Univs.com is operated by Univs LLC. Legal and privacy enquiries: info@univs.com. The governing jurisdiction is stated in the applicable terms.
Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Univs.com collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data. We are committed to transparency and to processing your data lawfully and fairly.
1. Introduction
Univs.com ("Univs", "we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and protect your personal data when you use any part of our Platform — including univs.com, app.univs.com, payment.univs.com, and all associated subdomains and services.
Please read this policy carefully. If you have any questions or do not agree with its terms, please contact us before using the Platform.
2. Who We Are and How to Contact Us
Univs.com operates as an international education marketplace and student services platform.
Primary Contact for Privacy Matters: Email: info@univs.com, Website: univs.com
We are committed to responding to privacy-related inquiries within 30 days of receipt.
3. Scope of This Policy
This Policy applies to:
- All visitors to univs.com (including unregistered/guest visitors)
- Registered Students
- University Partners and University Managers
- Agents and Partners
- Univs Staff
- Users of app.univs.com
- Users of payment.univs.com
- Users of any other current or future Univs subdomain or digital service
4. Data We Collect
4.1 Data You Provide Directly:
- Student Accounts: Full name, email, password (encrypted), date of birth, nationality, phone, educational history, academic documents, identity documents, supporting documents, scholarship info, language proficiency, other voluntary submissions.
- University Manager/Staff Accounts: Full name, work email, job title, university name, phone, submitted content.
- Agent/Partner Accounts: Full name, business name, email, phone, business registration, country of operation.
Reviews: When you submit a review, we collect the rating and review text; your name and public anonymous-name choice; private contact email; nationality, programme and study-start context; the student-verification method and status; any private verification evidence you choose to provide; and moderation, consent, security and audit metadata. Contact details and verification evidence are not displayed with the public review.
4.2 Data Collected Automatically:
- IP address and geolocation
- Browser type/version
- Operating system
- Device type
- Pages visited
- Time spent on pages
- Clickstream data
- Referral URLs
- Search queries
- Session data
- Performance data
4.3 Cookies and Tracking Technologies:
See Section 13 and our Cookie Policy.
4.4 Data from Third Parties:
- Payment processors
- Analytics and advertising partners
- Social media platforms
- University Partners
- Publicly available sources for verification
5. How We Use Your Data
- Account creation and management
- Processing applications and inquiries
- Connecting students with universities and agents
- Sending transactional communications
- Sending marketing communications (where you have opted in)
- Processing payments and subscriptions
- Platform analytics and improvement
- Fraud detection and security
- Legal compliance
- Providing AI-assisted recommendations
Review trust and safety: We use review data to verify a student relationship, detect profanity, threats, hate, spam, promotional content and exposed personal information, route serious concerns for human review, prevent duplicate or fabricated submissions, publish approved reviews, maintain an audit trail, and investigate reports or appeals. Automated screening supplies safety signals; it does not publish a review or decide whether criticism is true.
6. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)
For EU/EEA/UK users, we rely on:
- Consent (freely given, specific, informed, withdrawable at any time)
- Contract Performance (necessary to provide services you requested)
- Legitimate Interests (fraud detection, platform security, service improvement)
- Legal Obligation (compliance with tax, financial, and data protection laws)
7. How We Share Your Data
7.1 With University Partners:
When you submit an application or inquiry, your data is shared with that University Partner. You expressly consent to this.
7.2 With Agents and Partners:
Relevant data may be shared with your Agent to facilitate your applications and communications.
7.3 Within Univs Group:
Data may be shared across the Univs group for internal business purposes.
7.4 With Service Providers:
- Payment processors (Stripe, regional processors)
- Cloud hosting providers
- Email platforms
- Analytics (Google Analytics)
- CDN providers
- Fraud detection services
- Customer support tools
All bound by data processing agreements.
Review moderation: Review safety screening is currently performed within Univs systems. We do not send private verification evidence to a text-moderation provider. If an external content-safety provider is enabled later, this Policy will be updated before activation and appropriate data-processing safeguards will apply.
7.5 Data We Do NOT Sell:
Univs does not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to any third party.
7.6 Legal Disclosures:
We may disclose data if required by law, regulation, court order, government request, or to protect our rights, property, or safety.
8. International Data Transfers
Your data may be stored and/or processed in the UAE, India, and wherever our service providers operate globally. Where we transfer data from the EEA or UK to countries without adequacy decisions, we use:
- Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs)
- Data processing agreements
- Other legally recognized transfer mechanisms
9. Data Retention
We retain your personal data for as long as necessary. We are currently undertaking a formal data retention policy review. Certain categories of data may be legally required to be retained for specific periods.
