Privacy policy

Who we are

FieldNotes is a private research workspace for ZADMIN. Researcher accounts require approval. Administrators can view account emails and access status, send email-bound invitations, and revoke researcher access. Contact legal@zadmin.dev about privacy, access, corrections, or deletion. Form organizers choose their questions and how they use responses; ask the organizer about their study or event.

What we collect

When organizers sign in with Google, Supabase Auth receives their account identifier, email, name, and available profile information, such as a profile image. We use this to authenticate accounts and assign forms to their owners. We do not receive Google passwords or request access to Gmail, Drive, or contacts.

We store form titles, descriptions, questions, sections and skip logic, settings, and creation/update times. For participants, we store answers, a random response identifier, the time a response was submitted or last saved, whether it was finished, and a copy of the questions it answered. Only questions on the route a participant takes are stored; skipped questions are never asked or recorded. File-upload questions also store the submitted file, its original name, type, and size in private Supabase Storage. Names and email addresses are collected only if the form asks for them or they appear in an answer.

How answers save

Forms at /f/… save in up to three places. How autosave works explains each step.

• In your browser. Every answer is kept in this browser’s local storage as you go, so a reload or a closed tab doesn’t lose it.
• Saved to FieldNotes. If the form keeps unfinished responses and you leave Auto-submit my answers if this form closes before I finish ticked, your answers are also saved to FieldNotes shortly after you change them. While the form is open, nobody can read that copy; its organizer sees only how many people are partway through.
• Submitted. When you select Submit response and the server accepts it, your response is saved and the organizer can read it.

If a form closes while you still have answers saved to FieldNotes, they are added to the organizer’s responses, marked unfinished. Untick auto-submit on the form’s first screen to delete the saved copy and share nothing until you submit. If you continued a form you started earlier, press Back until you reach that screen.

Selected files stay in your browser and upload only when you submit, after your agreement to share. If submission fails after an upload, an unlinked file may remain until the researcher or an operator deletes it. Participants do not need to sign in. A form is not necessarily anonymous: answers may identify you even without a name field.

Access and service providers

The organizer can view, download, and delete responses to their forms, including unfinished responses added when a form closes. Authorized FieldNotes operators may access information for support, security, and privacy requests. We do not publish or sell responses or use them for targeted advertising.

Organizers can connect an assistant through the optional FieldNotes MCP connector after approving it with their Google account. The connected assistant can read that organizer’s forms and responses, including unfinished ones, and create or edit forms when instructed. Information retrieved by the assistant is also handled under its provider’s privacy terms. The organizer can disconnect it at any time in Settings, which immediately blocks its access.

Vercel hosts the app. Supabase provides account authentication and the database and private file storage for forms. Google provides Google sign-in. Resend sends account invitations and processes the invited email address, access code, email content, and delivery records. These providers may process IP addresses, device information, request times, and security or diagnostic logs to operate their services. Data may be processed outside your country, including in the United States.

See the privacy notices for Vercel, Supabase, Resend, and Google. We use encrypted connections and access controls; absolute security cannot be guaranteed.

Cookies and local storage

Organizer sign-in uses essential, secure, HttpOnly cookies to maintain sessions, configured for up to 30 days and refreshed during use. Sign out on shared devices. The app does not use advertising cookies, analytics trackers, or third-party fonts. The workspace keeps a form’s unsaved edits (its questions and settings, never responses) in your browser’s local storage until you save, choose to leave without saving, or sign out.

Participant forms keep, in that browser’s local storage, the answers you haven’t submitted yet, a random response identifier, and your auto-submit choice, so a reload continues the same response. The identifier is also kept in session storage to prevent duplicate submissions after a retry. This information is removed when you submit, when the form says you already sent your response, and after 30 days, and it is replaced when someone on the same browser chooses Start my own response. If the researcher edits the form, answers to questions it still asks are kept. A file you chose is not kept and is selected again after a reload. Previews store nothing. On a shared computer, submit when you finish. If you can’t, open the link again and choose Start my own response, which clears your answers from that browser. Loaded responses stay in page memory. Downloaded exports remain on the organizer’s device.

Device checks

The device check tests whether a device, such as a school Chromebook, can run FieldNotes well. It runs in your browser, needs no sign-in, and shows its results on the page. Its tests load a few files from FieldNotes to measure speed, but nothing about the device is stored unless you choose to send a report. A report contains:

• the browser’s name and main version number, the operating system, and whether the device runs ChromeOS;
• the screen size and pixel density, and how many touch points the screen supports;
• the approximate memory and number of processor cores the browser reports;
• the browser’s estimates of the network type, speed, and delay;
• the overall result, each test’s result, how long the loading and device speed tests took, and the measured download speed;
• the date and time the report arrived;
• the kind of device you choose, such as a school Chromebook or a personal device, and, if you add them, your school or district and a note.

A report never contains your name, email address, account, IP address, or the browser’s full identifier. Keep names and other personal details out of the note. Only FieldNotes administrators can see reports. We use them to decide which devices FieldNotes supports, and each report is deleted 12 months after it arrives. Our hosting providers may still process connection details, such as IP addresses, in their own logs, as described above.

The beta and developer preview

The FieldNotes beta application is a FieldNotes form run by ZADMIN. Its answers are used only to run the beta: to choose and invite members, and to contact applicants, including about interviews if they said yes. Interviews and usability tests happen only with your agreement, and we ask before recording.

Whether you use the developer preview, and when you turned it on, is stored with your account’s access record. Administrators can see and change it. Preview features use the same account, forms, and responses, with the protections described on this page.

Retention and deletion

There is no automatic deletion schedule for responses. Organizers can delete individual responses and their attached files, or a form and its responses and uploads, in their workspace. Unlinked uploads from failed submissions are cleaned up manually or when the form is deleted. Exported files are separate copies, and providers may retain backups or operational logs under their own schedules. Device check reports are deleted automatically 12 months after they arrive.

Answers saved to FieldNotes before you submit are kept only while the form is open. They are deleted when you submit or untick auto-submit; when the organizer turns off unfinished responses; or when the form is deleted. When the form closes they become an unfinished response and follow the rules above. Choosing Start my own response doesn’t delete a copy already saved: it is still added as an unfinished response when the form closes, even if a new response is then submitted. To delete it, choose Continue where I left off and untick auto-submit, or email legal@zadmin.dev.

For account deletion, access, correction, or response deletion, contact legal@zadmin.dev. Include the form link and response receipt if available. We may request limited information to locate the record and verify your request. Do not send passwords or identity documents. Additional rights may apply where you live.

The original school study

The original school questionnaire is now a regular form at the study link. Earlier records include names, grades, optional program information, and school-experience answers. That earlier version saved progress after consent, including incomplete answers and earlier versions. The research team accesses those archived records with the existing private admin password.

Those records remain in a private Vercel Blob store in the United States. That version used session storage for a draft and session token. Clearing that draft or closing the tab does not delete server records. Deletion is manual and must cover earlier saved versions and controlled exports. Contact us to request it.

Students and permission

Organizers are responsible for arranging any required school or parent/guardian permission. The app does not verify age or provide a verifiable parental-consent process. Do not use it to collect personal information from children under 13 without first contacting us to address the applicable requirements. Parents or guardians can contact us about a child’s response.

Participation is voluntary. Skip optional questions or stop if you do not want to answer. Leave out sensitive personal information and other people’s private details.

Changes

We will update this page and its date when our practices change. The September 22, 2026 update describes autosave, unfinished responses, device checks, and the beta.