Privacy Policy
Last updated: November 4, 2026
NepLink is an app and website for Nepali students, alumni and Nepali Student Associations (NSAs). This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, who can see it, and the choices you have. “NepLink”, “we” and “us” mean NepLink, based in Virginia, United States.
The short version
- We don’t sell your personal data, and we don’t use it for third-party advertising.
- Other members and your NSA’s leaders can see some of what you share. Who can see your information explains what.
- Anonymous posts hide your name from other people. They don’t hide it from NepLink.
- Messages are not end-to-end encrypted.
- You can delete your account in the app. Some payment records are kept after that, and Keeping and deleting information explains what stays.
What we collect
| Kind | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Account | Your name, email address, university email, password (stored in a form we can’t read), and phone number if you give one. If you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive your account details from them. |
| Profile | Your photo, university, major, interests, languages, what you’re looking for, and home district in Nepal. |
| Onboarding answers | Whether you’re an international student, when you arrive, where you live, whether you need housing, what you’re finding hardest, who you’d like to meet, and how you heard about us. |
| NSA answers | Food preferences, skills, whether you have a car, whether you’d like to be featured, dues you say you’ve paid, and whether you’d help run the NSA. |
| Emergency contact | The name, relationship and phone number of someone to call, if you add one. |
| Verification documents | Proof you send us to confirm you’re an alumnus, a business, an event organizer or an NSA president. |
| Things you post and send | Chats, direct messages, posts, replies, Confessions, Campus Tea, memories, housing posts, opportunities, votes, reports and the files you attach. |
| Events and tickets | RSVPs, tickets, check-ins and your answers to a host’s questions. If you buy a ticket without an account, your name and email address. |
| Payments | Amounts, status and receipts, proof of dues you upload, and the last four digits of a payout bank account. Stripe handles card numbers, bank details and identity checks. We don’t receive full card or bank numbers. |
| Airport pickups and help | Your airport, flight, arrival time, bags and any problem you report. Requests you send to mentors or to members with a skill, and what you offer as a helper. |
| Device and usage | Push notification token, device type, app version, IP address, crash reports, and what you view or tap in features such as Connect, memories and business pages. |
What the app asks permission for
You can turn each of these off in your phone’s settings. The feature that needs it may stop working. We don’t ask for your phone contacts.
| Permission | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Camera | Scanning check-in codes and friends’ codes, taking profile photos, recording videos for memories. |
| Photos | Choosing photos and videos for memories and your profile. |
| Microphone | Recording video for memories. |
| Location, while using the app | Confirming a check-in at the venue, filling in an address when you ask, and showing businesses near you. |
| Bluetooth | Sending and detecting event check-in beacons while check-in is open. |
| Motion | Small movement effects in the intro and on your tickets. |
| Calendar | Adding events you have tickets for to your calendar. |
| Notifications | Sending you push notifications. You can also choose which ones you get in the app’s settings. |
Location
- Your general area. When you first open the app, our server uses your IP address to estimate your general area, so the intro can show an NSA near you. This happens before you sign in, and we don’t add the result to any account.
- Event check-in. If a host requires location for check-in, your phone sends its location to confirm you’re at the venue. We keep only whether the check passed, not where you were.
- Filling in an address. If you tap to use your current location, your phone turns it into an address and we keep the address you choose.
- Businesses near you. If you allow it, your location is used for that search to sort businesses by distance. It isn’t saved to your profile.
We don’t collect your location in the background.
How we use your information
- To run NepLink: your account, your NSA, events, tickets, messages and payments.
- To confirm who you are, including your university email and any proof you send.
- To suggest people, housing and events. Your profile and activity help decide what you see first. These suggestions don’t make decisions with legal effects on you.
- To send notifications and email, such as codes, tickets, reminders and notices from your NSA. You choose many of these in Settings.
- To keep people safe: reviewing reports, checking content, preventing fraud and enforcing our Terms of Service.
- To fix bugs and improve the app, including with crash reports.
- To follow the law and meet tax and accounting duties.
Who can see your information
- Other members can see your profile, according to your Privacy settings, and what you post where they can read it.
- Your NSA’s leaders can see your membership and role, your NSA answers, your RSVPs and attendance, and your dues status.
- Your NSA’s President and Vice President can see your emergency contact only while you’re attending one of the NSA’s events. Each time they do, it’s logged.
