Privacy Policy

Last updated: 14 May 2026

1. Who we are

EconBase ("EconBase", "we", "us") is a not-for-profit community resource for econometricians, run by a group of academic volunteers based in the United Kingdom.

For the purposes of UK and EU data protection law (the UK GDPR, the EU GDPR, and the Data Protection Act 2018), EconBase is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.

Contact for data protection matters: econbase.support@gmail.com

2. Scope

This policy describes what personal data we process when you visit econbase.org, how we use it, who we share it with, and what rights you have.

It covers two groups of people:

• Visitors to the site (including anyone who, in future, creates an account or submits content)
• Authors of academic works whose published information appears on the site

3. Personal data we process about visitors

We aim to collect as little personal data as possible from visitors.

When you visit the site

When you visit EconBase, our hosting provider (Google Cloud Platform) automatically receives certain information that is standard for any website:

• Your IP address;
• The pages you visit and the time of your visit;
• Your browser type and operating system;
• The referring page (if any).

This information is processed in server logs for security, debugging, and abuse prevention.

When you create an account

If you create an account, we collect:

• Your email address (used for login and account-related communication);
• A display name of your choice;
• Optionally, profile information you choose to add (such as institutional affiliation, research interests, or a personal website).

When you contribute content

If you submit User Content (such as information about econometrics papers), that content — together with your display name — becomes part of the public Service. Treat anything you contribute as public.

Cookies

EconBase uses a small number of strictly necessary cookies required for the site to function (for example, to keep you logged in if you have an account). These do not require your consent under UK and EU law.

We do not currently use advertising cookies or third-party tracking cookies.

If we introduce analytics in future (for example, a privacy-focused tool like Plausible, or Google Analytics), we will update this policy and, where required, ask for your consent via a cookie banner.

4. Personal data we process about authors

EconBase displays bibliographic information about academic works in econometrics. This typically includes the names and affiliations of authors, along with paper titles, abstracts, publication venues, dates, links to the original works, and similar bibliographic metadata.

This information is personal data about identifiable individuals (the authors), even though it has been published by them in a professional and public academic context.

Sources

We obtain this information from public academic sources, such as journal websites, working paper repositories (including arXiv, SSRN, RePEc), preprint servers, institutional pages, and aggregation services. We may also accept contributions from registered users in future.

What we process

We process only bibliographic and professional information that authors have themselves chosen to publish in connection with their academic work. We do not seek to collect:

• Contact details (email, phone) beyond what is incidental to a published author affiliation;
• Information from authors' personal (non-academic) social media;
• Special category data (such as information revealing ethnicity, religion, health, or political opinions).

Legal basis

Our lawful basis for processing this information is legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f) of the UK and EU GDPR. Our legitimate interest is in supporting the discoverability and discussion of econometrics research as part of a not-for-profit community resource. We consider this interest is not overridden by the rights and freedoms of authors, because:

• The information is already public and was published by the authors themselves in a professional context;
• The processing is limited to bibliographic and professional information;
• The processing supports academic discoverability, which is a recognised legitimate purpose;
• Authors can object and request removal at any time (see below).

We have documented this assessment internally.

Your rights as an author

If you are an author whose work appears on EconBase, you have the rights described in section 9 below. In particular, you can object to your information being processed, or request that your record be removed or corrected, by emailing econbase.support@gmail.com. We will respond promptly.

We may decline removal requests only where we have compelling legitimate grounds — for example, where bibliographic information is needed to maintain the accuracy of citation links to a paper that other entries reference. We will explain our reasoning if so.

5. Why we use your data and our legal basis

Purpose	Legal basis
Operating and securing the website (server logs)	Legitimate interests — keeping the Service running and protecting it from abuse
Displaying bibliographic information about academic works	Legitimate interests — supporting academic discoverability
Providing your account and logging you in (when accounts exist)	Performance of a contract (the Terms of Service)
Sending you account-related emails (e.g. password reset)	Performance of a contract
Responding to enquiries you send us	Legitimate interests
Displaying content you have chosen to publish	Performance of a contract
Complying with legal obligations	Legal obligation

We do not use your data for advertising or sell it to anyone.

6. Who we share data with

We share personal data only with:

• Google Cloud Platform, our hosting provider, which processes data on our behalf as a "data processor". Google's data protection terms are available at cloud.google.com/terms/data-processing-addendum.
• Other service providers we engage in future (for example, an email-sending service for password resets). We will update this policy when we add them.
• Authorities or third parties if required by law, court order, or to protect our rights or safety.

We do not sell personal data.

7. International transfers

Google Cloud Platform may process data outside the UK and EU. Where this happens, transfers are protected by safeguards recognised under UK and EU data protection law (such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum and the EU Standard Contractual Clauses).

8. How long we keep data

• Server logs: typically 90 days, then deleted or anonymised.
• Account data: kept while your account is active. If you delete your account, we will delete or anonymise your personal data within a reasonable period, except where we need to keep something for legal reasons.
• User Content: content you have published may remain visible after account deletion in anonymised form, unless you request removal.
• Author/paper records: retained for as long as the information remains relevant to the Service, subject to objection and removal requests.
• Correspondence: kept for as long as needed to handle your query, then deleted.

9. Your rights

Under UK and EU GDPR you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you;
• Rectify inaccurate data;
• Erase your data ("right to be forgotten"), subject to some exceptions;
• Restrict processing in certain circumstances;
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests (this applies to both server logs and author/paper data);
• Data portability — receive your data in a portable format, where applicable;
• Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, email econbase.support@gmail.com. We will respond within one month.

Right to complain

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority:

• In the UK: the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) — ico.org.uk.
• In the EU: the data protection authority in the EU country where you live or work, or where the issue arose. A list is available at edpb.europa.eu.
• Elsewhere: your local data protection authority, if one exists.

We'd prefer the chance to address your concern first — please get in touch before complaining if you can.

10. EU representative

If EconBase is required to appoint a representative in the EU under Article 27 of the EU GDPR, the representative's contact details will be provided here. Until then, EU users can contact us directly at econbase.support@gmail.com.

11. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, including using Google Cloud's security infrastructure, encryption in transit (HTTPS), and limiting access to data among the project's volunteers.

No system is perfectly secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

12. Children

The Service is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will post a notice on the site and update the "Last updated" date.

14. Contact

For any privacy questions or to exercise your rights:

econbase.support@gmail.com