Privacy Policy

Effective date: May 11, 2026

Who we are

Searchlight is a patent information viewer operated by Searchlight Legal Technologies, Inc. (“we/us/our”). You can reach us at [email protected].

What we collect

Searchlight collects only the data needed to operate the patent viewer, optional account sign-in, hosted reports, Patent Chat, and service security. The data we do collect is described below.

Account and report access

If you sign in or access a hosted report, we collect your email address and use host-only session cookies to keep you signed in. Hosted-report activity may also record report access, sharing, and access-request events needed to operate the report workflow.

Patent Chat and AI processing

If you use Patent Chat, we collect the message you type, the patent context needed to answer it, session identifiers needed to continue the conversation, and the generated response. Patent Chat is available only to authenticated users.

Patent Chat is configured by Searchlight; users cannot choose or change the model provider. Current production Patent Chat uses Anthropic Claude. Your Patent Chat message and relevant patent context are sent from your browser to Searchlight and then to Anthropic’s Claude API for model inference.

Searchlight’s Anthropic API account is covered by zero-data-retention terms. Under those terms, Anthropic does not use Patent Chat prompts or responses to train models, does not make them available to other users, and does not retain prompts or responses after the API response except where required by law or to address misuse.

Searchlight stores Patent Chat history in your authenticated account so you can return to conversations. We do not train models on your Patent Chat content, sell it, or use it for advertising. Access to Patent Chat content is limited to what is needed to operate, secure, support, and comply with legal obligations for the service.

If you want us to delete Patent Chat content from your account, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to deletion requests consistent with our legal and operational obligations. Deletion from backups may occur only as backups expire or are overwritten.

Lawyers remain responsible for applying their own professional rules, client instructions, protective orders, and matter-specific confidentiality requirements. This policy provides technical and operational facts for that analysis; it is not legal advice.

Analytics

We use Plausible Analytics to understand how the site is used. Plausible is a privacy-respecting analytics tool that:

  • Sets no cookies
  • Collects no personal data
  • Does not store IP addresses
  • Does not track users across sites or devices

Plausible generates only aggregate statistics: page views, referral sources, browser and device type, country, and visit duration. None of this data can identify you as an individual. Plausible’s data is processed and stored in the EU. See Plausible’s data policy for details.

Feedback reports

If you submit a bug report or feedback through the site, we receive the free-text message you type and the URL you were viewing when you submitted it. You may optionally provide an email address so we can follow up, but it is not required. Feedback is stored in our database and used to improve the service.

Server logs

Our hosting infrastructure generates standard server access logs that may include IP addresses, timestamps, URLs requested, and browser user agent strings. Our ordinary access logs and application error logs are not intended to record Patent Chat prompt or response bodies. These logs are used for operational monitoring and security and are retained only as long as reasonably needed for those purposes.

What we do not collect

  • No payment or financial data
  • No advertising cookies or tracking pixels
  • No cross-site or cross-device tracking
  • No fingerprinting

Service providers

We use Plausible Analytics for aggregate usage statistics, as described above. Plausible’s data is processed in the EU. For Patent Chat, we use Anthropic as the model provider as described above. We also use third-party infrastructure providers to host and operate the service. Feedback reports may be shared with our internal service providers for operational purposes.

We do not sell, rent, or share any data with third parties for marketing or advertising purposes.

Children

Searchlight is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect any personal data from children.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with a revised effective date.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email [email protected].