Privacy Policy

Last Updated: July 2, 2025

Welcome to StudentPal! StudentPal ("we", "our", or "us") is dedicated to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. This Privacy Policy outlines the types of information we collect, how we use it, the measures we take to safeguard it, and your rights regarding your data when you use our platform, available at studentpal.co.

By accessing or using StudentPal, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy. Please read it carefully.

1. Information We Collect

We collect various types of information to provide and improve our services to you:

• **Personal Identification Information:**
  • **Account Information:** When you register or sign in to StudentPal, we collect your Name and Email Address. This is primarily facilitated through Google Sign-In, meaning we receive this information directly from your Google account with your permission. We may also collect a Profile Photo if provided through your Google account or uploaded by you. This information is essential for creating and managing your user profile, enabling communication, and personalizing your experience on the platform.
  • **Contact Information:** If you choose to contact us directly (e.g., for support), we may collect your name, email address, and any other information you choose to provide in your communication.
• **User Activity and Interaction Data:**
  • **Usage Data:** We collect information on how you interact with our platform, including but not limited to, the listings you view, properties you mark as favorites, search queries you make, and any direct messages or communications facilitated through our platform (e.g., between students and landlords). This data helps us understand user behavior and improve the relevance and functionality of our services.
  • **Content Data:** If you create or upload content on StudentPal, such as housing listings, descriptions, images, or reviews, this content and associated metadata (e.g., upload time) will be collected and stored.
• **Device and Technical Information:**
  • **Log Data:** When you access StudentPal, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends. This may include your IP address, browser type, browser version, the pages of our service that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, and other diagnostic data.
  • **General Location Information:** We may infer your approximate general location (e.g., city, region) from your IP address or device settings for analytics purposes, to personalize content (e.g., showing relevant listings near you), and to enhance security. We do not collect precise GPS location data without your explicit consent.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:

• **To Provide and Maintain Our Service:** Including operating the platform, creating and managing user accounts, and enabling you to access and use the features of StudentPal, such as viewing and posting listings, and communicating with other users.
• **To Personalize Your Experience:** By remembering your preferences, recommending relevant housing listings based on your activity and searches, and tailoring the content you see.
• **To Improve and Develop Our Platform:** We analyze usage trends and patterns to understand how our users interact with StudentPal, identify areas for improvement, and develop new features and services.
• **For Communication:** To send you important updates, service-related notifications, security alerts, and to respond to your inquiries, comments, or questions. With your consent, we may also send you promotional or marketing communications.
• **For Security and Fraud Prevention:** To protect StudentPal, our users, and third parties from fraud, abuse, unauthorized access, and other illegal activities. This includes enforcing our Terms of Service.
• **For Analytics and Research:** To monitor and analyze the usage of our service, conduct research, and perform statistical analysis to better understand our user base and service effectiveness.
• **To Comply with Legal Obligations:** To meet any applicable laws, regulations, legal processes, or governmental requests.

3. Third-Party Services

We utilize trusted third-party service providers to facilitate our Service, provide the Service on our behalf, perform Service-related services, or assist us in analyzing how our Service is used. These third parties may have access to your Personal Information only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.

• **Google Firebase:** Used for backend services, database management, user authentication (including Google Sign-In), and real-time data synchronization. Firebase's privacy policy can be found on Google's official website.
• **Vercel:** Our hosting provider. Vercel may process data as part of their infrastructure services. Their privacy practices are detailed in their respective privacy policy.
• **Cloudinary:** Used for efficient image storage, optimization, and delivery, particularly for listing photos. Cloudinary's privacy policy outlines their data handling practices.
• **Analytics Providers:** We may use third-party analytics services to monitor and analyze the use of our Service. These services help us understand traffic and usage patterns.

Please note that these third-party services have their own privacy policies governing their use of information. We encourage you to review their privacy policies to understand their practices.

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

StudentPal uses "cookies" and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to track activity on our Service and hold certain information. Cookies are small data files placed on your device.

We use cookies for various purposes:

• **Essential Cookies:** Necessary for the operation of our website, enabling core functionalities like user logins and secure areas.
• **Analytics/Performance Cookies:** Help us understand how visitors interact with our website by collecting and reporting information anonymously. This helps us improve our service.
• **Functionality Cookies:** Used to remember choices you make (like language or region) and provide enhanced, more personal features.

You have the option to accept or refuse these cookies and know when a cookie is being sent to your device. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. However, if you choose to refuse cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.

5. Data Security

The security of your data is paramount to us. We implement a variety of security measures designed to protect your Personal Information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

• **HTTPS Encryption:** All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted using Secure Socket Layer (SSL)/Transport Layer Security (TLS) technology.
• **Firebase Security Rules:** We leverage Firebase's robust security features and implement strict security rules to control access to our database and protect your data at rest and in transit.
• **Access Controls:** We limit access to your personal information to employees, contractors, and agents who have a legitimate business need to know. They are subject to confidentiality obligations.

While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Information, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

6. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the following data protection rights regarding your personal information:

• **The Right to Access:** You have the right to request copies of your personal data that we hold.
• **The Right to Rectification:** You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate or complete information you believe is incomplete.
• **The Right to Erasure ("Right to Be Forgotten"):** You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
• **The Right to Restrict Processing:** You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
• **The Right to Object to Processing:** You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
• **The Right to Data Portability:** You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.
• **The Right to Withdraw Consent:** Where we rely on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.
• **Opting Out of Communications:** You can opt-out of receiving non-essential (promotional or marketing) emails from us by following the unsubscribe link or instructions provided in any email we send. Please note that we may still send you essential service-related communications.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact information provided below. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe.

7. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

8. Children's Privacy

StudentPal is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18 ("Children"). We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Information, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Information from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please do not hesitate to contact us:

📧 Email: studentpal.mh@gmail.com
📍 Address: Plot 109, P1 Block, Valencia, Lahore, Pakistan

Please allow up to 5-7 business days for a response to your inquiry.