Lacuna Research privacy notice

Overview

Lacuna Research is a Chrome extension from Tiptree Advanced Systems Corporation, carrying on business as Tiptree Systems (“Tiptree”, “we”). It works with Lacuna and Althea, two of the Services described in the Tiptree Privacy Policy (the “Policy”). The Policy governs the Personal Information we process when you use the Services, including the reading list in your Lacuna account, and its definitions apply here. This notice adds what is specific to the extension: what it reads in your browser, what it sends and when, and what it keeps on your device. Where this notice is silent, the Policy applies. Tiptree is responsible for the processing described here.

What the extension sends, and when

Saving a page. When you click the extension icon, press its keyboard shortcut, or press Save in its window, the extension sends the address of the page you are on to Lacuna (lacuna.tiptreesystems.com) over HTTPS, together with the sign-in cookie your browser already holds for Lacuna. Lacuna adds the page to the reading list of your account and to the list you have chosen. Nothing is sent on its own, and the extension never sees your password. For a page Lacuna does not already hold, Lacuna fetches that page once to read its title and description. Saved items and lists, and the records Lacuna keeps when you save, are account-holder information under section 2 of the Policy and are used for the purposes in section 3.

If you are signed out when you click, the extension opens the Lacuna sign-in page and keeps the page address in your browser’s session storage for up to 15 minutes so the save can complete once you are signed in.

Asking Althea. Choosing “Ask about this list” opens Althea and retrieves available HTML full text directly from arxiv.org for papers in that list. These requests reveal the requested paper addresses and normal network information, such as your IP address, to arXiv; they omit cookies and the referring page. The extension extracts text locally and marks unavailable full texts. The list name, every selected item’s title and links, and any retrieved text are prepared as a text attachment in Althea. Pressing Althea’s Send button uploads that attachment with your question, and Althea handles those messages and attachments under the Policy. Dismissing the extension panel does not remove an attachment already visible in Althea; use the attachment’s remove control if you do not want to send it.

Searching and opening links. Searching Lacuna sends the search text or selected text and campaign tags in the destination URL. Opening a saved item, a paper, or another website connects to that website. Lacuna and Althea pages opened this way are part of the Services, and the cookie and analytics choices in section 5 of the Policy apply to them. Other websites have their own privacy notices (section 12 of the Policy).

What stays on your device

While its window is open, the extension reads the citation metadata and the address of the page you are on. After a save it places a short note inside that page, with Open list and Undo, and removes it after a few seconds. In your Chrome profile the extension keeps only the list you have chosen, which addresses it has saved from this browser, a pending save while you sign in, and pending transfers to Althea. The extension itself has no analytics, sets no cookies, does not read your browsing history, and collects no Personal Information beyond what this notice describes. Reading lists kept on the device by versions before 1.1.0 are no longer used.

Retention and deletion

Items stay on your reading list until you remove them, in the extension’s Saved view or at lacuna.tiptreesystems.com/reading; Lacuna retains account records as described in section 8 of the Policy. Uninstalling the extension clears its settings from this browser; your reading list stays in your Lacuna account. Pending transfers to Althea expire after 24 hours and are removed when their destination tab closes or Chrome restarts. Retrieved source text is cached temporarily in extension memory. Content you have sent to Althea remains subject to Althea’s retention and deletion controls; removing the extension does not delete those conversations.

Permissions

The extension uses activeTab and scripting to read metadata from the page you choose and to place the short note after a save, storage for your chosen list and pending transfers, clipboardWrite for requested citation copies, and contextMenus for selected-text searches and its menu. Access to lacuna.tiptreesystems.com saves pages to your reading list and shows it; access to arxiv.org enables requested full-text retrieval. A content script on althea.tiptreesystems.com prepares attachments only for the tab opened by the extension for that list. The extension does not download remote executable code, does not sell information, and does not use it for advertising.

Your rights

Section 10 of the Policy describes your rights, including access, correction, deletion, account closure, and how to lodge a complaint with a privacy authority. Requests go to the Privacy Officer at privacy@tiptreesystems.com. The extension and the Services are intended for adults (section 11 of the Policy).

Changes

We may update this notice; the version and date above change with it. Changes to the Policy are posted at its canonical address with an updated effective date (section 13 of the Policy).

Contact

Tiptree Advanced Systems Corporation, 1100 René-Lévesque Boulevard West, 25th Floor, Montréal, Québec, H3B 5C9. Privacy Officer: privacy@tiptreesystems.com. For support with the extension, email martin@tiptreesystems.com with the extension version and the steps to reproduce a problem; avoid sending private papers or account credentials.