Privacy Policy
Effective date: April 5, 2026
Alfred Scholar ("we", "us", or "our") is an AI-powered research platform that helps you organize documents, ask questions about your papers, manage citations, and write manuscripts. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your data.
Information We Collect
Account Information
When you create an account, we collect your name and email address. If you enable two-factor authentication, we store the necessary verification data to secure your account.
Documents and Content
When you upload research papers, create manuscripts, add citations, or use the AI chat feature, we store that content in your workspace so you can access it anytime.
Usage Data
We collect basic usage information such as pages visited, features used, and error reports. This helps us understand how the platform is used and where we can improve.
Cookies
We use essential cookies only. These include session cookies to keep you signed in, CSRF tokens to protect your account from unauthorized actions, and preference cookies to remember your display settings (such as light or dark mode). We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.
How We Use Your Information
- Provide the service: Process your documents, power AI features, and deliver the tools you use every day.
- Improve the platform: Understand usage patterns to fix bugs and build better features.
- Communicate with you: Send account-related emails such as verification, password resets, and important updates about the service.
How We Store and Protect Your Data
Your data is encrypted both in transit and at rest. We use industry-standard security practices and host our infrastructure with trusted cloud providers. Access to your data is restricted to authorized systems and personnel only.
Third-Party Services
We use third-party AI providers to power features like document chat and plagiarism detection. When your content is sent to these providers for processing, it is used solely to generate a response for you. Your data is never used to train AI models.
We also use third-party services for email delivery and infrastructure hosting. These providers are bound by their own privacy policies and data protection obligations.
Cookies
Alfred Scholar uses only essential cookies required for the service to function:
- Session cookie: Keeps you signed in while you use the platform.
- CSRF token: Protects your account from unauthorized actions.
- Preference cookies: Remembers your display settings such as light or dark mode.
We do not use analytics, advertising, or third-party tracking cookies.
Your Rights
You have the right to:
- Access your data: View and download the documents, citations, and content in your account.
- Correct your data: Update your account information at any time through your settings.
- Delete your data: Delete your account and all associated data from your account settings. This action is permanent.
- Export your data: Export your citations in BibTeX and RIS formats. Additional export options are on our roadmap.
Data Retention
We keep your data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, your data is permanently removed from our systems. We do not retain backups of deleted accounts beyond a short window needed for system recovery.
Children's Privacy
Alfred Scholar is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with their information, please contact us and we will remove it.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make significant changes, we will notify you by email or through a notice on the platform. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, contact us at [email protected].