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This Privacy Policy explains what information this site ("we", "us") collects, how it is used, and the choices you have. By using this site you agree to the practices described here.

1. Information we collect

• Usage & analytics data — for every page you visit we record a randomly generated visitor identifier, the page path, referrer, browser language, timezone, approximate location (country/region/city from your network) and basic device/browser information. This is used only to show aggregate visit counts and to understand how the site is used.
• Account data — if you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile picture from Google to create your account and keep you signed in. We never see or store your Google password.
• Content you submit — comments, reactions, chess challenges/moves and chat messages you send to the AI assistant are stored so the related feature can work (e.g. displaying your comment, keeping score in an ongoing chess game, or replying to your message).
• Chat with the AI assistant — messages you send to the site's AI assistant are transmitted to a third-party AI provider to generate a reply. Avoid sending sensitive personal information in chat.
• Portfolio Studio — your portfolio draft is stored in your browser. If you sign in, it is also saved to your account so you can edit it from any device; if you publish it, the details you entered (including any photo) become publicly visible at your portfolio link until you unpublish. Interview answers, imported résumé text and text you ask the AI to improve are sent to the AI provider to generate questions and wording. Résumé files themselves are read on your device and never uploaded.

2. Cookies & local storage

We keep storage to a minimum and group it into three categories. You choose what's allowed on your first visit, and can change it any time with Cookie settings (also in the footer).

• Essential (always on) — the session cookies msb_sess / msb_admin that keep you signed in after Google sign-in, your chat session with the assistant, your Portfolio Studio draft, spam protection (reCAPTCHA, only on forms that need it) and the msb_consent cookie that remembers your choice for about six months.
• Preferences (on unless you decline) — your light/dark theme, game high scores, and when you last saw the loading screen (it then stays away for an hour). Stored only in your browser via localStorage; never sent to us. If you decline, they're kept only until you close the tab.
• Analytics (off until you accept) — a random visitor identifier (msb_vid) plus details of each page view (IP address, approximate city, referrer, timezone, browser). Without your consent, page views are still counted, but only with the page path and coarse, non-identifying data (country, device type, browser family) — no identifier, IP address, full user agent or referrer is recorded.

Installed app & offline use. If you install the site as an app, or just use it, a service worker caches the site's own files (and the engines of tools you've used) in your browser so they load fast and keep working offline. This cache holds no personal data, and you can clear it from your browser's site settings.

You can also clear cookies and storage from your browser settings at any time; doing so signs you out and resets your choices.

3. Files & media you process with our tools

Utility studios. Editing and previews do not require an account. Downloads, project saves and share creation require Google sign-in. Explicitly saving a studio project uploads its workspace data (including a certificate/frame template or research inputs) to your private account. Sharing publishes a separate snapshot accessible to anyone with the link until you revoke it or delete the project. Shared frames exclude recipient lists and participant photos. The image resizer (Image tools) never uploads your files; your own photos in the frame studio stay on your device. Citation lookups send the entered DOI or PMID to Crossref or NCBI through our server. Offline editing may work after assets are cached; signing in, downloading, saving and sharing require a connection.

Several utilities under Tools (for example PDF, image, video, QR and document tools) and the offline chess opponent run entirely inside your browser using JavaScript. Files you open with these tools are processed on your own device and are not uploaded to our servers unless a tool explicitly says otherwise (for example, uploading a cover image when publishing a post).

4. How we use information

• To operate and improve the site and its features
• To keep you signed in and secure your account
• To moderate comments and prevent spam/abuse (including rate limiting and CAPTCHA checks)
• To respond to messages sent through the contact/chat assistant
• To compile aggregate, non-identifying visit statistics

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use your data for third-party advertising.

5. Third-party services

We rely on a small number of third-party services to run the site:

• Google Sign-In — for authentication.
• Cloudflare — hosting, network security and the database/storage that back this site.
• An AI provider — to generate replies in the chat assistant.
• Lichess — public puzzle data used by the Chess section.
• Google Fonts and a Bengali web-font CDN — to display text in this site's typefaces.
• Google reCAPTCHA, where enabled, to reduce spam on comments and the chat form.

Each of these providers may process technical data (such as your IP address) under their own privacy policies.

6. Data retention

We keep account, comment and chess-game data for as long as your account is active, and analytics data for a limited period for trend reporting. You can ask us to delete your account and associated content at any time (see "Your rights" below).

7. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, export or delete your personal data, and to object to certain processing. To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details on the home page or through the chat assistant.

8. Children's privacy

This site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under that age.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the "Last updated" date above.

10. Contact

Questions about this policy or your data can be sent through the chat assistant on the home page, or via the contact details listed there.