Ethics & Privacy FAQ
Who owns the writing history?
You do. Our terms of service are explicit: you own what you write and the TWFF files it produces. We don't claim any rights over your documents or exported sessions, and you can export or delete them at any time.
Can universities access it without permission?
No. Your teacher sees your work the same way they always could; that's not new. Beyond that, an institution can't reach into your data remotely. A researcher only ever sees pseudonymized, cohort-level patterns, and only if your class separately agreed to the research layer.
Can Colophon secretly monitor writing?
No. The extension only logs when you explicitly start a session, and a visible indicator in the extension's UI shows when logging is active, so you can check for yourself at any time.
Can the extension be turned off?
Yes. You can stop the session, disable the extension, or uninstall it at any time. Nothing is retained after uninstallation unless you'd already chosen to export it.
What data leaves the computer?
By default, nothing. If you choose to export a .twff file and submit it, only that file leaves your device. There's no automatic or background transmission anywhere in the extension.
Can researchers access the data?
Only if your class explicitly opted into the research layer, and even then only pseudonymized, cohort-level data, never a named student's document. See Consent for exactly how that choice works, and Privacy architecture for how pseudonymization works.