Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-05-20 Effective date: 2026-05-20

This Privacy Policy describes how Inbetween ("we," "us," "our") collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal information.

1. Who we are

Inbetween is a community platform for verified students of Western University (London, Ontario, Canada). We are operated from Ontario, Canada.

For privacy questions, contact: safety@inbtween.app

2. What we collect

When you use Inbetween, we collect:

Account information

  • Your email address (must end in @uwo.ca)
  • A user-chosen handle (username)
  • Your faculty, year, and (optionally) program
  • Verification of your email via magic link

Activity data

  • Posts and comments you submit (both anonymous and handle-mode)
  • Likes and reactions you give
  • Reports you submit about other content
  • Records of when you sign in and how often you use the platform

Technical data

  • Your IP address (collected automatically by our hosting providers)
  • Browser type and device information
  • Referring URLs

We do not collect:

  • Government identification documents
  • Financial information (we don't currently process payments)
  • Social media profiles or contact lists
  • Location data beyond what's inferred from IP

3. How we use your information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Operate and improve the platform
  • Verify that you're a current Western student
  • Display your posts, comments, and reactions to other users (according to your chosen display mode)
  • Investigate reports of policy violations
  • Communicate with you about your account, the service, or significant changes to our policies
  • Detect and prevent abuse, spam, fraud, and other harmful activity
  • Comply with legal obligations

4. Anonymity on the platform

Inbetween offers an anonymous posting mode. When you post anonymously, other users do not see your handle attached to that post.

However, anonymity is not absolute. Our systems associate every post and comment with the user account that created it. We can identify the author of any post or comment when reviewing reports, investigating abuse, or responding to legal requests.

Anonymous posts and comments are not displayed on user profile pages.

5. Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal information.

We share information with:

  • Our service providers who help us operate the platform (e.g., hosting, email delivery, error monitoring), under appropriate data protection agreements
  • Law enforcement or other authorities when we are legally required to do so, or when we believe disclosure is necessary to prevent serious harm
  • Other users, but only to the extent of your public posts, comments, and profile information you choose to display

We do not currently share data with advertisers or third-party analytics providers beyond aggregated, anonymized usage metrics.

6. Your rights

Under Canadian privacy law (PIPEDA), you have the right to:

  • Access the personal information we hold about you
  • Request correction of inaccurate information
  • Request deletion of your account and associated personal information
  • Withdraw your consent to our use of your information
  • Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca)

To exercise any of these rights, email safety@inbtween.app. We will respond within 30 days.

Note: Deleting your account will remove your handle, profile, and identifiable information. However, your past posts and comments may remain visible (in anonymized form) to preserve the integrity of past discussions. You can also request full content removal as part of your deletion request.

7. Data retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active. After account deletion, we retain certain information for a limited period for legal, security, and operational purposes:

  • Banned user records: retained indefinitely to prevent re-registration
  • Reports and moderation logs: retained for 2 years
  • IP and login data: retained for 90 days
  • Backup copies: retained for 30 days

8. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including:

  • Encrypted connections (HTTPS) for all data in transit
  • Database-level access controls
  • Limited operator access to user data on a need-to-know basis

No system is perfectly secure. If we become aware of a data breach affecting your information, we will notify you in accordance with applicable law.

9. Age requirement

Inbetween is intended for users 18 years of age and older who are verified students at Western University. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

10. Where your data is processed

Inbetween is operated from Canada and your data is stored on servers located in Canada and the United States (depending on the service provider). By using the service, you understand that your information may be processed and stored in these jurisdictions.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make significant changes, we will notify users by email and require renewed consent before continued use of the platform.

12. Contact

Questions about this policy? Email safety@inbtween.app.