DossiersAI & Data Handling
Your record, under your control.
Where your text goes when you use AI features, and why we built it this way.
The short version. Two Dossiers features use AI: Import, which reads a CV you already have, and Generate, which drafts a statement from records you check. Both call OpenRouter with an API key you supply. Requests go directly from your Mac to OpenRouter, never through our servers. We do not see your text, your key, or your prompts. Everything else in Dossiers, including reports, previews, and exports, works without AI and without a key.
Why this matters for academic records
A scholarly record holds more than your own work. It names students you supervise, collaborators, funders, committees, and sometimes the details of a review or a leave. Sending that to a generative AI provider is a decision that deserves to be yours, made item by item, and not a default.
So in Dossiers, you decide whether AI features are used at all, and exactly which material is sent when they are. The app does not call any AI service unless you have added a key, left AI features switched on, and triggered the action yourself.
What sends data, and where
Import (Parse with OpenRouter)
Used to turn an existing CV into records you can review. When you choose to parse a document:
- Dossiers sends the contents of the document you chose (a PDF, Word, plain-text, or rich-text CV) directly from your Mac to OpenRouter, using your API key
- The model returns a list of extracted items, which you review one by one on your Mac. Nothing becomes a record, or changes one, until you confirm it
- We do not see, log, or proxy any part of this exchange
Generate (Draft with OpenRouter)
Used to draft a professional biography, a narrative CV, or a research, teaching, or service statement. When you choose to draft:
- Dossiers sends the records you checked and the instructions you wrote, and nothing else, directly from your Mac to OpenRouter, using your API key
- The draft comes back to your Mac. Dossiers checks it against the records you sent and stops you saving a draft that names a title, year, role, or organization those records do not contain
- We do not see, log, or proxy any part of this exchange
OpenRouter and the model behind it
OpenRouter is a gateway that passes each request to the model you select. By default, Dossiers uses OpenAI models through OpenRouter, and you can change the model in Settings → AI. Your request is therefore handled by OpenRouter and by the provider of the model you chose, under their terms.
OpenRouter’s handling of your data is governed by its terms of service and privacy policy. Review your OpenRouter account’s privacy settings, which affect which providers may receive your requests and whether those providers may retain or train on them, before you send anything you consider sensitive.
What does not get sent
- Records you did not check for a draft
- The files attached to your records, unless you open one of them in Import yourself
- Your profile, by itself, or the rest of your library
- Anything at all from report preview or export, which never use OpenRouter
- Any data, ever, when AI features are not actively triggered by you
Your API key
The OpenRouter key you enter is stored in your macOS Keychain on your Mac, not in your library. It is not synchronised, backed up to our servers, or transmitted anywhere except as part of the authenticated request to OpenRouter. You can remove it, or switch AI features off entirely, in Settings → AI. You can also delete it from Keychain Access.
Practical recommendations
Dossiers does not offer a model that runs on your Mac, so any AI request leaves your machine. For records that are confidential, such as details of a personnel review, a leave, or a student’s circumstances, leave them unchecked when you draft, or do not use AI features for that material. Entering records by hand and drawing reports works the same with AI switched off. The hosted options are convenient for parsing an old CV or drafting a statement from your public record, but they are not the right tool for anything you would not be comfortable having a third party process.
Changes to AI providers
If we add or remove AI providers, change the data flows, or introduce features that send different categories of data, we will update this page and (where we have your email from a purchase) email registered customers to flag the change.
Contact
James Forrest, 2727 Prince Edward St., Vancouver, BC V5T 4V8, Canada