Privacy Policy
Effective date: [EFFECTIVE DATE]
Semester ("Semester," "we," "us") is an app for college students to privately say who they're interested in. You lock someone in, and you only find out about each other if it's mutual. This policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, and the choices you have. It covers the Semester apps for iPhone and Android, the web app, and semesterapp.com.
Short version: we don't sell your data, we don't show ads, and nobody learns who you locked in unless they lock you back.
Information you give us
- Account details. Your school email address (.edu), your name, school, and age. You can also add a major, a profile photo, a dating status, and a phone number (optional).
- Sign-in details. If you sign in with Google, Microsoft (Outlook), or Apple, we receive your account ID and email address from that service. Apple may give us a private relay address instead of your real one. We still ask you to verify a school email.
- Your locks. The name and email address of each person you lock in.
- Messages. What you send in chats with your matches.
- Invites. Your invite code, and the email address of any friend you invite from the app.
- Reports and blocks. Who you report or block, the reason you give, and the message you report, if any.
- Support requests. Your name, email, and message when you contact us.
Information we collect automatically
- Activity in the app. Events such as signing up, locking someone in, matching, and sending an invite, linked to your account. We use these to run and improve Semester, not for advertising.
- Technical information. Your IP address and basic device and request information, used to keep the service secure (for example, to limit repeated sign-in attempts) and to fix problems.
- Credits. Your credit balance and the history of how you earned or used credits.
We don't collect your precise location, your contacts, or your photo library beyond the one photo you choose to upload. We don't use third-party advertising or tracking SDKs.
People who aren't on Semester yet
When you lock in someone who doesn't have an account, we store the name and email you entered so we can tell if they join and lock you back. We may send that person one anonymous email per semester saying that someone at their school is interested. It never says who. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and once someone unsubscribes we stop sending them these emails. The same applies to friends you invite. Each of these emails says who invited them.
How we use information
- To create your account and verify that you're a current student.
- To run locks and matches, open chats when it's mutual, and reset locks each semester.
- To send sign-in codes, match alerts, and the emails described above.
- To keep Semester safe: review reports, enforce our [Community Guidelines](/community-guidelines.html), prevent spam and fake accounts, and keep banned users from coming back.
- To run invites and credits.
- To answer support requests and to understand and improve how Semester is used.
- To comply with the law.
What other people can see
- Before a match: nothing. The person you locked in doesn't see your name, photo, or anything else about you.
- After a match: your match sees your name, photo, and email address, and the messages you send them.
- Friends: people who joined with your invite code (and the person whose code you used) can see your name and photo in your friends list.
Who we share information with
We don't sell or rent your personal information, and we don't share it for advertising. We share it only:
- With service providers who run Semester for us, under contracts that limit how they use it:
- Hosting and database: Render . - Website hosting: Vercel. - Email delivery: Resend. - Sign-in: Google, Microsoft, and Apple, when you choose to sign in with them. - In-app purchases: Apple, Google, and RevenueCat process purchases if paid credits are offered. We never see your card number.
- For safety and the law. When we believe in good faith that it's needed to comply with the law or legal process, to protect someone from harm, or to investigate violations of our terms. Content that sexualizes a minor is reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
- If Semester changes hands. If Semester is part of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, information may transfer as part of that deal. This policy will continue to apply to it.
How long we keep information
We keep your information while your account is open. When you delete your account (Settings → Delete my account), we delete your profile, photo, locks, the locks others placed on you, your matches and chats (for both people in them), notifications, credits and transactions, invites, friends, reports and blocks involving you, and your activity events.
We keep a few things after deletion:
- Bans. If your account was banned, we keep a one-way hash of your email so it can't sign up again. The hash can't be turned back into your email.
- Email limits and opt-outs. Records of which addresses we've emailed, used to enforce the one-email-per-semester limit, and the list of addresses that unsubscribed. We keep this so we never email someone who opted out.
- Backups and legal holds. Copies in backups for a limited time, and anything we're required to keep by law.
Sign-in codes expire after 5 minutes.
Security
We use encryption in transit (HTTPS), store emails in locks as one-way hashes alongside the address used for matching, limit who on our team can access data, and rate-limit sign-in and other sensitive actions. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a school email account that only you control.
Your choices and rights
- See and update your information in the app's profile and settings.
- Delete your account in the app, or follow the steps on our [account deletion page](/delete-account.html) if you can't sign in.
- Stop emails with the unsubscribe link in any email we send. Sign-in codes are always sent because they're needed to log in.
- Ask us for a copy of your information, or ask us to correct or delete it, by emailing support@semesterapp.com. Depending on where you live (for example, California and other US states), you may have additional rights, including the right to know what we collect and to not be discriminated against for exercising your rights. We don't sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
We'll verify your identity before acting on a request, usually by asking you to confirm from your school email.
18 and older only
Semester is only for people 18 or older. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have, we delete the account. If you think someone on Semester is under 18, report them in the app or email support@semesterapp.com.
Where information is stored
Semester is run from the United States, and your information is stored and processed in the United States.
Changes to this policy
If we make material changes, we'll update the effective date above and tell you in the app before the changes apply to you.
Contact us
Questions or requests: support@semesterapp.com
Questions? Contact support.