Security & Privacy
What the app does with study files, what stays on your computer, and what to know before using it on an institution-managed device.
At a glance
Research files are processed on the computer running Research Data Merger.
No research data uploadsThe app does not send study datasets to IMPLEMON or a third-party processing service.
No AI processingResearch data is not sent to an AI model or external AI API.
Works offlineCore file review, merge, and export workflows do not require a network connection after installation.
Data processing
Research Data Merger is designed as a local desktop application. Files you add are read and processed locally for merge preparation, review, and export. The product does not require a cloud account to perform its core research-data workflow.
IMPLEMON does not receive the contents of participant rosters, surveys, SPSS/Stata files, spreadsheets, or the datasets you export through the app.
Network & offline use
The app's core data-processing features work offline. A network connection may still be used outside the app for activities such as purchasing or downloading a new installer from the IMPLEMON website. Those distribution activities are separate from processing your research files.
macOS distribution
The current Mac release is distributed outside the Mac App Store as a universal build for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. The release is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple before distribution.
Institution-managed devices
A university, hospital, laboratory, or other organization may restrict software installation even when an installer is properly signed. Your institution may require administrator privileges, allowlisting, endpoint-management approval, or a security review.
If your computer is managed by your institution, check its software policy before purchase or installation. IMPLEMON can provide the information on this page to support an internal review, but your institution decides whether an application may be installed.
Files and outputs
The app can read Excel (.xlsx), CSV, TSV, SPSS (.sav), Stata (.dta), and text-based PDF tables. Image-only/scanned PDFs are not automatically OCR'd. Exported datasets, merge records, provenance information, crosswalks, and optional filtered/de-identified/reshaped copies are saved to locations you choose on your computer.
If an export contains sensitive or identifying information, protect that file according to your own research protocol and institutional requirements.
What this page does not claim
Research Data Merger is a data-preparation tool. This page does not claim HIPAA certification, regulatory compliance, institutional approval, or that using the app alone makes a dataset anonymous. De-identification decisions depend on the fields and research context you choose.
Security review contact
If an institutional IT or research-administration team needs clarification about local processing, supported formats, distribution, or deployment, contact IMPLEMON through the contact page.