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Privacy Policy

Last updated: January 1, 2025  |  Effective date: January 1, 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how MatBook, Inc. ("MatBook," "we," "us," or "our"), a company incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with principal offices at Boston, MA, USA, collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal information obtained through our website at thernatbook.com and our research data management platform (collectively, the "Services"). By accessing or using our Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide Directly

When you interact with our Services, you may provide personal information directly to us. This includes:

  • Account registration information: When you create a MatBook account, we collect your name, email address, institutional affiliation, job title, and a password (stored in hashed form). For institutional accounts, we may also collect billing contact details.
  • Profile information: You may optionally add biographical information, profile photographs, and professional details to your account profile. This information is visible to other members of your organization within the platform.
  • Payment information: If you subscribe to a paid tier of our Services, we collect billing information including payment card details and billing address. Payment card data is processed by our third-party payment processor (Stripe, Inc.) and is not stored on MatBook servers.
  • Communications: When you contact us by email, through our website contact form, or through our support system, we collect the content of your message, your contact information, and any attachments you provide.
  • Research data: When you use the MatBook platform to record experiments, upload characterization data, or create materials database entries, we collect and store the data and metadata you submit. This research data is your data, and our collection and use of it is governed by our data processing agreement.
  • Survey responses: We may invite you to complete surveys about your research workflows, your experience with the platform, or your views on materials science data management. Survey participation is voluntary.

1.2 Information We Collect Automatically

When you access or use our Services, we automatically collect certain technical and usage information:

  • Log data: Our servers automatically record information about your interactions with our Services, including your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, time of visit, and actions taken within the platform.
  • Device information: We collect information about the devices you use to access our Services, including device type, device identifiers, screen resolution, and network connection type.
  • Cookies and similar technologies: We use cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking technologies to collect information about your browsing behavior and preferences. See our Cookie Policy for detailed information about the cookies we use and how to manage them.
  • Usage analytics: We collect information about how you use our platform, including which features you access, how frequently, and in what sequence. This information helps us understand usage patterns and improve the platform.
  • Performance data: We collect data about the performance of our Services as experienced by your browser or application, including page load times, error rates, and latency measurements.

1.3 Information We Receive from Third Parties

We may receive personal information about you from third parties in certain circumstances:

  • Single sign-on providers: If you choose to log into MatBook using an institutional single sign-on system (such as a university identity provider) or a third-party authentication service, we receive the profile information that the provider shares with us as part of the authentication process, which typically includes your name and email address.
  • Payment processors: Our payment processor may provide us with information about the status of your payment transactions and any relevant billing information.
  • Research institution administrators: If your access to MatBook is managed through an institutional license, your institution's administrators may provide us with information about your account, including your name, institutional email address, and department affiliation.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the personal information we collect for the following purposes:

2.1 Providing and Improving the Services

  • Creating and managing your account, authenticating your identity, and enabling your access to the platform
  • Processing and storing your research data, experimental records, and materials database entries in accordance with your instructions
  • Providing technical support and responding to your inquiries
  • Diagnosing and resolving technical problems with the platform
  • Analyzing usage patterns to understand how the platform is used and to prioritize development of new features
  • Conducting user research, including surveys and interviews, to guide product development
  • Testing new features and improvements in controlled release environments

2.2 Communications

  • Sending transactional emails related to your account, including account creation confirmation, password reset requests, and billing notifications
  • Sending platform notifications about features, updates, or changes to our Services that may affect your use
  • Sending marketing and promotional communications about MatBook products and services, subject to your communication preferences. You may opt out of marketing communications at any time.
  • Responding to your requests, inquiries, and feedback

2.3 Security and Compliance

  • Detecting, preventing, and investigating fraudulent activity, unauthorized access, and violations of our Terms of Service
  • Complying with applicable legal obligations, including responding to valid legal process
  • Enforcing our Terms of Service and other policies
  • Protecting the rights, property, and safety of MatBook, our users, and third parties

2.4 Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

For users in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, we process personal data on the following legal bases:

  • Contract performance: Processing necessary to provide the Services you have signed up for, including account management, data storage, and technical support
  • Legitimate interests: Processing necessary for our legitimate business interests, including platform improvement, security, and fraud prevention, where those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests
  • Consent: Processing based on your specific consent, such as marketing communications and non-essential cookies. You may withdraw consent at any time.
  • Legal obligation: Processing necessary to comply with applicable laws and regulations

3. How We Share Your Information

3.1 Within Your Organization

If you access MatBook through an organizational or institutional account, other members of your organization with appropriate permissions may be able to view your profile information, access experimental records you have shared with the organization, and view your activity within shared workspaces. The access controls for organizational data are managed by your organization's MatBook administrators.

