Privacy Policy

CampusConnect ("we", "our", or "us") is a student collaboration platform that helps students find teammates, build skill-based profiles, and communicate with peers for hackathons, college projects, research, and startups. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use and store it, how it is shared with other users, and the choices and rights available to you. By creating an account or otherwise using CampusConnect, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following categories of information:

• Account information: When you sign in with Google through Firebase Authentication, we receive your name, email address, and profile photo from your Google account.
• Profile information: Information you choose to add to your profile, including your college, branch, academic year, a short bio, skills, interests, and project descriptions.
• Messages and files: The content of direct messages and team chat messages you send, including any files or images you upload to share with other users.
• Connection data: Records of connection requests you send, receive, accept, or decline, and the resulting list of your connections.
• Presence data: Your online/offline status and the timestamp of your last activity ("last seen"), used to show other users when you were last active.
• Notification data: Records of in-app notifications generated for you, such as new connection requests and accepted connections.
• Local device data: Limited information stored in your browser's local storage, described in Section 8.
• Usage information: Basic information about how you interact with CampusConnect, such as which sections you visit and actions you take (for example, sending a connection request or posting in a team chat).

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information described above to:

• Create and maintain your account, and authenticate you when you sign in.
• Display your profile to other registered users so they can discover and connect with you.
• Enable connection requests, team formation, and real-time messaging between users.
• Show presence indicators (online/offline) and "last seen" information to your connections.
• Generate and deliver in-app notifications for connection requests, accepted connections, and team activity.
• Send occasional transactional emails — for example, a one-time welcome email when you first sign up — using a third-party email delivery service. We send these emails using only your name and email address, and they are not used for marketing.
• Maintain and improve the reliability, performance, and security of the platform.
• Respond to support requests, bug reports, or account deletion requests.

We do not sell your personal information to any third party, and we do not use your profile, messages, or connection data to serve advertisements.

3. Firebase Services & International Data Transfers

CampusConnect is built on Google Firebase. We use Firebase Authentication to manage sign-in with Google, and Cloud Firestore as our real-time database to store profile information, messages, connections, notifications, and presence data. Some uploaded files shared in team chats are stored using a separate cloud storage provider (Supabase Storage).

These providers operate global data infrastructure, which means your information may be processed and stored on servers located outside your home country. By using CampusConnect, you consent to this transfer and processing, which is necessary to provide the real-time features of the platform. These providers maintain their own security and compliance programs; you can read more in Firebase's privacy and security documentation.

4. Profile Visibility

Your profile — including your name, photo, college, branch, academic year, bio, skills, interests, and project descriptions — is visible to all registered, signed-in users of CampusConnect. This is intentional: the platform exists so students can discover and connect with each other based on shared skills and interests.

Please be thoughtful about what you add to your public profile. We strongly recommend that you do not include sensitive personal details such as phone numbers, home addresses, financial information, or government identification numbers anywhere on CampusConnect.

5. Real-Time Messaging & Files

CampusConnect provides real-time direct messaging between connected users and team chat for members of the same team. Message content, delivery and "seen" status, and timestamps are stored in Firestore so your conversation history is available across sessions and devices.

Files or images you upload in a team chat are stored with our cloud storage provider and are accessible to other members of that team. Please do not share confidential, sensitive, or copyrighted material through the platform. We do not read the content of your private messages except where necessary to investigate a reported violation of our platform guidelines.

6. Connection Requests & Notifications

When you send a connection request, a record is created containing the sender, recipient, and status (pending, accepted, or declined) of that request. Accepted connections determine who you can message directly. Both sending and responding to a connection request generate an in-app notification for the relevant user, stored in Firestore and shown to you the next time you use CampusConnect.

7. Online Status & Last Seen

While you are signed in and have CampusConnect open, your account is marked as "online" in Firestore and a "last seen" timestamp is periodically updated. When you close the app, sign out, or become inactive, your status updates to "offline" and your last-seen timestamp reflects your most recent activity. This information is visible to your connections (for example, as a green dot next to your name and a "last seen" label in chat) so they know when you may be available to respond.

