Noodle privacy policy

Who operates Noodle

Noodle is operated by Helena Bioinformatics EOOD. This notice covers the Noodle website and Android app, including research browsing, Community and your personal space. Contact contact@helena.bio about privacy or your data. Updated 10 September 2026.

Research browsing

You can browse public research and discussions without signing in. Search text and scientific or publication identifiers are sent to our services to retrieve results and related publications. Do not enter patient identifiers, confidential clinical records or sensitive personal information. Public scientific records are distinct from your account information.

Account and profile

Helena Account provides sign-in and shared profile management. Noodle uses your account identifier and available profile information, including name, email and photo, to authenticate you and display your profile. Password entry takes place in Helena Account, not in Noodle. Android stores session credentials in encrypted native storage; the website uses a protected session cookie. Signing out of Noodle does not delete your account or sign you out of every Helena product.

Community and personal data

We process your Community profile, posts, comments, votes, follows, saved items, drafts, Inbox, notification preferences, reports, blocks, mutes and moderation or appeal records to provide these features and protect the community. Public profiles, posts and comments can be read by others and indexed by search engines. Saved items, private drafts, Inbox messages and personal safety preferences are not public lists. Authorized moderators and support staff may access relevant information to investigate reports or resolve requests. Do not publish private information about yourself or others.

Android notifications

If you enable push notifications, Noodle registers a device delivery token associated with your account. Google Firebase Cloud Messaging processes the token and delivery information to deliver notifications. You can turn notifications off in Noodle or Android settings. Notifications may appear on your lock screen depending on your settings. Turning them off in Noodle or signing out requests removal of the messaging token and Firebase installation identifier. Failed requests are retried when you return to or reopen the app. Google may retain associated live and backup data for up to 180 days after the installation deletion request. Offline devices remain pending until they reconnect; changing Android notification settings alone does not request provider deletion. Turning notifications off or uninstalling the app does not delete your account or content.

Providers and security

Hosting, identity, infrastructure and notification providers process information needed to operate the service, including network connection information and operational logs. Website hosting uses Vercel; Android push delivery uses Google Firebase. Connections to Noodle services use HTTPS. External publication links and Helena Account open services with their own privacy information. No security measure guarantees absolute protection.

Analytics and your choice

The website separates identifier-free service counters from optional Google Analytics. Google Analytics remains off until you choose “Allow analytics”; “Necessary only” keeps it off. This choice is stored in your browser. Clearing site data resets the choice. The bundled Android app does not load the website's optional Google Analytics integration.

Service counters cover coarse page families, search outcomes and speed buckets, result-count buckets, broad click categories, filters, pagination and graph actions. They do not count unique people. Search text, publication and scientific identifiers, titles, author names, raw dynamic paths, IP addresses, referrers, user agents and fingerprints are not sent as Noodle product-event fields. This does not mean that network providers never process an IP address or that the search service does not receive your query.

Retention and your choices

Account and Community information is stored to provide your account and the features you use. Removing content from public view is not necessarily immediate erasure of revisions, moderation records or backups. Dedicated Noodle Community database backups are retained for 30 days, with expiry checked hourly. Before restored backups are used to serve Noodle again, deletion requests must be reapplied and verified. We retain minimal deletion records to prevent erased data from returning after recovery. Your shared Helena Account records remain when you request Noodle-only deletion. Security, abuse-prevention and legally required records may need to be retained separately. Contact us to request access, correction or deletion and to ask about retention applicable to your information. We will explain any information that must be retained and the reason when responding to your request.

Delete your Noodle account and data

You can request deletion without signing in or reinstalling the app. Email contact@helena.bio with the subject “Noodle account and data deletion request”. Use your account email where possible and include your public Community handle if you have one. Never send passwords, verification codes or identity documents in the initial request.

State whether you want your Noodle profile and associated data deleted, particular data deleted, or your shared Helena Account closed as well. Closing the shared account can affect other Helena products. We may verify account control before processing your request. Sending the email starts a support-assisted request; it does not immediately delete anything.

The request can cover your profile, posts, comments, drafts, saved items, follows, votes, Inbox and push registrations. Support will confirm the scope, explain retention exceptions and notify you of the outcome. Independent copies held by others or search engines are outside our direct control. Full deletion instructions.

Research, not medical care

Noodle provides research and educational information. It is not a medical device and does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent medical conditions. Consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.