Export and Import

Export and import keep your data safe, make content portable, and help you meet the right to data portability under Art. 20 GDPR. You can download individual sessions or entire projects as a ZIP archive — and import ZIP archives back, either via upload or via an HTTPS URL.

Why Export?

Backup — your own copy of the sessions, independent of the running system.
GDPR data portability (Art. 20) — content is handed out in a structured, machine-readable format.
Right of access (Art. 15) — full data export for a data subject, where their content belongs to a session.
Data hand-off — transfer to another organisation, research partners, or external analysis.
Archiving — long-term storage outside of StoryVault, e.g. in an internal document management system.

Export Contents

Type	Content
Individual session	Media files, transcript (TXT/SRT/VTT), summary, notes, external links, metadata
Entire project	All sessions of the project, each with media, transcripts, and metadata

In addition, the archive includes: project description, participant list (as metadata, not as a personal record), session attachments, and all external links that belong to the session.

Start an Export

Open the export button

On the session or project page, find the Export button (Manager role or higher). Click it to start the export.
Wait for processing

The export runs in the background. You can keep working in StoryVault or close the window. Large projects may take several minutes to hours.
Download the ZIP

Once the export is ready, a download link appears. The link is time-limited; if it expires, simply start the export again.

Import

StoryVault supports two ways to bring ZIP archives back in — after a move, a migration, or for data recovery.

1. File upload

For ZIP files that are available locally. You upload the file like any other file in StoryVault. Suitable for ZIPs up to your browser’s upload limit.

2. URL-based import (large archives)

For very large ZIPs, StoryVault loads the file directly from a public HTTPS URL — the browser does not need to pass the file through.

Enter a URL

On the import page (admin area), enter the public HTTPS URL of the ZIP archive.
Wait for staging

StoryVault downloads the file in the background and runs a content preview.
Confirm the preview

You see which projects and sessions the archive contains before the actual import runs. The import only starts after you confirm.
Cleanup after 24 hours

A staged import that is not confirmed is automatically discarded after 24 hours.

URL Import Security Rules

Only public https:// URLs are accepted.
No credentials, cookies, or custom headers are supported.
DNS resolution and redirect targets must not point to private or reserved IP ranges (SSRF protection).
The staged job is bound to your tenant and your user — no one else can take it over.
Participant lists from the export are deliberately not imported; they remain purely informational metadata.

Right	How StoryVault supports it
Art. 15 — Right of access	Export of a session or project contains all stored content.
Art. 17 — Right to erasure	Trash and final deletion. See Trash.
Art. 20 — Data portability	Machine-readable ZIP structure with transcripts in open formats (TXT/SRT/VTT).
Art. 30 — Record of processing	Export metadata documents when and what was handed out.
Art. 32 — Security of processing	URL import only via HTTPS, SSRF protection, staging with explicit confirmation.

Who can do what?

Role	Export	Import
Viewer	—	—
Member	—	—
Manager	✓	—
Admin	✓	✓
Super-Admin	✓	✓