← UniTalks

Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 2026

Who We Are

UniTalks is a verified social platform for UK university students, operated by the UniTalks team. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights.

1. Data We Collect

When you sign up and use UniTalks, we collect:

  • Account info: your name, university email address (ending in .ac.uk), university, course, and year of study.
  • Profile content: profile photo (optional), bio (optional).
  • User-generated content: posts, replies, polls you create or vote in, reactions, blocks, follows, and Sparks (short videos) you upload.
  • Device data: a push-notification token tied to your account so we can send you reply / mention / follow notifications.
  • Email verification codes: temporarily stored to confirm you control the email address.

2. How We Use It

  • Run your account and verify you are a UK university student.
  • Display your name, profile, and content to other students at your university.
  • Send you in-app and push notifications about replies, mentions, follows, and reactions.
  • Enforce our community guidelines and remove content that violates them.
  • Improve the service through aggregate, anonymised analysis.

We do not sell your data to third parties. We do not show ads. We do not use third-party tracking cookies.

3. Who Can See What

  • Course / university feeds: your posts are visible to other students at your university (course-wide or uni-wide, depending on the audience you choose when posting).
  • Profile: your name, profile photo, course, year, and university are visible to other students at your university.
  • Email address: never visible to other users. Only used by us for sign-in and verification.
  • Blocked users: your block list is private. Blocked users are not notified they have been blocked.

4. Data Storage and Security

Data is stored on Google Cloud Firebase (Firestore + Storage), with infrastructure located in the European Union (europe-west2). Connections are encrypted with HTTPS. Passwords are hashed by Firebase Authentication and are never stored or visible to us in plain text.

5. Account Deletion and Data Rights

You can delete your account at any time inside the UniTalks app:

Settings → Delete account → confirm with your password

When you delete your account:

  • Your sign-in credentials, profile, follows, reactions, and saved posts are permanently deleted.
  • Your posts and replies remain visible to preserve conversation context, but are anonymised — your name and photo are removed and replaced with "Deleted user".
  • Push notification tokens are removed.

For full data removal including anonymised posts, or to exercise your GDPR rights (data access, correction, portability, erasure), contact us at support@theunitalks.com. We respond within 30 days.

6. Children

UniTalks is intended for users aged 16 and over, the typical UK university starting age. We do not knowingly collect data from users under 16. If you believe a user under 16 has registered, contact us at support@theunitalks.com and we will remove the account.

7. Third-Party Services

We use these processors to operate the service:

  • Firebase (Google) — authentication, database, file storage, push notifications.
  • Resend — email delivery for verification codes and password resets.
  • Expo — push-notification routing for mobile apps.

Each of these processors has their own privacy policies. We share only the minimum data needed for them to perform their function.

8. Cookies

On the web app, we use browser local storage to keep you signed in and remember your preferences. We do not use third-party advertising or tracking cookies.

9. Content Moderation

We use a combination of automated systems and human review to enforce our community guidelines. Posts and replies reported by multiple users may be automatically removed pending review. We may also suspend accounts that repeatedly violate our terms.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent change. Material changes will be notified to users via in-app notice.

11. Contact

For privacy questions, data requests, or to report concerns: support@theunitalks.com

General support: support@theunitalks.com