Privacy Policy
StormDesigner desktop software, Civil 3D plugin, and stormdesigner.net
Effective date: September 16, 2026
Last updated: September 16, 2026
Privacy contact: support@stormdesigner.net
This policy describes how David Book, doing business as StormDesigner, Dana, North Carolina, United States (“StormDesigner,” “we,” “us”), handles personal information for StormDesigner.exe, the Civil 3D plugin, https://www.stormdesigner.net, and related support.
1. Who we are
StormDesigner is Windows desktop software and a Civil 3D plugin. Project work stays in a local .sdp file on the user’s computer. The public site is hosted on Cloudflare. Paid seats are sold through Polar Software Inc. (“Polar”), which is merchant of record for checkout, tax, and license keys.
Questions: support@stormdesigner.net or info@stormdesigner.net.
2. Scope
This policy covers personal information when you:
- visit stormdesigner.net;
- submit a contact, trial, or lunch form;
- buy, renew, or cancel a seat through Polar;
- download, install, activate, or use StormDesigner.exe or the Civil 3D plugin;
- email support@ or info@; or
- request NOAA Atlas 14 rainfall or USDA soils data from the software.
It does not cover Autodesk Civil 3D, Autodesk accounts, your firm’s CAD standards, or other software on your machine. It does not cover Polar, NOAA, USDA, FormSubmit, Resend, or Cloudflare except as named below.
There is no StormDesigner user account. Polar holds the customer record for a paid order. The desktop app stores a local license file on your computer.
3. What stays on your computer
Project files stay on your computer. The .sdp file, cached CAD rings, calculation-report PDF, IDF tables, soil overlays, and related settings are stored locally, typically next to your project and under Windows folders such as %LocalAppData%\StormDesigner and %AppData%\StormDesigner. We do not host your drawings or .sdp files.
We do not upload DWG files. Sync with Civil 3D uses a named pipe on the same Windows machine. Geometry is read from the open drawing or from DWGs you listed in Project Structure, then cached inside the local .sdp.
A Polar license key is required to run the program. Local calculations still run on your disk. We do not sell, rent, or trade customer lists. We do not use StormDesigner project data for advertising.
4. Information we collect
4.1 Information you give us
Site contact, trial, and lunch forms collect name, firm, email, message, and the extra fields on that form (for a trial: Civil 3D use and seat count; for lunch: city and headcount). They do not collect phone or mailing address.
If you email us, we receive whatever you put in the message and attachments. Do not put client SSNs or passwords in support mail.
Optional cover-sheet fields you type into a calculation report (project name, engineer, firm, date) stay inside the local .sdp unless you email the PDF to us.
4.2 Checkout (Polar)
When you buy or renew a seat, Polar is the merchant of record. Polar and its payment processors (including Stripe) collect the information needed to take payment, calculate tax, prevent fraud, and issue the license. That typically includes name, email, billing address, business name, tax number if you provide one, payment-method type and last four digits, purchase history, IP address, and device or browser data.
Polar Privacy Policy: https://polar.sh/legal/privacy-policy
We receive from Polar the customer and order information we need to recognize a paid seat, deliver keys, and keep books: name, email, firm, plan, amount, tax collected by Polar, and license status. We do not receive full card numbers.
4.3 Website logs
stormdesigner.net is served through Cloudflare. The host may record IP address, approximate location derived from IP, date and time, pages requested, referring URL, browser and operating-system type, and basic security or bot-management signals.
We do not run advertising pixels or a marketing-analytics suite on the site.
The checkout agreement page loads Polar’s checkout embed from jsDelivr. After you agree and continue, Polar (and jsDelivr for that script) see that browser session. That is checkout, not advertising.
4.4 Desktop requests
These features send data off the machine only when you use them.
| Feature | What leaves the machine | Who receives it |
|---|---|---|
| NOAA Atlas 14 IDF / DDF | Site coordinates you chose, request flags, and a User-Agent that identifies StormDesigner | NOAA / National Weather Service Precipitation Frequency Data Server |
| Import soils from online | The soil-boundary polygon or location needed for map units and hydrologic soil group | USDA Soil Data Access / Web Soil Survey |
| License check | License key, machine identifier, computer name, and activation identifier | StormDesigner license service and Polar |
| Update check | A request for the update feed on stormdesigner.net (no license key) | The StormDesigner site (Cloudflare) |
| Site contact / trial / lunch form | Name, firm, email, and the message | FormSubmit.co, then support@stormdesigner.net |
| License-key email | Checkout email and the keys for that order | Resend, which sends the mail from support@stormdesigner.net |
| Email support | What you put in the message and attachments | The mailbox at support@ or info@, and the person who answers |
Government rainfall and soils services are not StormDesigner products. Location used for rainfall or soils is an engineering site, not a live GPS track of a person.