WhatsApp Communications
Optional consent and purposes. WhatsApp is optional and is not required to submit an application or use the Services. Supplying a mobile or WhatsApp number or accepting our general Terms does not give WhatsApp consent. If you actively tick the separate WhatsApp box on our application form, Univs LLC may send transactional application and service updates, such as status, document, deadline, appointment and payment-reminder messages, and occasional marketing updates and offers about education, events and related services.
WhatsApp providers and data sharing. To deliver these messages, your WhatsApp number, consent status and the minimum message-routing information may be processed by Meta/WhatsApp and approved messaging service providers acting for us. We do not sell this information. We will not ask you to send personal documents or sensitive information through WhatsApp; where action or sensitive information is required, we will direct you to an official Univs channel.
Withdrawal and evidence retention. You can withdraw WhatsApp consent at any time by replying STOP to a WhatsApp message or contacting info@univs.com. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of earlier processing or your application. We retain consent and withdrawal evidence, including the disclosure text and version, purpose, normalized number, choice or status, timestamp, source and audit data, only as needed to demonstrate compliance, resolve disputes and meet legal obligations, after which it is deleted or anonymised. Required service notices may be sent through an available lawful non-WhatsApp channel.
Android Application, Requested Health Services, and Notifications
Android application. This Policy also applies when you use the Univs Android application. The application uses a Trusted Web Activity to display the same Univs web services at univs.com, app.univs.com, and payment.univs.com, so the data practices described in this Policy also apply in the application.
Requested third-party health services. Where needed for an application or a service you request, we may process health-related documents or information, such as a required medical certificate or information supplied to arrange third-party student health-insurance services. Univs does not act as the insurer. We use and disclose the necessary information only to provide the requested service, work with the relevant participating institution or approved service provider, meet legal or compliance obligations, prevent fraud, and protect users and the Platform.
Optional notifications. If you enable notifications, we process a browser push-subscription endpoint, encryption keys, device or session identifiers, notification status, and delivery results to send account and service updates. Notifications are optional and can be disabled in the application or browser settings. The subscription associated with the current signed-in session is revoked when that session signs out.
Reviews and verification: Published reviews and their essential verification and moderation records are retained while the review remains public and as needed for integrity, disputes and legal obligations. Rejected or quarantined content and limited safety metadata may be retained only as reasonably necessary to prevent abuse, handle appeals or meet legal obligations. Private verification evidence is access-restricted and scheduled for deletion after verification in accordance with our operational retention controls.
10. Your Privacy Rights
10.1 Universal Rights:
- Access
- Rectification
- Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten")
- Restriction of Processing
- Data Portability (students via app.univs.com, others via email)
- Withdraw Consent
- Object to Automated Decision-Making
10.2 Additional EU/EEA Rights:
- Object to processing based on legitimate interests
- Lodge a complaint with national Data Protection Authority (edpb.europa.eu)
10.3 Additional UK Rights:
- Lodge a complaint with the ICO (ico.org.uk)
10.4 Exercising Your Rights:
Contact info@univs.com with subject "Privacy Rights Request." Response within 30 days. Identity verification may be required.
11. Account Deletion
Contact info@univs.com. Self-service deletion not currently available. Deletion requests processed within 30 days. Certain data may be retained as required by law.
12. Security
- Encrypted storage
- HTTPS/TLS for data in transit
- Access controls and authentication
- Regular security audits
- Restricted staff access to personal data
Data breach notification in accordance with applicable law.
13. Cookie Policy
13.1 What Are Cookies?
Small text files placed on your device when you visit a website.
13.2 Cookies We Use:
- Strictly Necessary (login, CSRF)
- Functional (preferences, wishlist)
- Analytics (Google Analytics)
- Marketing (advertising tracking, only with consent)
13.3 Cookie Consent:
Banner displayed to new visitors. Options: Accept all, Reject non-essential, Customise preferences.
13.4 Cookie Reference Table
| Cookie | Category | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
wordpress_logged_in_* |
Necessary | Authenticates logged-in users | Session / 14 days |
wordpress_sec_* |
Necessary | CSRF protection | Session |
wp-settings-* |
Functional | Stores UI preferences | 1 year |
univs_wishlist |
Functional | Preserves program wishlist | 30 days |
_ga, _gid |
Analytics | Google Analytics user/session distinction | 2 years / 24 hours |
_gat |
Analytics | Google Analytics throttle rate | 1 minute |
