Privacy policy

Who we are

Synapse is a tool that maps the research papers on a topic, so students can see which parts of it are crowded and which are open. In this policy, “Synapse”, “we” and “us” mean the people who run it.

You can reach us at synapsepapers@gmail.com. Synapse is in early access: it will change, and so will this policy. When it does, we change the date above.

What we collect, and why

We keep only what Synapse needs to work for you:

• Your account. When you sign up, your name, your email address and a password. Your password goes from your browser to our server and straight on to Supabase Auth, our log-in service, which stores it hashed; Synapse’s own server does not store or log it. If you sign in with Google or GitHub instead, they share your email address and name with Supabase Auth, and we copy the name into your profile. We use these to log you in and to greet you by name.
• Your profile. Your name, your level of study, your field and your goal (choosing, narrowing or checking a topic), from onboarding or Settings. We use them to suggest map sizes and how narrow a topic should be. We also keep when you finished or skipped the map tool’s tour, so it opens by itself only once.
• Your settings: your map defaults (how many papers, how deep, AI summaries on or off) and your notification choices. We store the notification choices, but we don’t send those emails yet.
• Your saved maps. When you press Save map: the map’s topic, the number of papers and the depth it was built with, the map itself (the papers from OpenAlex and how they were grouped), the counts shown on its card, which account it belongs to and when you saved it.
• The waitlist. If you join it: the email address you gave, what you’re researching (only if you tell us), when you joined and when we sent the thank-you email. The waitlist is separate from accounts.
• Each of these records also has an id and the dates it was created and last changed.

Two more things pass through our server without being stored:

• The topics you map. The topic you type to build a map (or to search for papers) is sent to OpenAlex to find papers. We don’t keep it unless you save the map, but our server may write it in an error log when a search fails.
• Your IP address. We use it to limit how many sign-up, log-in and waitlist attempts come from one place; the server keeps it in memory for about a minute. Our hosting provider’s request logs also record IP addresses and the addresses of the pages and requests made, which for a map include its topic.

Synapse also keeps a shared store of public paper details from OpenAlex, so that a paper can be shown again without fetching it twice. It holds no information about you.

We don’t use analytics, advertising or tracking of any kind, and we don’t sell your information.

Who else handles it

We use these services to run Synapse. Each one receives only what it needs:

• Supabase: our database and our log-in service (Supabase Auth). It stores your account, your profile and settings, your saved maps and the waitlist. Our Supabase project is in Sydney, Australia.
• Vercel: hosts the website and runs our server. The server runs in Vercel’s Sydney region (syd1); the pages themselves may be delivered from Vercel’s servers in other countries.
• OpenAlex: an open catalogue of research papers. It receives the topic you type, to find papers about it.
• Anthropic: when AI summaries are switched on, for each subtopic we send Anthropic a short keyword hint and, for up to 8 papers in it, each paper’s title and the first 300 characters of its abstract. Anthropic writes back a name and a short summary for the subtopic. We don’t send your topic, your name or your email address.
• Google (Gmail): sends the waitlist thank-you email from synapsepapers@gmail.com through Gmail’s mail server (smtp.gmail.com), so Google handles your email address and the email, which repeats your topic if you gave one. Emails you send to us are also handled by Gmail.
• Google and GitHub sign-in: only if you choose “Continue with Google” or “Continue with GitHub”. You sign in on their site, and they share your email address and name with Supabase Auth.

Cookies and browser storage

Synapse sets three cookies, all from our own server and all httpOnly (the page’s code can’t read them). They are needed to log you in, and are used for nothing else:

• synapse_at: your current log-in. It is short-lived and renewed automatically while you use Synapse.
• synapse_rt: lets Synapse renew your log-in for up to 30 days, until you log out.
• synapse_oauth: set only while you sign in with Google or GitHub, to check that the sign-in coming back is the one you started, and to remember which Synapse page you were opening. It lasts 10 minutes.

There are no analytics, advertising or tracking cookies, and no analytics or tracking scripts on any page.

Synapse also keeps two small notes in your browser’s own storage. They never leave your browser and say nothing about who you are:

• synapse.tagline: which headline the home page showed last, so the next visit shows another.
• synapse.transition: the direction of the page transition, kept for a few seconds while you move between pages.

How long we keep it

• Your account, profile and settings: until you delete your account.
• A saved map: until you delete it, or your account.
• The waitlist: until you ask us to remove you.
• IP addresses used for limits: about a minute, in the server’s memory.
• Hosting request logs: for as long as Vercel keeps them under our plan.
• Backups made by Supabase may keep a copy of deleted information for a limited time.

How to delete it

• Your whole account: Settings > Privacy & data > Delete account. You confirm with your password, and it removes your log-in, your profile and settings, and every map you saved.
• One map: My maps > Delete.
• The waitlist: email synapsepapers@gmail.com from the address you signed up with (or reply to the thank-you email) and ask to be removed.

Copies in backups may last a limited time after you delete something.

Seeing, correcting and complaining

Settings shows your profile and lets you change your name, level and field. To change your email address or your goal, to get a copy of what we hold about you, or to have something corrected or deleted, email us. We’ll reply within 30 days.

If you have a concern about how we handle your information, email us first at synapsepapers@gmail.com. If you’re not satisfied with our answer, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

Outside Australia

Our database and our server run in Sydney. Some of the services above may handle your information in other countries, including the United States: OpenAlex, Anthropic, Google, GitHub, and parts of Vercel’s network that deliver the pages.

Children

Synapse is made for students in their last years of school, at university and beyond. It isn’t directed at children. If you’re under 18, check with a parent or guardian before you create an account.

Keeping it safe

Your account information is reached only through our server, which checks your log-in on every request and only ever returns your own records. Passwords are hashed by Supabase Auth. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a password you don’t use anywhere else.

Contact

Questions about this policy: synapsepapers@gmail.com. See also our Terms of use.