rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (Stripe, Cloudflare, Brevo are signatories).

7. Retention

License records (email, transaction ID, fingerprint): retained for the lifetime of the license + 7 years for tax/audit, then deleted.
Trial fingerprints: retained for 90 days after trial expiration.
Manifest / update logs: 30 days then aggregated and anonymised.
Support emails: retained for as long as needed to resolve the case, then archived for 2 years.

8. Your rights

Depending on your jurisdiction you have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict processing, object to processing, portability, and to lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority. Email support@storagestudio.us with "Privacy request" in the subject. We respond within thirty (30) days.

9. Security

Server side: TLS in transit, encrypted at rest by Cloudflare. License tokens are cryptographically signed and verified on every request. Internal staff access to license records is restricted and audit-logged.

Client side: the license file is stored with owner-only file permissions; the mirror on your NVMe drive inherits the same permissions.

Report a vulnerability: see the Security Policy.

10. Deleting your data

Local files: use the in-app Uninstall wizard (Storage Studio → Uninstall…), or delete the Software's private data folder in your home folder and the hidden state folder inside its working folder on your NVMe drive. The User Manual has step-by-step instructions.
Server records: email support@storagestudio.us from your purchaser address with "Delete my data". We require identity verification before deletion. Tax and audit records (§7) are retained as required by law.

11. Region-specific provisions

European Union / United Kingdom (GDPR). The controller is Techtonic Systems Media and Research LLC. We process the data described in §3 on the bases listed in §4. You may lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority.

California (CCPA/CPRA). We do not sell or share (as defined by CCPA/CPRA) your personal information. We do not process your sensitive personal information for inferences. You have the rights to know, delete, correct, and limit; exercise them via the contact above.

India (DPDPA 2023). We are a data fiduciary under the DPDPA. Your purpose-specific consent is recorded at the activation step; you may withdraw it via the contact above.

Canada (PIPEDA / Quebec Law 25). The privacy officer is the contact below.

12. Children

The Software is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 16. If you believe we have, please contact us so we can delete it.

13. Changes

We may update this Policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified inside the Software at next launch and on this page. The effective date at the top of this Policy will be updated whenever a change is published.

14. Contact

Privacy questions, requests, or complaints: support@storagestudio.us.