Privacy Policy

DoctorateScout helps you find PhD positions that fit your background. To do that, we ask for your resume and some preferences, run them against the open PhD listings we aggregate, and store your results so you can come back to them. This page explains exactly what we collect, why, who else sees it, and how to delete it.

We never sell your data. You can delete your account, and everything tied to it, at any time from your settings page.

DoctorateScout is operated as a personal project. For questions about this policy or your data, contact us at hello@doctoratescout.com.

We collect only what we need to match you against PhD positions and to maintain your account.

• Account identity. When you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile image. We do not get access to anything else in your Google account.
• Resume content. When you upload a resume, we extract the text and parse it into a structured profile (your education, research, skills, publications). We store the structured profile; we do not store the original file.
• Preferences. The answers you give in the preferences wizard (countries, fields, funding expectations, languages, English proficiency, work preferences).
• Activity. Positions you save, the status you mark them with (applied, interview, rejected, accepted), match runs, and your alert opt-in choice.
• Operational logs. Standard request logs from our hosting provider (IP, user agent, timestamp) kept short-term for security and debugging.

• We do not store the original resume file.
• We do not track you across other sites and do not use advertising cookies.
• We do not ask for payment details.
• We do not access your Google contacts, calendar, drive, or any Google data beyond your basic profile.

• To rank open PhD positions against your profile and preferences using a large language model.
• To remember your saved positions, status changes, and most recent match results so you do not have to start over each visit.
• To send you weekly email alerts when new PhDs match your profile, only if you opt in.
• To investigate bugs, abuse, or security incidents.

We use a small number of third-party providers to run the service. They process your data on our behalf under their own privacy commitments.

• Google for sign-in. They authenticate you and share your name, email, and profile image with us. Google privacy policy.
• Anthropic (Claude API) processes your profile and preferences each time we run matching. Per Anthropic, API inputs are not used to train their models. Anthropic privacy policy.
• Neon hosts our Postgres database, where your profile, preferences, saved positions, and match history are stored. Neon privacy policy.
• Vercel hosts the application and routes your requests. Vercel privacy policy.
• Resend delivers our alert emails. Your email address is shared with Resend when we send you an alert. Resend privacy policy.

We do not sell your data. We do not share it with anyone outside this list.

We use a single first-party cookie to keep you signed in. We also use your browser’s session storage to cache your most recent profile and matches so the app feels instant on return visits. We do not use third-party analytics or advertising cookies.

Your account-tied data (profile, preferences, saved positions, match history, alert settings) is kept until you delete your account. When you delete your account, every row tied to it is removed from the database. Operational logs are retained short-term by our hosting providers per their own policies.

• Review and edit your profile from the Profile page in your account menu.
• Change your preferences by re-running the wizard from the start page.
• Turn off email alerts from Settings, or by using the unsubscribe link in any alert email.
• Delete your account from Settings → Danger zone. This is immediate and permanent.
• Ask us a question or make a data request at hello@doctoratescout.com.

DoctorateScout is available worldwide. Our service providers are based in the United States and the European Union, so your data may be processed in either region. If you are in the EU, EEA, or UK, you have rights under the GDPR including access, correction, deletion, portability, and objection. Contact us to exercise any of them.

DoctorateScout is intended for adults considering doctoral study. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has used the service, contact us and we will delete the account.

We use TLS for all traffic, hashed session tokens, signed unsubscribe links, and the access controls provided by our hosting and database providers. No service is perfectly secure, but we keep our footprint small to reduce risk.

If we make material changes we will update the date at the top of this page. If the changes affect how we use data you have already given us, we will let you know by email if you have an account.