- Event hosts can see your name, ticket or RSVP, check-in, and your answers to their questions.
- Pickup drivers see your name and flight only after they agree to the pickup. The NSA leaders who arrange pickups can see your request.
- People you ask for help see what you send them.
- NepLink staff can see account information, reviews, reports and content when needed for support, safety or the law.
- Anyone on the web can see NSA public pages and event pages shared by link. Photos used on those pages, such as NSA logos, event posters, business photos and public opportunities, open without a sign-in for anyone who has the link. Profile photos, community posts, memories and announcements need a signed-in account that’s allowed to see them.
Anonymous posts. When you post anonymously, such as in Confessions, other people don’t see your name. We still store who wrote it, and we may use that to enforce our rules or respond to a valid legal request.
Messages. Chats and direct messages are stored on our servers and are not end-to-end encrypted. If someone reports a message, we can see it.
Companies that help us run NepLink
These providers receive information only so they can do their job for us. Each also has its own privacy policy.
| Provider | What it does | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Database, sign-in, file storage and server code | The information described in this policy |
| Stripe | Card and wallet payments, payouts and refunds | Payment details, and identity and bank details from people who receive payouts |
| Resend | Sending email | Your email address and the message |
| OpenAI | Safety checks on Confessions, and reading, searching and matching housing posts | The text of those posts, housing photos, your housing profile and searches |
| Expo, Apple and Google | Delivering push notifications, Apple Wallet passes, and sign-in if you choose it | Your device token and the notification text, or your sign-in details |
| Google Maps | Location search | What you type into the search and your device’s connection details |
| Cloudflare | Hosting the website, counting visits, and blocking bots at checkout | Your IP address and browser details |
We may also share information if the law requires it, or if it’s needed to protect someone’s safety or our rights. If NepLink is ever sold or merged, your information may move to the new owner, and we’ll tell you first.
Keeping and deleting information
We keep your information while your account is open. Some things go sooner:
- Crash reports are deleted after 30 days.
- Housing posts expire on their own.
- Event group chats close when the event ends and are then deleted.
Deleting your account. You can delete your account in the app, under More. We remove your account, your profile, your messages, your posts, your memberships, and the photos, attachments and proof documents you uploaded. Files can take a few hours to leave storage. If your account has payment history or leadership duties, such as being a President or Treasurer, we review it before closing it.
Some things stay after your account closes:
- Payment records. We keep ticket, dues and payout records for tax, accounting, refunds and disputes. For an account closed after that review, we also keep your name and email with those records.
- Safety records. Reports and moderation records stay, so nobody can erase their record and come back. A report about a message can keep the reported text, without your name. If we block an email address, we keep that address.
- Your NSA’s records. Things you made for your NSA stay with it, such as an event and its poster, a logo, or a vote. A photo your NSA kept in its album stays there, without your name.
Your choices and rights
You can change your profile, Privacy settings and notifications in the app, and delete your account there too. Wherever you live, you can also email us to ask us to:
- Confirm whether we hold your personal data, and give you a copy.
- Correct or delete it.
We don’t sell personal data or use it for targeted advertising, so there’s nothing to opt out of there. We’ll answer within 45 days. If we say no, you can appeal by replying to us. If you’re a Virginia resident and your appeal is denied, you can contact the Virginia Attorney General.
UK and EEA users. Where those laws apply, we rely on providing our service to you, our legitimate interest in keeping NepLink safe and working, your consent for permissions you grant, and our legal duties. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Security
We encrypt data in transit, limit who can open private information, and store emergency contact phone numbers in encrypted form. No system is perfectly secure, so we can’t promise that nothing will ever go wrong. If a breach affects you, we’ll tell you as the law requires.
Where your data is stored
Your information is stored in the United States. If you use NepLink from another country, it travels there, and our providers may also process it in other countries.
Age limit
NepLink is for people 18 and older. We don’t knowingly collect information from anyone younger. If you think someone under 18 has an account, email us and we’ll delete it.
The website
neplink.app doesn’t set its own cookies. When you buy a ticket on the site, your browser remembers your name, email and checkout progress so you don’t have to retype them, and NSA pages keep a small note in your browser for counting visits. Cloudflare counts visits to the site without using cookies, and checks at checkout that you’re not a bot.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top. If the change is significant, we’ll also tell you in the app or by email.
Contact us
Email [email protected] with any question or request about your information.