Privacy Policy
- No accounts, no advertising, no analytics and no cookies.
- We do not store your sequences, email address or AI keys. They are handled in memory to produce your result and then discarded.
- A few features pass data to public research services so they can do the work (listed below). Please do not submit confidential sequences or sequences that identify a person.
- Fonts and scripts are hosted on this site, so simply opening a page does not make your browser contact Google Fonts or any content-delivery network.
Who we are
Aaron's Archive is a free bioinformatics tool for students and researchers, run by an individual (the “operator”). In this policy “we” means the operator. You can contact us at aj2006.oommen@gmail.com.
What data is processed, and why
| Data | What happens to it | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Sequences and text you enter | Processed in server memory while your request runs. Not saved. Some features forward them to the services listed below. If you use “Open file” or drag a file onto a sequence box, the file is read inside your browser and its text is placed in the box; nothing is uploaded until you press a run button. | Calculating your results |
| Email address (protein BLAST only) | EMBL-EBI requires an email address for automated searches. When you run a protein search you enter your address and tick a box agreeing that it is sent, with your sequence, to EMBL-EBI. We do not store it, write it to logs, or use it to contact you. EMBL-EBI states that it uses email only to give tailored support and guidance. | Running your protein search |
| AI key (optional) | Only if you paste one. Passed through our server to the AI provider it belongs to, together with the computed results and (unless you untick "Also send the sequence itself") a stretch of your sequence. Sent in a request header, never in a web address. Not saved or logged by us. | Generating the optional AI analysis |
| Technical data (IP address, browser type, time, page requested) | Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs. Our application also keeps short-lived request counters per IP address in memory only, never written to disk. | Delivering the site, security and preventing abuse (rate limiting) |
| Browser storage | Only if you tick “Remember my email on this device”: your address is saved in your own browser's local storage (key aa_blast_email). We never read it; it is sent only when you run a protein search. Untick the box or clear your browser data to remove it. We set no cookies. | Saving you from retyping it |
Our application never writes your sequences, email addresses or AI keys to disk or to its logs; any technical error details that are logged have email addresses removed first.
Who receives data
These services receive data only when you use the feature named:
- BLAST, protein sequences — EMBL-EBI (European Bioinformatics Institute, UK): receives your sequence and the email address described above. EMBL-EBI keeps job results for 7 days. See its Job Dispatcher Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, linked from ebi.ac.uk/jdispatcher. If EMBL-EBI is unavailable, your sequence (without an email address) is sent to NCBI instead.
- BLAST, DNA/RNA sequences — NCBI (US National Library of Medicine): receives your sequence. See the NLM web policies.
- 3D structures — UniProt, RCSB PDB and the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database: our server sends them a gene name or accession to find a structure. When you open a structure, your browser downloads the structure file directly from AlphaFold DB (EMBL-EBI) or RCSB PDB, so those services can see your IP address.
- AI analysis — Groq or Google (Gemini), depending on your key, and only if you enter one: they receive your key, the computed results and, unless you untick the option, up to the first and last part of your sequence. Some providers, especially on free plans, may retain submitted content or use it to improve their services; read their terms first (Google, Groq). Use a key you can revoke, and do not send sensitive sequences.
- Hosting provider: the site runs on a cloud host that processes requests and keeps technical logs on our behalf.
Everything else — analysis, alignments, primers, mutation effect predictions, CRISPR guide searches, restriction maps, RNA folding, phylogenetic trees and PDF reports — is computed on our server and is not sent anywhere else.
Consent and legal basis
Where we ask for your email address, we ask for your consent with a tick box before it is sent. Technical data is processed because of our legitimate interest in keeping the site secure and available. We handle personal data in line with India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and, for visitors in the European Economic Area or the UK, the GDPR principles of consent, purpose limitation and data minimisation.
How long data is kept
We keep no sequences, email addresses or AI keys — they exist only in memory while your request is processed. Third parties keep data under their own policies (EMBL-EBI: job results for 7 days). Server logs kept by the hosting provider follow its retention settings. Anything saved in your browser stays until you remove it.
International transfers
EMBL-EBI (UK/Europe), NCBI (United States), Groq and Google (United States and elsewhere) and our hosting provider may process data outside your country. By using those features you accept this.
Your rights
Because we do not store your personal data, there is usually nothing held by us to access, correct or erase. You can still ask us anything about this policy, or request access, correction or deletion of any personal data we might hold about you, by contacting aj2006.oommen@gmail.com; we aim to reply within 30 days. To withdraw consent for your email address, stop using protein search and clear any saved address from your browser. You may also nominate another person to exercise your rights where the law allows, and complain to the Data Protection Board of India or, if you are in the EEA or UK, to your local data protection authority.
Children
This site is not directed at children. If you are under 18, please ask a parent or guardian before entering an email address or an AI key.
Security
The site is served over HTTPS and we keep as little data as possible. No system is perfectly secure, so please avoid submitting anything confidential.
Changes to this policy
If we change how data is handled we will update this page and its “Last updated” date.
Contact and grievances
Questions, requests or complaints about privacy: aj2006.oommen@gmail.com ( · write in Gmail). You can also use the contact page.