Privacy & Anonymity Policy
Anonymity is the foundation of Campus Hearts. This policy explains what information we collect, how your anonymity is protected, when it can be set aside, and how your data is handled overall. It should be read alongside our Disclaimer and Community Guidelines.
What Anonymity Means on Campus Hearts
Your posts, comments, reactions, and resource library contributions are never shown with your name attached. Other students see your content, not your identity. Internally, your account is still tied to information that lets us keep the app safe and functioning, but that link is not visible to other users and is only ever looked into under the limited circumstances described below.
Information We Collect
- Account information: your school email (used to verify current student status) and basic account credentials.
- Content you create: posts, comments, reactions, DMs, mood calendar entries, and resource library submissions.
- Usage information: how you interact with the app, such as which campus community you belong to and general activity patterns.
- Device and technical information: things like device type and app version, used for troubleshooting and security.
- Optional identity-reveal information: if you choose to reveal your identity to someone in a DM, you can share your name, photo, and hobbies with that specific person. This is only ever shared with mutual consent, and only within that one conversation.
We do not ask for your real name or photo as part of your core account or anonymous profile, beyond what's needed to confirm you're a current student at your school. The one exception is the optional identity-reveal feature described below, which you control on a conversation-by-conversation basis. On our admin side, only your account email is visible; revealed name, photo, and hobby information is not surfaced through our admin tools.
How We Use Your Information
- To verify eligibility and keep the app limited to current college students.
- To operate core features: posts, comments, reactions, mood calendar, resource library, and DMs.
- To maintain the safety of the community, including reviewing flagged content and enforcing our Community Guidelines.
- To improve the app based on how students actually use it.
We do not sell your information, and we do not use your content to build an advertising profile of you.
Direct Messages and Identity-Reveal
If someone allows DMs on their post, you can message them directly while staying anonymous by default. Revealing your identity in a DM is always your choice, and it only applies to that conversation. The person you message cannot see who you are unless you choose to reveal it, and neither of you can see the other's identity from anywhere else on the app. Once revealed, we ask that both students respect that trust; sharing someone's revealed identity with others without their consent is a violation of our Community Guidelines.
To make a reveal possible, both students first set up a small reveal profile with their name, photo, and hobbies. This information is stored to support that specific conversation, but it is not visible to our team through our normal admin tools, which only show account email. It is only ever visible to the person you chose to reveal it to.
When Anonymity May Be Set Aside
We protect anonymity carefully, and it is only ever looked into in the following situations:
- An imminent or credible safety concern, where identifying information may be shared with local emergency services (911) or your school, using whatever information is available to us.
- A repeated or intentional violation of our Community Guidelines, after our standard moderation process.
- A legal requirement to disclose information, such as a valid subpoena or court order.
Outside of these situations, no one on our team looks up who is behind a given post, comment, or DM, and other students never have access to this information at all.
How We Store and Protect Your Information
- Text-based information, including posts, DMs, and reveal profile details, is stored on secure servers with access limited to the founders and any staff who need it to operate the app. Photos shared through the identity-reveal feature are stored separately and securely.
- We do not display identifying information anywhere in the app's user-facing experience.
- We use reasonable technical and administrative safeguards to protect your information, though no system can guarantee absolute security.
Screenshots and Off-Platform Sharing
Anonymity within Campus Hearts doesn't extend to what other students choose to do outside the app. Please don't screenshot or share posts, comments, or DMs off-platform without the poster's consent; doing so is a violation of our Community Guidelines and may result in loss of app privileges. That said, we cannot control or fully prevent screenshots taken by other users.
Community Separation Across Schools
Campus Hearts operates as a separate, isolated community for each participating school. Content you post, including posts, comments, reactions, DMs, mood calendar entries, and resource library contributions, is only visible to other verified students within your own school's community. Students at other schools, and their community's administrators, do not have access to your school's content, and you do not have access to theirs. Your account and activity remain scoped entirely to the community tied to your school email domain.
Your Choices
- You can delete your own posts, comments, and mood calendar entries at any time.
- You can choose whether to allow DMs on a post, and whether to reveal your identity within any DM conversation.
- You can contact us to request that your account or specific information be removed. We're still building out full self-serve deletion tools, so we'll handle these requests manually.
Data Retention
We retain your information for as long as your account is active, and for a limited period afterward in case it's needed to address safety concerns or legal obligations. We're still building out self-serve deletion tools; at this time, you cannot delete an individual DM conversation or your account directly through the app. If you've shared a reveal profile (name, photo, hobbies) in a DM, that information remains stored and associated with that conversation. If you'd like your account or specific information removed, contact us and we'll handle your request directly.
Children's Privacy
Campus Hearts is intended for current college students who are at least 18 years old, consistent with our Disclaimer. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.
Changes to This Policy
As Campus Hearts grows, we may update this policy to reflect new features or practices. We'll post the updated version here with a new "Last updated" date.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this policy or how your information is handled, you can reach out to us in the app or at info@campushearts.app.
Campus Hearts is by students, for students, and your trust in our anonymity is something we take seriously. ♥