Privacy Policy

Scholar Sync  |  Effective date: June 13, 2026  |  Last updated: June 13, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what information Scholar Sync collects, how it is used, and your rights regarding that information. Scholar Sync is operated by the team behind scholar-sync.org ("we", "us", or "our").

Short version: Scholar Sync does not collect or store any personal data about the visitors of your website. The only personal data in the system belongs to the WordPress administrator who connects the site to our service, and even that is minimal. Payment data is handled entirely by Freemius — we never see or store it.

1. Who This Policy Applies To

This policy applies to two distinct groups:

  • Site administrators — WordPress users who install and configure the Scholar Sync plugin on their site.
  • Site visitors — members of the public who view pages on your site that display Scholar Sync output (researcher profiles, publication lists, group displays).

These two groups are treated very differently, as explained below.

2. Data About Site Visitors — None Collected

Scholar Sync does not collect, transmit, track, or store any data about the visitors of your website. Specifically:

  • No cookies are set on visitor browsers by Scholar Sync.
  • No IP addresses, device information, or browser fingerprints are recorded.
  • No page views, click events, or user behaviour analytics are sent to any Scholar Sync server.
  • No advertising or retargeting pixels are loaded by the plugin.

The publication data displayed to your visitors is retrieved from our service and rendered entirely within your own WordPress installation. Visitors interact only with your site — their requests never reach scholar-sync.org.

3. Data About Site Administrators

When a site administrator connects their WordPress site to scholar-sync.org, the following information is transmitted to and stored on our servers:

  • Site URL — used to identify and authenticate the connected site.
  • API key — a unique token generated for your site, used to authorise requests.
  • Researcher identifiers — the names and OpenAlex IDs of researchers added to the plugin. These are public academic identities, not private personal data.
  • Sync request logs — timestamps and outcomes of synchronisation requests, kept for diagnostic purposes and automatically deleted after 90 days.

We do not collect the WordPress admin's name, email address, or any other personal identifier as part of the service connection. No admin profile data is sent to or stored on scholar-sync.org.

4. Freemius — Account and Payment Data

Scholar Sync uses Freemius as its licensing and payment platform. Freemius operates independently and has its own privacy practices.

If you opt in to Freemius during plugin activation, Freemius collects:

  • Your WordPress admin name and email address
  • Your site URL and WordPress version
  • Anonymised plugin usage data

If you skip the Freemius opt-in, none of the above is sent. The plugin continues to function normally and no data is transmitted to Freemius.

If you purchase a premium plan, Freemius additionally collects billing information (name, address, payment card details) to process your transaction. We never see or store your payment card details — this data goes directly to Freemius and their payment processor.

For full details of what Freemius collects and how they use it, please review the Freemius Privacy Policy.

5. OpenAlex — Third-Party Data Source

Publication data is retrieved from OpenAlex, a public open-access scholarly database. When our service queries OpenAlex on your behalf, the researcher's name or OpenAlex ID is included in the request. No visitor or administrator personal data is sent to OpenAlex. OpenAlex data is published under a CC0 license and is publicly available.

6. How We Use the Data We Hold

The limited data we store (site URL, API key, researcher identifiers, sync logs) is used solely to:

  • Authenticate requests from your WordPress site
  • Retrieve and return publication data for the researchers you have configured
  • Diagnose sync errors and support requests
  • Enforce plan limits (free vs. premium)

We do not use this data for advertising, profiling, or any purpose beyond operating the Service.

7. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share your data with third parties, except:

  • Freemius — for payment processing and optional licensing features, as described above.
  • OpenAlex — researcher identifiers are included in queries to their public API.
  • Legal requirements — if required by law, court order, or to protect the rights and safety of others.

8. Data Retention

  • API key and site configuration: retained for as long as your account is active. Deleted within 30 days of account termination upon request.
  • Sync logs: automatically deleted after 90 days.
  • Publication data cached on our servers: retained to serve requests efficiently; cleared when you disconnect or delete your account.

9. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights under applicable privacy law (including GDPR for users in the European Economic Area) to:

  • Access — request a copy of the data we hold about your site.
  • Deletion — request that we delete your site's data from our servers.
  • Portability — request your data in a machine-readable format.
  • Correction — request that inaccurate data be corrected.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at support@scholar-sync.org. We will respond within 30 days.

Note: Freemius manages its own data separately. For rights requests related to Freemius-held data (account email, billing details), contact Freemius directly through their privacy page.

10. Security

We use HTTPS for all communication between your WordPress site and scholar-sync.org. API keys are stored in hashed form on our servers. We apply industry-standard security practices to protect the data we hold. However, no internet transmission is 100% secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed at children under the age of 16 and we do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For material changes, we will notify connected sites via an admin notice in the WordPress dashboard.

13. Contact

For privacy-related questions or to exercise your rights, contact us: