OurDurham privacy policy
Last updated: [date]
OurDurham is an independent, student-run app for Durham University students. It is not run by or affiliated with Durham University. This policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, and your rights.
Who we are: [OurDurham Ltd, company number …, registered address …] (“we”). We are the data controller for the information described here. Contact us at privacy@ourdurham.co.uk.
The short version
•
We only let people with a Durham University email address create an account.
•
We never sell your data, never show you targeted adverts, and never track you across other apps or websites.
•
If you allow it, the app uses your location on your phone, while you use it (and, during a walk, as you move), for walking routes and what’s near you. It is never stored or sent to us, and we don’t track where you go.
•
The camera is used only to scan a friend’s QR code, or the barcode on your campus card if you choose to add it, on your phone. No photos or video are taken or sent.
•
Where you live during term (if you tell us) stays on your phone.
•
You can delete your account at any time from Settings, and everything tied to it is deleted.
What we collect and why
Your Durham email address
WHY
To create your account, send your sign-in codes, and check you are a Durham student
KEPT
Until you delete your account
That you confirmed you are 18 or over, and when
WHY
To keep OurDurham for adults only
KEPT
Until you delete your account
Your college
WHY
To show your college’s page, formals and news
KEPT
Until you delete your account
Your year and course (optional)
WHY
So the app can show what fits your course and year, and so we can count which years and courses use OurDurham. Other students never see it, and the counts never show your name
KEPT
Until you change it or delete your account
Your name (optional)
WHY
Shown to friends you add and on committee lists you are part of
KEPT
Until you change it or delete your account
Your My Timetable link
WHY
To read your timetable and keep it up to date. Stored encrypted; nobody can read it through the app
KEPT
Until you remove it or delete your account
Your timetable (module names and codes, rooms, times)
WHY
To show your lectures, reminders and walk times
KEPT
Replaced each time it syncs; deleted with your account
Personal calendars you add (up to five Google, Outlook or iCloud calendars): the name you give each one, its subscribe link, and each event’s title, location and times. We do not keep event descriptions or who else is invited
WHY
To show your own plans alongside your lectures. The link is stored encrypted and nobody can read it through the app. Events can mention other people if you or your calendar wrote them in, so only you see them: they are never shown to friends, even when you share your timetable
KEPT
Events are replaced each time the calendar syncs. The calendar and its events are deleted when you remove it, or delete your account
Friends and friend requests
WHY
So you can add friends and, if you choose, share your timetable with them. Requests show only what you typed, never who it matched
KEPT
Until removed or you delete your account
Who you share your timetable with (off unless you turn it on, one friend at a time)
WHY
So those friends can see when you are busy and the module and kind of each session. Never rooms, buildings or your personal calendars
KEPT
Until you stop sharing, either of you removes or blocks the other, or you delete your account
Committee roles (for JCRs, societies and clubs)
WHY
So committees can post events and announcements
KEPT
Until removed or you delete your account
Things you post as a committee member (events, announcements, formals, fixtures)
WHY
To show them to students
KEPT
Until deleted by the committee or by us
Daily app and core-feature usage
WHY
To count active students and understand use of timetable, events, college pages and study spaces. One record per account, feature and day; founders see aggregate counts, not individual browsing histories. Friends and Get home safe use is not tracked
KEPT
90 calendar days, or until you delete your account
Admin actions (team members only)
WHY
To investigate changes to permissions, organisations, events, reports and sponsorships
KEPT
Kept while OurDurham runs, so we can answer questions about past decisions; deleting a team member’s account removes their account link
Reports you make about posts or people
WHY
To review them and keep the app safe. Reports are private: nobody but our moderators sees who reported
KEPT
Until a moderator decides, then 1 year
How busy study spaces are, when you report it
WHY
To show everyone a combined level. Individual reports are never shown
KEPT
7 days
When you finished first-time setup
WHY
So setup carries on where you left off
KEPT
Until you delete your account
Your invite code, and if you joined with someone’s code, a link between your account and theirs. The link only produces a count for them, once you finish setup: they never see your name or any detail about you
WHY
So friends can invite friends, and so inviters can earn badges for the number of people who joined
KEPT
Until you delete your account
A notification token for your phone
WHY
To send you the notifications you have switched on
KEPT
Until you sign out or delete your account
On your phone only (we never receive these): where you live during term (either which college building, or the first part of your postcode such as “DH1 3” and a point rounded to about 100 metres; and, only if you choose to set one, an exact home pin: the spot where you stood when you tapped “Use where I am now”, which you can remove at any time), which sessions you have marked as taking attendance, whether you went to a session (if you answer “Did you go?”), society sessions you add to your timetable, how you arrange the Today screen, your notification and appearance settings, and your sign-in session. The campus card number you add is kept on your phone only (in the phone’s secure storage, or the browser’s storage on the website; and in the Campus card widget if you add it, which shows the code on your home screen and asks iOS to hide it while the phone is locked), is never sent to us, and is deleted when you sign out, delete your account, or remove it.
