Privacy policy

This policy covers the Accelerating Astrophysical Discovery with Foundation Models (AAD) website and its consortium-registration workflow. The organisers manage these services. The responsible organiser and privacy contact is Joshua G. Albert: jgalbert@caltech.edu.

What we collect and why

When you register, we receive the contact details, affiliations, research interests, profile information, availability, contribution preferences, account links, and permission choices you submit. We use them to review registrations, coordinate participation, contact you about consortium activities, and invite you to collaboration tools when appropriate. Reading this website does not require a Google account or authorising access to one.

With your permission, we publish your name, affiliations, bio, research areas, and chosen headshot. Where you request it, we use your linked ORCID research record to help draft a profile or obtain your portrait from LinkedIn or another verified public source. Organisers may use AI-assisted administrative tools to review submissions and draft profiles, and remain responsible for published content. Private contact details and coordination answers are not published as part of member cards.

Google data and limited use

With organiser authorisation, our Google integration manages consortium forms, reads registration responses, reads Drive file and folder metadata, and organises files created or authorised through the app. This supports registration and locating consortium materials, not browsing unrelated personal files. Credentials and raw response exports are kept out of the public website repository.

AAD's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. We do not sell personal data, use it for advertising, or use registration responses or Google user data to train general-purpose AI models or our scientific models. Access and sharing are limited to authorised organisers and service providers needed for the disclosed workflow, your consented public profile, or legal and security requirements.

Hosting, comments, and browser storage

GitHub Pages hosts this site and may process technical data such as IP addresses and request logs. Public comments and reactions use GitHub Discussions through giscus; visiting a page with comments connects to those services, and comments you post are public. Google hosts the signup form. These providers may process data outside your country under their own policies: GitHub, Google, and giscus.

We do not add advertising or analytics trackers. The site saves theme and reading preferences in your browser's local storage; you can clear them in browser settings. Third-party services may use their own cookies or storage.

Storage, retention, and your choices

Responses remain in Google Forms and may be exported to access-restricted organiser storage. We use HTTPS for transfers and restrict access to private records and credentials. We retain registration records while needed to manage participation, subject to necessary legal or security retention. Public profiles remain until withdrawn or no longer relevant. Public material may also exist in repository history, forks, or third-party copies; removing a profile does not automatically recall those copies.

We rely on your consent for public profiles and requested profile enrichment, and our legitimate interest in running a research collaboration for necessary administration and security. You can ask the contact above to access, correct, or delete your information, withdraw profile permission, or object to processing. You may also have rights to restrict processing, receive a portable copy, and complain to your local data-protection authority. We will address requests under applicable law, including data under our control in public repositories.

An account holder can revoke our Google connection through Google account connections. Revocation stops future access but does not itself delete previously received records; contact us for deletion. We will date policy changes here and seek fresh consent before introducing a new use that requires it.