Privacy & Data Handling

Your research data is sensitive. Here's exactly how ClearPath handles and protects your proposals.

Our Commitment to Your Privacy

ClearPath is designed to help researchers create IRB proposals while protecting your sensitive research data. We believe in transparency and straightforward privacy practices.

✓ No tracking cookies or analytics • ✓ No third-party data sharing • ✓ No data mining or selling

How Your Data is Stored

All proposal data is stored in a secure database on our servers. This includes:

  • Proposal drafts and form responses
  • Template selections and institution choices
  • Protocol wizard answers and generated protocols
  • Document attachments and uploaded files
  • Auto-save history and version timestamps

Auto-Save: Your work is automatically saved as you type. Data persists until you manually delete it.

What Data We Collect

  • Proposal Content: Research details, study descriptions, PI information, and all form fields you complete
  • Metadata: Template selections, institution choices, validation results, and timestamps
  • Uploaded Files: Protocol drafts, consent forms, and document attachments you upload
  • Generated Content: AI-generated protocols, auto-filled suggestions, and extracted metadata

What We DON'T Collect: We do not use tracking cookies, analytics, or collect any personal information beyond what you explicitly enter into the forms.

Data Security

  • Encryption in Transit: All connections use TLS/SSL encryption (HTTPS)
  • Secure Identifiers: Proposals use randomly-generated UUIDs, not predictable sequential IDs
  • Access Control: Password-protected admin panel with session-based authentication
  • File Upload Security: File type validation, size limits, and secure filename handling
  • API Keys: OpenAI API keys are stored securely as environment variables, never exposed to clients

AI & Third-Party Services

ClearPath uses OpenAI's GPT-4 model to generate protocol drafts and extract metadata from uploaded documents. When you use these features:

  • Data Sent to OpenAI: Your wizard answers, uploaded document text, and protocol content are sent to OpenAI's API for processing
  • OpenAI's Policies: OpenAI does not use API data to train their models. See OpenAI's Data Usage Policies
  • No Other Third Parties: We do not share your data with any other external services

Your Data Rights

  • Access: You can view all your proposal data at any time while using ClearPath
  • Export: Download your proposals as professional DOCX or PDF files
  • Modify: Edit and update your proposals anytime before submission
  • Delete: Contact the system administrator to request deletion of your proposals from the database

Data Retention

Proposal data is stored indefinitely until you request deletion. This allows you to return to your drafts and continue working on them at any time.

To request data deletion, contact the system administrator. Once deleted, data cannot be recovered.

Questions or Concerns?

If you have questions about data handling, privacy practices, or would like to request data deletion, please contact the system administrator.

Last updated: November 2025

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