In short: Oriel runs on your own computer. Your projects, recordings, transcripts and coding stay there, and I never receive them. Oriel has no account, no tracking and no crash reporting. It connects to the internet only when you ask it to, such as when you check for updates or download a model, and those requests carry nothing from your projects.
1. Who I am
Oriel is made by Justin Aunger, an individual developer based in the United Kingdom. I am the controller of the small amount of personal data described in this policy: data from this website, update checks, feedback and donations. I am not the controller or processor of any data you analyse in Oriel.
To contact me about privacy, email justinaaunger@gmail.com.
2. Your research data
Each Oriel project is a file on your computer. Everything you import, including documents, PDFs, images, recordings and transcripts, is copied into that file. Coding, searching, queries, reports, automatic transcription, text recognition and local AI all run on your computer.
- I don’t receive, store or have access to your projects or anything in them.
- Oriel’s AI features use models that run on your computer. Oriel never sends your data to a cloud AI service.
- Oriel keeps an error log on your computer. It removes quoted text, file names, folder locations and email addresses before writing anything, and it’s only sent to me if you choose to send it.
- If you collaborate through a shared folder (such as OneDrive or a network drive) or through a private coding service, your data goes to that folder’s provider or to a server your team or institution runs. I’m not involved in either, and that provider’s own terms apply.
3. When Oriel connects to the internet
Oriel works offline. It connects only when you do one of the things below. Like any internet request, each one reveals your computer’s internet (IP) address to the site it reaches.
| What you do | Where Oriel connects | What is sent |
|---|---|---|
| Check for updates (by hand, or once at startup if you turn this on; it’s off by default) | justinaunger.com | Oriel’s name and version number |
| Open the download page after an update check | justinaunger.com, in your web browser | Your Oriel version and operating system, in the page address |
| Download a transcription, local AI or search model | Hugging Face | Nothing from your projects |
| Download the local AI helper program or an ontology release | GitHub | Nothing from your projects |
| Add a reference by DOI | doi.org | The DOI only |
| Capture a web page | The address you type | Nothing from your projects |
| Use Oriel Quotes in Word | justinaunger.com and Microsoft | Nothing from your projects |
| Send feedback | Google Forms, in your web browser | Only what you type into the form |
Hugging Face, GitHub, doi.org, Microsoft and Google handle these requests under their own privacy policies.
4. Personal data I handle
Update checks and this website
This website is hosted by IONOS, which records visits with its SiteAnalytics service. This covers visits to justinaunger.com and Oriel’s update checks. SiteAnalytics collects the page or file requested, the previous website visited, the browser and its version, the operating system, the type of device, and the time of the visit.
Your IP address is shortened as soon as it arrives, so that it no longer identifies you, and is used only to work out roughly where the visit came from. IONOS doesn’t store personal data about visitors, doesn’t use cookies for SiteAnalytics, and doesn’t pass the data to anyone else. I see only totals, which I use to understand how the site is used and to keep it working well. I can’t see who you are or follow what you do.
Some pages, including the Oriel download and quick start pages, show videos from YouTube. They use YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com), which is designed to limit what YouTube stores until you play a video. When a page with a video loads, your browser still connects to YouTube, so YouTube sees your IP address and which page you’re on. If you play a video, Google handles your data under its own privacy policy. If you’d rather avoid this, you can find the same videos on YouTube itself.
Download survey
When you download Oriel, I ask which country you’re in and which sector you work in. I don’t ask for your name, email address or anything else that identifies you, and your answers aren’t linked to you. I use the totals to understand who uses Oriel and to support applications for funding. Both questions need an answer, but each one has a "Prefer not to say" option. Your answers are added to running totals on this website’s server and aren’t stored with each download, and no IP address or cookie is kept with them.
Oriel Quotes in Word
The add-in’s pages are loaded from justinaunger.com, and Microsoft’s Office library is loaded from Microsoft. When you link the add-in to Oriel, the link details (a random key and the name of the open project) are stored in Word’s own storage on your computer. Passages go from Oriel to Word on your computer, never through my website.
Feedback
Help → Send feedback… opens a Google Forms page. I receive whatever you type, including your email address if you give it. I use it to fix problems, improve Oriel and reply to you. Google runs the form on my behalf. Please don’t include research data or other people’s personal details. I delete feedback once it has been dealt with.
Emails
If you email me, I keep your message and address only to reply and to follow up on the issue.
Donations
If you support development through PayPal, PayPal handles the payment as an independent controller under its own privacy policy. I receive your name, email address and the amount, and I keep those records as long as the law requires for my financial records.
5. Lawful bases
- Website statistics, embedded videos and update checks: my legitimate interest in running the website well, showing you how to use Oriel, and telling people about new versions.
- Feedback and emails: my legitimate interest in answering you and improving Oriel.
- Donation records: legal obligation, for tax and accounting.
I don’t sell personal data, use it for advertising, or make automated decisions about you.
6. International transfers
Some of the services above, including Google and PayPal, may process data outside the UK. Where they do, they rely on legal safeguards such as the UK–US data bridge or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement. My web host, IONOS, is based in the European Union, which the UK recognises as giving data adequate protection.
7. Your rights
Under UK and EU data protection law, you can ask to see, correct or delete personal data I hold about you, object to how I use it, or ask me to limit how I use it. Email justinaaunger@gmail.com, and I’ll reply within one month. In practice I hold very little: usually only feedback or emails you’ve sent.
If you’re unhappy with how I’ve handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk) or the data protection authority where you live.
8. Children
Oriel and this website aren’t aimed at children under 13, and I don’t knowingly collect their data.
9. Changes
If Oriel or this website changes how personal data is handled, I’ll update this page and its date. A significant change will also be noted in Oriel’s list of changes.
See also the data processing statement for organisations and the terms of use.