--- title: Privacy - Scholar Sidekick description: How Scholar Sidekick handles data - on-demand processing, minimal logs, and scrubbed telemetry. doc_version: "1.0" last_updated: "2026-04-28" --- # Privacy Policy > How Scholar Sidekick handles data: on-demand processing, minimal logs, and scrubbed telemetry. > HTML version: https://scholar-sidekick.com/legal/privacy > Last updated: 2026-04-28 Scholar Sidekick is designed to be safe by default. We minimise data collection, avoid long-term storage, and aim to be transparent about how requests are handled. This page explains what information is processed, why, and how it is handled. ## Summary (plain language) - Scholar Sidekick can be used without an account for its core features. - We do not sell, share, or monetise user data. - User inputs are processed on demand; raw citation inputs are not retained as application data after the request completes. - We retain only minimal operational logs needed to run the service. - We do not use advertising trackers. We use limited, privacy-focused analytics and performance telemetry to understand aggregate usage and improve reliability. ## Information we process ### 1. User-provided input When you use Scholar Sidekick, you may provide identifiers or references such as DOIs, PMIDs, ISBNs, ISSNs, URLs, or free-text citations. How this data is used: - Inputs are processed in memory to generate citation output. - By default, inputs are processed in memory and discarded once the response is returned. - We do not build libraries, profiles, or long-term records of user inputs. ### 2. Operational metadata Like most web services, we temporarily process limited technical metadata, such as IP address, user agent, and timestamp of request. Purpose: ensuring service reliability, preventing abuse or automated misuse, and debugging operational issues. Retention: - Hosting/runtime logs are retained only briefly - on the order of about an hour, per our hosting provider's default for our current plan tier. - Error-monitoring events are retained for up to 30 days. - Scholar Sidekick does not configure any longer custom retention beyond these provider defaults. - Logs are not linked to user identities or stored alongside citation content. ## Browser extensions Our official browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge transmit user-selected text to our citation-formatting API to produce a formatted citation. The data flow is the same as the public API: - Only the text you explicitly select and submit via the right-click "Cite" action is sent. The extensions contain no content scripts and do not read page contents, browsing history, or any other data from the pages you visit. - Selected text is processed in memory to produce the citation and is not retained as application data after the request completes. - Requests are rate-limited by IP address and logged with the same minimal operational metadata described above (IP address, user agent, timestamp). - The extensions contain no analytics, advertising trackers, or behavioural telemetry. ## Cookies and tracking Scholar Sidekick does not use advertising cookies, behavioural tracking, or third-party analytics for marketing or profiling. We may use limited, non-identifying first-party and platform telemetry mechanisms for reliability and aggregate performance measurement. These are not used for advertising or behavioural profiling. ## Third-party services To resolve bibliographic metadata, Scholar Sidekick may query external public services, such as Crossref, PubMed / NCBI, Open Library, and other public bibliographic endpoints, depending on identifier type. - **What is shared:** only the identifier or reference text required to retrieve citation metadata, plus limited operational and telemetry metadata for hosting, performance monitoring, and error reporting. - **What is not shared:** no personal data beyond transient technical metadata required for service operation, no user profiles, and no usage history. - **Hosting & telemetry services used:** Sentry (error monitoring), Vercel Analytics, and Vercel Speed Insights. Each third-party service is subject to its own privacy policies. ## Data storage and security - Requests are processed on demand. - Raw citation inputs are not retained as application data after the request completes. - No user accounts or persistent identifiers are created. - HTTPS is enforced for all traffic. - Standard security practices are used to protect the service and infrastructure. - Error and telemetry events are scrubbed to remove sensitive identifier fields before transmission to observability providers. If optional user accounts or paid features are introduced in the future, this policy will be updated to clearly describe what additional data is stored and for what purpose. ## Data sales and advertising Scholar Sidekick does not sell user data, share data with advertisers, use data for marketing or profiling, or train models on user input. ## International users Scholar Sidekick is available globally. Operational infrastructure is provided by **Vercel Inc., based in the United States**, with content delivered via a global edge network; error monitoring is provided by Sentry. Citation requests may be processed in any of these jurisdictions. The data handling principles described here apply regardless of where a request is processed. Scholar Sidekick aims to handle personal data consistently with applicable data protection laws, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR, for users in those jurisdictions. Because the service does not maintain user accounts, persistent identifiers, or long-term records of inputs, the volume of personal data processed is intentionally minimal. ## Your choices and questions Because Scholar Sidekick does not maintain user accounts or long-term personal records, there is typically no personal data to access, correct, or delete. If you have questions about this policy or about how operational metadata is handled, contact . ## Changes to this policy If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date. ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](https://scholar-sidekick.com/sitemap.md) for all pages.