Privacy Policy
Last updated: 14 October 2026 · This policy describes how Artifakt Vigilance processes personal data of users in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom.
1. Data Controller
The controller responsible for the processing described in this policy is:
Artifakt Medical Ltd
A private limited company registered in England and Wales, company number 17385956, registered office 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom. It operates Artifakt Vigilance. See the Imprint for the full provider identification
Email: hello@artifaktmedical.com
As the controller is established outside the European Union, our representative in the Union under GDPR Art. 27 is:
Artifakt Medical s.r.o.
V mokřinách 205/19, 147 00 Praha 4, Czech Republic
Email: hello@artifaktmedical.com
You can contact our representative on any question about how we handle your personal data, in addition to or instead of contacting us directly. This does not limit your right to complain to a supervisory authority.
We have assessed that the appointment of a Data Protection Officer under GDPR Art. 37 is not currently mandatory for our scale of processing. We will reassess as the service grows and will publish the appointment here if required.
2. Personal Data We Process
Artifakt Vigilance is a public search with no accounts. Since 14 October 2026 it processes the following categories of personal data:
| Category | Fields | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Search activity | Query terms, date ranges, data sources selected, timestamps. Not linked to a name, an email address or an account. | Recorded each time a search is started |
| Product usage analytics | Coarse interaction events (page views, search configuration such as the selected data sources and filter counts, timestamps) and a first-party analytics identifier. No raw search terms, device, manufacturer or recall names, or free text. | Generated as you use the site, only if you accept the analytics cookie tier |
| Anonymous usage totals | Daily counts of how often a feature is used. These are aggregate totals only, with no identifier, no IP address and nothing stored on your device, so they are not personal data and are not linked to you. | Counted automatically server-side when an action happens; not personal data, so no consent is required |
| Technical | A salted SHA-256 hash of your IP address, used for the search limit (10 free searches per UTC day), the hourly limit on calls to the regulator sources (300 per hour) and the limit on analytics requests. The raw IP address is never written to our database. | HTTP request headers |
| Messages to us | Your name, email address and whatever you write, when you email us. | Provided by you |
| Former accounts | The accounts that existed before 14 October 2026: email address and Cognito account identifier, saved searches and exports, alert subscriptions, survey responses, saved reports, and literature-review workspaces with their protocols, screening decisions and generated documents. This data is no longer used or added to; it is held until 14 October 2027 and then deleted (section 7). | Provided by former account holders while they had an account |
We do not collect special categories of data (GDPR Art. 9) and we do not perform device fingerprinting or cross-site tracking.
3. Purposes and Legal Bases (GDPR Art. 6)
| Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Run the searches and downloads you ask for, and keep a record of searches to understand which device categories are searched | Art. 6(1)(f) - legitimate interest in providing and improving a free public service; the data is not used to profile individuals |
| Measure how the site is used (optional analytics) | Art. 6(1)(a) - consent, given in the cookie banner (you can withdraw at any time) |
| Limit the number of searches and calls per connection, to prevent abuse | Art. 6(1)(f) - legitimate interest in protecting the service and the public sources it queries |
| Reply to messages you send us | Art. 6(1)(f) - legitimate interest in answering enquiries |
| Hold former account data until its deletion date, and answer requests about it | Art. 6(1)(f) - legitimate interest in keeping former users' work available for a fixed period should the signed-in features return; Art. 6(1)(c) - legal obligation, for answering data protection requests |
| Comply with legal obligations (accounting, tax, security incident reporting) | Art. 6(1)(c) - legal obligation |
4. Sub-processors and International Transfers
We use the following sub-processors. See the sub-processor page for details, locations and processing scopes.
- Amazon Web Services - the entire service runs on a single Lightsail VM in Frankfurt: frontend hosting (Caddy), backend (FastAPI) and self-hosted PostgreSQL. Former account identities are held in Amazon Cognito in the EU until they are deleted.
- Until 14 October 2026, the signed-in features also used Amazon Bedrock (AI inference in the EU) and Resend (email). They are no longer used by Artifakt Vigilance. Paid billing through Stripe was built but never switched on, so no payment data was ever collected.
All processing happens inside the EU. We self-host PostgreSQL on the Lightsail VM, so personal data never leaves the EU-region disk. Corporate access by the US parent entities of our sub-processors is governed by the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses. Your search query is sent to the public databases you select, which are independent controllers, not our sub-processors; the sub-processor page lists them. You may request a copy of the relevant safeguards by emailing hello@artifaktmedical.com.
5. AI Processing (EU AI Act, GDPR Art. 22)
Artifakt Vigilance does not use AI. Your search terms are sent to the public databases by fixed rules, the same for every search, and no decision about you is made automatically (GDPR Art. 22).
Until 14 October 2026, the signed-in features used generative AI (Anthropic Claude models through Amazon Bedrock, in the EU) to refine search terms, screen literature and draft report sections. The technical logs of those calls are kept for up to 12 months and then deleted.
6. Cookies and Local Storage
We use strictly necessary local storage to remember your cookie choices. Your recent searches are kept in your browser's local storage, on your device only, so you can run them again; they are not sent to us, and clearing your browser's site data removes them. Optional convenience storage is only used when you have consented via the banner. If you accept the analytics tier, we also store a first-party analytics identifier (a random id in local storage and a per-session id) so we can understand how the tool is used; both are erased if you withdraw consent. We do not use third-party tracking cookies, advertising pixels, or cross-site identifiers.
You can withdraw or change your consent at any time via the “Manage preferences” link in the page footer.
7. Data Retention
- Search activity - retained 24 months, then deleted.
- Product usage analytics - retained up to 24 months, then deleted.
- Rate-limit counters - the search-limit bucket resets at 00:00 UTC daily and the regulator bucket every hour; the counters themselves are deleted after one to two days.
- Messages to us - kept as long as needed to deal with your enquiry.
- Former account data - held until 14 October 2027, 12 months after accounts closed, and then deleted, unless the signed-in features return before then. You can ask us to delete yours sooner (section 8).
- Logs of past AI calls - deleted 12 months after each call.
8. Your Rights (GDPR Art. 15-22)
You have the right to:
- Access a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification of inaccurate data.
- Erasure (“right to be forgotten”).
- Restriction of processing while a request is being resolved.
- Portability in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format (JSON).
- Object to processing based on legitimate interest.
- Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent.
- Not be subject to automated decision-making that has legal or significant effects (we do not perform such processing - see section 5).
How to exercise these rights: email hello@artifaktmedical.com. If you had an account, write from the email address it used, and say whether you want a copy of your data (we send it as a JSON file) or want it deleted. Because Artifakt Vigilance keeps no account for anonymous visitors, we can only find their search records if they give us enough detail to identify them. We respond within one month (GDPR Art. 12(3)).
9. Right to Lodge a Complaint
If you believe our processing of your personal data infringes the GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement. A list of EU data protection authorities is available at edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/about-edpb/members_en.
10. Security
Personal data is encrypted at rest by the database provider and in transit via TLS. We minimise the data we collect, audit access internally, and have a documented procedure for notifying the supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of a personal data breach.
11. Changes to This Policy
We publish changes to this policy on this page, with the date of the change at the top.
12. Contact
Privacy questions: hello@artifaktmedical.com. General contact: hello@artifaktmedical.com.