Privacy Policy

This policy applies to the Atlas web application and any related services that link to it. It covers the information we handle when you create an account, record or upload lectures, generate notes, and otherwise interact with Atlas.

By using Atlas, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the service.

Account information: the email address you sign in with, the method you use to sign in (for example, signing in with Google), and the profile details you choose to provide — your name, institution, program, year, and expected graduation.

Lecture content (physical lectures): the audio you record or upload, and the structured notes, summaries, transcripts, and edits generated from or made to it.

Lecture content (virtual lectures): the screen recording of your chosen tab, window, or entire screen, and the notes, summaries, transcripts, and edits generated from or made to it.

Usage information: basic technical data such as device and browser type, and the interactions needed to operate the service (for example, when a note is created or exported).

We use your information to provide and improve the service: to transcribe and analyze your recordings, generate and store your notes, sync your library across sessions, and personalize future note-taking based on your info.

We do not use your personal notes or recordings to train AI models, and we do not use them for advertising.

When you share your screen for a virtual lecture, neither we nor our AI watch the video. We only capture the audio from the tab, window, or screen you share — that audio is what we need to write your notes. Any screen recording is stored only briefly while your notes are generated, and is then deleted.

Atlas relies on artificial intelligence to do its core work: transcribing your recordings, generating summaries and structured notes, and answering questions you ask about your own notes. As Atlas grows, we may use AI for additional features — for example, analyzing a syllabus, organizing your courses, or other study tools — always to provide the service to you.

This processing is carried out by us and by trusted third-party AI providers acting on our behalf. These providers may receive only the content needed to perform a task — such as the audio to transcribe, or the notes to answer a question about — and they process it under confidentiality obligations, solely to deliver the feature you asked for.

We do not use your personal notes, recordings, or other personal content to train AI models, and we do not permit our AI providers to use your personal content to train their models, without your explicit consent.

We may add or change the AI providers and models we use over time as the technology improves. When we do, we hold any new provider to the same commitments described in this policy.

Atlas does not make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you solely by automated means. If that ever changes, we will tell you, explain the main factors involved, and give you a way to request human review.

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, we process your personal information only when we have a valid legal basis to do so. Depending on the situation, we rely on the following:

Consent — where you have given us permission to process your information for a specific purpose. You can withdraw your consent at any time.

Performance of a contract — where processing is necessary to provide the service you signed up for and to fulfil our agreement with you.

Legitimate interests — where processing is reasonably necessary for our legitimate interests, such as keeping Atlas secure, preventing abuse and fraud, and understanding how the service is used so we can improve it, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights. We do not use your information for advertising.

Legal obligations — where we must process information to comply with the law or to respond to a lawful request from a public authority.

Vital interests — where processing is necessary to protect someone’s life or safety.

If you are in Canada, we process your information with your express or implied consent (which you can withdraw at any time, subject to legal or contractual limits and reasonable notice), or where we are otherwise permitted or required to do so by law — for example, to detect and prevent fraud, to comply with a subpoena or court order, or where the information is publicly available as defined by law.

We share data only with the trusted service providers we rely on to run Atlas — for example, the cloud provider that securely stores your notes, and the AI provider that performs transcription and note generation. These providers process your data on our behalf, under confidentiality obligations, and only to help us deliver the service to you.

The providers we rely on fall into a few categories: cloud hosting and storage; AI providers for transcription, summarization, and note generation; authentication providers (for example, when you choose to sign in with Google); and, if we introduce paid plans, a payment processor (Stripe).

We never sell your personal information, and we never share it with advertisers or data brokers. We may disclose information if required by law or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users and the service. If Atlas is ever involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction, and we will continue to honour the commitments in this policy.

Atlas is operated from Canada, and your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in Canada, the United States, and other countries where we or our service providers operate. These countries may have data protection laws that differ from those in your own country.

Where we transfer personal information internationally, we take steps to keep it protected in line with this policy and applicable law, including using appropriate safeguards (such as standard contractual clauses) where they are required.

