Privacy Policy
Last updated: 2026-07-04
1. What We Collect
When you sign in with Google, we receive your email address, name, and profile photo. When you create or join a checklist, we store the species data, evidence, comments, votes, and collaboration history you and your collaborators add. If you invite a collaborator by email, we store that email address to send and track the invitation.
2. Third-Party Data Sources We Query
To gather evidence and validate taxonomy, Checklist Hub queries public biodiversity databases — GBIF, iNaturalist, eBird, the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, and Catalogue of Life — and, for the literature-discovery feature, Crossref and OpenAlex. These lookups retrieve public data; they do not send your checklist data to these services.
3. Publishing to GBIF
Publishing is an explicit, manual action you take. When you publish a checklist, Checklist Hub generates a Darwin Core Archive package that you download and upload yourself to a GBIF-registered IPT installation you select. We do not publish or transmit your data to GBIF automatically or without this step.
4. How We Store Your Data
Application data (accounts, checklists, evidence, comments, review history) is stored in our Supabase-hosted Postgres database, which also provides authentication and real-time collaboration features. Large reference datasets (GBIF Backbone, Catalogue of Life) are stored as local, read-only files on our servers and are never linked to your personal data. We do not sell your data, and we do not use third-party advertising or analytics trackers.
5. Email
We send collaboration invites, Watcher alerts (new species/observations found on a checklist you're watching), and account-related emails via our email provider. These emails go only to addresses you or your collaborators provide for that specific checklist.
6. Cookies
Checklist Hub uses only essential cookies required to keep you signed in (session cookies managed by Supabase Auth). We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking pixels.
7. Data Retention and Deletion
We retain your account and checklist data for as long as your account is active. To request deletion of your account or personal data, contact us at the email below — we will remove your account information and disassociate you from any checklists you collaborated on, without deleting the underlying scientific record other reviewers rely on.
8. Children's Privacy
Checklist Hub is intended for biodiversity researchers, taxonomists, and reviewers, and is not directed at children under 13.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy as the platform evolves. Continued use of Checklist Hub after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
10. Contact
Questions about this Privacy Policy or your data can be sent to checklisthub.review@gmail.com.