Privacy Policy

The LaTeX Lab (“we,” “our,” or “us”) operates thelatexlab.com. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you visit our website or use our services. By using our website, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

1. Information We Collect

a) Information You Provide Directly

When you request a quote, place an order, or contact us, we may collect:

  • Your name and email address
  • Your institution or organization (if provided)
  • Files you upload for conversion (Word, PDF, or LaTeX documents)
  • Payment information (processed securely by third-party processors — we do not store card details)
  • Any information you share via email, WhatsApp, or our booking system

b) Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we automatically collect:

  • IP address and general location (country/region)
  • Browser type and operating system
  • Pages visited and time spent on the site
  • Referring URL (how you found us)
  • Device type (desktop, mobile, tablet)

This information is collected through cookies, Google Analytics, and standard server logs.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

  • Deliver the services you have requested (document conversion, formatting, error fixing)
  • Send you quotes, order confirmations, and delivery notifications
  • Respond to your questions and support requests
  • Improve our website and service quality based on usage patterns
  • Send occasional updates about our services — you may opt out at any time
  • Comply with legal obligations

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party.

3. Your Documents and Files

When you submit documents for conversion or formatting, we treat them with strict confidentiality:

  • Your files are used solely for the purpose of completing your order
  • Files are not shared with any third party
  • We do not use the contents of your documents for any marketing or data purposes
  • Files may be deleted automatically after project completion or upon request
  • We recommend removing highly sensitive or classified content before submission

Your research is your intellectual property. We make no claim over any content you submit to us.

4. Cookies and Tracking

Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. These include:

  • Essential cookies: Required for the website to function correctly
  • Analytics cookies: Google Analytics, to understand how visitors use our site
  • Preference cookies: To remember your settings and preferences

You can disable cookies in your browser settings at any time, though some site features may not function as intended.

5. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may process your data:

  • Google Analytics: Website traffic analysis
  • Calendly: Call scheduling
  • WhatsApp / Meta: Customer communication (optional)
  • Payment processors: Secure payment handling (we do not store payment card data)
  • Email service providers: Order communication and support

Each of these services operates under their own privacy policies. We encourage you to review them independently.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law. Order records are retained for up to 3 years for accounting and support purposes. You may request deletion of your data at any time by contacting us.

7. Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Access the personal information we hold about you
  • Request correction of inaccurate information
  • Request deletion of your personal data
  • Opt out of marketing communications at any time
  • Request that we stop processing your data in certain circumstances

To exercise any of these rights, email us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information from unauthorized access, loss, or disclosure. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Children’s Privacy

Our services are intended for adults, specifically graduate students and professional researchers. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has submitted information to us, please contact us immediately and we will delete it.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of our website after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

11. TheLaTeXLab Citation Generator (Google Docs add-on)

This section describes how the TheLaTeXLab Citation Generator add-on for Google Docs (“the add-on”) handles your data.

Google data we access. The add-on requests the minimum Google permissions needed to work:

  • See and edit only the current document (documents.currentonly) — used solely to insert in-text citations and a formatted bibliography into the document you have open, when you ask it to. The add-on cannot see or access any of your other documents or Drive files.
  • Display a sidebar in Google Docs (script.container.ui) — used to show the add-on’s citation-manager interface.
  • Connect to an external service (script.external_request) — used to look up reference details and to parse or convert bibliography files by contacting our service at api.thelatexlab.com.

What we send to our servers, and what we do not. When you look up a reference, the add-on sends only the identifier or URL you enter (for example a DOI, PubMed ID, ISBN, arXiv ID, or a link). When you import a bibliography file, it sends the contents of that file so we can parse it. We do not send the contents of your Google document, your other files, your name, or any other personal information. Lookups and imports are used only to return citation data.

Your reference library. The references you save are stored in your own Google account’s add-on storage and are available to you across your documents. They are not stored on our servers.

No sale, no advertising, no human access. We do not sell your data, use it for advertising, or allow humans to read it, except as needed to provide or maintain the service, comply with the law, or where you explicitly request it.

Limited Use. TheLaTeXLab Citation Generator’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Data retention and deletion. Reference lookups are not retained beyond what is needed to return a result. Your saved library lives in your Google account and is removed when you uninstall the add-on or delete the entries. Questions or deletion requests: [email protected].

12. WordPress Plugin: TheLaTeXLab Citations & Bibliography

We publish a free WordPress plugin, “TheLaTeXLab – Citations & Bibliography,” in the WordPress.org plugin directory. If you install this plugin on your own WordPress website, it connects to our citation service at https://api.thelatexlab.com to look up and format references. This section explains exactly what the plugin sends to us.

What the plugin sends to our service:

  • Identifiers you look up: when you resolve a DOI, PubMed ID (PMID), PMC ID, ISBN, arXiv ID, or a URL, that identifier is sent to our API so we can return the citation details.
  • Reference files you import: when you import a .bib, .ris, .enw, or .nbib file, the contents of that file are sent to our API to be parsed into citation records.
  • Reference data you edit or export: when you edit a reference or export to RIS, the affected reference data is sent to our API to regenerate the BibTeX or RIS output.
  • Your website address: each request includes your site URL, which we use for diagnostics and to prevent abuse of the service.

What the plugin does not send:

  •  We do not receive your post content, your site’s visitor data, or any personal data about your readers.
  • Nothing is sent when a visitor simply views a page that contains a bibliography. Bibliographies are formatted locally on your own server.

Optional email updates (you choose this):

The plugin includes an optional “Get plugin updates by email” box. Only if you choose to enter your email and submit it, your email address and website address are sent to us and stored, so we can email you occasional updates about the plugin. This is entirely optional, off by default, and you can unsubscribe at any time by contacting us.

Self-hosting:

The plugin lets advanced users point it at their own copy of our service instead of ours. If you do that, the data above goes to your chosen server instead of to us.

Data sent through the plugin is handled in line with the rest of this Privacy Policy, including the “How We Use Your Information,” “Data Retention,” and “Your Rights” sections above.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us: