Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Open Universitas is an independent research publishing platform available at openuniversitas.com. It is operated by an independent researcher and developer. There is no corporation, VC-backed entity, or data broker behind this platform.

Contact for privacy questions: contact@openuniversitas.com

2. What We Do Not Collect

To be explicit about what this platform does not do:

• No user accounts — there is no sign-up, no login, no persistent user profiles.
• No tracking pixels, advertising cookies, or third-party analytics scripts (Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Hotjar, etc.).
• No behavioral profiling — we don't track which papers you read, how long you spend on a page, or your navigation patterns.
• No cross-site tracking — nothing shared with data brokers or ad networks.
• No fingerprinting — we don't attempt to identify you via browser characteristics, canvas fingerprinting, or similar techniques.
• No cookies beyond what your browser manages locally (theme preference lives in localStorage, not a cookie, and never leaves your device).

3. What We Do Collect

3.1 Server Access Logs

Standard web server logs generated by Namecheap shared hosting infrastructure. These contain:

• IP addresses of requests
• Timestamps
• URLs requested
• HTTP status codes
• Referring URLs (if sent by browser)
• User-agent strings (browser and OS)

We do not control retention of these logs — they are managed by the hosting provider. We do not actively analyze them for user behavior. They exist for abuse prevention, security incident response, and debugging.

3.2 Contact Form Submissions

When you use the contact form, we receive and store:

• Your name (as you provided it)
• Your email address
• The subject category you selected
• Your message content
• Your IP address (for rate limiting and abuse prevention)
• Timestamp of submission

This data is used only to respond to your inquiry. It is not shared with third parties. Email submissions are delivered to contact@openuniversitas.com via the server's PHP mail function. A minimal audit log (IP, subject, timestamp — no message content) is retained for 90 days for abuse tracking.

3.3 Research Submissions

When you submit research, we store:

• Your name and/or chosen pseudonym as listed on the paper
• Your contact email (for editorial communication — not published without consent)
• The submitted document(s) and supporting files
• Your self-assessed metadata (evidence tier, confidence score, consensus status)
• Submission timestamp and IP address

Published papers display whatever author name and affiliation you choose to include in the document itself. Your email is never displayed publicly.

3.4 Download & View Counters

We track aggregate counts: how many times a paper has been viewed or downloaded. These are integer totals — not tied to individual users, not broken down by IP, not logged per-visit. They're the kind of number that shows "this paper has been downloaded 47 times" — nothing more.

3.5 localStorage (Client-Side Only)

Your theme preference (Light/Dark/Cosmic) is stored in your browser's localStorage under the key theme. This data never leaves your device and is never transmitted to our servers. You can clear it by clearing your browser's site data.

4. Third-Party Services

Open Universitas loads Google Fonts from fonts.googleapis.com. This is a CDN request — Google receives your IP address when the fonts are fetched. If you'd prefer to avoid this, you can block fonts.googleapis.com in your browser or network settings; the site will fall back to system fonts.

That's the only third-party service. No CDNs for JS libraries (we have none). No external analytics. No social media embeds.

5. Data Security

The platform is served over HTTPS. The SQLite database is stored on the server filesystem and is not directly accessible via HTTP (protected via .htaccess). Rate limiting on form submissions prevents bulk automated abuse.

No system is perfectly secure. If you discover a security vulnerability, please report it responsibly to security@openuniversitas.com. We'll treat it seriously and respond within 24 hours.

6. Data Retention

• Contact form submissions: Email content retained as long as the thread is relevant; audit log (IP/subject/timestamp) auto-purged after 90 days.
• Rate limit files: Auto-expire after 1 hour.
• Published research: Retained indefinitely unless the author requests removal or content violates terms.
• Server logs: Managed by hosting provider; typically 30–90 days depending on provider policy.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction (GDPR, CCPA, etc.), you may have rights to:

• Access: Request a copy of data we hold about you.
• Correction: Ask us to correct inaccurate data.
• Deletion: Ask us to delete your data. For published research, you may request removal; the decision balances your rights against the public interest in preserving research records.
• Objection: Object to processing in certain circumstances.

To exercise any of these rights, email contact@openuniversitas.com with the subject "Privacy Request." We'll respond within 30 days. Given the minimal data we collect, most requests will be straightforward.

8. Children

Open Universitas is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has submitted data via this platform, contact us and we'll remove it promptly.

9. Changes to This Policy

If we materially change what data we collect or how we use it, we'll update the date at the top of this page. We will not retroactively expand data collection on previously submitted information.

10. Contact

Privacy questions, data requests, or concerns:

• contact@openuniversitas.com

Or use the contact form and select "General Question."