RateYourPI LLC Privacy Policy

rateyourpi.com

1. Introduction

RateYourPI LLC ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website rateyourpi.com (the "Platform"), a worldwide review platform for academic researchers. We are committed to protecting the privacy of our users globally. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our Platform, regardless of where you are located.

By using the Platform, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform.

2. Our Approach to Privacy

RateYourPI LLC is designed with reviewer privacy as a core principle. While we cannot guarantee absolute anonymity in every circumstance — no platform can — we implement strong technical and procedural safeguards to ensure your identity is never linked to your published review. We describe our approach as "privacy by design," not as a guarantee of absolute anonymity.

3. Information We Collect

3.1 Information You Provide

The information we collect depends on which verification method you choose when submitting a review:

Institutional Email verification: your institutional email address, used solely for one-time verification. It is never stored, and is not linked to your published review in any way.
Manual/Academic Profile verification: your first name, last name, email address, and academic profile link (ResearchGate, Google Scholar, or LinkedIn). Your email address is deleted once your review is approved and the confirmation email is sent. Your first name, last name, and profile link remain attached to the review record for 30 days after approval, to allow time for any dispute regarding the review to be investigated, after which they are permanently deleted.
Review content, ratings, and any text you voluntarily submit
Communications you send to us via email

3.2 Information Collected Automatically

IP address (collected temporarily for abuse prevention only, not stored long-term or linked to reviews)
Browser type and version
Pages visited and time spent on the Platform
Cookie data (see Section 8 for full details)

3.3 Information We Do NOT Collect

We do not collect your personal address or government ID
For Institutional Email verification, your email address is never stored in any way linked to your published review
We do not build personal profiles that identify you
We do not collect sensitive personal data such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, or health data

3.4 PI Review Requests

If you submit a request asking us to add a Principal Investigator who is not yet listed on the Platform, we collect only the following:

The PI's name
The PI's institution
Research field (optional)
Country (optional)

We do not collect any information about you as the requester — no email address, IP-linked identity, or any other identifying detail is associated with a review request. Because we collect nothing that identifies the requester, we have no way to contact or notify you personally about your request, including when a review is later submitted for that PI.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

Verify that you hold a valid academic affiliation
Prevent spam, fake reviews, and platform abuse
Moderate review content for compliance with our Terms of Service
Improve and maintain the Platform
Respond to your inquiries
Create and display PI profiles in response to anonymous review requests
Comply with legal obligations across applicable jurisdictions
Generate anonymized, aggregated analytics for research and institutional reporting purposes

5. Reviewer Privacy Protection

Protecting reviewer privacy is the core mission of RateYourPI LLC. We implement the following measures:

For Institutional Email verification, your credentials are used only for one-time verification and are never stored in any way linked to your published review
For Manual/Academic Profile verification, your email address is deleted once your review is approved; your name and profile link remain attached to the review record for 30 days after approval and are then permanently deleted. None of this information is ever displayed publicly alongside the review.
We do not display any personally identifying information alongside reviews
We do not sell, share, or disclose reviewer identities to third parties, including the subjects of reviews
Reviews represent the personal opinions and experiences of individual users, not verified facts
For Institutional Email verification specifically, because we do not retain any verification data after it is used to confirm academic affiliation, we are typically unable to identify or notify that reviewer in connection with a legal order. For Manual/Academic Profile verification, where we do retain identifying information, we will notify the affected user to the extent permitted by applicable law before complying with such an order.

Important: While we implement strong privacy protections, we cannot guarantee absolute anonymity in all circumstances, including where required by valid legal process.

6. Reviewed Individuals and Reviewer Privacy

Our Terms of Service describe a process by which a principal investigator, supervisor, or other individual who is the subject of a review (a "Reviewed Individual") may request that we review specific content concerning them. This section explains how that process interacts with reviewer privacy.

