Privacy Policy
Last updated: 30 September 2026
1. Information we collect
We collect information only to the extent necessary for academic communication.
- Account data (username, email, optional ORCID)
- Paper metadata (title, abstract, affiliations, timestamps)
- Public board and paper-comment text, time, and username
- IP address and server logs for abuse prevention and lawful requests
- Aggregate view and download counts
- The account storage limit, and the storage used by papers and earlier versions
2. Purposes
- Account, email verification, and security
- Hosting and versioning preprints
- Moderating public boards and responding to lawful disclosure requests
- Operations, incident response, and product improvement
- Contact after an account is closed, blocking a new registration with the same email address, and keeping track of storage
We do not sell contact data to advertisers.
3. Security and retention
Access is restricted and traffic uses HTTPS. Access metadata tied to a post is kept only as long as needed for abuse handling and lawful requests, generally up to one year. Public bibliographic records of papers may be retained as the scholarly record.
On closure we delete the password, the API key, and unpublished drafts. We keep the registered email address after closure for contact, to block re-registration, and to handle abuse, and we do not show it on public pages. Bibliographic records, PDFs, earlier versions, and the storage they use stay as the scholarly record and for capacity accounting.
4. Your requests
For access, correction, suspension of use, or deletion of personal data we hold, write to privacy@shelfhub.org. Closing an account is not itself one of those requests.
After closure we still keep the text, bibliographic record, PDF, and earlier versions of a published paper; the author names and affiliations written in the paper; the registered email address, which we do not publish; the storage limit and the storage in use for that account; and the text of public board posts and paper comments.
We keep published papers so the citable scholarly record, and the hosting license granted at submission, continue. We keep the email address so we can reach the depositor about remaining papers, respond to infringement claims and lawful requests, and block a new account on the same address. We keep storage records so we know, for each account, that published files continue to occupy disk.
On closure we delete the password, the API key, unpublished projects, TeX backups, YAML notes, design specs, and the contact details on the public profile. To remove a paper, delete it on the edit screen before closure, or write to privacy@shelfhub.org afterwards. We decide whether the law requires deletion, and whether an infringing paper is unpublished, whether or not the account is closed. We may be unable to grant a request in full. When we cannot, we explain why.
If translations differ, the Japanese version prevails.