The Terms of Service, Privacy Notice, Cookie Policy, Acceptable Use Policy, Security Overview, and subprocessor list below govern Collab Writer, operated by MAGE Innovation Corp, incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States ("Collab Writer", "we", "us").
Last updated 8 August 2026.
These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and MAGE Innovation Corp ("Collab Writer", "we", "us"), a company incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. By creating an account or using Collab Writer (the "Service"), you agree to these Terms, the Acceptable Use Policy, and the Privacy Notice below.
You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live, and legally able to enter this agreement. You sign in through Firebase Authentication using Google or an email address and password; you must verify your email address. Keep your credentials confidential, use the Service only under an account registered to you, and tell us promptly at support@collab-writer.com if you suspect unauthorized access. You are responsible for all activity under your account.
Collab Writer is a collaborative environment for writing documents (academic papers, work, and school projects): a structured editor, real-time co-editing, LaTeX and PDF and Word (docx) output, reference management, and optional AI writing assistance. We offer a free plan and a paid "Pro" plan. We may add, change, or remove features, and we may run beta features that are provided as is and may change or be withdrawn.
You keep all ownership of, and intellectual property rights in, the documents, uploads, images, comments, and messages you create or provide ("Your Content"). We do not claim ownership of Your Content.
You grant us a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, transmit, render, reformat, and display Your Content, and to convert it between formats (for example between the editor model, LaTeX, PDF, and docx), solely to operate and provide the Service to you and to the collaborators you invite. This license ends when you delete the content or close your account, except for copies retained transiently in backups or as required by law.
You are responsible for Your Content, for having the rights to use and share it, and for what you choose to make available to collaborators. You should keep your own backups of important work.
You can invite other people to a document and grant them access. Collaborators you invite can view and edit the content you share with them, and may copy it. You are responsible for choosing who to invite and what to share. Access to a document is inherited by its appendices.
Collab Writer lets you use optional third-party AI models, which run on an API key you provide (an administrator may configure a shared key). The providers you can choose from are Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI (GPT), Google (Gemini), Perplexity, and DeepSeek. When you invoke an AI feature, the prompt and the document context you submit are transmitted to the provider you selected and processed under that provider's terms. DeepSeek is operated from China, so if you choose it your content is processed there. We do not use Your Content to train AI models. AI output is generated automatically, is provided as is, may be inaccurate or unsuitable, and you are responsible for reviewing it before you rely on it. API keys and tokens you store with us are encrypted at rest and are never shown back to you or to any other user.
You may choose to connect optional third-party services, currently Zotero, Mendeley, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Dropbox. When you connect one, you authorize us to access it on your behalf within the scope you grant, so we can import references or attach files you select. Your use of those services is governed by their own terms and privacy policies. You can disconnect them at any time.
The free plan is subject to usage limits, which may include caps on document length, storage, uploads, and features. Pro is a paid subscription billed through Stripe on a recurring basis until you cancel. You authorize recurring charges to your payment method. Prices are exclusive of taxes unless stated, and you are responsible for any applicable taxes. We may change prices, and will give notice before a change takes effect on renewal. You can cancel at any time in your account settings; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid period, and fees already paid are non-refundable except where required by law. We do not store your full card details; Stripe processes payments.
You must comply with the Acceptable Use Policy. Compilation, import, export, and AI features are subject to fair-use limits and per-user rate limits. You must not use the Service as an automated processing engine or API for external systems, or generate requests in volumes inconsistent with individual human use.
The Service, including its software, design, and branding, is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-transferable license to use the Service for its intended purpose. You must not copy, resell, reverse engineer, or create derivative works of the Service, or remove any proprietary notices, except to the extent the law does not permit that restriction.
You can close your account at any time in your settings. We may suspend or terminate your access if you breach these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, fail to pay, or where we must for legal or security reasons. Where practical we will give notice and a reasonable opportunity to export Your Content. After termination we may retain limited data and backups as needed to comply with law, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that compiled output or AI output will be accurate. You use the Service at your own risk and are responsible for keeping your own backups.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data, or goodwill. Our total liability arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim, or USD 100. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so parts of this section may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.
You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from claims, losses, and reasonable expenses arising out of Your Content or your breach of these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, except to the extent caused by us.
We may update these Terms. If a change is material, we will notify you by email or in the app before it takes effect. Your continued use of the Service after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. You and we agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for any dispute, except that either party may seek injunctive relief where appropriate. This does not remove any mandatory consumer rights you have under the law of your place of residence.
These Terms are the entire agreement between you and us about the Service and supersede prior agreements. If any provision is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them to an affiliate or successor. We are not liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control. Legal notices to us should go to legal@collab-writer.com.
Back to topThe data controller is MAGE Innovation Corp, incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. For any privacy request, contact privacy@collab-writer.com.
The documents, uploads, images, comments, and messages you create ("Your Content") are yours. They are governed by the ownership and license terms in the Terms of Service (section 3), not treated as data we collect for our own purposes. We host and process Your Content only to run the Service for you: to store, sync, render, compile, export, and share it with the collaborators you invite. We do not sell Your Content, use it for advertising, mine it for analytics, or use it to train AI models. It is sent to an AI provider only when you invoke an AI feature, as described below.
We use personal data to provide and operate the Service, authenticate you, enable collaboration, process payments, send transactional email such as verification and notifications, respond to support requests, keep the Service secure and prevent abuse, comply with legal obligations, and improve the Service.
Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we rely on: performance of our contract with you (to provide the Service); our legitimate interests (to secure the Service, prevent abuse, and improve our product); your consent (for optional integrations and non-essential communications, which you can withdraw); and compliance with legal obligations.
