In short: Ewald runs on your computer and your research data stays there. The app has no telemetry. Data leaves your machine only when you ask for it: conversation text to the AI provider you chose (under your own API key), and search terms to structure databases you switch on. Without an API key, no conversation data leaves at all. This website sets no cookies and uses no analytics.
Who we are
Ewald is developed by Rajdeep Boral ("we", "us"). For any privacy question or request, email rajdeepboral160101@gmail.com.
The Ewald desktop app
- Your research data stays local. Structures, measurements, input and output files, project history and settings are stored on your computer. We never receive them.
- AI provider. When you ask Ewald something, the text of your conversation and the results of the tools it runs (for example a summary of a structure or a fit) are sent directly from your computer to the AI provider you configured (such as Anthropic or OpenAI) using your own API key. That provider processes the data under its own terms and privacy policy, which you accept when you create your key. We do not see this traffic.
- Without an API key every calculation still runs locally from the Tools view, and nothing is sent to an AI provider.
- API keys are stored in your operating system's keychain, not in plain files, and are only sent to the provider they belong to.
- Encryption at rest. Your conversations with the assistant are stored encrypted (AES-256-GCM) with a key kept in your operating system's credential store.
- Connectors (off by default). If you switch on the structure-database connector, the search terms and entry ids you request (for example "LiCoO2") are sent to the databases you selected, such as the Materials Project or the Crystallography Open Database, under their own terms. No files are sent.
- Plugins and other AI apps. Plugins you enable run on your computer and cannot reach the network. If you connect another AI application to Ewald through the Model Context Protocol, that application's own privacy terms apply to what it sends to its provider.
- No telemetry. The app does not collect usage statistics, crash reports or analytics. An egress guard blocks outbound connections other than the AI provider's API, the databases of connectors you switch on, and any hosts you explicitly add.
- Your cluster. If you use Ewald to prepare or submit jobs to your own HPC cluster, that happens with your credentials and under your institution's rules.
This website
- The site sets no cookies, uses no analytics and loads no third-party scripts, fonts or trackers.
- Our hosting provider (Vercel) processes standard technical data, such as IP addresses and request logs, to deliver the site and protect it from abuse. See Vercel's privacy policy for details.
When you contact us or apply for the beta
If you email us (including through the beta application template), we receive what you write and your email address. We use it only to reply, to onboard you and to support you during the beta. We don't sell or share it with third parties, and we delete it on request. If you give feedback during the beta, we may use it to improve Ewald; we will only quote you or name your group publicly with your permission.
Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR in the EU and UK, or India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act), you may have the right to access, correct, delete or export the personal data we hold about you, and to object to its use. Email us and we will respond within 30 days.
Children
Ewald is a professional research tool and is not intended for children under 16.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the date above and, for significant changes, tell beta users by email.