4.5 Information we do not seek
- Precise consumer geolocation of a person, as opposed to a project site you selected
- Government ID numbers, date of birth, or financial account numbers beyond what Polar needs to take payment
- Health, race, religion, or similar sensitive data
- Data from children. StormDesigner is sold to engineering firms and adult practitioners
- The contents of your Civil 3D drawing, except what you choose to sync into a local .sdp or send to support
5. How we use information
We use personal information to:
- activate and maintain seats you purchased or were assigned;
- receive Polar order and license status so we can recognize a paid seat and keep books;
- answer support and product questions;
- send license, renewal, and service mail;
- protect the site and product against fraud, abuse, and unlicensed use;
- keep records tax and accounting rules require; and
- improve website copy, the installer, and documentation. We do not mine .sdp project files for this. Those files stay on your disk.
We do not use project geometry, rainfall, or soils results for advertising. We do not sell, rent, or trade customer lists. We do not run an advertising mailing list.
6. How we share information
We share personal information only as follows.
| Recipient | Why | Typical data |
|---|---|---|
| Polar Software Inc. | Merchant of record: checkout, tax, license keys, subscriptions, and license validation | Name, email, firm, plan, payment metadata, entitlements, machine identifier, computer name, activation identifier |
| Stripe (via Polar) | Card processing | Payment method and billing details; we do not see the full card number |
| Cloudflare | Website, DNS, and Cloudflare Workers KV used to complete an order | IP, request logs, checkout id, buyer email, license keys, order status |
| FormSubmit | Site contact, trial, and lunch forms | Name, firm, email, message, and form extras |
| Resend | Outbound license-key mail | Recipient email and the keys for that order |
| jsDelivr | Hosts Polar’s checkout embed on the checkout agreement page | Browser request on that page |
| NOAA / NWS | Atlas 14 rainfall you requested | Site coordinates and query |
| USDA | Soil Data Access query you requested | Site or boundary coordinates and query |
| Professional advisers | Accounting, tax, or legal advice | Only what the adviser needs |
| Authorities | When required by law, court order, or to protect rights | Only what the request lawfully covers |
| Successor | If we merge, sell, or reorganize the product | Customer and license records, under this policy or a successor policy |
Service providers may use personal information only to perform work for us or as required by law. We do not authorize them to use StormDesigner customer lists for their own advertising.
7. Sale, ads, and cookies
We do not sell personal information. We do not share it for advertising.
The public site may use cookies or headers that Cloudflare needs to deliver the page and stop abuse. Polar’s checkout embed on the checkout agreement page may set cookies Polar needs to complete payment. Polar’s own policy covers Polar’s cookies.
The desktop application is not a browser. It stores local settings (last-opened .sdp path, window layout) and a license record (license.json: key, activation id, machine id, last successful check) in ordinary Windows app-data files. We do not receive those files unless you send them.
8. Retention
- Support mail: kept while we still need it for the job or a dispute.
- Customer, license, and invoice data we receive from Polar, and fulfillment records in Cloudflare Workers KV: for the life of the seat plus the period tax and accounting rules require.
- Website logs held by Cloudflare: per Cloudflare’s then-current log retention.
- Local .sdp files and app settings: until you delete them. We cannot wipe your disk.
- Polar keeps checkout records under Polar’s policy as merchant of record.
9. Security
We use measures appropriate to a small software vendor: TLS on the public site, Cloudflare protection, access to customer mail limited to people who answer support, and no central store of customer DWG or .sdp files.
We cannot promise perfect security. You are responsible for keeping your Windows login, Civil 3D files, and license keys under your control. If you believe a license key was posted in public, write to support@stormdesigner.net.
10. Where processing happens
We are in North Carolina, United States. Polar, Stripe (through Polar), Cloudflare, FormSubmit, and Resend process information in the United States and in any other country those companies name in their own policies.
11. Children
StormDesigner is a professional engineering tool. It is not directed to children, and we do not sell to children. If a child’s data reaches us by mistake, email support@stormdesigner.net and we will delete it.
12. Your choices
Email support@stormdesigner.net with the subject “Privacy request.” Say what you want (a copy of the contact and license record we hold, a correction, or deletion of what we control) and the email on the order.
We may need to confirm it is you. Do not send a driver’s-license image unless we ask. If Polar holds the payment record, we may point you to Polar or forward the request.
We will answer as soon as we can, usually within 30 days. Polar must keep some checkout and tax records. We must keep some license and invoice records.
To stop mail that is not about your seat or a request you made, write to support@.
13. Other companies
These companies have their own policies for data they collect:
- Polar Software Inc. (checkout, licenses): https://polar.sh/legal/privacy-policy
- Stripe (via Polar): https://stripe.com/privacy
- Cloudflare (site, DNS, Workers): https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/
- FormSubmit (site forms): https://formsubmit.co/privacy.pdf
- Resend (license-key mail): https://resend.com/legal/privacy-policy
- NOAA / National Weather Service: https://www.noaa.gov/information-technology/privacy
- USDA: https://www.usda.gov/privacy-policy
- Autodesk (Civil 3D): https://www.autodesk.com/privacy
We are not responsible for those operators’ practices.
14. Changes
We may update this policy when the product, vendors, or the law changes. The “Last updated” date will change. If we start collecting telemetry, hosting project files, or running ads, we will post the new policy on stormdesigner.net and email current customers we have an address for.
15. Contact
David Book, doing business as StormDesigner
Dana, North Carolina, United States
Website: https://www.stormdesigner.net
Privacy and support: support@stormdesigner.net
General: info@stormdesigner.net