When you use AI features, your prompt and document context are sent to the AI provider you select (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google Gemini, Perplexity, or DeepSeek) under that provider's terms. DeepSeek is operated from China, so choosing it means your content is processed there. We do not use Your Content to train AI models.
We do not sell your personal data. We share it with the infrastructure and service providers listed under Subprocessors, who process it on our behalf under contract; with collaborators you invite; with optional integrations only at your direction; and where required by law or to protect rights and safety.
We are based in the United States and process data there and in other locations where our providers operate. If you choose to use the DeepSeek AI model, the content you submit to it is processed in China. For users in the EEA and the UK, transfers rely on appropriate safeguards, such as the Standard Contractual Clauses offered by our providers.
We keep personal data while your account is active and for as long as needed for the purposes above or to meet legal requirements. When you delete content or close your account, we remove it from active systems; residual copies in backups are purged on our backup cycle (our database point-in-time recovery window is 7 days). We may retain limited records where the law requires.
Subject to law, you may request access to your data, correction, deletion, a portable export, or object to or restrict certain processing, and you may withdraw consent. To exercise these rights, email privacy@collab-writer.com.
EEA and UK users: you may lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.
California residents: under the CCPA and CPRA you have the right to know, delete, and correct your personal information, and to opt out of its "sale" or "sharing". We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined, and we will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.
Collab Writer is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact us and we will delete it.
We will post changes to this notice here and, where material, notify you. Questions and requests: privacy@collab-writer.com.
Back to topCollab Writer uses only the cookies and browser storage the Service needs to function. We use no advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.
sid): keeps you signed in. It is HttpOnly and Secure. Blocking it prevents sign-in.Interface preferences such as editor zoom, pane widths, tab order, and split-view are stored in your browser's local storage on your device. They stay in your browser and are not transmitted to us as cookies.
When you start a Pro checkout, Stripe's hosted checkout may set its own cookies on Stripe's domain for fraud prevention and to complete the payment. These are governed by Stripe's cookie and privacy policies.
We do not embed advertising networks or third-party analytics or tracking cookies. If this changes, we will update this policy and, where required, ask for your consent first.
Control cookies in your browser settings; blocking the sid cookie prevents sign-in.
This policy applies to all use of the Service.
Compilation, import, export, and AI features are subject to per-user rate limits and fair-use principles. Features described as generous or unlimited remain subject to fair use. We may set and update reasonable limits, and may act where use places a disproportionate load on the Service or is inconsistent with normal individual use.
If you violate this policy we may warn you, throttle or suspend access, remove violating content, or terminate your account, depending on the severity. To report abuse, contact support@collab-writer.com.
Back to topWe take reasonable and appropriate measures to protect your data. No online service can be completely secure.
Collab Writer runs on Google Cloud Platform, using Cloud Run for compute, Firestore for the database, Cloud Storage for files, and Secret Manager for key management. Google's data centers hold independent certifications, including ISO/IEC 27001 and SOC 1, 2, and 3. These certifications belong to Google as our infrastructure provider; Collab Writer does not currently hold its own ISO or SOC certification.
All connections to the Service use HTTPS with TLS. Third-party credentials you store (AI and reference-service API keys and tokens) are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM, and the master encryption key is held in Google Secret Manager, separate from the database, so a database or backup leak alone yields only ciphertext. Stored credentials are never returned to any client. Data held in Google Cloud storage is additionally encrypted at rest by Google.
Sign-in is handled by Firebase Authentication (Google, or email and password with email verification). Sessions use an HttpOnly, Secure cookie. Access to each document is enforced per document, so collaborators can reach only the documents shared with them.
Expensive operations are rate-limited per user to limit abuse. The database supports point-in-time recovery over a 7-day window, and files are held in redundant cloud storage.
If you believe you have found a security vulnerability, please report it to security@collab-writer.com and give us a reasonable time to respond before any public disclosure. Please do not access, modify, or delete other users' data, or degrade the Service, while testing.
Use a strong, unique password, keep your credentials and API keys private, sign out on shared devices, and keep local backups of important work.
Back to topWe use the third-party providers below to run Collab Writer. They process personal data on our behalf, under contract, only as needed to provide their part of the Service. Where you are an institution and we act as your processor under the GDPR, these are our subprocessors.
| Provider | Purpose | Data processed | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Cloud Platform (Google LLC) | Hosting, database (Firestore), file storage, key management | All Service data | United States |
| Firebase Authentication (Google LLC) | Sign-in and identity | Email, authentication identifiers | United States |
| Stripe, Inc. | Payment processing for Pro subscriptions | Billing and payment details | United States |
| Resend (Resend, Inc.) | Transactional email (verification, notifications, contact form) | Email address and message content | United States |
AI features are optional and run on an API key you provide. When you select a model and invoke an AI feature, your prompt and the document context you submit are sent to the provider you chose; you control which of these, if any, you use. We do not use Your Content to train any of these models.
| Provider | Model | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic, PBC | Claude | United States |
| OpenAI, L.L.C. | GPT | United States |
| Google LLC | Gemini | United States |
| Perplexity AI, Inc. | Sonar | United States |
| DeepSeek | DeepSeek V3 / R1 | China |
The following are used only if you choose to connect them, and only for the action you request (importing references or attaching files). They act on your authorization and are governed by their own terms: Zotero, Mendeley (Elsevier), Google Drive (Google), Microsoft OneDrive (Microsoft), and Dropbox. The word-synonyms feature sends only the single word you select to a public dictionary API (Datamuse) from your browser; it does not send your document.
We may update this list as our providers change, and will reflect changes here. Institutional customers who need a data processing agreement can request one at legal@collab-writer.com.
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