Legal Information
Our commitment to transparency, privacy, and security.
Privacy Policy
Last updated: June 12, 2026
1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy describes how DotEnv Inc. ("DotEnv", "we", "our", or "us"), a corporation organized under the laws of the Province of Ontario, Canada, collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal information in connection with the DotEnv secrets and environment variable management service, including our website, web application, API, command-line tool, and SDKs (collectively, the "Service").
We comply with the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and, where applicable, the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the CPRA (CCPA/CPRA), and Quebec's Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (as amended by Law 25).
Two roles. For account and billing information of registered users, we act as the data controller. For the content our customers store in the Service (secrets, environment variables, configuration values, and related metadata, collectively "Customer Content"), we act as a data processor / service provider on behalf of the customer organization. Processing of Customer Content is governed by our Data Processing Agreement.
2. Information We Collect
Information you provide:
- Account data: name, email address, and a password (stored only as a one-way hash). Email addresses are verified before full account access.
- Two-factor authentication data: depending on the methods you enable: authenticator app (TOTP) secrets, a verified email address, and/or a verified phone number used to deliver SMS codes.
- Organization data: organization names, team membership, roles, and permissions.
- Billing data: plan selection, billing contact details, and invoice information. Payment card details are collected and stored by our payment processors (see Section 5); we never store full card numbers.
- Communications: messages you send us through the contact form or support channels.
- Customer Content: secrets and environment variables you store. Customer Content is encrypted with AES-256-GCM. Where you use client-managed encryption keys, we hold only ciphertext and cannot read, decrypt, or recover your Customer Content.
Information collected automatically:
- Session and security data: IP address, browser user agent, session identifiers, and trusted-device records used to protect your account.
- Usage and audit data: activity logs recording actions taken in your organization (for example, creating or updating a secret), API access metrics (request counts, response times, token used), and notification preferences.
- CLI telemetry: limited, privacy-preserving usage data from our command-line tool, described in detail (including how to disable it) on our CLI Telemetry page.
We do not use third-party advertising or analytics trackers on the Service, and we do not collect personal information from data brokers.
3. How We Use Personal Information
- Provide, operate, maintain, and secure the Service;
- Authenticate users, deliver two-factor authentication codes, and detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and unauthorized access;
- Process subscriptions, payments, invoices, and seat-based billing;
- Provide customer support and respond to inquiries;
- Send transactional and service communications (verification emails, security alerts, billing notices). Any marketing email is sent only in compliance with Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), with consent and a working unsubscribe mechanism;
- Maintain audit logs and version history as a feature of the Service for our customers;
- Monitor performance and diagnose errors (using Sentry error monitoring);
- Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.
4. Legal Bases (GDPR)
Where the GDPR applies, we rely on the following legal bases: performance of a contract (providing the Service you signed up for); legitimate interests (securing the Service, preventing abuse, improving reliability); consent (optional communications and optional features, which you may withdraw at any time); and legal obligation (tax, accounting, and lawful requests).
5. How We Share Personal Information
We do not sell or rent personal information. We share it only with:
- Service providers (subprocessors): vendors that help us operate the Service, such as payment processing, cloud hosting, email delivery, SMS delivery, and error monitoring. The current list, purposes, and locations are published on our Subprocessors page;
- Your organization: administrators of an organization you belong to can see your name, email, role, and activity within that organization;
- Legal and safety: where required by law, court order, or governmental authority, or where necessary to protect the rights, safety, or property of DotEnv, our users, or the public;
- Business transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, subject to confidentiality protections and notice where required.
6. International Transfers
Our infrastructure providers process data in the United States (primarily AWS, US East region) and other jurisdictions where our subprocessors operate. Where personal information subject to the GDPR is transferred outside the EEA/UK, we rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (and the UK Addendum) or other valid transfer mechanisms. Canadian and Quebec residents should note that information may be processed outside Canada and may be accessible to foreign authorities under applicable local law.
7. Retention
- Account data: retained while your account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards as needed for legal, tax, and audit purposes;
- Customer Content, secret version history, and audit logs: retained according to the retention configuration of your organization's plan; when content is deleted or an organization is deleted, associated data is removed through cascading deletion;
- Billing records: retained as required by tax and accounting law (typically 7 years);
- Security logs: retained for a limited period proportionate to their security purpose.
8. Security
Customer Content is encrypted at rest using AES-256-GCM and in transit using TLS. We support server-managed, client-managed, and hybrid key custody modes, role-based access control, two-factor authentication, and comprehensive audit logging. See our Security Policy for details. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security.
9. Your Rights
All users (PIPEDA): you may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information, and may withdraw consent subject to legal and contractual restrictions. You can exercise most of these rights directly in your account settings (profile updates, data export, account deletion).
EEA/UK users (GDPR): you additionally have rights to data portability, restriction of processing, objection to processing based on legitimate interests, and the right to lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority.
California residents (CCPA/CPRA): you have the right to know, correct, and delete personal information, and the right to non-discrimination. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising.
Quebec residents (Law 25): you have the rights described above as well as the right to data portability in a structured, commonly used technological format. Our Privacy Officer (see Section 13) is responsible for the protection of personal information.
If a request concerns Customer Content processed on behalf of an organization, we will refer the request to that organization and assist them as required by our Data Processing Agreement.
10. Cookies
We use only strictly necessary cookies (session, security, and "remember me"). We do not use advertising or analytics cookies. See our Cookie Policy.
11. Children
The Service is a business tool and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version with a revised "Last updated" date and, for material changes, provide reasonable advance notice (for example, by email or in-app notice). Continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance.
13. Contact & Complaints
Privacy Officer, DotEnv Inc.: [email protected] (or [email protected]).
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec, your EU/UK supervisory authority, or the California Privacy Protection Agency, as applicable.