8. Local Storage & Browser Data

CampusConnect uses your browser's local storage — not cookies — to improve performance and your experience. Specifically, we store:

• Your dark mode / light mode preference, so the correct theme loads instantly the next time you visit.
• A cached copy of your basic sign-in details (name, photo, and user ID) so the app can render your account state quickly while it reconnects to Firebase.
• Cached copies of your connections and recent messages, used to display content faster while live data loads from Firestore.

This data is stored only on your own device, is used solely to make the app load and feel faster, and is cleared if you clear your browser data or use a different browser or device. It is not transmitted to advertisers.

9. Cookies and Advertising

CampusConnect may use cookies and similar technologies, including in connection with Google AdSense, to display advertisements on certain pages of the site.

• Google and its advertising partners may use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites, and to measure ad performance.
• Some ads may be personalized based on your browsing activity, while others may be non-personalized, depending on your settings and applicable law.
• You can manage how Google personalizes ads, or opt out of personalized advertising entirely, through Google Ads Settings.
• You can learn more about how Google uses information from sites that use its services at Google's Privacy Policy.

Advertising cookies are managed by Google and our advertising partners, not directly by CampusConnect, and are separate from the local storage usage described in Section 8.

10. Authentication & Login

CampusConnect uses Firebase Authentication with Google Sign-In to manage your account. When you log in with Google, we receive your basic account information (name, email, and profile photo) from Google. We do not see, store, or have access to your Google password. Most features of CampusConnect — including profiles, messaging, connections, and teams — require a signed-in account and are not available to anonymous visitors.

11. Data Security

We rely on the security infrastructure provided by Firebase and our cloud storage provider, including encryption in transit and access-control rules that govern which data each signed-in user can read or write. However, no internet-based platform can guarantee absolute security. We encourage you to use a strong, unique password for your Google account, enable two-factor authentication where possible, and sign out of CampusConnect when using a shared or public device.

12. Your Rights: Access, Correction & Deletion

You have the following rights regarding your information:

• Access and correction: You can view and edit most of your profile information (bio, skills, interests, branch, year, college, projects) directly within your CampusConnect profile at any time.
• Data export or copy: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you by emailing us at the address in Section 17.
• Deletion: You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time, as described in Section 13.
• Withdrawal of consent: You may stop using CampusConnect and sign out at any time. Signing out does not delete your account or stored data — to remove your data, please use the account deletion process below.

13. Account Deletion & Data Removal

To delete your CampusConnect account and associated data, send a request to campusconnect.quest@gmail.com from the email address linked to your account. Once verified, we will delete your profile information, messages, connections, presence data, and uploaded files associated with your account from our active systems within a reasonable timeframe.

Please note that messages you sent to other users may remain visible to those users as part of their conversation history, and that some data may persist in backups for a limited period before being permanently removed.

14. Children's Privacy

CampusConnect is intended for users who are at least 13 years old, or the minimum age required to use online services with parental consent in your jurisdiction, whichever is higher. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children below this age. If you believe a child below the applicable age has created an account or provided us with personal information, please contact us at campusconnect.quest@gmail.com so we can review and, if appropriate, delete that information.

If you are a student under 18, we encourage you to be especially cautious about the information you share publicly on your profile and in conversations, including with people you have not met in person.

15. Future Features

CampusConnect is an evolving platform. Future updates may include enhanced team collaboration tools, public project showcases, additional skill-based discovery options, event listings, and new communication features. If a future feature involves new data practices, we will update this Privacy Policy and, where appropriate, notify users in-app before the change takes effect.

We may also introduce content moderation tools to help keep the platform safe, which could involve review of flagged messages, posts, or profile content by our team.

16. Disclaimer

CampusConnect is a student-built networking and collaboration platform intended to help students find teammates and connect with peers. You are solely responsible for the information you choose to publish on your profile, in messages, and in team chats. While we provide tools to report violations of our platform guidelines, CampusConnect cannot guarantee, monitor, or control the conduct, identity claims, or behaviour of other users, and we are not liable for interactions between users that occur on or off the platform.

17. Third-Party Links

CampusConnect may contain links to external websites or resources, including links shared by other users in messages or profiles. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those third-party sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any external site you visit.

18. Policy Updates

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the features of CampusConnect, or for legal reasons. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of CampusConnect after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

19. Contact

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data — including access, correction, or deletion requests — please reach out to us: