AdmonTracker · University of Haifa Study 385/23

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 22 September 2026

1. Operator, study, and contact

AdmonTracker is operated for University of Haifa Study 385/23 by Prof. Roee Admon’s Stress & Psychopathology Lab, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa. The study examines the effect of sleep patterns on the association between childhood experiences and emotional responses to different situations. Questions about privacy, participation, withdrawal, or deletion may be sent to radmon@psy.haifa.ac.il or +972-4-824-0964. Include only the study or watch code; do not email passwords, access tokens, or health measurements.

2. Who and what this policy covers

This policy covers invited adult research participants, authorized University research personnel, and visitors to the synthetic guest demonstration. Participation is voluntary. The ethics-approved consent and Google Health addendum apply together with this policy.

3. Google user data and other information accessed

For staff authentication, AdmonTracker processes the Google OpenID account identifier, name, email address, authentication status, assigned role, project, and session information.

For Google Health participants, the connection uses only the Google account designated for the study (the demo account), not a personal Google account. After affirmative authorization, AdmonTracker requests read-only access to heart rate, steps, sleep data, physical activity, and respiratory rate, depending on device availability and the permissions approved by the participant. It cannot change or delete information in the demo account. For operations and quality control, the study also collects the assigned watch's model, battery level and status, and last synchronization time to identify charging or synchronization problems and check data completeness. Fitbit data is collected only where the applicable approved participant documents authorize it.

AdmonTracker also processes pseudonymous study and watch codes, provider and scope selection, authorization status, token expiry, protected OAuth tokens, collection and audit logs, device status, support records, and ordinary website security information such as timestamps, browser details, session cookies, IP address, and diagnostic logs.

4. How information is used

Google Health information is used only for Study 385/23 and the quality checks needed to conduct it. It is not used for diagnosis, treatment, medical decisions, or emergency monitoring, and will not be used for a new study or another purpose without separate consent unless the Ethics Committee approves an exception.

AdmonTracker does not sell the information or use it for advertising, marketing, credit, employment, insurance, training general artificial-intelligence models, or any purpose unrelated to this study. Published research results are summaries that do not contain names or information that identifies an individual participant.

5. Google API Limited Use

AdmonTracker’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Use of Google Health information adheres to the Google Health API Developer and User Data Policy and the Google Health API User Data and Health Research Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

6. Storage and protection

Google Health data is stored under a study code without a name or direct identifier. The link between the code and identity is stored separately in a protected University of Haifa system. While that link exists, the data is coded and not fully anonymous. Only authorized University of Haifa research-team members may access research data. Access to the identity link is limited to the Principal Investigator, laboratory head, and authorized programmer.

Secure University, Google, and Heroku services provide technical infrastructure. Operational metadata is held in Google Cloud Firestore with an access-controlled Google Sheets recovery copy. Wearable archives are held in a restricted University Google Workspace Shared Drive, and OAuth secrets and tokens are held in Google Secret Manager. Data is transferred over encrypted connections and protected by role-based access controls, restricted service accounts, secret management, OAuth expiry and replay controls, and audit records.

7. Sharing and disclosure

Information about an individual participant is not shared outside the research team without new explicit consent and any required approvals. Google and Heroku process data only as technical infrastructure providers for the approved service. Information may be disclosed where the law requires it or to address a security incident. Google user data is not transferred for advertising, resale, data brokerage, credit decisions, or unrelated AI or machine-learning training.

8. Retention, withdrawal, and deletion

Google Health data is collected for one month after the connection is activated. Collection stops when that month ends, on disconnection, or on withdrawal, whichever occurs first. Measurement data is retained during that collection month and for one additional month for processing and quality checks. No later than one month after measurement ends, Google Health data and the identity link are permanently deleted. The application authorization is canceled at collection end, disconnection, or withdrawal, whichever occurs first. Signed consent and administrative records that do not contain measurements are retained according to University and research requirements.

Participants may refuse, disconnect, or withdraw at any time without penalty or loss of benefits. Contact radmon@psy.haifa.ac.il or +972-4-824-0964 and provide the study or watch code. On withdrawal, collection stops immediately and authorization in the assigned demo account is canceled. All collected data is permanently deleted unless the participant gives separate, explicit consent at that time to keep it. Summary results already published cannot be removed from an existing publication.

9. Guest demonstration and changes

The public guest demonstration contains fictional examples only and does not access production participant records or external research services. This policy is updated when the service, approved protocol, providers, or requirements change. Material changes affecting participation follow the applicable ethics-review and participant-consent process.