Legal Information

KU Plans – Privacy Policy

1) Overview

This Privacy Policy explains—at a high level—what limited data we handle and your basic rights. We intentionally minimize personal data collection. If you disagree, discontinue use.

2) Data We Handle

• Account information: if you choose Google Sign-In, we process your Google account identifier and the basic profile details Google provides, such as name and email address, to link your saved data across devices.
• Academic profile and planning data: information you choose to save, such as preferred name, major, minor, expected graduation, study plans, grades, syllabus calculations, timetable settings, and GPA-calculator data.
• Community content: instructor ratings and comments, instructor suggestions, course-difficulty feedback, issue reports, contact messages, and resources you choose to upload.
• AI Advisor data: questions, recent conversation context, relevant profile/plan context, feedback, usage counts, and generated answers needed to provide and improve the feature.
• Course Exchange data: offers and requests are available without a public account and are linked to an anonymous browser/session identifier. Contact details and messages are collected only when you provide them for an exchange and may be shown to the relevant participant as part of that workflow.
• Technical and security data: session identifiers, IP address, browser/device information, request timestamps, rate-limit records, and diagnostic logs used to operate and protect the service.

We do not sell personal data and do not run advertising trackers.

3) Purposes of Use

• Provide the Platform's core features, including academic planning, optional cloud sync, AI Advisor, schedules, course exchange, ratings, comments, and resource sharing.
• Integrity and moderation (enforce the Terms; remove prohibited content).
• Legal compliance (respond to lawful requests, resolve disputes).
• Communications, such as responding to contact requests and notifying maintainers about issues or KU-specific AI questions that need review.
• Service improvement through moderation, feedback, diagnostics, and aggregated usage information.

4) Legal Basis (General Principles)

Processing is based on legitimate interests (operation, integrity), performance of the service you request (showing and storing your submissions), and compliance with applicable legal obligations. If optional, non-essential tools are introduced in the future, we will provide clear notice and obtain consent where required.

5) Cookies and Local Storage

We use essential PHP session cookies, a signed Google-account link cookie when you sign in, and browser local storage to remember plans, grades, schedules, preferences, exchange state, and other app data. These technologies are necessary for requested features, security, or saving your work. We do not currently use third-party advertising cookies.

6) Data Minimization & Sensitive Data

Please avoid including sensitive personal data (e.g., health, financial, government IDs) or personal information about others in your submissions. We do not direct the Platform to individuals under 18.

7) Sharing and Service Providers

We use service providers to operate KU Plans, including Supabase for application databases, Upstash for saved state and rate limits, Google for sign-in, reCAPTCHA, fonts, and email delivery, OpenAI for AI Advisor and FAQ embeddings, and our web-hosting infrastructure. Data is sent only as needed for the relevant feature. Course Exchange contact information may be shared with the other relevant participant when the exchange workflow requires it. We may also disclose information when required by law or necessary to protect users, rights, safety, or service integrity.

8) Retention

Local-only data remains in your browser until you clear it or use an in-app reset. Cloud-saved account and planning data remains until deleted through the service, removed on request where applicable, or no longer needed to provide the feature. Community submissions, moderation records, security logs, and support records are retained only as reasonably necessary for operation, abuse prevention, dispute handling, and legal compliance. We may aggregate or anonymize records that no longer need to identify a user.

9) Your Rights

Subject to applicable UAE law, you may have rights to request information about personal data we handle, access, correction, deletion where appropriate, restriction, objection, or withdrawal of consent where processing relies on consent. Some anonymous/session-linked content may be difficult to locate without details such as the approximate date, course, instructor, offer, or text submitted.

10) Exercising Rights & Contact

Send requests or privacy questions to [email protected]. Provide enough detail to locate any content (e.g., approximate date/time or descriptive text). We will respond within a reasonable timeframe consistent with applicable law.

11) International / Cross-Border Considerations

Our service or infrastructure may involve processing in locations outside your jurisdiction. We take reasonable steps, where required, so that any such handling is subject to suitable safeguards or permissible conditions.

12) Children

We do not knowingly collect personal data from individuals under 18. If you believe a child has submitted personal data, contact us for removal.

13) Changes to this Policy

We may modify this Policy. The "Last Updated" date reflects the current version. Material changes may be highlighted; continued use signifies acceptance.

14) Non-Affiliation Reminder

KU Plans is independent and not affiliated with any university or its staff. Data shown is unofficial and should be independently verified.

15) Questions or Complaints

Contact us first with any concern at [email protected]. If unresolved and local law grants escalation rights, you may raise the matter with the appropriate UAE authority.

