Legal information
Privacy Policy
This document explains which data is processed when you use academia.sh. It can be kept short because the architecture of the site collects almost nothing.
The short answer
- No accounts. There is no registration, sign-in, or profile.
- Nothing reaches the server. No field you fill in on this site is sent to us; whatever you type stays in your browser.
- Measurement only with consent. Google Analytics is used to measure visits; consent is requested on your first visit, and if you decline, the measurement script is never loaded. Heat maps, session recording, and advertising trackers are never used.
- Cookies only with consent. Until you consent, the site writes no cookie to your browser. If you do consent, exactly two Google Analytics cookies are written; the Cookie Policy lists them.
- No third-party resources besides the measurement. Fonts, mathematical typesetting, and the search index are served from our own domain; without your consent, opening a page sends no request to any other server.
- No payments. The site sells nothing and processes no payment, so there is no payment-provider script or cookie either.
This policy is updated before any account system or payment goes live, not after. The moment one of the statements above stops being true, this page changes in the same release.
Data controller
The data controller is academia.sh. Contact address: [email protected]
What is stored in your browser
The site keeps your usage data in your browser’s local storage (localStorage). These
records never leave your device, are never sent to a server, and cannot be read by us:
| Key | Purpose |
|---|---|
academia:theme |
Your light or dark theme preference |
academia:progress:v1 |
The list of lessons you marked as completed |
academia:activity:v1 |
How many lessons you finished on which day (for the streak and weekly pace) and the titles of the lessons you read most recently |
academia:plan:v1 |
Your study plan: the goal you chose, the weekly pace, and the lesson order |
academia:prefs:v1 |
Interface notices you dismissed |
academia:goals:v1 |
The curricula you joined and the roadmaps you follow |
academia:consent:v1 |
Whether you allowed measurement, and the date of that choice |
When you create a study plan, your browser downloads a JSON file containing that goal’s lesson list from academia.sh itself. That request goes to no third party and carries nothing that identifies you.
You can export this data as JSON from the dashboard, import it on another device, or delete all of it.
These records are device-bound: they do not appear in another browser or on another device. Clearing your browser data deletes them, and your lesson progress is lost along with them. See the Cookie Policy for details.
What happens on the server side
The site is hosted on Cloudflare Pages. When you open a page, the hosting provider keeps technical access logs so that the service can be delivered and the infrastructure kept secure. Such logs typically contain the IP address, the browser identifier (user agent), the requested address, and a timestamp.
These logs are created and retained within the hosting provider’s systems. academia.sh does not separately collect, archive, combine, or use them to build visitor profiles.
Legal basis: legitimate interest in delivering the service technically and securing the network (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)).
International transfer: the hosting infrastructure operates servers in several regions, so technical access logs may be processed outside your country. Any such transfer takes place under Chapter V of the GDPR and only to the extent required to deliver the service.
Visit measurement (Google Analytics)
To see how much each lesson is read, we use Google Analytics 4. The sole purpose of the measurement is to see which subjects work and where the catalogue falls short — not to recognise individual readers.
Consent only. A consent banner appears the first time you open the site. As long as you have not consented, or have declined, Google’s measurement script is never downloaded: no request reaches Google, no cookie is written, and nothing about your browser is transmitted. There is no implied consent.
Data processed. If you consent, the following is sent to Google: the address and
title of the page you visit, the referring address, your browser identifier and language,
device and screen information, an approximate location derived from your IP address
(country and city level), and the random client identifier held in the _ga cookie.
Google Analytics 4 does not log IP addresses; the IP is used to derive the coarse
location and then discarded.
What is not done. The data is not used for advertising; the advertising categories
(ad_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization) are permanently denied. Google
Signals and advertising-identifier matching are not enabled. The data is not sold,
rented, combined with other sources, or used to build individual profiles.
Legal basis: your consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a); KVKK Art. 5/1). Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.
Recipient: Google Ireland Limited / Google LLC, acting as processor.
International transfer: the data is processed on Google’s servers outside your country. Such transfer relies on Google’s standard contractual clauses and, under KVKK Art. 9, on your explicit consent.
Retention: the cookies live in your browser for two years; event records in Google Analytics are kept for at most fourteen months. Withdrawing consent deletes the cookies from this browser immediately.
How to opt out: one click in the control on the Cookie Policy page; also through your browser settings or Google’s browser add-on.
Your rights
Articles 15 to 22 of the GDPR give you the right of access to your personal data, and the rights to rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, and objection.
Where processing rests on consent, you also have the right to withdraw that consent at any time: the control on the Cookie Policy page does it in one click.
Honesty is due here: academia.sh holds no name, no email address, and no record that identifies you directly. Measurement data hangs on a random browser number, so telling us “that record is mine” would require you to supply that number. The answer to most requests reaching us will therefore be that no data is held in your name. The preferences stored in your browser are under your direct control and can be deleted at any time from your browser settings.
For requests concerning the technical access logs held by the hosting provider or the
measurement records held in Google Analytics, write to [email protected] and we will
forward your request to that provider.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority in your country of residence.
Children’s privacy
The site is open to readers of every age. No identity, contact, or profile data is collected from anyone, so none is collected from children either; no age verification is performed, because there is no record to verify. Visit measurement draws no distinction by age, but it runs only with consent and identifies nobody. If you want measurement never to run on a child’s device, pressing “Decline” in the consent banner is enough.
Changes
This policy may be updated. The current version is always published at this address; the date at the top of the page indicates the most recent change.
Contact
For any question about privacy: [email protected]