Privacy policy

Information we collect

• Account information: your name, email address, securely hashed password, verification status and account creation date.
• Contributions: uploaded files, extracted text, paper details, ownership confirmations, the accepted contribution-terms version and time, review decisions and appeals.
• Library activity: your free allowance, earned-credit transactions and paper unlocks. These records let you return to papers without spending another credit.
• Technical and support information: session cookies, request and security records, and information you provide when contacting us. Server records may include IP addresses, timestamps and browser details.

How we use information

We use this information to create and secure accounts, send verification and recovery messages, process and review papers, provide search and reading access, maintain credits, prevent duplicate rewards and abuse, handle appeals and respond to requests.

Staff access is restricted according to their responsibilities. Administrators can review registered accounts, credit totals, unlock counts and submission metadata. Access to paper content uses separate ownership and moderation permissions.

What other people can see

Published papers show their title, selected details, an optional contributor pseudonym and a short preview. Your account email and account name are not automatically displayed as your public author identity.

Search matches titles and the full extracted text of published papers, including papers requiring an unlock. A search result may therefore indicate that a word appears in a paper, but results show only its fixed preview.

Full text of unlock-required papers is available to authorized readers. Administrator-designated Open Access papers can be read by anyone and indexed by search engines. Public previews may also be indexed. Copies already obtained by readers or search engines may remain after access changes. Original uploaded files are not offered as public downloads.

Remove personal, confidential and identifying information from your work before uploading it.

Cookies

We use session and security cookies to keep you signed in and protect account actions against forged requests. Blocking these cookies may prevent account features from working. Depending on the security features enabled, Cloudflare may also use cookies to distinguish legitimate visitors from abusive traffic. The current site does not use advertising cookies or third-party advertising trackers.

Service providers and disclosures

We use Brevo to deliver account verification, password recovery and service notifications. This involves processing recipient email addresses and message content, including the links needed to complete account actions. Cloudflare handles traffic to the hosted site and may process IP addresses, request details and security signals. Ploi is used to administer the application infrastructure. Our hosting and backup providers process the account records and private files needed to operate and recover the service. We may also disclose information where required by applicable law or necessary to investigate misuse and protect users’ rights. Publishing a paper makes its permitted content available to readers as described above.

Retention and security

We retain account and library records while needed to operate your account, preserve unlocks and reward history, resolve moderation disputes, prevent repeated abuse or meet legal obligations. Retention decisions take account of the record’s purpose, outstanding appeals and applicable requirements; backup copies may persist until their retention cycle ends.

Account, credit and moderation records may need to be retained even when reading access is removed. We do not promise immediate deletion of every record on request. We use access controls and private file storage, but no service can guarantee absolute security.

Your choices and requests

Contact us to ask about access to your information, correction, deletion or other privacy rights available under the laws that apply to you. We may need to verify your identity and explain any information that must be retained. Account deletion and data export are not currently self-service features. You may also have the right to raise a concern with the relevant data protection authority.

Younger users

Accounts and submissions are intended for people aged 13 and older, including students aged 13–17. We do not intend to collect account information or contributions from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided information to Essayfinder, contact us so we can investigate, restrict the account and address deletion as appropriate.

Do not include another person’s identifying or sensitive information in a paper, including information about children. A minimum-age policy does not replace any additional protections required by applicable law.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page when our practices change and revise the date above. Material changes may also be communicated through the service or by email.