KU Plans – Terms of Service

1) Acceptance

By accessing or using KU Plans (the "Platform"), you agree to these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

2) Independent & Unaffiliated

KU Plans is an independent, student-led informational platform. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Khalifa University or any university, faculty, staff, or administration. All academic information shown is unofficial and should be verified with official sources.

3) Purpose & Features

The Platform provides unofficial degree-planning views, prerequisite guidance, Smart Plan suggestions, GPA and syllabus calculations, schedule building, AI Advisor, instructor ratings/comments, shared course resources, and a course-section exchange. Authorized staff tools maintain catalogs and moderate submissions. Features may change, be limited, or be removed as the service develops.

4) Eligibility

Intended for higher-education students and general informational use. If local law requires parental or guardian consent for you to use online services, obtain it before using the Platform.

5) No Official Academic Advice

Content, course sequences, prerequisites, schedules, GPA calculations, Smart Plan results, exchange listings, instructor reviews, and AI-generated answers are informational only and may be incomplete, inaccurate, or outdated. They do not replace official curricula, registration systems, academic advisers, instructors, or institutional policies. Verify important academic decisions through official Khalifa University sources.

6) Accounts and Anonymous Features

Most planning tools can be used locally without an account. Google Sign-In is optional and enables supported cloud features. Course Exchange is intentionally available without a public account and uses an anonymous browser/session identifier; you remain responsible for the accuracy of offers and any contact details you voluntarily share. Do not treat another participant's identity, availability, or promises as verified by KU Plans.

7) Acceptable Use

You must not:

• Post unlawful, defamatory, threatening, hateful, harassing, obscene, or discriminatory material.
• Disclose personal or private information about instructors or other individuals.
• Infringe intellectual property or confidentiality rights.
• Submit spam, automated or bulk content, or attempt to circumvent anti-abuse measures.
• Misrepresent affiliation or impersonate others.
• Interfere with, disrupt, or attempt to probe the Platform's availability.

8) User Content & License

"User Content" includes ratings, comments, suggestions, or other material you submit. You retain your rights but grant KU Plans a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, display, reproduce, adapt, moderate, and distribute your User Content for operating, improving, protecting, and promoting the Platform. You warrant you have necessary rights and that your content is lawful and compliant with these Terms.

Community Expectations

• Keep submissions respectful and focused on course/instructor experience.
• Don't include sensitive personal data (e.g., health, government IDs, financial details).
• Don't upload copyrighted material unless permitted by law or the rights holder.

9) Moderation

We may (but are not obligated to) review, filter, remove, refuse, throttle, or block content or usage that violates these Terms or applicable law, or to maintain the integrity of the Platform.

10) Ratings Disclaimer

Instructor ratings and comments are subjective opinions of individual users—not statements of fact verified by KU Plans. We do not guarantee accuracy, completeness, fairness, or neutrality of any user submission.

11) Intellectual Property – Platform

Platform layout, design, compilation, and original materials (excluding User Content and third-party items) are owned or licensed by KU Plans. You receive a limited, revocable, non-transferable right to use the Platform for personal, non-commercial academic planning. Reverse engineering or bulk extraction for competing services is prohibited except where legally mandated.

12) Third-Party Services and AI

The Platform integrates third-party infrastructure and services, including database, storage, identity, email, anti-abuse, font, and AI providers. Those services operate under their own terms and privacy practices. AI Advisor answers are generated by an automated system and can be wrong; never rely on them as the sole basis for enrollment, graduation, financial, or other important decisions.

13) Feedback

Voluntary feedback (bugs, enhancements) may be used freely without obligation or attribution.

14) Disclaimers

The Platform is provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" with no warranties—express, implied, statutory, or otherwise—including warranties of accuracy, non-infringement, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. We do not warrant uninterrupted or error-free operation or that content will meet your expectations.

15) Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, KU Plans and its contributors shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive, exemplary, or lost-profit damages; nor for loss of data, goodwill, or academic opportunities arising from use of or inability to use the Platform. Any liability that cannot be excluded is limited to the minimum extent permitted by law.

16) Indemnity

You agree to defend and indemnify KU Plans and its contributors against claims, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from: (a) your User Content; (b) your breach of these Terms; or (c) your violation of any law or third-party right.

17) Suspension / Termination

We may suspend or terminate access at any time for violations, legal compliance, or operational reasons. On termination, rights granted to you end; provisions that by nature survive (e.g., licenses granted to display User Content, disclaimers, limitations, indemnity) continue.

18) Governing Law & Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of the United Arab Emirates. Disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent UAE courts (subject to any non-waivable consumer or data-protection forum rights).

19) Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms periodically. The "Last Updated" date indicates the latest revision. Continued use indicates acceptance.

20) Contact

Legal / IP / general policy queries: [email protected].