Qoka is a desktop app for research. Most of what you do in Qoka stays on your computer or on your lab's own server. This page explains what reaches our servers, what does not, and how to remove it.
| Information | Where it is kept | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Name, email address, sign-in provider ID | qoka.org | To sign you in with Google or ORCID and keep you signed in. |
| Methods and hypothesis searches | qoka.org | The search words you send, used only to return matching methods and papers. Not kept with your account. |
| Project and cross-project memory | Your computer | Notes the AI keeps while you work, as Markdown files on your computer (cross-project memory in ~/.qoka/memory/wiki). Never uploaded to us. |
| Collaboration cards and requests | Qoka Hub | Cards you post and the requests you send, so other researchers can find you and reply. |
| Mail access (Gmail sign-in or mail password) | Your computer | To send your collaboration mail. Encrypted by your operating system. Never sent to our servers. |
| Projects, files, analysis results | Your computer or lab server | Your research data. Qoka does not upload it to us. |
| Lab members and shared lab memory | Your lab's computer | Run by your lab admin with Qoka Home, inside your lab. |
When you sign in with Google, we receive your name and email address. When you sign in with ORCID, we receive your name and ORCID iD. We create an account with a random ID and issue sign-in tokens that the app stores on your computer. We do not receive your Google or ORCID password.
A card you post shows its title, lab, organization, fields, description and contact email to signed-in Qoka users. A request you send to a card is stored with your name, organization, email, optional ORCID iD and message, and is shared with the card's owner only. Requests are delivered by mail from your own mail account; Qoka Hub keeps a copy so both sides can see its status. You can close or delete your cards at any time.
Qoka sends collaboration requests and invites from your own mail account, so replies come straight back to you.
When you choose Sign in with Google for mail, Qoka asks Google for one permission: send email on your behalf (gmail.send). Qoka cannot read, search, delete or change your mail. Google gives your computer a token for this permission. The token is encrypted and stored on your computer only, and Qoka uses it only to send the mail you ask it to send. Pressing Remove from this computer, or signing out of Qoka, deletes the token and cancels the permission at Google. You can also remove Qoka at myaccount.google.com/connections.
For other mail services you enter a mail server and password. The password is encrypted and stored on your computer only and is sent only to that mail server.
Qoka'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 from the Gmail permission is used only to send the mail you write in Qoka. It is not stored on our servers, not used for advertising, not sold, not read by people, and not used to train AI models.
Qoka works with the AI service you choose, such as Claude, using your own account with that service. What you send to the AI goes from your computer to that service under its own privacy terms; it does not pass through our servers.
Lab features run on your lab's own computer with Qoka Home: the list of members, invite links, server accounts and shared lab memory stay there, under your lab admin's control. When you join another lab's collaboration, you can reach only the shared folder you were invited to, until the end date the lab set or until the lab ends your access.
When Qoka starts, it asks qoka.org whether a new version exists. This check sends your platform and app version, and nothing that identifies you.
We do not sell your information and do not use it for advertising. We share it only as described on this page, or when the law requires it.
Questions about this policy, or requests to see, correct or delete your information: [email protected]. If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page.