Privacy Policy

Last updated: 31 March 2026

Short version: We collect only what's needed to study creativity. No name, no email, no account. Your IP address is hashed before storage and cannot be reversed. All data is held on EU servers and used solely for research.

1. Who we are

Diverge (diverge.website) is an independent research project that measures divergent thinking using the Divergent Association Task (DAT) algorithm. The data controller is the project author, reachable at contact@diverge.website.

2. What data we collect

When you complete the test and click Submit, we record:

Your 10 words and the resulting DAT score
Language you selected for the test
Optional demographics you provide: age range, sex, country, education level
Referrer URL (the page you came from, if any)
A one-way hash of your IP address (SHA-256) — used only to detect duplicate submissions; the raw IP is never stored
Submission timestamp

We do not collect your name, email, or any account information. We do not use cookies or tracking pixels.

3. Legal basis

We process your data on the basis of consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)). You give consent by ticking the checkbox before submitting. You may withdraw consent at any time by contacting us — we will delete your submission on request (see section 6).

4. How we use the data

Your data is used exclusively for:

Computing population-level statistics on DAT scores (mean, percentile distributions)
Academic research on creativity and divergent thinking
Improving the test (e.g. identifying language-specific issues)

We do not sell data, share it with advertisers, or use it for automated decision-making that affects you.

5. Where data is stored

All data is stored in a SQLite database on a Hetzner Cloud server located in the European Union (Germany). No data is transferred outside the EU.

6. Your rights

Under GDPR, you have the right to:

Access — request a copy of the data we hold about your submission
Erasure — request deletion of your submission
Rectification — request correction of inaccurate data
Objection — object to processing
Portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format

To exercise any of these rights, email contact@diverge.website. Because submissions are anonymous, we will need the approximate timestamp and language of your submission to locate it. We will respond within 30 days.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority.

7. Retention

We retain submissions indefinitely for longitudinal research purposes. If you withdraw consent, your specific submission is deleted within 30 days of your request.

8. Analytics

We may use Plausible Analytics, a privacy-friendly, cookieless analytics tool that does not collect personal data or use fingerprinting. If active, a notice will be added here.

9. Changes to this policy

If we make material changes, we will update the date at the top of this page. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Questions? Email contact@diverge.website.