Your account and content are protected with industry-standard safeguards, including encryption in transit and access controls that limit who can reach your data. Your notes and recordings are tied to your account — other students and the public cannot see them.

No online service can promise perfect security, but we work hard to protect your information and to keep sensitive data, like your recordings, only as long as we genuinely need it. Any transmission of information to and from the service is at your own risk, and you should only use Atlas within a secure environment.

Your lecture audio is kept only as long as needed to generate your notes, after which it is removed from our processing service and deleted from our servers. Your notes and account information are kept for as long as your account is active.

For virtual lectures, any screen recording is kept only long enough to capture the audio needed to write your notes, and is then deleted from our servers. Our AI only ever receives that audio, never the video of your screen.

When you delete a note, its transcript, summary, and course details are deleted along with it. When you delete your account, we remove your associated content within a reasonable period, except where the law requires us to keep it. If information cannot be deleted immediately — for example, because it sits in a secure backup — we isolate it from any further use until deletion is possible.

Atlas is free to use while it is in beta, and we don't ask for payment information to sign up. If we introduce paid plans in the future, we'll give you clear notice before any charges apply, and payments would be handled by a secure third-party payment processor — we would not store your full card details ourselves.

You can access and edit your notes and profile at any time from within Atlas. You can correct your profile information in Settings, export your notes as PDF or DOCX, and delete individual notes or your entire account.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights to access, correct, port, or erase your personal data, and to object to or restrict certain processing. The section below describes these rights by region, and you can exercise any of them by contacting us.

European Economic Area, United Kingdom & Switzerland: You have the right to request access to your personal information and a copy of it, to have it corrected or erased, to restrict or object to our processing of it, to data portability, and not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing. You can withdraw consent at any time. If you believe we have processed your information unlawfully, you may lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority — in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO); in Switzerland, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).

Canada: You have the right to access the personal information we hold about you and to request corrections. You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. If you have concerns about how we handle your information, you may contact us, and you also have the right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

United States: If you are a resident of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, or another state with a comprehensive privacy law, you have the right to confirm whether we process your personal information and to access it, to correct inaccuracies, to request deletion, and to obtain a portable copy. You also have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your rights. Many of these laws give you the right to opt out of the “sale” of personal information, “sharing” for targeted advertising, and certain profiling — Atlas does not sell your personal information or share it for targeted advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of, but you may still exercise your other rights. If we decline your request, you may appeal by contacting us, and you may also submit a complaint to your state attorney general.

Other regions: If you are located elsewhere and local law gives you rights over your personal information, contact us and we will do our best to honour them.

You can access, correct, export, and delete much of your information yourself from within Atlas — update your profile in Settings, export your notes as PDF or DOCX, and delete individual notes or your whole account at any time.

For anything else, or to make a formal request, contact us at hello@atlasai.ca. To protect your privacy, we may need to verify your identity before acting on a request, and we will only use the information you provide to do so. Where the law allows, you may use an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. We aim to respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.

Most web browsers and some devices offer a “Do-Not-Track” (DNT) or Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal. Because there is no finalized, uniform standard for how these signals should be honoured, Atlas does not currently respond to them.

Since we do not sell your personal information, share it for targeted advertising, or use third-party tracking, this has no practical effect on how your data is used. If a recognized standard is adopted that we are required to follow, we will update this policy and our practices accordingly.

Atlas uses essential cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in and to operate core features. We do not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies. You can control cookies through your browser settings, though disabling essential cookies may prevent you from signing in.

Atlas is intended and built for students in higher education and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will take necessary measures, as required by law.

Atlas also relies on third-party providers — including the AI providers that help generate your notes — that set their own eligibility and minimum-age requirements, and some require users to be older than 13 (for example, 18 or the age of majority where you live). Where a provider we rely on imposes a higher minimum age, that requirement also applies to your use of the features that depend on it, and we may update our own eligibility requirements as those providers, or the models and services we use, change.

We may update this policy as Atlas evolves. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice. Your continued use of Atlas after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Questions about your privacy or this policy? Contact us at hello@atlasai.ca and we’ll respond promptly.