Privacy Policy

Stella Maris Services, LLC (d/b/a www.stellaora.com) Effective date: 10/1/2026 Last updated: 10/1/2026

1. Who We Are and What This Policy Covers

Stella Maris Services, LLC, doing business as www.stellaora.com (“www.stellaora.com," "we," "us," or "our"), is a legacy preservation and information governance company based in Fort Collins, Colorado. We digitize video, audio, photos, film, and documents; securely destroy paper records; build and host the Family Vault (our secure, family-shareable online archive); and offer the Pre-Planning Program for people who want to organize their family's records ahead of time.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use and protect it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. It applies to:

  • our website, www.stellaora.com, and any related pages and checkout;

  • the Family Vault and any other online account we provide;

  • our digitization, scanning, destruction, and Pre-Planning services, whether you ship materials, drop them off at a partner location, or have us pick them up; and

  • our communications with you by email, phone, text, or mail.

If you are a business, law firm, or government customer, your written services agreement may add to or override parts of this policy (see Section 15).

2. Information We Collect

a. Information you give us

  • Contact and account details: name, email, phone, mailing address, and your Family Vault login credentials.

  • Order and project details: what you send us, service selections, special instructions, delivery preferences, and project notes.

  • Pre-Planning intake information: the categories of material you want organized, family-sharing preferences, and designated family contacts or successors.

  • Payment information: processed by our payment processor, SquareSpace. We do not store full card numbers on our own systems. We may keep the card type, last four digits, billing address, and transaction records.

  • Messages and support requests you send us.

  • Information about other people that you provide (for example, family members you invite to the Family Vault). Please share only information you have a right to share.

b. Customer Content

"Customer Content" means the physical items and digital files you entrust to us: tapes, discs, photos, slides, film, audio, paper documents, and the digital files we create from them. It may include sensitive material such as images of family members (including children), financial records, tax documents, legal files, medical information, and Social Security or account numbers. See Section 4 for how we treat it.

c. Information collected automatically

When you use our website or Family Vault we may collect device and browser type, IP address, pages viewed, referring page, date/time, and basic usage and security logs, using cookies and similar technologies (Section 11).

d. Information from partners and vendors

If you came to us through a referral partner or drop-off location (for example, a senior-living community, funeral home, move manager, attorney, or retail drop-off site), we receive confirmation of the referral so we can serve you and track referrals. Our fulfillment vendors may also send us status and quality-control information about work they perform.

3. How We Use Information

We use personal information to:

  • provide, deliver, and support our services, including digitizing, scanning, destroying, organizing, hosting, and returning your materials;

  • create and maintain your Family Vault, and let you share it with the people you choose;

  • process payments, subscriptions, and refunds;

  • communicate about your order, account, billing, security, and service changes;

  • send marketing you've asked for or consented to (you can opt out any time);

  • keep records of destruction and chain-of-custody for materials we handle;

  • track and pay referral partners (limited to referral and revenue data, not your content);

  • protect against fraud, abuse, and security incidents, and enforce our Terms;

  • improve our website and services using aggregate or de-identified information; and

  • comply with legal obligations.

4. How We Treat Customer Content

We know this is among the most personal material a family owns. Our commitments:

  • Purpose-limited use. We use Customer Content only to perform the services you ordered and to operate your Family Vault.

  • Necessary access only. Our technicians must view or listen to media to digitize, quality-check, and organize it. Access is limited to personnel and vendors who need it for your project and who are bound by confidentiality obligations.

  • No sale, no advertising. We do not sell Customer Content or use it for advertising or marketing.

  • Content is never shared with referral partners or drop-off sites. Partners may physically hold sealed, labeled bags for pickup, but they do not receive access to your digitized content.

  • Destruction. Where you authorize destruction, originals are destroyed through our secure destruction process or vetted vendors, and we can provide confirmation on request (Terms, Section 9).

5. How We Share Information

We share personal information only as described below.

  • Service providers that help us run the business under written confidentiality and data-protection commitments: cloud hosting and storage (Amazon Web Services), payment processing, website and e-commerce platforms, email and messaging tools, scheduling, shipping and couriers, analytics, and IT/security.

  • Fulfillment vendors that perform part of the work on our behalf, such as secure shredding, document scanning, and photo, slide, 8mm film, or audio digitization. They receive only the materials and details needed to do that work. We qualify vendors for security and handling practices and require confidentiality.

  • Referral partners and drop-off locations: we may tell a partner that a referred project was ordered or completed and the revenue associated with it for referral-fee purposes. We do not share your Customer Content with them.

  • People you choose. Family members and others you invite to your Family Vault can view what you permit. You control invitations and can change or revoke access at any time. Anyone with a shared link may be able to view the content it unlocks, so share links carefully.

