Privacy Policy

Last Updated: March 27, 2026

At Withly ("we," "our," or "us"), we believe that true peer connection requires a foundation of absolute trust and privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use the Withly mobile application (the "App").

By accessing or using the App, you signify that you have read, understood, and agree to our collection, storage, use, and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

A. Information You Provide to Us

• Account Information: To maintain our "Walled Garden," we collect and verify your university email address (e.g., @ung.edu). We also collect your chosen display name, password, major, and selected interests.
• User-Generated Content (UGC): We collect the content you create, including your daily "WithMe" check-in vibes, messages sent in Directs and Huddles, "Signals," and photos or files you upload.
• Communications: If you contact us directly for support, we will receive your email address and the contents of your message.

B. Information Collected Automatically

• Usage Data: We collect data about how you interact with the App, such as the features you use, the time and duration of your activities, and your interaction with the Withly Companion AI.
• Device Information: We may collect information about the device you use to access the App, including the hardware model, operating system, and unique device identifiers.

2. How We Use Your Information

We do not sell your personal data to advertisers. We use the information we collect primarily to provide and improve the Withly ecosystem:

• To Provide the Service: To authenticate your university status, create your account, route your "Signals" to relevant peers, and facilitate messaging.
• Safety & Moderation: To monitor for violations of our Terms of Service. Your UGC is scanned by automated systems to detect harmful language, and we process community reports to quarantine abusive accounts.
• Withly Companion AI: When you chat with the Withly Companion, your text inputs are processed to generate conversational, helpful responses.
• Anonymized Campus Statistics: We aggregate "WithMe" check-in data to understand macro-level campus well-being (e.g., "30% of students feel stressed during midterms"). This data is strictly anonymized and cannot be traced back to your individual account.

3. How We Share Your Information

We share your information only in the following specific circumstances:

• With Other Users: Your display name, profile picture, major, and the content you post in public Huddles or Signals are visible to other verified students within your university's Walled Garden. Direct messages are visible only to the participants of that chat.
• Service Providers: We share data with trusted third-party vendors who provide cloud hosting (Google Firebase) and artificial intelligence processing (Google Generative AI). These providers are bound by strict confidentiality agreements and use your data only to provide services to Withly.
• University Partners (Anonymized Data Only): We may share aggregated, non-personally identifiable macro-statistics with university administration to help them understand campus morale and improve institutional support. We will never share your individual messages or specific check-in data with the university.
• Legal & Emergency Situations: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, or if we believe in good faith that such action is necessary to protect the safety of a user, investigate fraud, or respond to a critical emergency.

4. Data Retention and Deletion

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you the App's services. You may request to delete your account and associated data at any time by navigating to Settings > Delete Account within the App, or by emailing us. Upon deletion, your personal data will be removed from our active databases, though some anonymized or aggregated data may remain.

5. Security of Your Information

We implement robust, enterprise-grade security measures to protect your personal information, including encryption of data in transit and at rest. However, no electronic transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise absolute security.

6. Children's Privacy

Withly is designed exclusively for enrolled university students. The App is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete it immediately.

7. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy and, if necessary, through an in-app notification. Your continued use of the App after the changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

8. Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at: hello@withly.co