Privacy Policy

Who We Are

The College Date is a campus dating and student social discovery platform designed for verified African university students. For data protection inquiries or to reach our Data Protection Officer (DPO), email dpo@thecollegedate.com or privacy@thecollegedate.com.

Data We Collect

• Account Details: Email address, password hash, authentication provider credentials, user ID, and profile onboarding completion status.
• Profile Information: Name, username, age, gender, university, academic level, department, bio, interests, and profile photographs you upload.
• Precise & Coarse Geolocation: With your explicit device permission, we collect GPS coordinates to compute distance with campus peers and enable user-initiated live location sharing within private chat rooms. Location data is never shared publicly or sold.
• Facial Verification & Biometric Data: If you opt into Photo Verification or Campus Finder, we process live selfie scans ephemerally to confirm liveness and match against your profile photos. Biometric landmarks are processed in volatile memory and raw biometric templates are never permanently retained or sold.
• App Activity & Interactions: Discovery swipes, match requests, unread chat message counts, Agora voice/video call session metadata, virtual gift transactions, wallet operations, and content reports.
• User-Generated Media: Profile photos, ephemeral single-view ("View Once") photos, disappearing chat media, audio voice notes, and campus confession posts.
• Device & Diagnostics: App version, operating system, device identifiers, push notification tokens (OneSignal FCM), crash logs, and security telemetry.
• Payment & Settlement Records: Payment status, reference IDs, and transaction metadata from Google Play, RevenueCat, and Paystack. We do not store complete bank card details. Bank account numbers and names are securely processed for student ambassador payouts.

How We Use Data

We process personal data on the lawful bases of contract performance, legitimate interests, legal obligation, and explicit user consent for:

• Authenticating user accounts and securing access across web and Android devices.
• Powering student discovery, mutual swipe matching, and real-time chat messaging.
• Facilitating optional user-initiated live location sharing in active chat conversations.
• Preventing catfish profiles, impersonation, and fraudulent multi-accounting through automated AI and liveness verification.
• Delivering push notifications, chat alerts, and match notifications.
• Processing virtual gifts, marketplace escrow settlements, and female ambassador earnings.
• Enforcing Community Standards, detecting harassment or CSAM, and protecting campus safety.

Third-Party Data Processors

To provide high-reliability services, we collaborate with vetted technology service providers bound by strict confidentiality and data protection agreements:

• Supabase Inc.: Cloud database infrastructure, authentication, and encrypted object storage.
• Agora RTC Inc.: Real-time encrypted audio and video calling infrastructure.
• Google Play & RevenueCat Inc.: Android in-app subscriptions, payments, and receipt validation.
• Paystack Payments Limited: Web payment processing, wallet top-ups, and Nigerian banking transfer settlements.
• OneSignal & Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google LLC): Push notifications and transactional alert delivery.

Safety, Reporting, and Moderation

Content moderation systems and human safety reviewers actively monitor reports of abuse, impersonation, cyberbullying, harassment, and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Violations result in immediate account termination, device bans, and reporting to law enforcement where required by law.

Security & Encryption

We implement strict technical and organizational measures, including TLS/HTTPS data-in-transit encryption, Row Level Security (RLS) database isolation, authenticated session tokens, device biometric enclave authentication, and hashed audit logs to protect user data against unauthorized access.

Data Subject Rights (NDPA 2023)

Under the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA 2023) and applicable international privacy frameworks, you have enforceable legal rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: Edit and update inaccurate profile information directly in the app.
• Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): Delete your account and personal profile data permanently through Settings or via our Delete Account portal.
• Right to Object & Restrict Processing: Opt out of optional discovery features such as Campus Camera Discovery or Incognito Mode at any time in Settings.
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to lodge a formal complaint with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) if you believe your privacy rights have been infringed.

Retention and Deletion

We retain your profile data while your account is active. When an account is deleted, personal profile data is purged or anonymized. Certain transactional records, security logs, and audit entries may be retained strictly as required by law, taxation regulations, or for defense against legal claims.

Your Choices & Account Control

You can update your profile, toggle notification preferences, manage privacy options (Incognito Mode, Online Status, Camera Discovery), or request complete account erasure directly from the Settings screen.