Privacy Policy

This policy explains what Vera Platforms Inc. (“Vera”, “we”, “us”), a Delaware corporation based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, collects when you visit our website, register with us, subscribe to Pro or run the Vera emulator, and what we do with it.

What we collect

When you create an account. Your name, email address and password, the plan you picked, when you confirmed your email address, and when you agreed to our Terms of Service and which version. Your password goes straight to Google’s sign-in service (Firebase Authentication), which stores it in hashed form; we never see it. We issue you a license key and store it encrypted, with a one-way fingerprint (hash) to check it, so you can download it again from your account. To keep automated sign-ups out, sign-up and sign-in use Google reCAPTCHA, which looks at technical signals from your browser and device.

When you use your account. When you sign in, download the emulator or your license key, replace your key or change your plan, we record what happened and when, to keep your account secure and to help you if something goes wrong.

When you contact us. Your name, email address and the message you send through our contact form.

When you subscribe to Pro. Payments are handled by Stripe, which collects your card and billing details at checkout, along with your company name, billing address and tax ID if you give them. We receive details such as your name, email address, subscription status and billing history. We don’t receive or store your full card number. To allow one free trial per payment card, we store a one-way hash of the card fingerprint Stripe gives us, which identifies the card without revealing its number.

When you activate Pro. The Vera launcher derives a device fingerprint from local machine and network-adapter identifiers. Vera stores that fingerprint and the time of the binding with your license, to recognize the computer your license is bound to and manage activation. The licensing request sends the fingerprint rather than those raw identifiers.

When you run the emulator. To confirm your plan, the emulator checks its license with Vera when it starts and, while Pro runs, at least once a day, sending your license key. It also sends usage data:

when it starts: a random session ID; a machine ID (a random ID kept with the emulator’s data or, outside a container, a hashed form of the computer’s own machine ID); the operating system, kernel and processor architecture; the emulator’s version and plan; and whether it’s running in CI, in a container or in Vera’s own tests;
every minute: how many calls each API answered, by cloud, service, operation, status, error type, region, account and client (the user-agent string your tool sends). For requests the emulator rejects, it also sends the error message it returned, which can repeat names or values from the request, such as the name you gave a resource. Google Cloud projects and Azure subscriptions are sent hashed; for AWS, the account is the account ID the emulator uses;
calls to services or operations the emulator doesn’t provide, or that need Pro;
which emulator settings are set, with their values only for the console and region settings;
each vera command you run and the names of the options you give it, sent without a session, machine ID or license key.

When a license key is present, usage data is linked to your license. Usage data doesn’t include request parameters or bodies (beyond what an error message repeats), the contents of the resources you create, your code or the data you store in the emulator. What you run in the emulator stays on your machine. On Free, usage data is part of the plan and can’t be turned off; on Pro, you can turn it off by setting VERA_DISABLE_EVENTS=1. Like any web request, license checks and usage data reach us with the network address they come from.

When you visit the website. Our website uses no analytics or advertising trackers and sets no cookies of its own. Your account, at accounts.vera-platforms.com, sets one cookie to keep you signed in, and reCAPTCHA on its sign-up and sign-in forms may set what it needs to tell people from bots. Like any website, our hosting providers process standard request information, such as your IP address and browser type, to deliver the site and protect it from abuse.

How we use it

To create and manage your account, issue your license key, provide the plan you chose and recognize the computer your license is bound to.
To bill your Pro subscription, including when your free trial ends, and to allow one free trial per person and payment card.
To reply to you and send you service messages, such as verification and password-reset links, trial and billing notices, and changes to our terms.
To understand how the emulator is used, so we can fix problems and decide which services to improve or add.
To develop and train Vera’s own models and agents, using usage data in aggregated or de-identified form.
To enforce our plans, our Terms of Service and our Fair Usage Policy, keep the service secure, prevent abuse and meet our legal obligations.

We don’t sell your personal information, and we don’t use it for advertising.

We share information only with service providers that help us run Vera, under agreements that limit how they can use it:

Google Cloud, which runs your account and its sign-in (Firebase Authentication and reCAPTCHA), stores account, license and usage records, receives the emulator’s license checks and usage data, and delivers the emulator’s Docker image.
Stripe, to process payments.
Cloudflare, which hosts our website.
Resend, which sends our emails, such as email verification and password-reset links, and trial and billing notices.
Formspree, which delivers our contact form’s messages to us.

We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect the rights and safety of Vera or others, or as part of a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, in which case this policy continues to apply to it.

How long we keep it

We keep account and billing information while your account is open, and afterwards for as long as we need it for tax, accounting and legal purposes. When an account is closed, we keep a minimal record of its license, including the hash of the card used for its free trial, so the same person or card can’t start another free trial. We keep usage data for 13 months, after which we delete it or keep it only in aggregated form that no longer identifies you.

Your choices and rights

You can ask to see, correct or delete the personal information we hold about you, including the usage data linked to your license or computer, or to close your account, through our contact form. Depending on where you live, you may have further rights, such as to object to or restrict certain uses of your information or to receive a copy of it. We’ll respond within the time the law requires and won’t treat you differently for exercising your rights.

If you’re in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we rely on these legal bases: performing our contract with you (your account, license, Pro subscription and service messages); our legitimate interests (understanding and improving the emulator, developing our own models and agents, and keeping the service secure and preventing abuse); and complying with legal obligations, such as keeping tax records. Where the law requires your consent, we ask for it. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we can’t guarantee absolute security.

Where it’s processed

Vera is based in the United States, and our service providers may process information in the United States and other countries. By using the service, you understand that your information may be transferred to and processed in those places.

Children

The service is for professional use and isn’t directed at children. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. When we make a material change we’ll update the date at the top and let registered users know before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your information? Reach us through our contact form.