1. Introduction
KaratShield Secure Vault ("KaratShield," "we," "us," or "our") provides international precious-asset storage and related custody services. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and the choices available to you. It applies to our website, our physical facilities, and our client onboarding and account management processes.
Because we operate as a regulated custodian of high-value physical assets, we are required by anti-money-laundering (AML), counter-terrorist-financing, and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations in the jurisdictions where we operate — including FATF-aligned standards and, for our Toronto facility, Canadian FINTRAC requirements — to collect certain personal information before opening or maintaining an account. This is a legal obligation, not an optional preference, and we explain the categories involved below.
2. Information We Collect
Identity and KYC information. When you open a storage account, we collect government-issued identification (passport, national ID, or driver's license), proof of current address (such as a utility bill or bank statement), date of birth, nationality, and, where applicable, beneficial ownership information for corporate or trust accounts.
Source-of-funds and source-of-wealth information. To comply with AML regulations, we may request documentation explaining the origin of the assets you intend to store or the funds used to acquire them, such as sale receipts, inheritance documentation, business records, or bank statements.
Account and transaction information. Deposit records, asset descriptions, valuations, storage agreements, payment history, and correspondence related to your account.
Contact and enquiry information. Name, email address, telephone number, country, and any message content you submit through our contact form or by phone or email.
Technical and usage information. When you visit our website, we automatically collect limited technical data such as IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, and referring URLs, typically through cookies and similar technologies as described in our Cookie Policy.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use personal information to: verify your identity and comply with KYC/AML/FATF obligations; open, administer, and secure your storage account; process payments and issue invoices; communicate with you about your account, security matters, or renewals; respond to enquiries submitted through our website; investigate and prevent fraud, theft, or misuse of our facilities; comply with lawful requests from regulators, courts, or law enforcement; and improve our website and services through aggregated, non-identifying analytics.
4. Legal Basis for Processing
Where applicable data protection law requires a legal basis, we rely on: performance of a contract (administering your storage account); compliance with a legal obligation (KYC, AML, tax, and regulatory reporting); legitimate interests (fraud prevention, facility security, service improvement); and, for optional communications such as our newsletter, your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.
5. How We Share Information
We do not sell personal information. We may share it with: our insurance underwriters (including Lloyd's of London market participants) for the purposes of maintaining coverage on stored assets; regulators, law enforcement, or courts where legally compelled; professional advisers such as auditors and legal counsel bound by confidentiality; and service providers who support our operations (such as secure logistics carriers and IT infrastructure providers) under contractual confidentiality obligations. Any such provider is permitted to use your information only to perform the services we've engaged them for.
Client identities and holdings are never disclosed to third parties for marketing purposes, and are never shared with other clients or the general public.
6. International Data Transfers
KaratShield operates facilities in Canada, Switzerland, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates. Depending on which facility services your account, your information may be processed in that facility's jurisdiction. Where we transfer personal information across borders, we use appropriate contractual and technical safeguards consistent with applicable data protection frameworks in each jurisdiction.
7. Data Retention
We retain KYC, AML, and transaction records for the period required by applicable financial regulation in each jurisdiction — typically a minimum of five to seven years following account closure — and for as long as necessary to resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, or comply with legal obligations. Contact form submissions not tied to an active account are retained only as long as needed to address the enquiry, unless a longer period is required for legal or security reasons.
8. Security of Your Information
Personal and account information is protected using administrative, technical, and physical safeguards consistent with our ISO 27001-aligned information security program, including encrypted storage, restricted internal access on a need-to-know basis, and continuous monitoring for unauthorized access.
9. Your Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information, to object to certain processing, or to request a copy of your data in a portable format. Note that we may be unable to delete information we are legally required to retain for KYC/AML purposes while your account remains open or during the applicable regulatory retention period. To exercise any right, contact us using the details in Section 11.
10. Children's Privacy
Our services are intended for individuals who are at least 18 years of age and legally capable of entering into a storage agreement. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors.
11. Contact Us
Questions about this Privacy Policy or requests regarding your personal information can be directed to KaratShield Secure Vault, 181 Bay St., Toronto, ON M5J 2T3, Canada, by phone at +1 647 560 0000, or by email at info@karatshieldsecurevault.com.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. Material changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date.