What data does Guardblock collect and who can access it?

We understand that trusting a service with your Bitcoin setup means trusting it with your data. This article explains exactly what we collect, how it's stored, and who can access it.

It's worth noting upfront that if you buy your coins through an exchange, you'll already have provided similar (or more extensive) information as part of their onboarding.

What we collect

To operate your vault and be able to help you recover your Bitcoin if you lose your keys, we collect:

• Your full name, email, and additional contact information
• Contact information for your trusted recovery contacts, if you choose to add them

We need this information to identify you and to carry out a recovery on your behalf if it's ever required.

We do not collect your address.

How your data is stored

Guardblock is hosted on Google Cloud services, with servers located in Australia.

Your personal data (including your name, alternate recovery contact, and trusted contact details) is stored encrypted on the server. Your email address is the exception and is not encrypted at this level. This means that even in the unlikely event of unauthorised access to the server, this personal data would not be readable.

The decryption key is stored separately, off-site. When an authorised admin needs to access your data, they use this key to decrypt and view it.

Please note that while your personal identifying data is encrypted, your transaction data and descriptors are not.

Your email and first name are also stored in our email marketing tool and a small number of similar operational tools that we use.

Who has access

Access to your data is restricted to four members of our team. Every time an admin accesses this data, that access is logged.

What about the hosting provider?

Google has the technical ability to access data on the server, but doing so would be a breach of both their contract with us and the law. In addition, because your personal data is stored encrypted with the decryption key held separately off-site, that data would remain protected even in that scenario.

A note on trade-offs

One trade-off of a collaborative custody service like Guardblock is that, unlike a pure self-custody setup, we do hold some of your data, because we need it to help you recover your Bitcoin if something goes wrong. We've designed our storage and access controls to keep that data as secure as possible while still being able to provide recovery support when you need it.

If you'd like to read the more traditional privacy policy, you can find it here.