1. Who we are
This service ("Priors", "we", "us") is operated by Thinkable Pty Ltd (ABN 20 166 793 095), an Australian company trading as Priors, at priors.science. We are the data controller responsible for the personal information described in this policy.
For any privacy question or request, contact us at manage@priors.science.
2. Scope — a pull service, not a data broker
The substance of Priors — the living evidence reviews, the claim scores, the papers we surface each week — is built entirely from the public scientific literature (published journal articles, their metadata, and public bibliographic sources such as OpenAlex and Crossref). That content is about research, not about you. Your personal information is never mixed into it, never used to build it, and never exposed on a public page.
Because there is no login and no user profile behind the reviews, the personal data we hold is deliberately minimal — essentially just enough to send you the right email and manage your subscription.
3. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Your email address. This is the core of your subscription. Because Priors has no accounts and no passwords, your email address is your identity with us — it's how we know which topics are yours and where to send them.
- Your name, if you choose to provide it (optional; used only to address emails to you).
- The topics you follow and your subscription preferences (which fields you track, and whether you're paused or active).
- Messages you send us — including replies to the weekly email (e.g. to add, remove, pause, or cancel topics) and any correspondence to manage@priors.science.
Information we collect automatically
- Email delivery and engagement data. When we send you an email through our delivery provider, standard delivery metadata is generated — whether an email was delivered, bounced, or (where applicable) opened or clicked. We use this only to keep our sending reputation healthy and to stop emailing addresses that bounce.
- Basic server logs. Our website host records standard technical information (such as IP address and browser type) when pages are requested, for security and to keep the site running. The public review pages set no tracking or advertising cookies.
Information from payment
- Subscription status for paying subscribers — that a subscription is active, past due, cancelled, or expired, together with the billing email and subscription identifiers. We receive this from our payments provider. We never see or store your full card number — card details are handled entirely by the payments provider (see below).
4. Sensitive information
We do not seek or collect sensitive personal information — no health records, no government identifiers, no financial account numbers, no protected-attribute data. Priors is a professional tool for tracking research evidence; nothing about how it works requires that kind of information. Please don't send it to us. If a subscriber volunteers sensitive information in a message, we use it only to answer that message and delete it when it is no longer needed.
5. How we use your information
- To deliver the service you asked for — sending your weekly edition and any welcome or transactional emails for the topics you follow.
- To manage your subscription — adding, removing, pausing, or cancelling topics when you reply to an email, and matching a payment to the right subscription.
- To maintain and secure the service — deliverability, fraud and abuse prevention, and basic diagnostics.
- To respond to you when you contact us.
- To meet our legal and accounting obligations.
We do not sell or rent your personal information, we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers, and we do not use it to train large language models. Your topic choices are used to send you emails — not to build a profile of you for anyone else.
6. Legal bases for processing
Where the EU or UK GDPR applies to you, we rely on: performance of a contract (to run the subscription you've entered into); legitimate interests (to secure the service, keep our email deliverable, and communicate with subscribers), balanced against your rights; consent (where you have opted in, which you can withdraw at any time); and legal obligation (for tax and accounting records). Where the Australian Privacy Act 1988 applies, we handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
7. Who we share it with (subprocessors)
We keep the stack small. We share personal information only with the service providers we need to run Priors, and only for that purpose:
| Provider | Purpose | Data shared |
|---|---|---|
| Lemon Squeezy (merchant / seller of record) | Subscription checkout, billing, and tax | Billing email, payment details (handled by them), subscription status |
| Resend | Sending and delivering email | Your email address, name, and email content |
| Cloudflare | Website hosting and delivery | Standard server-log data (e.g. IP address) |
Each of these providers acts under its own terms and privacy policy and is bound to handle data only on our instructions. Payments are processed by Lemon Squeezy as the merchant of record — meaning they, not us, are the seller for your transaction and are responsible for card handling, invoices, and tax; your card number never reaches us.
We may also disclose information if required by law, to enforce our terms, or in connection with a business sale or restructure — in which case this policy continues to protect it.
8. International transfers
Priors is operated from Australia, and our providers may store and process data in other countries (including the United States and the EU). Where we transfer personal information overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure it remains protected — for example by relying on providers who offer recognised safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses. By subscribing from outside Australia, you understand your information will be processed in these locations.
9. How long we keep it
We keep your subscription information for as long as your subscription is active, and for a reasonable period afterwards to handle re-subscriptions, accounting, and legal obligations. If you unsubscribe and ask us to delete your data, we remove your subscription record; we may retain a minimal suppression record (your email on a do-not-contact list) so we don't accidentally email you again, and any records we're legally required to keep (such as transaction records for tax).
10. Your rights and choices
- Unsubscribe at any time — every email carries a one-click unsubscribe link, and you can reply unsubscribe or cancel to any email.
- Access the personal information we hold about you.
- Correct anything inaccurate (for example, updating your topics by replying to an email).
- Delete your information (the "right to erasure" under GDPR).
- Object to or restrict certain processing, and, where applicable, request a copy of your data in a portable format.
To exercise any of these, email manage@priors.science. We'll respond within the timeframe required by applicable law. If you're in the EU/UK you may also complain to your local data protection authority; in Australia, to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) — though we'd appreciate the chance to resolve it with you first.
11. Cookies and tracking
The public Priors website and review pages are built to run without tracking or advertising cookies. We do not use third-party advertising trackers, and we do not respond to "Do Not Track" signals because we don't track you across the web in the first place. The checkout page hosted by our payments provider may set cookies necessary to process your payment, governed by that provider's policy.
12. Children
Priors is a tool for working researchers and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has subscribed, contact us and we will delete the information.
13. Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, and we deliberately minimise what we hold so there is little to expose. That said, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. Because access to your weekly edition is tied to your email address and to unguessable links we send there, please keep your email account secure.
14. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the service evolves. When we make a material change, we'll update the date above and, where appropriate, tell subscribers by email. Continuing to use Priors after a change means you accept the updated policy.
15. Contact
Questions, requests, or concerns about privacy: manage@priors.science. Postal enquiries can be directed to Thinkable Pty Ltd, 1 O'Connell St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia.