Privacy Policy

We collect the following categories of information:

Account Information: When you create an account through our authentication provider (Clerk), we collect your email address, display name, and profile information that you provide. This information is necessary to manage your account, track your subscription tier, and provide personalized features such as saved analysis history.

Usage Data: We automatically collect certain technical information when you use MetaLens AI, including your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, time spent on pages, and the dates and times of your visits. This data helps us understand how our service is used and identify areas for improvement.

Search Queries: When you perform a meta-analysis search, your query is transmitted to our servers and forwarded to the PubMed API and Google Gemini AI for processing. Search queries may be temporarily logged for the purpose of debugging, performance monitoring, and service improvement. We do not sell or share your search queries with third parties for marketing purposes.

MetaLens AI uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience and support our operations. The types of cookies we use include:

Essential Cookies: Required for basic site functionality, including authentication session management and language preferences. These cookies cannot be disabled without affecting the core functionality of the service.

Analytics Cookies (Google Analytics): We use Google Analytics to collect anonymized usage statistics such as page views, session duration, and traffic sources. Google Analytics may set cookies on your browser (e.g., _ga, _gid) to distinguish unique users and track session information. You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Advertising Cookies (Google AdSense): MetaLens AI displays advertisements through Google AdSense to support the free tier of our service. Google AdSense may use cookies (including the DoubleClick DART cookie) to serve ads based on your prior visits to MetaLens AI and other websites on the internet. You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.

MetaLens AI integrates with the following third-party services, each of which has its own privacy policy governing data handling:

• Clerk (Authentication): We use Clerk for user authentication and account management. Clerk processes your email address, password (hashed), and session tokens. For more information, see Clerk's Privacy Policy.
• PubMed / NCBI E-Utilities API:Your search queries are sent to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed API to retrieve biomedical abstracts. The NLM may log API requests. See the NLM Privacy Policy.
• Google Gemini AI:Retrieved abstracts are processed by Google's Gemini AI model to generate meta-analysis summaries. Data sent to the Gemini API is subject to Google's Privacy Policy.
• Google Analytics: Used for anonymized usage statistics. See Google's Privacy Policy.
• Google AdSense: Used to serve advertisements on the free tier. See Google's Advertising Privacy Policy.
• Vercel (Hosting): MetaLens AI is hosted on Vercel. Vercel may process request metadata (IP addresses, headers) as part of its hosting infrastructure. See Vercel's Privacy Policy.

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To provide, maintain, and improve MetaLens AI's features and functionality
• To authenticate your identity and manage your account and subscription
• To process your meta-analysis queries and deliver results
• To analyze usage patterns and optimize site performance
• To display relevant advertisements through Google AdSense
• To communicate important service updates and respond to support inquiries
• To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security threats
• To comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service

We retain your account information for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal information within 30 days, except where we are required by law to retain certain records. Anonymized usage data and analytics information may be retained indefinitely for statistical analysis purposes. Server logs containing IP addresses and request metadata are automatically purged after 90 days.

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your personal information, including encryption in transit (TLS/HTTPS), secure authentication through Clerk, and access controls on our server infrastructure. However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If you discover a security vulnerability, please report it to us immediately at taeshinkim11@gmail.com.

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have the following rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Right of Access: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: You may request that we correct inaccurate personal data.
• Right to Erasure: You may request that we delete your personal data.
• Right to Restriction: You may request that we restrict the processing of your data.
• Right to Data Portability: You may request a machine-readable copy of your data.
• Right to Object: You may object to the processing of your personal data for certain purposes, including direct marketing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at taeshinkim11@gmail.com. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, request deletion of your personal information, and opt out of the sale of your personal information. We do not sell personal information as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). To exercise your rights, contact us at taeshinkim11@gmail.com.

MetaLens AI is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or 16 in the EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal data from a child, we will take steps to delete that information promptly. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at taeshinkim11@gmail.com.

MetaLens AI is hosted on Vercel's global infrastructure, and your data may be processed in the United States or other countries where our service providers operate. By using MetaLens AI, you consent to the transfer of your information to these countries. We ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place for international data transfers in compliance with applicable data protection laws.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you via email or a prominent notice on our website. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

Some web browsers transmit "Do Not Track" (DNT) signals. Because there is no uniform standard for interpreting DNT signals, MetaLens AI does not currently respond to DNT signals. However, you can manage your cookie preferences and opt out of personalized advertising using the methods described in Section 2 of this policy.