Your data belongs to you. We never sell it, and we never share it.
We collect only what we need to run our platforms and support our customers. We never sell, rent, or share your information or your study participants' information with third parties for their own use. We treat research data as confidential, and we protect it with the security measures described on our Security page.
This policy covers everyone who interacts with our platforms (Pulsar and Prism) and our website; namely, researchers and their staff who use our software to run studies, study participants who interact with our tools, and visitors to this website.
We only collect what's needed to provide our services and support the research we host.
Name, institutional email address, and login credentials for research staff and administrators. Starting in 2026, login will require an institution-provided email (.edu or equivalent) and one-time codes sent by email or SMS.
Depending on the study, this may include a participant ID, phone number (for SMS-based studies), and responses to surveys, check-ins, or assessments. What is collected is determined by the research team running the study.
Standard server logs, IP addresses, browser type, and timestamps. We use this to keep the platform secure, debug issues, and improve performance.
If you contact us through the website or schedule a call, we keep your name, email, and the content of your message so we can respond and follow up.
We use information to operate our platforms, deliver the features our customers have configured for their studies, provide customer support, keep our systems secure, and communicate with researchers about their accounts and studies.
We do not use participant study data for any purpose other than delivering the research services that our customers have contracted us to provide.
We rely on a small number of vetted service providers to operate our platforms, including Digital Ocean for hosting and Twilio for text messaging. These providers are contractually bound to protect your information and use it only to deliver services to us. They do not have rights to use your data for their own purposes.
For HIPAA-covered studies, we maintain signed Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) with our providers and will sign a BAA with your institution on request.
Research data is retained for the duration of the study and any follow-up period specified in the research team's protocol. On request, we will return or permanently delete study data when a project ends.
Participants who opt out of SMS messages or withdraw from a study can have their contact information removed by contacting their research team or us directly.
You can ask us what information we have about you, request corrections, or request deletion. Study participants with questions about their data should contact their research team first, since the research team controls what is collected and how long it is kept. We will support any data access or deletion request that the research team authorizes.
Encryption, access controls, audit logs, two-factor authentication, and annual HIPAA audits are all part of how we keep your data safe. For the full picture, see our Security page.
If we make meaningful changes to this policy, we will update this page and notify active customers by email. Minor edits for clarity may happen without notice.
Email us at support@softwareforresearch.com and we will get back to you.
We're happy to walk your IT, compliance, or IRB team through how we handle data.
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