Privacy Policy

The short version

We never see your files. They're encrypted on your device with a passphrase only you have, and stored on your buddy's device — not on our servers. What we do keep is what it takes to run accounts, pair you with a buddy, and bill you: your email, your devices' network identities, your pairings, and usage amounts. We don't sell any of it, don't use advertising or tracking, and will delete it if you ask.

1. Your files

The backup client encrypts every file on your own device before it leaves, using your backup passphrase. That passphrase never leaves your device and we can't recover it. The encrypted files go directly to your buddy's device, or, when a direct connection isn't possible, through our relay, which only ever handles encrypted data it can't read and doesn't store. We never receive, store, or have the ability to read your file contents, file names, or folder structure.

2. What we collect

• Account: your email address; your password as a one-way hash (never the password itself), or, if you sign in with Google, your Google account ID; an optional display name; when you signed up and accepted the Terms; and whether your email is verified.
• Sign-in sessions: a record of each active sign-in, so you stay logged in.
• Devices: for each device you register — the label you give it, its network identity (a public key), a hash of its access token, when it was last seen, and which client version it runs.
• Buddies and invites: who you're paired with and how much storage each of you pledged; invite codes you create; and, if you list yourself in "Find a buddy", the details you choose to show there (display name, storage size, and optionally country, upload-speed tier, always-on, and relay-only).
• Usage: how much data your devices sent through our relay (amounts only, never contents), used for the free monthly allowance and for billing.
• Billing: if you subscribe, our payment processor's customer and subscription IDs. Your card details go straight to Stripe and never reach our servers.
• Support messages: if you contact us through the dashboard, your message and basic account details are emailed to our support inbox.
• Server logs: our servers keep short-lived technical logs, which can include IP addresses and account emails (for example, when a sign-in is rate-limited), to keep the service secure and working.

3. How we use it

Only to run the service: signing you in, connecting your devices to your buddy's, enforcing pledges and allowances, billing you, sending you service emails (verification, password resets, payment and allowance notices, inactivity notices), answering support requests, and protecting against abuse. We don't send marketing email, and we don't use your data for advertising or sell it to anyone.

4. What other users see

Your buddy doesn't see your email address. Their client shows your device's name (the label you gave it), its network identity, how much storage you've pledged, and how many encrypted files of yours it holds and how much space they take — never their contents. If you list yourself in "Find a buddy", other signed-in users see your display name (or an anonymous "Buddy #…" if you haven't set one) and the listing details you chose to include.

5. Who else processes it

• Stripe — payments, for subscribed accounts.
• Google — only if you choose "Continue with Google", to confirm who you are.
• Purelymail — sends our emails.
• Akamai (Linode) — hosts our servers and database.
• Cloudflare — sits in front of our website and API for security and performance, so it handles your requests and IP address.

Each only gets what it needs for that job. We'll also disclose information if the law requires it — but we have no file contents to disclose.

6. Cookies

Two, both strictly necessary: a session cookie that keeps you signed in, and a short-lived one that protects the "Continue with Google" sign-in from forgery. No analytics, advertising, or tracking cookies.

7. How long we keep it, and deleting it

We keep your account information for as long as your account exists. Accounts with no device activity for a long time may get an inactivity notice and can then be removed. To have your account deleted, email [email protected] from the address on the account. Deleting it removes your account, devices, pairings, invites, sessions, and usage records from our database, and ends your pairings. The encrypted copies of your backups that your buddy's device was holding are on their hardware, not ours, so we can't delete them — but they stay encrypted with your passphrase and are unreadable to them. If you have a subscription, cancel it first (or ask us to), since billing runs through Stripe. Database backups we keep for disaster recovery roll over on their own within a few weeks.

8. Your rights

You can ask us for a copy of the information we hold about you, to correct it, or to delete it, by emailing [email protected]. Depending on where you live (for example, in the EU, UK, or California), you may have additional rights under local law, and we will honor them.

9. Security

Passwords and device tokens are stored only as hashes, all traffic is encrypted in transit, sign-in and sign-up are rate-limited, and our relay only admits registered devices. Your file contents get the strongest protection of all: we simply never have them.

10. Children

Backup Buddies isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their information.

11. Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top, and we'll email account holders about material changes.

12. Contact

Questions about privacy: [email protected].