3.2 Service Providers

We share personal information with third-party service providers who perform functions on our behalf, including cloud infrastructure providers (Amazon Web Services), payment processors (Stripe, Inc.), email service providers, customer support platforms, and analytics services. These service providers are contractually bound to process data only for the purposes we specify and to maintain appropriate security measures.

3.3 Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, personal information may be transferred to the acquiring or successor entity, subject to confidentiality obligations and applicable law. We will notify you of any such transfer through the email address associated with your account or through a notice on our website.

3.4 Legal Requirements

We may disclose personal information if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable law, respond to valid legal process (such as a court order or subpoena), protect the rights, property, or safety of MatBook, our users, or others, or to enforce our Terms of Service. We will notify you of such requests where permitted by law and where feasible.

3.5 Aggregated and Anonymized Data

We may share aggregated, anonymized data about our user base and usage patterns that does not identify any individual user. For example, we may publish statistics about the adoption of digital lab notebooks in materials science research or report aggregate trends in research data management practices. This data is derived from our platform analytics and does not include any personally identifiable information.

4. Data Storage and Security

4.1 Data Storage

Your data is stored on servers located in the United States, operated by Amazon Web Services, Inc. We maintain backups in geographically distributed data centers to ensure data resilience and availability. Research data you submit to the platform is stored in encrypted form both in transit (using TLS 1.3) and at rest (using AES-256 encryption).

4.2 International Data Transfers

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or other jurisdictions with restrictions on international data transfers, your personal data may be transferred to and processed in the United States. We rely on appropriate safeguards for such transfers, including the EU Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable, and we maintain Data Processing Agreements with our service providers that include these safeguards.

4.3 Security Measures

We implement technical and organizational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include encryption of data in transit and at rest, access controls and authentication requirements, regular security testing and vulnerability assessments, employee security training and access controls, and incident response procedures. No security system is impenetrable, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information.

5. Your Rights and Choices

5.1 Access and Portability

You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you, and to receive that information in a structured, machine-readable format. You can access most of your account and profile information directly within the platform. For requests involving research data or other records not accessible through the platform interface, please contact us at privacy@matbook.io.

5.2 Correction

You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information. You can update most of your profile and account information directly within the platform settings. For corrections to information that cannot be updated through the platform, please contact us.

5.3 Deletion

You have the right to request deletion of your personal information and, subject to data retention requirements described below, your research data. Account deletion can be initiated through the platform settings, which will permanently delete your profile information and remove your account. Research data associated with organizational accounts may be governed by your institution's data retention policies, and organizational administrators may need to be involved in data deletion requests for that data.

5.4 Restriction and Objection

You have the right to request that we restrict processing of your personal information in certain circumstances, and to object to processing based on our legitimate interests. To exercise these rights, please contact us at privacy@matbook.io with a description of the specific processing you wish to restrict or object to.

5.5 Marketing Communications

You may opt out of receiving marketing and promotional communications from us at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any marketing email, by updating your communication preferences in your account settings, or by contacting us at privacy@matbook.io. Note that transactional communications related to your account, such as billing notifications and security alerts, cannot be opted out of while your account is active.

5.6 Cookies

You can manage cookie preferences through our cookie consent tool, accessible by clicking "Manage Preferences" in the cookie banner. You can also configure your browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being set. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our Services. See our Cookie Policy for more information.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide the Services, to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, and to comply with our legal obligations. Specifically:

  • Account information: Retained for the duration of your account and for up to 3 years after account closure, for legal compliance purposes
  • Research data: Retained for the duration of your subscription and for 90 days after subscription termination, during which time you can export your data. After 90 days, research data is permanently deleted from production systems, with deletion from backup systems occurring within 30 additional days.
  • Log data: Server logs are retained for 90 days and then deleted or anonymized
  • Communications: Support communications are retained for up to 3 years for quality assurance and legal compliance

For organizational accounts, data retention may be governed by your institution's policies, and longer retention periods may apply at your institution's request, subject to applicable law.

7. Children's Privacy

Our Services are not directed to children under 16 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 16, we will take steps to delete that information as promptly as possible. If you believe that a child under 16 has provided personal information to us, please contact us at privacy@matbook.io.

8. Third-Party Services and Links

Our Services may contain links to third-party websites, and our platform may integrate with third-party services such as institutional single sign-on systems or computational chemistry software. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those third-party services, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of those services. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services you use in connection with our platform.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email (to the address associated with your account) and by posting a prominent notice on our website before the changes take effect. The date at the top of this Privacy Policy reflects the date of the most recent update. Your continued use of our Services after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

10. Contact Information

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your privacy rights, or have concerns about our data practices, please contact us:

  • Email: privacy@matbook.io
  • Mail: MatBook, Inc., Attn: Privacy, Boston, MA, USA

If you are located in the European Economic Area and you believe we have not adequately addressed a privacy concern, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

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