BabelBrain Privacy Policy¶

Effective date: 2026-06-10.
Applies to: the BabelBrain desktop application (macOS, Windows, Linux) and its installers version 0.8.2 and above.
Maintained by: NeuroFUS laboratory, University of Calgary.
Contact: samuel.pichardo@ucalgary.ca

BabelBrain is an open-source desktop application for prospective modeling of transcranial focused ultrasound. This policy explains what information the application does and does not collect.

Summary¶

• BabelBrain runs locally on your computer. The medical images, trajectories, simulation inputs and results you work with are processed on your machine and are never uploaded to us or to any third party.
• The application collects no usage information by default.
• An optional, opt-in telemetry feature lets you voluntarily share a small amount of anonymous technical information to help the project demonstrate real-world use to its academic funding agencies. It is disabled unless you explicitly turn it on, and you can change or turn it off at any time.

Information processed locally (never collected by us)¶

BabelBrain reads and writes medical imaging data (e.g. CT/MRI NIfTI files), trajectory/transform files, configuration files and simulation outputs. All of this stays on your device (or on storage you control). We do not receive, transmit, or store:

• patient, subject, or any personal/health information;
• the contents of any file you open, generate, or save;
• file names, file paths, or directory contents;
• your name, email address, or account information;
• your IP address (see "What we do not collect", below).

Optional telemetry (opt-in)¶

To help us report real-world usage to academic funders and to understand the tool's performance across hardware, BabelBrain can optionally send a small amount of anonymous technical data. This feature is off by default. The first time you run the application you are asked, once, whether you wish to participate, and you choose one of the following levels. You can review or change your choice at any time under Advanced Options → Telemetry.

Each telemetry submission is tagged with a random install identifier (a UUID generated on your machine and stored locally). This identifier lets us avoid double-counting the same installation; it is not derived from, and cannot be tied back to, you or your device's identity.

What we do not collect, even with telemetry enabled¶

• No personal, patient, or health information.
• No file contents, file names, or paths.
• No images, trajectories, or simulation results.
• No IP address. BabelBrain does not collect, transmit, or store your IP address as part of telemetry. (As with any internet request, the receiving service must momentarily handle the network connection to deliver the data; that connection metadata is not part of, or retained in, the telemetry dataset.)

Example of collected data¶

The table below shows an example of the data submitted with telemetry level L4 for one session (download as CSV). Each row is one event: install_id is the random install identifier, session_date the start of the session, time the seconds elapsed since the application started, and event the reported information.

How telemetry is transmitted and stored¶

When telemetry is enabled, the selected data is sent over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection to a data-collection form hosted by Google (Google Forms), which acts as our data processor for storing the responses. We use the collected, aggregated data solely to:

• demonstrate adoption and real-world usage to our funding agencies;
• understand and improve the application's performance and reliability.

We do not sell telemetry data, use it for advertising, or attempt to re-identify contributors. Google's handling of the underlying form infrastructure is governed by Google's Privacy Policy (https://policies.google.com/privacy).

Legal basis and your control¶

• Participation is voluntary and consent-based (opt-in). No telemetry is sent unless you select a level above L0.
• You can change or withdraw your choice at any time in Advanced Options → Telemetry by selecting "L0 — No telemetry".
• Because the data is anonymous and tied only to a random install identifier, we generally cannot locate or delete an individual past submission. If you have a specific concern, contact us at the address above and we will assist where we are able.

Crash and error reports¶

Error information included in telemetry (L1 and above) consists of technical diagnostic messages about failures in the application. We make reasonable efforts to avoid including any personal or file-specific information in these reports.

Changes to this policy¶

We may update this policy as the application evolves (for example, if the telemetry mechanism or the data categories change). Material changes will be reflected in this document, with an updated "Effective date." The current version is always available in the project's source repository.

Contact¶

Questions about this policy or about BabelBrain's data practices can be sent to samuel.pichardo@ucalgary.ca.