We do not collect your data. Here is proof.
Last updated: August 2026
The short version
- →We do not collect your name, email address, or anything personal.
- →We do not require you to sign up for anything.
- →We do not sell your data to anyone.
- →Your bibliography stays in your browser. It never touches our servers.
What we collect
Almost nothing. Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs as part of running the infrastructure, which cover aggregate things like which pages get requested, from which country, and by which browser. We do not run session recording and we do not build profiles of individual visitors. We do not see who you are, just that someone visited.
When you paste a URL, DOI, or ISBN to generate a citation, that input is sent to our API to process. We use it to look up metadata and return a formatted citation. We do not store it. Once your citation is generated, we forget the request entirely.
Cookies
We use a small number of cookies and we will be straight with you about what they are for:
Google AdSense
We run ads to fund the site. Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website and to other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to show you relevant ads. You can opt out of personalized advertising at adssettings.google.com, or opt out of some third party vendors' cookies at www.aboutads.info/choices.
We do not use tracking cookies, session recording, or any cookie that would let us identify you across the web.
Third party services
A few third parties are involved in making FreeCitation work. Here is what each one does and what they receive:
Vercel
HostingOur infrastructure. Your requests pass through Vercel's edge network. Vercel's privacy policy applies to hosting data.
Google AdSense
AdsWe show ads to keep the lights on. Google and its certified ad partners use cookies to show relevant ads based on your visits to this and other sites. You can manage ad preferences at adssettings.google.com and opt out of third party ad cookies at www.aboutads.info/choices.
Crossref
DOI metadataWhen you paste a DOI, we send it to Crossref's public API to look up the citation metadata. Crossref is a nonprofit registry. They do not receive anything about you, just the DOI.
Open Library
ISBN metadataWhen you paste an ISBN, we query Open Library's public API to look up book details. Same deal: they receive the ISBN, nothing about you.
Your saved bibliography
When you generate citations, they are saved automatically so you can export your bibliography at the end. That saved list lives entirely in your browser's local storage. It never gets sent to our servers. We genuinely cannot see it.
Since we have no accounts, there is also nothing to delete on our end. Clear your browser's local storage and your bibliography is gone. That is the whole data lifecycle.
Children
FreeCitation does not knowingly collect data from anyone, including children. Because we collect no personal data at all, COPPA compliance is straightforward: there is nothing to collect.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Something unclear? Reach us at:
[email protected]