Hosted in Québec. Check for yourself.
The application, the primary database and the primary photo storage are hosted in Beauharnois, Québec. Database backups are kept in Québec. Some services receive information outside Québec. Here is the map, the list and three checks you can run yourself.
- ✓ Primary hosting in Beauharnois
- ✓ No global CDN for gallery photos
- ✓ External services and destinations listed
- 1Application, primary database, photos: in Beauharnois
- 2What leaves it is named, service by service
- 3Three checks you can run yourself
Published October 10, 2026 · 8 min read
1Where your data lives
Our primary hosting sits in a single data centre, OVHcloud’s in Beauharnois, south-west of Montréal.
Three things are hosted there: the application servers, the primary database and the primary photo storage. We do not use a global delivery network (CDN) for gallery photos: when a parent opens a gallery, the images come from the Beauharnois storage.
Hosting in Québec does not mean every processing activity and every copy remains there. The external backup and the other services are detailed in section 3.
No global CDN for gallery photos
- Hosted in Beauharnois
- Leaves Beauharnois
The application
The servers display your galleries, your store and your admin area. They process the information needed for these functions and use the database, the file storage and the processing queues, among other components.
The primary database
Student lists, access codes, orders and your studio’s audit log. Its backups have one copy on a company server in Québec, described below.
The primary photo storage
Originals, watermarked previews and the files to deliver. In our code, storage is locked to the Beauharnois region.
2Where the servers are does not tell you everything
Three separate questions to ask any platform, ours included.
A covered service provider subject to United States jurisdiction may have to disclose, under valid legal process, data in its possession, custody or control, even when that data is stored in Canada. This is provided by the CLOUD Act, a 2018 United States federal law. Headquarters alone do not settle that question. It also arises for the Amazon e-mail service we use in Montréal.
Our primary host, OVHcloud, belongs to a French group whose parent company, OVH Groupe SA, is based in Roubaix. We use its Beauharnois region. Hosting in Québec does not exclude lawful access requests: Canadian authorities and, through applicable procedures, foreign authorities may request information.
3What leaves Beauharnois, and why
Our store also uses external services. Here is what leaves our data centre, service by service, where it goes and what travels, as of October 10, 2026. Some destinations are in Québec, others are not.
- Leaves Beauharnois
Payment
Stripe handles payments and some billing and payout operations. It receives the parent’s name and e-mail; card details are entered directly with Stripe, without passing through our servers. Depending on the studio, other integrations exist: Authorize.net, in the United States, and Nuvei through PandaPay, in Canada.
Diagnostics
Sentry receives error and performance diagnostics. Filters reduce the personal information transmitted. After an error, a recording of the browsing session may be sent, with text masked and media blocked. These measures do not guarantee the absence of all personal information.
We use Amazon SES, in the Montréal region. Replies sent to our support and their attachments also pass temporarily through Amazon’s storage in that region. Amazon is an American group. Depending on the message, an e-mail contains access codes, order details or a child’s name.
The fallback e-mail service
When the primary service limits sending or reports certain availability errors, some e-mails may go through Postmark if the fallback is configured and permitted for that message. The recipients and the message content are then sent to Postmark.
Previews in e-mail
Some e-mails display photo previews. The recipient’s e-mail service may retrieve them and keep a copy outside Québec. A watermark does not change where that copy is.
A backup copy
The automatic backups of the database are kept with OVHcloud, in Beauharnois. A backup copy is also kept on a company server in Québec. These backups contain student lists and orders, among other data, but not the photo files.
The print lab
The selected lab receives the photos and the information needed for the order. Options include Québec labs and, for markets outside Québec, a lab in Alberta.
Sign-in text messages
Photographers’ sign-in codes by text message go through VoIP.ms, a provider based in Montréal. The number and the code are transmitted, and routing may leave Québec.
Technical services
Namecheap, in the United States, is involved in domain name management, and Let’s Encrypt receives certificate requests. The address of a shoot location may be sent to Nominatim to obtain its coordinates. The location of the Kubernetes control plane managed by OVHcloud remains to be confirmed. We have not yet confirmed where Let’s Encrypt and the Nominatim service we use process these requests.
Exports to studios and schools
Depending on the feature used, the studio can download photos and student information or send a school a portrait archive with student numbers in the file names. Lightroom synchronization can also send student names to the studio’s workstation. The location of the copies depends on the devices and services used by the recipients.
4What Law 25 asks of you
The studio answers for the information it collects. Choosing a platform is part of that responsibility.
For a covered business, section 17 of the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector requires, subject to the exceptions set out in the Act, a privacy impact assessment (PIA) before communicating personal information outside Québec or entrusting certain operations on it to a provider outside Québec. The assessment must establish adequate protection, and a written agreement must reflect its results. The Commission d’accès à l’information explains it in detail.
School bodies covered by the Access Act must also examine their communications outside Québec. Section 70.1 provides, among other things, for a prior PIA, adequate protection and a written agreement. The applicable regime depends on the body and on each party’s role.
