stipnd
Privacy Policy
This policy explains what personal information the stipnd mobile app and stipnd.app collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and how you can have it deleted. It applies to everyone who uses stipnd.
1. Who we are
stipnd is operated by Campus Uni. For any privacy question, or to exercise any right described below, contact [email protected].
2. Information we collect
Account information
- Phone number (this is how you sign in, verified by one-time password)
- Name
- Email address, and profile picture, if you sign in with Google or Apple
- Age, school or college, short bio, and profile photo, if you provide them
- Your Community handle (your @name)
Community and chat information
- Posts you publish (title, text and images), comments, and your votes on posts and comments
- The Communities you join, the people you follow, and the people you block
- Reports you make about posts, comments or users
- A photo of your student ID card, if you ask to become a verified student. Only our staff can see it, to review your request.
- Messages you send in chat, including photos and voice messages. The microphone is only used while you record a voice message.
Posts, comments, your handle, name, profile photo and verified status are visible to other stipnd users. A post you share by link can be previewed by anyone with that link. Chat messages are visible only to the people in that conversation.
Application information
When you apply to a program, the university requires details that we collect and pass on. Exactly which fields appear depends on the program, but they can include:
- Full name, date of birth, gender, parents' names, nationality
- Postal address, city, state, country and PIN code
- Academic records: board, school, year of passing, stream and marks
- Government identifiers: Aadhaar number and Aadhaar card, ABC/APAAR ID, and DEB ID
- Documents you upload: marksheets, degree and other certificates, and identity proof
- A photograph of your face, captured with the front camera, to produce a passport-format photo
- A specimen signature, drawn on screen
- Documents issued to you and fetched from DigiLocker, only after you give consent in DigiLocker itself
Payment and payout information
- Records of course fee payments: amounts, dates and payment references
- Bank account holder name, account number and IFSC, or a UPI ID, so referral earnings can be paid to you. Our staff verify each payout account and send each payout by hand.
- Your wallet balance, earnings and withdrawal history
We never see or store your card number, UPI PIN, or net-banking credentials. Those are entered directly into Razorpay's checkout.
Referral information
If you refer someone, we record who referred whom so rewards can be calculated. The person who referred you can see your name, and the contact details you provided, in their referral dashboard. If you invite someone by entering their details, you confirm you have their permission to share them with us.
Device and technical information
- A push notification token for your device, if you allow notifications, so we can tell you about your application
- IP address and device/browser identifier attached to your login session
- Crash reports, performance data and diagnostic logs, linked to your user ID and IP address, so we can find and fix problems. For a share of sessions, and for sessions where an error happens, this includes a screen recording in which all text and images are masked.
Clipboard
The app never reads your clipboard. It only writes to it, when you tap to copy your own referral link.
3. How we use your information
- To create and secure your account and sign you in
- To run Communities and chat, and to moderate them
- To prepare and submit your applications to the universities you choose
- To take fee payments and pay out referral earnings
- To notify you about your application, payments and rewards
- To prevent fraud and abuse of referral rewards
- To find and fix crashes and errors
- To comply with legal, tax and financial record-keeping obligations
We do not sell your information, and we do not show ads in the app. The iOS app does not track you: it does not link your data with other companies' data for advertising, and it does not share it with data brokers. On Android only, the app sends Meta a small set of events (install, sign-up, program views, checkout and payment) with our internal user ID and your device's advertising ID, so we can measure our own Meta ad campaigns. It never sends Meta your name, phone number or email. You can reset or opt out of your advertising ID in your Android settings.
4. Who we share it with
We share only what each recipient needs to do its job:
| Recipient | What they receive | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The universities you apply to | Your application: personal details, academic records and documents | To assess your application. This is the purpose of the app. |
| Razorpay | Name, email, phone, payment amount and order reference | To process course fee payments |
| Other stipnd users | Your posts, comments, handle, name, profile photo and verified status | That is how Communities work (see section 2) |
| Stream | Your user ID, name, profile photo, and the messages, photos and voice messages you send in chat | To store and deliver chat messages |
| Sentry | Your user ID, IP address, device details, crash reports, diagnostic logs and masked screen recordings | To find and fix crashes and errors |
| Meta (Android only) | App events, our internal user ID, and your device's advertising ID | To measure our own Meta ad campaigns |
| DigiLocker (Government of India) | Your consent, and the documents you choose to share | To fetch documents issued to you, only when you ask us to |
| Google (Gemini) | The photograph of your face | To convert it into a compliant passport-format photo |
| Google (Firebase Cloud Messaging) and Expo | Your device push token and the notification content | To deliver push notifications |
| Knock | Your user ID, name, email and phone number | To send and store your in-app notification feed |
| 2Factor | Your phone number and the one-time password | To deliver your sign-in OTP by SMS |
| DiceBear | A random identifier used as an image seed | To generate a placeholder avatar when you have not set one |
We may also disclose information where the law requires it, or to establish or defend a legal claim.
5. Where your information is held
Your data is stored on servers operated by our infrastructure providers. Documents and images are held in encrypted object storage. Some of the recipients listed above process data outside India. Everything is transmitted over encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS).
6. How long we keep it
- While your account exists: we keep your information for as long as you have an account.
- When you delete your account: your profile, documents, photo, signature, DigiLocker data, payout accounts, push tokens, applications, referrals, posts, comments, votes and chat messages are erased immediately.
- Payment records: the amount, date and payment-gateway reference of past payments and payouts are kept for 30 days after deletion so they can be reconciled with our payment provider's statements, then deleted. These retained records do not contain your name, contact details, documents or bank details.
- Applications already submitted: once an application has been sent to a university, that university holds its own copy under its own policy. Deleting your stipnd account does not withdraw it — contact the university directly.
7. Your rights and choices
- Delete your account. Open the app, go to Profile, and tap "Delete my account". See stipnd.app/account-deletion for full details and for how to request deletion if you have already uninstalled the app.
- Access and correct. Your profile and application details are editable in the app. For anything you cannot change yourself, email us.
- Withdraw consent. You can turn off notification, camera, photo and microphone permissions in your device settings at any time. Some features will stop working.
- Complain. Write to [email protected] and we will respond.
8. Permissions the app asks for
- Camera — to take your passport photograph and profile picture, and to send photos in chat. Only used when you tap to take a photo.
- Photos and files — to let you choose an existing image or document to upload, post or send in chat.
- Notifications — to tell you about your application, payments and rewards.
- Microphone — to record voice messages in chat. Only used while you record.
The app does not request access to your location, contacts, call logs or SMS messages.
9. Children
stipnd is intended for applicants aged 16 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 16. If you believe a child has given us their information, contact us and we will delete it.
10. Changes to this policy
If we make a material change we will update the date at the top of this page and, where the change is significant, notify you in the app.