A copy on your phone: so your timetable, events, college page and study spaces can still show when you have no signal, the app keeps a copy of what it last loaded from us, on your phone, and says how old it is. Copies older than 7 days are not shown. The copy is deleted when you sign out or delete your account.
Calendars you add in sample mode: if you explore the sample without signing in and add your My Timetable link or a personal calendar there, your phone downloads it directly from Durham University or your calendar provider, which sees the request come from your phone’s internet address. The link and the events are kept on your phone only, encrypted, and are never sent to us. They are deleted from your phone when you remove them in Personal calendars, or when you sign in. On the website, the browser tries the same direct download first. If the browser blocks it (calendar providers usually do), the link is sent to our server, which fetches the calendar file for you and passes it straight back. We do not store the link or the calendar, and we do not write them to our logs; the file is then kept in your browser only, as above. [Legal review: added 25 October 2026 with sample-mode calendar imports; website relay wording added 27 October 2026.]
We do not collect: your location (when you allow location, the app reads it on your phone to work out walk times and routes, and it never leaves your phone, including while you follow a walk and when you set an optional home pin), your contacts or address book, photos, or advertising identifiers. Our usage statistics stay in our Supabase database; we do not send them to an external analytics service.
[Before launch: review and document the legal basis and user controls for daily usage analytics and admin audit records. Confirm that the nightly deletion jobs (prune-daily-usage and prune-old-records) are running.]
Our legal basis
•
Providing the app (contract): your account, timetable, college pages, friends and notifications you switch on.
•
Keeping the app safe (legitimate interests): the Durham-only check, the word filter, reports, blocking and moderation.
•
Your choice (consent): notifications, telling us you live out, adding friends and sharing your timetable with a friend. You can change these at any time in the app.
Who else handles your data
We use these services to run the app. Each only gets what it needs for its job, and none may use it for anything else.
Supabase
WHAT IT DOES
Database, sign-in and server code
WHAT IT RECEIVES
Everything listed above
WHERE
London, UK
Resend
WHAT IT DOES
Sends sign-in codes
WHAT IT RECEIVES
Your email address and the email’s content
WHERE
[EU or US, check plan]
Expo
WHAT IT DOES
Delivers push notifications
WHAT IT RECEIVES
Your phone’s notification token and the notification’s text
WHERE
United States
Apple and Google
WHAT IT DOES
Deliver push notifications to your phone
WHAT IT RECEIVES
The notification’s text
WHERE
United States
Durham University’s My Timetable
WHAT IT DOES
Where your timetable comes from
WHAT IT RECEIVES
Our server requests your timetable using your link
WHERE
UK
Google, Microsoft (Outlook) and Apple (iCloud)
WHAT IT DOES
Where any personal calendars you add come from
WHAT IT RECEIVES
Our server requests each calendar using the link you add. They see that the request comes from us
WHERE
Where your calendar provider keeps your calendar
postcodes.io
WHAT IT DOES
Turns a living-out postcode into an area, if you give one
WHAT IT RECEIVES
The postcode you type (no account details)
WHERE
UK
OpenFreeMap and unpkg
WHAT IT DOES
Provide the map and the code that draws it
WHAT IT RECEIVES
Your device’s internet address, as any website receives
WHERE
EU and United States
Where data goes to the United States, it is protected by the UK’s data transfer rules ([UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, or standard contractual clauses: check each provider]).
Age
OurDurham is only for people aged 18 and over. We ask you to confirm your age when you create an account, and our terms say you must be 18 or over; we do not ask for your date of birth or check ID. If we find out an account belongs to someone under 18, we delete it and everything tied to it. If you think someone under 18 is using OurDurham, tell us at privacy@ourdurham.co.uk. [Add anything from the legal advice here.]
Your rights
You can ask us for a copy of your data, to correct it, to delete it, to restrict or object to how we use it, or to move it elsewhere. Delete your account in the app at Settings > Delete account, which deletes everything tied to it straight away, or email privacy@ourdurham.co.uk. We reply within one month.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113). We would appreciate the chance to put it right first.
Changes
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will tell you in the app before it takes effect.