Privacy Policy for Æthernet

Last Updated: 10.10.2025

1. Introduction

Welcome to Æthernet. This Privacy Policy explains how Aethernet Inc. ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and protects information in relation to our machine-to-machine (M2M) communication services (the "Service") and our website (aethernet.io). Our service is designed as a secure transport layer, not a hosted backend, meaning you maintain full ownership and control over your application logic and data.

2. Information We Collect

We collect the minimum information necessary to provide and secure our Service. We do not access or store the content of the messages you send.

• Client Identity Information:

  • Unique Identifier (UID): A permanent, non-public, non-secret identifier assigned to each client upon registration, used for addressing and authentication.

  • Master Key: A permanent cryptographic key generated and stored on the client-side. Crucially, the Master Key is never transferred to, or stored on, any of our working servers. It is used only to derive ephemeral session keys.

  • Parent Client UID: When a new client is created, the UID of its parent (owner) is recorded to establish the management hierarchy.

• Technical & Connection Information:

  • IP Addresses: We process the IP addresses from which requests are made to route traffic and protect the Service from abuse.

  • Proof-of-Work Data: During new client self-registration, we process a timestamp, a random number, and a resulting hash (bcrypt) to prevent DDoS and Sybil attacks.

  • Client's Personal Cloud: We maintain a list of servers assigned to each client's "personal cloud" to optimize for latency and reliability.

• Billing and Usage Information:

  • We track each client's account balance and quota to manage service access according to our pricing model.

• Optional Telemetry Data:

  • If enabled in the C++ client library, we may collect anonymized runtime information, function invocation counts, and performance metrics to help diagnose issues and improve the Service. This module can be completely stripped out to reduce binary size and disable data collection.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To Provide the Service: To authenticate clients, securely route messages between UIDs, manage the client hierarchy, and handle billing.

• To Secure the Service: To protect against DDoS attacks, fraudulent registrations, and other malicious activity by analyzing connection metadata (not message content).

• To Optimize the Service: To perform load balancing and dynamically reconfigure a client's personal cloud for the lowest possible latency and highest reliability.

• To Bill for Services: To calculate usage based on data transfer and other actions, and charge the client's account accordingly.

4. Data Storage and Deletion

Our data storage philosophy is minimalist by design.

• Message Content: We do not store message content. Æthernet servers act only as relays. A message is deleted from a server immediately after it is successfully delivered to the recipient, or after a very short holding period (e.g., 10 seconds) if the recipient is temporarily offline.

• Client Information: Client metadata (UID, parent UID, account balance) is stored in our central database for as long as the client exists.

• Client Deletion: A client and all associated metadata are permanently deleted if requested by its owner, or automatically if the client's account balance remains below the credit limit for more than one month.

5. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or share your information with third parties, except in the following limited circumstances:

• The UID of a message sender is visible to the message recipient.

• If required by law, such as to comply with a subpoena or other legal process.

6. Data Security

We are committed to protecting your information. Our security measures include:

• Cryptographic Libraries: We use industry-standard, battle-tested cryptographic libraries such as libsodium and libhydrogen.

• Server Isolation: Each server in our cloud uses unique, ephemeral session keys derived from a client's Master Key using a Key Derivation Function (KDF). This ensures that a compromise of one server does not affect the security of any other server or the client's Master Key.

• Attack Resistance: Our protocol is designed to be resilient to replay attacks, timing attacks, and Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks.

7. Cookie Policy

This section describes how we use cookies and similar technologies on our website (aethernet.io). This policy does not apply to the Æthernet client libraries, which do not use cookies.

• What are Cookies?

  Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device by websites that you visit. They are widely used to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.

• How We Use Cookies

  We use cookies for the following purposes:

  • Strictly Necessary Cookies: These cookies are essential for you to browse the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the site (like the admin console).

  • Performance and Analytics Cookies: These cookies collect information about how you use our website, like which pages you visited and which links you clicked on. This information is aggregated and anonymized and is used to help us improve how our website works.

  • Functionality Cookies: These cookies allow our website to remember choices you've made in the past, like your preferred language.

• Third-Party Cookies

  • We use Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Clarity and Reddit Pixel to collect and analyze website traffic. These tools gather information about website usage by means of cookies and creates reports about the use of our website

  • Google Privacy Policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/

  • Reddit Business Tool Terms: https://business.reddithelp.com/s/article/Reddit-Business-Tool-Terms

  • Microsoft Privacy Statement: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacy/privacystatement

• How to Control Cookies

  You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish. Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at info@aethernet.io

Terms of Service for Æthernet

Last Updated: 10.10.2025

1. Acceptance of Terms

By integrating our client libraries or using the Æthernet services (the "Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use the Service.

2. Description of the Service

Æthernet provides a "Transport as a Service" platform designed for secure, reliable, and real-time machine-to-machine (M2M) communication15. Our Service provides the infrastructure for data transport, but you, the user, are responsible for your application logic and the content of your messages. The client libraries are open-sourced under the Apache 2.0 license.

3. Accounts and Registration

• Self-Provisioning: New clients can be created through a "self-provisioning" process which requires solving a computational "Proof-of-Work" (PoW) challenge to prevent abuse.

• Hierarchical Structure: All clients exist within a tree hierarchy. A parent client ("Owner") has administrative control over its child clients and is responsible for their actions.

• Master Key Responsibility: You are solely responsible for securely storing and managing your client's Master Key. Loss of this key will result in permanent loss of access to that client.

4. User Conduct and Responsibilities

You agree not to use the Service for any of the following purposes:

• Transmitting any unlawful, harassing, libelous, abusive, threatening, harmful, or otherwise objectionable material of any kind.

• Sending spam or engaging in any other form of unsolicited communication.

• Attempting to gain unauthorized access to the Service, other clients, or our computer systems.

• Interfering with another user's use and enjoyment of the Service.

5. Pricing, Payment, and Free Tier

• Pay-as-you-go Model: Our pricing is based on your actual usage, primarily data transfer, UID leasing, and self-provisioning requests.

• Free Tier: Anonymously self-provisioned clients receive a starting credit limit (e.g., -$10) and a small daily account refill. This allows for continuous use for small-scale projects.

• Service Throttling: If a client's account balance reaches its credit limit, the Service will be throttled, and the time of the next allowed request will be specified in server replies.

• Parental Billing: All charges incurred by a child client are also subtracted from the account balance of its parent and all predecessors in the hierarchy.

6. Termination

• By You: You may stop using the Service and request the deletion of your clients at any time.

• By Us: We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Service and delete your clients if:

  • You are in breach of these Terms.

  • Your account balance remains below the credit limit for over one month.

7. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without any warranties of any kind, express or implied. We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, in no event shall Aethernet Inc. be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, including but not limited to damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data, or other intangible losses. Our total liability for any claims under these terms is limited to the amount you paid us to use the Service in the 12 months before the claim arose.

9. Changes to the Terms

We may modify these Terms at any time. We will provide notice of any significant changes. Your continued use of the Service after such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms.

10. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.