We do not disclose a reviewer's identity, verification credentials, or any other personal data to a Reviewed Individual as part of this process
When we review content following a request from a Reviewed Individual, we may contact the reviewer to ask them to substantiate specific factual claims; we do not share the Reviewed Individual's request, or their identity, with the reviewer beyond what is necessary to identify the content in question
Any decision to remove, restrict, or retain content is made by RateYourPI LLC and does not involve disclosing personal data between the reviewer and the Reviewed Individual
This process does not change the legal disclosure circumstances described in Section 5 above; reviewer data may still be disclosed pursuant to valid legal process

7. Global Privacy Rights

7.1 European Union and EEA Users — GDPR

If you are located in the European Union or European Economic Area, you have the following rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

Right to access the personal data we hold about you
Right to correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
Right to erasure of your personal data
Right to restriction of processing
Right to data portability
Right to object to processing
Right to withdraw consent at any time

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@rateyourpi.com. We will respond within 30 days.

7.2 United Kingdom Users — UK GDPR

Users in the United Kingdom have equivalent rights under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. You may also contact the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to lodge a complaint.

7.3 Other International Users

We respect the privacy rights of users worldwide. Regardless of your location, you may contact us at any time to request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data.

8. Cookies and Tracking

8.1 Types of Cookies We Use

Essential cookies: Required for the Platform to function
Analytics cookies: Used to understand how users interact with the Platform (anonymized)

8.2 Cookie Consent

When you first visit the Platform, you will be presented with a cookie consent banner. You may accept or decline non-essential cookies.

8.3 Advertising and Monetization

As of the effective date of this policy, we do not use advertising cookies, third-party tracking pixels, or share cookie data with advertisers. RateYourPI LLC may introduce advertising or other monetization features in the future. If we do, this Privacy Policy will be updated before any such change takes effect, and where the change involves new tracking technologies, you will be presented with an updated cookie consent banner allowing you to accept or decline. Regardless of any future monetization, we will not sell or share reviewer identities, review content, or any data that could link a review to the person who submitted it.

9. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell your personal data. We may share information only in the following circumstances:

With service providers who assist in operating the Platform under strict confidentiality agreements
When required by applicable law, court order, or governmental authority in any jurisdiction
To protect the rights, property, or safety of RateYourPI, our users, or the public
In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, with prior notice to users

10. Aggregated and Anonymized Data

We may use aggregated, anonymized data derived from reviews for research, reporting, and commercial purposes including institutional analytics and benchmarking reports. This data cannot be used to identify any individual user or reviewer.

11. International Data Transfers

Our Platform is operated from the United States. If you are accessing the Platform from the EU, UK, or other regions with data protection laws, your data may be transferred to and processed in the United States. We ensure such transfers comply with applicable data protection laws.

12. Data Retention

Retention depends on the type of data:

Institutional Email verification credentials are never stored and exist only momentarily during the verification process
For Manual/Academic Profile verification, your email address is deleted once your review is approved. Your name and academic profile link remain attached to the review record for 30 days after approval, to allow time for any dispute to be investigated, and are then permanently deleted. If a Reviewed Individual disputes the review under our Terms of Service before this deletion would occur, we pause the deletion until our review of that dispute is complete.
To prevent the same reviewer from submitting multiple reviews for the same individual, we retain a one-way cryptographic hash derived from your email address indefinitely. This hash cannot be reversed back into an email address and is not linked to your published review.
Review content is retained indefinitely unless removed by our moderation team or pursuant to a valid legal request or user deletion request
PI review request data (name, institution, field, and country only) is retained until a profile is created and reviewed, or removed at our discretion; because this data does not identify any individual, it is not subject to user deletion requests

13. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including encryption in transit (SSL/TLS), secure database storage, and access controls. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

14. Children's Privacy

The Platform is not directed at individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected on this page with an updated effective date. Since we do not collect contact information from most users, we encourage you to review this page periodically.

16. Contact and Data Protection Inquiries

For any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us at: support@rateyourpi.com