Italiano · English · Deutsch · Español · 中文 · 日本語 · Русский · العربية
Legal notice, privacy and cookies
Last updated: 18 October 2026
Legal notice
Site owner and author of Gradus: overminder
Contact: overm.ai.nder@proton.me
Gradus is a free, non-profit personal project, with no advertising and no paid services. This site presents the app and lets you download it.
Hosting: the site and the downloadable files are hosted by Vercel Inc., 440 N Barranca Ave #4133, Covina, CA 91723, USA.
Intellectual property: © 2026 overminder. Texts, graphics, logo, manuals and the Gradus app belong to the author; you may download and use the app free of charge and share links to this site. The trademarks mentioned (for example macOS, Windows, Linux, Microsoft Word, Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Claude, Groq, DeepL, LanguageTool, Zotero, Vercel) belong to their respective owners; Gradus is not affiliated with or sponsored by them or by any university.
App licence: Gradus is distributed under the PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0, described in the Licence section.
Privacy
This notice explains which personal data the site and the Gradus app process, under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR).
Data controller
overminder — overm.ai.nder@proton.me
Data processed by the site
- Technical browsing data. When you visit the site or download a file, the hosting provider (Vercel Inc., 440 N Barranca Ave #4133, Covina, CA 91723, USA) automatically records in its logs data such as IP address, date and time, requested page and browser type, to run the service and protect it from abuse. Legal basis: legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Logs are kept for a limited period under Vercel’s rules. Vercel may also process data in the United States, with the required safeguards (EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses).
- Download counter. For each downloaded file a number is increased by one. No IP addresses, identifiers or other data about you are stored; the counter is kept in a database of the Upstash service connected to Vercel.
- E-mail. If you write to the contact address, the data you send (address and message content) are used only to reply and are deleted when no longer needed. Legal basis: your request (Art. 6(1)(b)) and legitimate interest in replying.
- Contact form. If you use the form on the Contact page, your email address, reason, subject, message and any attachment (3 MB maximum) are sent to the author by email through the Resend service (Resend Inc., USA, under standard contractual clauses) and are used only to reply to you. The site does not store them in any database, does not record them in its own logs, does not add them to any list and uses no cookies or tracking tools; the message stays in the author’s mailbox for as long as needed to handle your request. Legal basis: your request (Art. 6(1)(b)) and the legitimate interest in replying (Art. 6(1)(f)).
The site does not use cookies, advertising, analytics, social buttons or profiling tools. Fonts are hosted on the site itself: your browser does not connect to Google or other external services to display them.
Data in the Gradus app
- Your thesis, images, notes and statistics stay on your computer, in the
.gradusfile you choose. The app sends no telemetry and has no accounts. - Some features use external services only when you enable or use them: translation (MyMemory, DeepL, Microsoft, Google), proofreading (LanguageTool), synonyms (Wiktionary), free images (Openverse), source data (Crossref, Open Library), artificial intelligence (for example Claude, Google Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, Mistral, OpenAI, Ollama on your computer), voice and transcription (system voices, Groq, OpenAI). Only the text, audio or query needed is sent to these services; their processing follows the privacy policies of the respective providers, chosen and configured by you.
- Service keys are stored only on your computer (the app’s settings file) and never end up in the thesis file.
- The microphone is used only when you start dictation, the quiz or the defence rehearsal; recorded audio is not saved by the app.
Your rights
You can request access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection and portability of your data (Arts. 15–22 GDPR) by writing to overm.ai.nder@proton.me. You can also lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority of your country (in Italy the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, garanteprivacy.it).
Disclaimer
- Software provided “as is”. Gradus is free and provided without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including error-free operation, fitness for a particular purpose or absence of data loss. To the extent permitted by law, the author is not liable for direct or indirect damages arising from the use of, or inability to use, the app or the site. Always keep backups of your thesis.
- Your thesis is yours. Content, citations, sources, compliance with your university’s rules (including those on the use of artificial intelligence), originality and copyright remain your responsibility. Gradus does not guarantee acceptance of your thesis or any exam result.
- Automatic translations, corrections, suggestions and transcriptions may contain errors: always check the result before submitting.
