Privacy Policy

StudentPlace ("we", "us", "our") is a student community platform operated by StudentPlace (studentplace.in). We are not a company — we are a student-built platform currently in early access, starting with Chandigarh University. For any privacy concerns, reach out via our contact page at studentplace.in/contact

We collect only what is necessary to run the platform: • Account information — your name, email address, and profile photo (from Google OAuth or college email registration) • Profile information — college, year, bio, hobbies, interests, and other optional details you choose to share • Posts and content — anything you write, share, or upload on the platform, including journal entries in Student Journeys • Location data — if you use Student Spots, we request access to your device's live GPS location to show nearby places. This is only used while you're actively using that feature and is never stored long-term or shared with other users • Usage data — pages visited, features used, and general activity on the platform • Device information — browser type, IP address, device type, and (for our Android app) a push notification device token, used solely to deliver notifications to your device • Payment information — for Student Talents subscriptions, payments are processed by Cashfree. We do not store your card details. We only store payment status and order IDs.

We use your information to: • Operate and improve the platform • Show your profile and content to other students on the platform • Send you notifications about activity on your account — including messages, follows, comments, and Student Journeys updates — via in-app alerts and (on our Android app) push notifications • Process payments for Student Talents subscriptions via Cashfree • Detect and prevent abuse, spam, and harmful content • Comply with legal obligations We do not sell your data to anyone. Ever.

Certain features allow you to post anonymously — including anonymous posts on the Emotional Feed and Venting Room. Anonymous posts do not display your name or profile photo. However, for safety and moderation purposes, we internally link anonymous posts to your account. This information is never shared publicly and is only used if we need to act on a report of harmful content.

Student Journeys lets you keep a long-term personal journal of goals you're working toward. Entries you mark as "public" can be seen by other students who follow your journey. Entries you mark as "private" are encrypted before being stored, and only you can ever read them — not even our own team can access the readable content of a private entry. If you choose to follow a journey, the journey's owner can optionally enable reminders that notify their followers when a new entry is posted. You can also set a personal daily reminder time to prompt yourself to write — this is stored on your profile and is never shared with anyone else.

When you create a listing in Marketplace, Room Listings, Borrow & Lend, or Lost & Found, we collect the text and images you provide for that listing. Some listings let you optionally share a way for other students to reach you directly — such as a phone number or a social media handle. This is entirely your choice; it is never required, and you control what you share. For Room Listings specifically, the address you type in is processed by TomTom to show the location on a map. We do not access your device's live GPS location for this — only the address you've explicitly entered.

We use the following third-party services to operate StudentPlace: • Google OAuth — for sign-in • Cloudinary — for storing images and videos you upload • Pusher — for real-time features (messages, notifications) • Groq AI — for AI Companion conversations and content moderation • Cashfree — for payment processing (Student Talents subscriptions) • Resend — for sending one-time passcode (OTP) emails during sign-up • Gmail / Nodemailer — for other account emails, such as approval notices and Student Journeys reminders • Firebase Cloud Messaging — for delivering push notifications on our Android app • TomTom — for Student Spots maps and location-based search • Google Cloud Text-to-Speech and Deepgram — for voice processing in the AI Companion, hosted via our own server infrastructure on AWS EC2 Each of these services has their own privacy policy governing their data handling.

Your data is stored on MongoDB Atlas servers. We take reasonable measures to protect your information, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), secure authentication, encryption of private Student Journeys entries, and access controls. However, no internet platform is 100% secure. We recommend not sharing sensitive personal information (like bank details or government IDs) on the platform.

You have the right to: • Access the personal information we hold about you • Request deletion of your account and associated data • Correct inaccurate information on your profile • Opt out of non-essential communications, including push notifications and Student Journeys reminders, at any time from within the app To exercise any of these rights, reach out via studentplace.in/contact. We will respond within 30 days.

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account, we delete your personal information, posts, and content immediately — including anonymous posts, which are deleted along with everything else rather than kept separately. Venting Room posts are automatically deleted after 24 hours, regardless of whether your account is still active. Push notification device tokens are deleted automatically once they become invalid (for example, after the app is uninstalled).

StudentPlace is intended for college students who are 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has created an account, please contact us via studentplace.in/contact and we will delete the account promptly.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. If we make significant changes, we will notify you through the platform. Continued use of StudentPlace after changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us: Contact form: studentplace.in/contact Website: studentplace.in We are a student-run platform and will do our best to respond promptly.