Your taste is private until you choose otherwise

Last updated: November 4, 2026

1. Private-by-Default Ratings & Reading Queue

When you rate a paper or mark it as Want to read, Reading, or Read, your individual rating and reading status are stored privately under Row-Level Security (RLS). If you use henhao without signing in, your ratings are stored only in your browser's local storage and never leave your device until you sign in.

2. K-Anonymity on Community Aggregates

Public paper scores are computed only when at least 3 signed-in readers have rated a paper, and score distribution histograms require at least 5 signed-in raters, preventing anyone from inferring an individual's private rating from an aggregate score.

3. Granular Profile Visibility Controls

In Settings, you control section-by-section visibility for your public profile (whether to display your public ratings, reading collections, community tags, comments, or followed researchers). Collections can be toggled between Public and Private at any time.

4. Authentication, Institutional Verification & ORCID OAuth

We use email magic links / 6-digit verification codes, optional ORCID OAuth (to verify your 16-digit ORCID identifier and let you claim authorship on your papers), and optional Google Sign-In. We never sell user data, never run third-party advertising trackers, and never access private data in your ORCID record.