  • Designated successors. If you name a successor or family contact, we may give them access as described in the Terms (Section 11).

  • Legal and safety. We may disclose information if required by law, subpoena, or court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Stella Maris Services,our customers, or others. Where permitted, we will try to notify you first.

  • Business transfers. If Stella Maris Services is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, personal information may transfer to the successor, which must honor this policy or give you notice and choices.

  • With your consent or at your direction.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

6. Physical Materials: Handling, Return, and Destruction

  • Materials are logged on intake and tracked through processing.

  • After digitization, originals are returned, retained for a stated period, or destroyed according to the instructions on your order. Details are in the Terms.

  • Destruction is permanent. Please confirm what you want destroyed before authorizing it.

7. Family Vault Data and Account Closure

  • Your Vault is organized by household/family and protected by access controls.

  • You can download your content at any time while your subscription is active.

  • If a subscription ends or is canceled, we keep your Vault available for a grace period of 90 DAYS so you can download your files. After that, we permanently delete the Vault and its content, subject to backup rotation described in Section 8.

  • If the account holder passes away, a designated successor, or an authorized executor with appropriate documentation, may request access or export (see Terms).

8. How Long We Keep Information

Information

Typical retention

Family Vault content

While your subscription is active, plus the grace period after it ends

Backup copies

Overwritten or deleted on a rolling cycle of up to 90 DAYS after primary deletion

Digitized project files not placed in a Vault

90 DAYS after delivery, then deleted unless you ask us to keep them

Physical originals pending return or destruction

Up to 90 DAYS after project completion, per your order instructions

Order, billing, and tax records

7 years, or as required by law

Certificates/records of destruction

7 years 

Marketing contact data

Until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete

Website logs and analytics

Up to 6 MONTHS

We may keep information longer at our discretion or when needed to resolve disputes, enforce agreements, or comply with law.

9. Security

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of what we hold, including encryption in transit and at rest for the Family Vault, access controls and logging, multi-factor authentication for staff systems, vendor vetting, and secured handling of physical materials.

No system is perfectly secure. If a security incident affects your personal information, we will notify you and, where required, regulators, as quickly as we reasonably can and within the time required by Colorado law (currently no later than 30 days after determining a breach occurred).

10. Your Rights and Choices

Colorado residents have rights under the Colorado Privacy Act, and we extend the same choices to all customers regardless of where they live. You may ask us to:

  • Confirm whether we process your personal information and access it;

  • Correct inaccurate information;

  • Delete your personal information (subject to legal and recordkeeping exceptions, and to the permanence of deleting Vault content);

  • Receive a portable copy of the information you provided to us; and

  • Opt out of targeted advertising, sale of personal information, or profiling. We do none of these, but you can ask us to confirm.

To make a request, email info@stellaora.com. We may need to verify your identity, and for Customer Content we may ask for additional verification given its sensitivity. We respond within 45 days, and may extend once by 45 more days with notice. If we decline your request, you may appeal by replying to our decision with the word "Appeal." We respond to appeals within 60 days. If you are unsatisfied with the result, you can contact the Colorado Attorney General's office.

Authorized agents and executors. You may use an authorized agent. If you are an executor or personal representative acting for someone who has died, we will ask for documentation of your authority.

11. Cookies, Analytics, and Do Not Track

We use cookies and similar tools to keep the site working (including checkout and login), remember preferences, and understand site usage through Google Analytics. You can control cookies through your browser settings. We honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signal as a request to opt out of targeted advertising and sale of personal information. Because we do not sell or share personal information for advertising, no further action is needed.

12. Marketing Communications

We send promotional emails or texts only if you opt in or as the law allows. Every email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can reply STOP to texts. Transactional messages about your order or account are not marketing and will still be sent.

13. Children's Privacy

Our website and Family Vault are for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13. Your Customer Content may include images, video, or records of children and other family members. By submitting it, you confirm you have the authority to do so. We use that content only as described in this policy.

14. Sensitive Information and Regulated Records

Your materials may contain health, financial, or legal information. Stella Maris Services is not a healthcare provider, bank, or law firm, and we are not acting as a "covered entity" under HIPAA. We treat all Customer Content as confidential and apply the safeguards above to everything we handle.

15. Business, Legal, and Government Customers

For law firms and other business or public-sector clients, we handle client records as a service provider/processor under the written agreement with you. If that agreement conflicts with this policy, the agreement controls for that engagement. We will follow your documented instructions, and we do not use those records for our own purposes.

16. Third-Party Sites

Our site may link to partners and other sites. We are not responsible for their privacy practices; review their policies before sharing information.

17. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy as our services change. We will post the new version here with a new "Last updated" date and, for material changes, notify account holders by email or in the Family Vault.

18. Contact Us

Stella Maris Services, LLC | Website: www.stellaora.com