Privacy Policy

In Short

• We do not collect personal information from visitors.
• Researcher profiles are built from public sources (OpenAlex, ORCID, NIH, NSF, USAspending.gov, institutional directories).
• We do not sell, rent, or share data with marketers.
• We use one session cookie, only during the profile claim flow.
• Researchers can claim, edit, suppress, or release their own profile through the claim flow.
• Anyone can request a correction or removal by emailing info@aralliance.org.

What We Collect From Visitors

Browsing this site does not require an account. We do not collect personal information from visitors who are simply looking up researchers. Specifically:

• No account required. You can search, browse the directory, and view profiles without signing in or providing any personal details.
• No tracking cookies. We do not set advertising cookies or share data with third-party trackers.
• No third-party advertising. The site shows no ads.
• Server logs. Like most websites, our hosting provider (Google Cloud Platform) keeps short-lived request logs (timestamp, request path, anonymized IP) used to operate and secure the service. These are not combined with any visitor identity.
• Anonymous, aggregate analytics. If we measure overall traffic, we use aggregated counts only; we do not build profiles of individual visitors.

Researcher Data

The database catalogs publicly available academic metadata about researchers affiliated with Arkansas institutions. We do not collect non-public information about researchers.

• Sources. Publications, citation metrics, and topics come from OpenAlex. Identity is corroborated through ORCID. Grant data comes from NIH RePORTER, NSF Awards, and USAspending.gov. Some institutional context (e.g., UAMS profiles, ARA Academy designations) is sourced from institutional directories. A full list is at Data Provenance.
• What we display. Name, institution, department, title, h-index, citations, publication count, topic labels, and links to federal grants where applicable. AI-generated narrative summaries describe each researcher in plain language.
• What we do not display. Personal email addresses (except where a researcher self-publishes one), phone numbers, home address, or other private contact details.
• Researcher control. Researchers can claim their profile, edit fields (title, department, bio, lab website, Google Scholar URL), or suppress their profile entirely through the claim flow at /claim/<profile-id>. A suppressed profile is removed from search results and directory listings.

Cookies and Sessions

We use a single session cookie, and only during the profile claim flow:

• Claim session cookie. When a researcher starts the claim process, we set an HTTP-only session cookie so that we can verify their email link and let them edit their profile. The session expires after 72 hours.
• No tracking cookies. We do not set cookies for advertising, behavioral profiling, or cross-site tracking.
• No third-party cookies. Embedded third-party trackers are not used on this site.

Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share user data with marketers, advertisers, or data brokers. Researcher metadata in the database is already public (from the sources listed at Data Provenance) and is displayed openly on this site.

We may disclose information only when required to do so by law, court order, or to protect against fraud or abuse of the service.

Removal and Correction Requests

We support several ways to update or remove data:

• If you are the researcher. Use the directory to find your profile, then click "Claim this profile" to verify ownership by email. Once verified, you can edit your details or choose "Hide profile" to remove yourself from public search and listing pages.
• Reporting an error on a profile. Each profile page has a "Report an Error" link. Reports are reviewed by ARA staff and routed for correction.
• General removal or correction requests. Email info@aralliance.org with the URL of the profile and the change requested. We respond to legitimate requests within a reasonable timeframe.

Legal Context

The database contains publicly available academic and grant metadata. It is not a repository of educational records (FERPA does not apply), medical records (HIPAA does not apply), or consumer financial data.

For visitors covered by privacy frameworks such as the EU GDPR or California's CCPA: you have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of any personal data we hold about you. To exercise those rights, contact info@aralliance.org. We will respond within the time frames required by applicable law.

Changes to This Policy

This policy may change as the database evolves. When we make material changes we will update the "Last updated" date below. Continued use of the site after a change indicates acceptance of the revised policy.