Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of information:

Account Information

• Email address and name — collected during account registration through our authentication provider, Clerk.
• Bar admission and attorney identifiers — if you choose to provide them in your profile.

PACER / CM/ECF Credentials

• PACER username and password — provided by you to enable electronic filing through the CM/ECF system. These credentials are encrypted at rest and are never displayed in plaintext after initial entry. See Section 2 for details.

Filing Data

• PDF documents you upload for filing, including main documents and attachments.
• Case information — case numbers, court identifiers, party names, and event codes associated with your filings.
• AI-generated metadata — docket text suggestions, event code predictions, and document analysis results produced by our AI systems during the filing workflow.
• Filing history — records of filings submitted through the Service, including timestamps, courts, and status.

Usage Information

• Anonymous page-view and performance metrics collected through Vercel Analytics and Speed Insights (see Section 6).
• Browser type, operating system, and screen resolution for compatibility purposes.

2. PACER Credential Storage

Your PACER credentials are among the most sensitive data we handle. We apply the following safeguards:

• Credentials are encrypted at rest using AES-256 encryption. The encryption key is stored separately from the encrypted credential data and is not accessible to application code outside the filing execution path.
• Credentials are decrypted only at the moment of filing — specifically, when an authenticated session with CM/ECF is required to submit your document. Decryption occurs in an isolated process and the plaintext credentials are not logged, cached, or written to disk.
• We do not store your PACER credentials in browser cookies, local storage, or any client-side mechanism.
• PACER passwords are never displayed in the ECFiler interface after initial entry. You may update or remove your stored credentials at any time from your account settings.
• All communication between ECFiler and the CM/ECF system occurs over TLS 1.2 or higher.

3. Filing Document Retention

Documents you upload to ECFiler are stored on a per-user basis and are accessible only to your account. Our retention practices are as follows:

• Active documents (filed within the last 30 days) are stored in their original form to support your filing history and any resubmission needs.
• After 30 days, documents are compressed and moved to archival storage. Compressed documents remain accessible through your filing history but may take slightly longer to retrieve.
• You may delete individual documents or your entire filing history at any time from your account settings.
• If you delete your account, all associated documents are permanently deleted within 30 days (see Section 11).

4. Sealed Documents

5. Authentication

ECFiler uses Clerk as our authentication and user-management provider. When you sign up or sign in, Clerk processes your email address, name, and authentication tokens. Clerk may also collect device and browser information for security purposes (e.g., detecting suspicious login attempts). ECFiler does not store your password for your ECFiler account — that is managed entirely by Clerk. Please review Clerk's Privacy Policy for full details on their data practices.

6. Analytics & Performance

We use Vercel Analytics and Vercel Speed Insights to collect anonymous, aggregated usage metrics. These tools help us understand page performance, load times, and general usage patterns. Specifically:

• Vercel Analytics collects anonymous page-view data. It does not use cookies and does not track individual users across sessions.
• Vercel Speed Insights measures real-user performance metrics (e.g., page load time, time to interactive) to help us optimize the application.
• Neither tool collects personally identifiable information, filing content, case data, or PACER credentials.

We do not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or any advertising-related tracking on the Service.

7. Infrastructure & Data Storage

ECFiler's infrastructure is hosted by two providers:

• Vercel — hosts the frontend application (the website and user interface you interact with). Vercel operates data centers in the United States and complies with SOC 2 Type II standards.
• Railway — hosts the backend API server, database, and document storage. Railway infrastructure is provisioned in U.S.-based data centers.

All data transmitted between your browser and ECFiler, and between ECFiler and CM/ECF, is encrypted in transit using TLS 1.2 or higher. Data at rest is encrypted using AES-256 (see Section 2 for credential-specific details).

8. Third-Party Data Sharing

9. Your Data Rights

Regardless of your location, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate personal data.
• Delete your account and all associated data (see Section 11).
• Export your filing history in a machine-readable format.
• Withdraw consent for optional data processing (e.g., analytics) at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@ecfiler.com. We will respond within 30 days.

10. California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) provides you with additional rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to know — you may request a detailed disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you in the preceding 12 months.
• Right to delete — you may request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions (e.g., data required for completing a transaction you initiated).
• Right to non-discrimination — we will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights. You will not receive different pricing or service levels.
• No sale of personal information — ECFiler does not sell personal information as defined under the CCPA. We have not sold personal information in the preceding 12 months.

To submit a CCPA request, email privacy@ecfiler.com with the subject line "CCPA Request." We will verify your identity before processing your request and respond within 45 days as required by law.

11. Account & Data Deletion

You may delete your ECFiler account at any time from your account settings page. Upon account deletion:

• Your PACER credentials are immediately and permanently deleted.
• Your filing history, uploaded documents, and all associated metadata are queued for permanent deletion and will be purged within 30 calendar days.
• Your Clerk authentication account is deleted, removing your email and login data from our authentication provider.
• Anonymous, aggregated analytics data (which cannot be linked back to you) may be retained.

If you need assistance with account deletion, contact privacy@ecfiler.com.

12. Children's Privacy

ECFiler is intended for use by licensed attorneys and legal professionals. We do not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under the age of 18. If we learn that we have collected information from a minor, we will promptly delete it.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email (using the address associated with your account) or by posting a prominent notice within the Service at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

14. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, contact us at: