Privacy Policy

LaowaiCentral — Last updated: August 30, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how LaowaiCentral ("we", "us") collects, uses, and protects your information when you use the LaowaiCentral mobile application (the "App"). The App helps international students discover campus events and updates.

Information We Collect

When you create an account, we collect:

• Email address — used to sign in, recover your password, and (if you opt in) send you the newsletter.
• Display name — shown on your profile.
• Password — stored securely in hashed form; we never store it in plain text.
• University, faculty, and student type — used to show you relevant events.
• Interests and tags — used to personalize event recommendations and notifications.
• Nationality — collected at sign-up and used to tailor the events you see.

If you use the forum, we store the posts and comments you write, including those you post anonymously. Anonymity is display-only: your name is hidden from other users, but your authorship is recorded on our servers so that abuse can be traced and acted on. We also store reports you file about other people's content, and the authors you block.

We record how you use the app — which events you view, which source articles you open, which notifications you tap, and page and visit counts — so we can see what is useful and improve the feed. This analytics data is our own; it is not shared with, or collected by, any third-party analytics provider.

If you enable push notifications, we collect a push notification token and basic device information (device model and operating system) so we can deliver notifications to your device.

We do not collect your location, contacts, photos, or any advertising identifiers, and we do not use third-party analytics or advertising SDKs.

How We Use Your Information

• To create and manage your account.
• To show you events and updates relevant to your university and interests.
• To send push notifications about events matching tags you follow (you can turn these off at any time in the App or in your device settings).
• To send the newsletter, only if you have opted in.
• To operate the forum, and to moderate it — reviewing reported content, acting on blocks, and removing content or accounts that break our community guidelines.
• To understand which events and features are useful, using our own usage analytics.

Sharing

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for marketing. Push notifications are delivered through Expo's push notification service and Apple/Google push services, which process your push token solely to deliver notifications.

Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored on our servers at laowaicentral.com and transmitted over encrypted (HTTPS) connections. We keep your data only as long as your account exists.

Your Rights

You can view and update your profile, email, password, interests, and notification preferences at any time in the App.

You can also delete your account yourself, in the App — open Profile and tap Delete Account. You do not need to contact us, and there is no waiting period: your account and all associated data are deleted straight away. If you would rather we did it for you, write to us at the address below.

Children

The App is intended for university students and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated date.

Contact

For any privacy questions or requests, contact us at team@laowaicentral.com.