Privacy Policy
Freshman Hub (“we”, “us”) is a guide for first-year university students in Zambia. This policy explains what information the Freshman Hub website and app collect, why, and the choices you have.
1. Information we collect
- Account details. If you create an account, your email address and password. Sign-in is handled by Google Firebase Authentication; we never see your password.
- Profile. Optional details you choose to save: your name, university, program and intake year.
- Checklist progress. The first-year checklist items you tick off while signed in.
- Accommodation messages. If you tell the admin about a free space, the details you type in the form together with your account email.
- Location. Only if you use campus navigation and allow location access. Your position is used to show you on the map and guide you along a route. To calculate a walking route, your start point and destination are sent to our map provider (Mapbox). You can turn off location access at any time in your phone’s settings.
- Information on your device. Your app settings, your chosen university, saved copies of data and photos so the app can work offline, and the schedule of reminders. These stay on your device.
You can browse universities, programs, courses, dates and guides without creating an account.
2. How we use it
- To provide the app: showing the information for your university, saving your profile and checklist, and sending your accommodation message to the admin.
- To send reminders you turn on. Reminders are scheduled on your device and are not sent from our servers.
- To keep the service secure and prevent abuse (for example, limiting accommodation messages to one per day and requiring a verified email).
We do not sell your personal information.
3. Services we rely on
We use these providers to run Freshman Hub, and they process data on our behalf:
- Google Firebase (Authentication and Cloud Firestore) for accounts and app data.
- Cloudinary for hosting photos.
- Mapbox and OpenStreetMap for map tiles and walking routes.
These providers have their own privacy policies.
4. Sharing
We share information only with the providers above, when the law requires it, or to protect the safety and rights of our users. Accommodation messages are read by Freshman Hub administrators.
5. Keeping and deleting your information
We keep your account and profile until you ask us to delete them. To delete your account and the information linked to it, email hello@freshmanhub.app from the address you signed up with. You can clear everything saved on your device from Profile → Settings → Clear saved offline data.
6. Your choices and rights
You can ask to see, correct or delete the personal information we hold about you, and you can withdraw consent for things like location or reminders at any time. Contact us using the address below.
7. Security
We use reputable providers and standard safeguards, but no system is completely secure. Please use a strong, unique password.
8. Age
Freshman Hub is intended for people aged 16 and over. If you believe a younger child has given us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
9. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the app changes. The date at the top shows when it was last revised, and we will highlight significant changes in the app or on this site.
10. Contact
Questions about privacy? Email hello@freshmanhub.app.