What it does not mean
Hosting in Québec alone does not establish compliance with Law 25. Using a foreign provider alone does not establish non-compliance either.
What it changes for you
For your assessment, identify each recipient outside Québec and the information it receives. The list in section 3 helps you identify them.
What we give you
The map of our hosting and the list of what leaves it, as they appear here, with the points that remain to be confirmed. This article is not legal advice.
5The journey of a photo
A photo does not follow a single path. Here are its branches.
Photos are uploaded to Beauharnois. Depending on their use, they are then shown in the parent’s gallery, delivered as a digital file, shown as a preview in an e-mail or sent to the selected lab. Copies may end up outside Québec depending on the recipient, the lab or the e-mail service.
- Hosted in Beauharnois
- Possible copy outside Québec
6Check for yourself
Do not take our word for it. Three checks, valid for any platform. The first two give clues; the third gives answers.
The address of an image
With KebecPhoto, you will read an OVHcloud domain containing “bhs”, for Beauharnois, or the gallery’s own domain. It is a clue about the address used for that image. It does not prove the location of every copy, backup or processing activity. Do not share the complete address: it may contain temporary access to the photo.
- Open one of the platform’s galleries on a computer.
- Right-click a photo, then choose “Copy image address”, if the option is offered.
- Paste the address into a document and read the domain name that follows “https://”.
The address of the application
The tool shows the network associated with the public address: the host, or an intermediary placed in front of it. The result confirms neither the exact data centre nor the location of the database, the photos or the backups.
- Note the domain name of the application where you manage your shoots.
- Enter only that domain name in a public DNS and network lookup tool, without a gallery code or a private link.
- Read the network name shown.
The written request
A dated written answer documents the provider’s commitments. It is not an independent audit, but it is the only one of the three checks that covers what cannot be seen from outside.
- Ask where the application runs and where database information, photos, backups, e-mail and diagnostics are processed and stored.
- Ask which companies and teams can access them, and from which countries.
- Ask for the available information on the applicable assessments (PIAs) and agreements.
7Questions to ask your platform
Compare written answers covering the same data and the same services. Here are ours.
| The question | KebecPhoto | Your current platform |
|---|---|---|
| Where does the application run? | The application servers are hosted with OVHcloud in Beauharnois, Québec. | |
| Where is the primary database? | In Beauharnois, Québec. | |
| Where are the photos stored? | The primary photo storage is in Beauharnois. Delivery to recipients may create copies elsewhere. | |
| Where are the backups? | With OVHcloud, in Beauharnois. A backup copy of the database is also kept on a company server in Québec. | |
| Does a global network (CDN) deliver the gallery photos? | No. Gallery photos are served from our Beauharnois storage. | |
| Which services process payments, and where? | Stripe: United States and other countries. Depending on the studio, Authorize.net, in the United States, or Nuvei through PandaPay, in Canada. | |
| Which services carry the e-mail? | Amazon SES, in the Montréal region; Amazon is an American group. A fallback service, Postmark, in the United States, can carry some messages when it is enabled. | |
| Can e-mail create copies outside Québec? | Yes. The recipient’s e-mail service may keep the message and retrieve photo previews outside Québec. | |
| Where do error diagnostics go? | To Sentry, in the United States. Filters, text masking and media blocking reduce the information transmitted. | |
| Where do print orders go? | To the lab the studio chooses: a Québec lab or, for markets outside Québec, a lab in Alberta. | |
| Who is the host’s parent company? | OVH Groupe SA, based in Roubaix, France. That fact alone does not determine every applicable law. | |
| What remains to be confirmed? | The location of OVHcloud’s Kubernetes control plane and the processing locations of technical services not specified here. | |
| Not offered for now | An e-mail service without an American provider. Error diagnostics hosted in Québec. | |
8Answers before you start
Is all my data in Québec?
No. The application, the primary database and the primary photo storage are hosted there, and the database backups are kept there. Payment, e-mail and diagnostics go through the providers named in this article.
OVHcloud belongs to a French group. What does that change?
Our primary host is not an American company. That fact alone does not settle every question of jurisdiction: hosting in Québec does not exclude lawful access requests, whether they come from Canadian authorities or, through applicable procedures, from foreign authorities.
My school asks where the photos are hosted. What do I answer?
The primary photo storage is in Beauharnois, Québec, with OVHcloud. Send the school this article: the map, the list of what leaves it and the points to confirm are all in it.
Is being hosted in Québec enough to comply with Law 25?
No. Hosting in Québec alone does not establish compliance, and using a foreign provider alone does not establish non-compliance. The Act asks for an assessment and a written agreement before certain communications outside Québec. For your situation, consult the Commission d’accès à l’information or your adviser.
How do I know this list is still accurate?
This list describes our hosting as of October 10, 2026. Write to us for a dated answer.
Preparing your next season?
Ask us for the details of our hosting, or create your account. Your student lists and photos use our primary hosting in Beauharnois, with the copies and disclosures described in this article. KebecPhoto is operated by Fk7 Photographie Inc., a Québec company.