1. About this policy
Peermigo is a student study-partner and collaboration platform for people aged 18 or older. This notice explains how information is used when you register, search for peers, share notes, message, join groups or manage your account.
For privacy enquiries and requests, contact the Peermigo team at peermatchstudents@gmail.com. This notice is written with South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) in mind; it does not replace your legal rights.
2. Information we collect
- Account and security: email address, user ID, sign-in and email-verification events, authentication information and account status. Passwords are handled by the authentication provider; the website does not store plaintext passwords.
- Required study profile: first/given names and surname, institution type and name, course or school grade, at least one subject/module and preferred study format. Campus is required for university or college students choosing on-campus study; it is optional for online or hybrid students and not required for school learners.
- Other profile details: additional subjects/modules, campus when optional, availability, biography, profile photo, verification status, submitted student verification requests and administrator review decisions, profile-discovery and last-seen preferences.
- Content and interactions: private messages, attachments, connections, study groups, discussions, session details and RSVPs, public/private notes, images, saved notes, reports, blocked users and notification preferences.
- Technical information: limited logs and device/browser or network information processed as needed for sign-in, security, troubleshooting and hosting.
Do not share passwords, ID numbers, private contact details or sensitive records in posts, chats or notes. Verification evidence, if requested, should only be supplied through an approved private process.
3. How we use this information
We process account and study details to operate sign-in, protect accounts, help students discover compatible peers, deliver messages and group features, display public notes, save bookmarks, handle reports and respond to support requests.
Matching: Peermigo uses subjects/modules, course, institution, campus, study format and optional availability to calculate a compatibility score and rank suggestions. Online, hybrid and on-campus preferences receive different priorities; campus is especially relevant to on-campus matches. A percentage is a study-compatibility estimate, not a verified measure of a person, a guarantee of safety or an academic prediction. Not being recommended does not prevent a discoverable student from appearing elsewhere in the student directory.
Discover Notes may prioritise public notes based on your study interests and recent activity. It is not a public search-engine feed.
4. Who can see what
- Student profiles: intended for signed-in members, subject to account status, discovery settings and applicable access controls. If discoverable, other students may see your name, institution, campus, course, modules, photo, study preferences and public profile content; your sign-in email is not displayed on student profiles. Authorised Peermigo administrators may review profile and account details, including profiles hidden from Find Peers, where necessary for safety, student verification and moderation. Hiding a profile affects peer discovery, not authorised administrative access.
- Private notes: visible to you as their author. Public notes: may appear on your profile and in Discover Notes for signed-in students; readers may save or copy material while it is available. Hiding your profile from Find Peers does not hide notes you publish. Public notes may still appear in Discover Notes, including when your profile is hidden. In that case the feed uses a generic author label instead of linking to your hidden profile. Previously shared content or copies may persist. Choose Only me if a note should not be shared.
- Messages and files: direct messages and their attachments are intended for the conversation participants. Group discussions and attachments are intended for authorised participants. Some group or session details are visible to signed-in students for discovery.
- Saved items, reports and blocks: bookmarks and blocked-user lists are account-specific. Reports are submitted for review, not published as part of the feed.
Manage profile visibility and last-seen information in Settings → Privacy & Safety. Blocking is available under Settings → Blocking. Changing a setting cannot recall screenshots, downloaded images, previously shared material or an already-issued short-lived file link.
5. Messages and notifications
Peermigo offers in-app and optional activity-email notifications about supported interactions, including groups, sessions, messages and public notes. You can adjust available preferences under Settings → Notifications. Account confirmation, password resets, email-address verification and security notices may be sent separately because they are related to account access and safety.
Message recipients and email providers necessarily receive the details needed to deliver communications. Email delivery is not guaranteed, and students should check spam folders for expected security messages.
6. Service providers and transfers
Peermigo relies on third parties to operate: Supabase for authentication, databases, file storage and backend services; Vercel for the current website deployment; and Brevo for transactional and activity email delivery. Pages also load resources such as Google Fonts and a JavaScript module CDN, which can receive technical connection information.
Some providers or sub-processors may handle information outside South Africa, subject to their own safeguards and applicable data-protection rules. We do not sell student personal information to advertisers. Information may be shared where legally required or reasonably necessary to respond to abuse and security incidents.
7. Security and storage
Peermigo uses sign-in controls, Supabase Row Level Security and access-controlled file storage to limit access. These are safeguards, not an absolute guarantee. Students should use strong passwords and avoid disclosing private information in chat or notes.
Information is kept for as long as reasonably needed to run the service, meet lawful obligations, investigate misuse and maintain security. Deleted items may persist temporarily in provider backups, operational records or copies made by recipients. Specific retention periods vary by data type and provider; contact us if you need information about a particular record.
Account deactivation temporarily pauses participation and hides the profile in supported areas without automatically erasing the account. Permanent deletion can be requested using Settings → Your Account, subject to legal, security and technical retention limits. Group contributions or materials copied by other students may remain as permitted by the service's deletion process.
8. Your choices and POPIA rights
You can edit your first/given names and surname, update required study details without leaving them blank, adjust profile discovery and last-seen visibility, manage activity-email preferences, edit or delete your notes, block students and deactivate or request deletion of your account. Required study fields support matching; campus is required only in the on-campus university/college scenario described above.
Under applicable law, you may ask whether we hold your information, request access to it, seek correction or deletion where appropriate, or object to qualifying processing. Email peermatchstudents@gmail.com; we may request reasonable identity verification before sharing or changing personal information. Certain legal grounds may limit deletion or disclosure.
You may also raise a complaint with South Africa's Information Regulator if you believe your data-protection rights have been infringed.
9. Browser storage and other sites
The website uses browser storage for theme choices and may store authentication sessions, interface preferences and limited cached information required for signed-in features. Hosting, identity and infrastructure providers may log technical requests. External resource links are operated independently; their privacy practices and availability are not controlled by Peermigo.
10. Policy updates and contact
We may update this notice when features, providers or legal requirements change. The date above identifies this version. Material changes may be announced through the website or account communications as appropriate.
Questions or privacy requests: peermatchstudents@gmail.com.
A clear guide to how Peermigo works.