Privacy Policy
Last updated: April 16, 2026
Heat Signature is built around a simple rule: we should be able to help prove how writing was made without needing to read the writing itself. This policy explains what we collect, what we do not collect, and how we use submission data.
What We Do Not Collect From Submitted Documents
When you submit a Google Doc through the Heat Signature extension for research or proof generation, we do not collect or store the document's words, characters, title, filename, comments, screenshots, clipboard contents, or full text. The extension processes the document locally and strips document characters before sending submission data to our servers. Even if the document contains a name, social security number, private note, source draft, or other sensitive text, that document text is not transmitted to our servers as part of the submission. The only exceptions are optional citation details you choose to provide for pasted passages, optional notes submitted to assist research, and separate verification workflows described below.
This section is about submitted Google Docs. Public verification works differently: a verifier may paste published text to check whether it matches a proof, and the verification section below explains how that text is handled.
Information We Collect
We collect limited metadata needed to provide the service, evaluate authorship signals, improve the model, and maintain abuse-resistant proof records.
- Typing and revision metadata, such as event timing, pause lengths, edit sizes, revision order, burst summaries, provenance categories, and document-level statistics.
- Submission labels you choose, such as whether a document is original authorship, routine writing, or adversarial testing.
- Optional notes you provide for adversarial testing or model-evaluation context.
- A hashed document identifier used to recognize repeat submissions without storing the document title or text.
- An optional email address, if you choose to provide one for follow-up contact.
- If you opt in to follow-up contact, the Google document ID may be stored so we can identify the relevant submission if we contact you. We do not store the document title or text for this purpose.
- Basic technical information that servers normally receive, such as IP address, request time, browser or extension version, and diagnostic logs.
Verification Text
Some verification features may ask a verifier to paste text into Heat Signature to check whether it matches a proof. Verification text is separate from research submissions and should only be submitted by someone who has the right to check it. The public verification page hashes pasted text in the browser and sends comparison fingerprints to the server; it does not send the raw pasted text.
How We Use Information
We use collected information to provide Heat Signature, create and verify proof records, detect pasted or machine-assisted writing patterns, debug and secure the service, respond to follow-up requests, and improve future versions of the model.
Model improvement uses deidentified or metadata-only submission data. We do not use optional email addresses for model training, and we do not attempt to reidentify deidentified training data.
Deidentification
Heat Signature submission data is designed to be useful without document content. We remove characters before transmission, store timing and provenance metadata instead of words, separate optional contact information from training use, and avoid using email addresses in model-improvement datasets.
Because document characters are stripped before submission and Google Docs revision events are analyzed as batched edit metadata rather than individual keypresses, submitted metadata is not designed to reconstruct the document text. This batching and character stripping substantially reduces the risk that submitted metadata could be used to infer what was written.
We avoid saying that any behavioral dataset is magically anonymous. Typing metadata can still be sensitive. We treat it as private, protect it, and use it only for the purposes described here.
Optional Contact Information
You do not need an account to use Heat Signature. If you provide an email address, we use it only for the purpose described at the time of submission, such as asking follow-up questions about model behavior. We do not sell your email address, add it to a marketing list, or include it in model-training data.
Sharing
We do not sell personal information. We may share information with service providers that help us host, store, analyze, secure, or operate Heat Signature. They may use the information only to provide services to us. We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect rights and safety, to investigate abuse, or as part of a business transfer such as a merger, acquisition, or reorganization.
Public Proofs And Citations
Heat Signature may generate proof links that let others verify whether text matches a proof. Proof records may include cryptographic fingerprints, verification metadata, citation details you choose to provide for pasted passages, and hashes/fingerprints of those pasted passages. If you add citation details, they may be visible to people who verify overlapping text against that proof.
Retention
We keep submission metadata and proof records for as long as needed to provide verification, improve the model, maintain security, and support research and product development. Optional contact information is kept only as long as useful for follow-up or as required for operational, legal, or security reasons.
You can ask us to delete information associated with your email address or a specific submission. Because Heat Signature does not require accounts and stores some data in deidentified or hashed form, we may need enough information from you to locate the relevant record.
Security
We use reasonable technical and organizational measures designed to protect submitted metadata. No system is perfectly secure, but Heat Signature is intentionally designed to reduce the harm of a breach by not collecting document text in the first place.
Your Choices
- You can choose not to submit a document for research.
- You can leave the email field blank.
- You can decline follow-up contact.
- You can contact us to request deletion or ask questions about your data.
Children
Heat Signature is not intended for children under 13. Do not use Heat Signature or submit information if you are under 13.
Changes
We may update this policy as Heat Signature develops. If we make material changes to how we use submission data, we will update this page and, where appropriate, provide additional notice.
Contact
Questions, deletion requests, and privacy requests can be sent to chris@heatsig.io.