Questions
Where the answer is no, or not yet, it says so. If something here is not covered, email us and we will answer properly.
- Is this not what Zenodo does?
- No, and if your data can be open you should use Zenodo — it is free, well funded and permanent. Zenodo publishes what you deposit. Emperix is for data you cannot publish: consented human data, restricted industrial data, anything governed by an agreement. The two solve different problems and we would rather you used the right one.
- Do you mint DOIs?
- Not yet. DOIs require membership of a registration agency and we have not taken that step. Datasets are versioned and have stable addresses, so the groundwork is there, but we are not going to describe anything as citable until it genuinely is.
- What does it cost?
- Nothing at the moment. There is no payment system in Emperix, so nothing can be charged even if we wanted to. Pricing will be settled openly and in advance of any change; we are not going to charge people who deposited on the understanding that it was free.
- Who can see my data?
- For controlled datasets: you, whoever you have approved, and nobody else. The description and terms are public so people can tell whether to apply. The data is stored where it cannot be read directly — every download is a short-lived link issued only after your grant has been checked. Emperix staff do not browse deposited data.
- What if a participant withdraws consent?
- Withdraw the access. It takes effect at the next download attempt rather than at some later sync, and the file stops being reachable. Anyone who already downloaded a copy has a copy — no platform can recall that, and any platform claiming otherwise is misleading you. What Emperix can tell you is exactly who that was, when, and what they agreed to.
- Is my data used to train AI models?
- No. Emperix does not train models and does not give deposited data to anyone who does. The application includes an assistant that can answer questions about a dataset you are working with; when you use it, the text of your question is sent to Google's Gemini service to be answered. That feature is not currently switched on. If you never use it, nothing leaves.
- What happens if Emperix shuts down?
- A fair question and we will not pretend otherwise: Emperix is new, and it does not have the institutional backing that keeps Zenodo running. Your data remains yours and can be exported at any time. If we were closing, we would give notice and time to retrieve everything. We would rather say that plainly than imply a permanence we have not earned.
- Does this make me GDPR or PDPA compliant?
- No, and be wary of anything that says it does. Compliance rests with you and your institution. What Emperix provides is the record that compliance requires: the lawful basis you recorded, the terms attached, who applied, what they said they would do, who approved it, and when it ended. That is evidence, not a certificate.
- Can I sign in with my ORCID iD?
- Not yet. You can record your ORCID iD on your profile and it is published with your datasets so credit resolves to you. Signing in with ORCID needs a registration we have not completed.
- What formats can I deposit?
- Tabular data — CSV, TSV, JSON, JSONL, plain text, Parquet and Excel — up to 500 MB per file. The privacy screen and column previews work on delimited text. Other formats are not supported yet.
Still unsure whether Emperix fits your arrangement? Email [email protected].