Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how VERA Files ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, stores, and protects information when you use SEEK, our AI-powered search assistant (the "Service"). SEEK is designed to help you with fact checking and understanding misinformation trends. By using SEEK, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.
1. Information We Collect
When you use SEEK, we may collect the following types of information:
● User Data: We collect the name and email address when the user authenticates her/his session through Google to use SEEK. This is to keep track of the users accessing SEEK.
● User Input/Queries: We collect the text of your questions and prompts, as well as any follow-up interactions you have with SEEK. This data is essential for SEEK to understand your requests and provide relevant responses. However, this information is not personally identifiable to your name or email address.
● Interaction Data: We collect information about how you interact with the Service, such as the time and date of your queries, the length of conversations, and features you use. This helps us understand usage patterns and improve SEEK.
● Technical Data: We collect limited technical information such as your device type, operating system, and IP address, for analytics reporting. We do not collect precise geolocation data.
We do not intentionally collect any personally identifiable information (PII) from your interactions with SEEK, unless you voluntarily provide it within your queries. We strongly advise against sharing sensitive personal information with SEEK.
Note: Some PII may be requested in relation to your use of SEEK during our Beta Testing period. This information will be collected through third-party tools (e.g. Google Forms) to facilitate our call for expressions of interest to beta-test SEEK, as well as to collect your responses for our beta testing evaluation form. The collection of this PII will not be directly facilitated through SEEK and would not make your SEEK logs personally identifiable to you.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
● To Provide and Improve the Service: Your queries and interaction data help SEEK understand your needs, generate relevant responses, and continuously learn to improve its accuracy and helpfulness in fact checking and combating misinformation.
● For Research and Development: Anonymized and aggregated data from user interactions may be used for internal research, analysis, and development of SEEK and other VERA Files initiatives related to media literacy and combating false information.
● To Maintain and Secure the Service: Technical data helps us monitor the performance, stability, and security of SEEK, and to identify and resolve technical issues.
● To Understand Misinformation Trends: By analyzing anonymized query patterns, we can gain insights into emerging misinformation topics and trends, which helps VERA Files in its broader fact-checking efforts.
3. How We Share Your Information
We are committed to keeping your information confidential. We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information. We may share information only in the following limited circumstances:
● With Service Providers: We may share anonymized or aggregated data with third-party service providers who assist us in operating and maintaining SEEK (e.g., hosting providers, analytics services). These providers are bound by confidentiality agreements and are only permitted to use the information for the purposes of providing services to us.
● For Legal Reasons: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court order or government agency request).
● In Aggregated or Anonymized Form: We may share aggregated or anonymized data that cannot be used to identify you personally with partners, researchers, or the public to highlight trends in misinformation, promote SEEK, or conduct research.
Note: The SEEK Team may cite data and quote feedback from beta users that were collected through our beta testing evaluation form, in our reports to our funders and subsequent public promotion of SEEK, among other purposes. This data will be anonymized.
4. Data Retention, Storage and Security
By default, SEEK's hosting server retains Q&A logs for 14 days and automatically deletes it after this period. However, during the beta testing phase, SEEK will retain the logs for 400 days for analysis.
We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect the information collected through SEEK against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no internet transmission or electronic storage is completely secure. While we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security, and we will not be responsible for the unlawful conduct committed by third parties that results in breach of security, notwithstanding security efforts on our part.
Your queries and interaction data are stored securely and are periodically reviewed for the purpose of improving the AI model and SEEK as a service. Note: Data collected by VERA Files during the Beta Testing period through Google Forms will go straight into a spreadsheet accessible only to SEEK Team members. This will be retained for as long as the SEEK project remains active, and will be archived in the event that SEEK is retired.
5. Your Choices and Rights
Since we do not intentionally collect PII through SEEK, direct access, correction, or deletion of specific personal data within your chatbot interactions may not be feasible. However, we are committed to transparency:
● No Personal Account: SEEK does not require user accounts, which inherently limits the personal data we collect.
● Anonymization: We prioritize the anonymization and aggregation of data for analytical purposes to protect user privacy. If you have concerns about any information you believe may have been inadvertently collected and is personally identifiable, please contact us at editorial@verafiles.org.
6. Children's Privacy
SEEK is not intended for use by children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will take steps to remove that information from our servers.
7. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Effective Date" at the top. Your continued use of SEEK after such modifications constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.
8. Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at editorial@verafiles.org.