- Voice analysis. The uncertainty index and the defence-rehearsal measurements are automatic, indicative estimates meant for practice; they are not a psychological, medical or academic assessment.
- Images and licences. Gradus shows the licence stated by the source, but the final check of licences and attributions is up to you.
- Third-party services. Availability, limits, costs and terms of external services (translation, AI, voice, search) depend on their providers; any costs of paid keys are borne by you.
- Installation. The installers are not signed with paid certificates: on first launch macOS and Windows may show a warning (instructions in the manual). Download Gradus only from this site.
- External links. The site and the app contain links to third-party sites, whose content the author does not control and is not responsible for.
Licence
Gradus (the app, its source code and installers) is distributed under the PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0. In short:
- ✓ you may download and use Gradus free of charge for any noncommercial purpose: study, research, theses, personal use and hobbies;
- ✓ schools, universities, research bodies, public institutions and nonprofit organisations may use it too;
- ✗ commercial use is not permitted (for example paid thesis writing or formatting services);
- ✗ redistributing Gradus or its installers is not permitted: share the link to this site instead;
- ✗ modifying the software or creating derivative works is not permitted.
Your fair use rights under the law are not limited. Third-party libraries included in the app keep their own open-source licences; dictionaries you download in Gradus carry the licence stated by their source. For uses beyond those permitted, write to the author from the Contact page.
The official English text below and at polyformproject.org/licenses/strict/1.0.0 is the binding version.
Official licence text
PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0
https://polyformproject.org/licenses/strict/1.0.0
Acceptance
In order to get any license under these terms, you must agree to them as both strict obligations and conditions to all your licenses.
Copyright License
The licensor grants you a copyright license for the software to do everything you might do with the software that would otherwise infringe the licensor's copyright in it for any permitted purpose, other than distributing the software or making changes or new works based on the software.
Patent License
The licensor grants you a patent license for the software that covers patent claims the licensor can license, or becomes able to license, that you would infringe by using the software.
Noncommercial Purposes
Any noncommercial purpose is a permitted purpose.
Personal Uses
Personal use for research, experiment, and testing for the benefit of public knowledge, personal study, private entertainment, hobby projects, amateur pursuits, or religious observance, without any anticipated commercial application, is use for a permitted purpose.
Noncommercial Organizations
Use by any charitable organization, educational institution, public research organization, public safety or health organization, environmental protection organization, or government institution is use for a permitted purpose regardless of the source of funding or obligations resulting from the funding.
Fair Use
You may have "fair use" rights for the software under the law. These terms do not limit them.
No Other Rights
These terms do not allow you to sublicense or transfer any of your licenses to anyone else, or prevent the licensor from granting licenses to anyone else. These terms do not imply any other licenses.
Patent Defense
If you make any written claim that the software infringes or contributes to infringement of any patent, your patent license for the software granted under these terms ends immediately. If your company makes such a claim, your patent license ends immediately for work on behalf of your company.
Violations
The first time you are notified in writing that you have violated any of these terms, or done anything with the software not covered by your licenses, your licenses can nonetheless continue if you come into full compliance with these terms, and take practical steps to correct past violations, within 32 days of receiving notice. Otherwise, all your licenses end immediately.
No Liability
As far as the law allows, the software comes as is, without any warranty or condition, and the licensor will not be liable to you for any damages arising out of these terms or the use or nature of the software, under any kind of legal claim.
Definitions
The licensor is the individual or entity offering these terms, and the software is the software the licensor makes available under these terms.
You refers to the individual or entity agreeing to these terms.
Your company is any legal entity, sole proprietorship, or other kind of organization that you work for, plus all organizations that have control over, are under the control of, or are under common control with that organization. Control means ownership of substantially all the assets of an entity, or the power to direct its management and policies by vote, contract, or otherwise. Control can be direct or indirect.
Your licenses are all the licenses granted to you for the software under these terms.
Use means anything you do with the software requiring one of your licenses.
Contact
overminder
E-mail: overm.ai.nder@proton.me
Write to this address for reports, privacy questions or requests about your data.
The easiest way to write to the author is the contact form, where you can choose a reason and attach a screenshot or a PDF.