1. Overview and Acceptance

Zilker Network ("we," "us," "our," or "the Platform") is committed to transparency about how we collect and use your information. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how it is used, and your rights regarding that data. By accessing or using the Platform in any way, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and unconditionally agree to this Privacy Policy in its entirety. If you do not agree, you must immediately cease all use of the Platform. This Privacy Policy is incorporated by reference into our Terms of Service.

2. Information We Collect

Account information: When you register, we collect your institutional email address, display name, and a cryptographically hashed version of your password using PBKDF2-SHA256. We never store passwords in plain text and we never have access to your original password.

Profile information: Any skills, bio, profile photo, or other information you voluntarily add to your profile. You choose what to share; we simply store it.

Content you post: Forum posts, comments, images, direct messages, group messages, and any other content you submit to the Platform.

University affiliation: We record your institution affiliation based on your verified email domain.

Technical and usage data: Server logs may incidentally capture IP addresses, browser type, device type, referring URLs, and pages accessed for purposes of security monitoring, abuse prevention, and platform stability. We do not use this data to build behavioral profiles or serve advertising.

What we do NOT collect: We do not collect payment information, Social Security numbers, government ID, precise geolocation, or any biometric data. We do not run advertising, behavioral tracking, or data brokerage of any kind.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To verify your enrollment eligibility and authenticate your account
• To display your profile and content to other verified users of the Platform
• To send transactional emails, including email verification, re-verification notices, and security alerts
• To enforce our Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, and applicable law
• To detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents
• To improve and maintain Platform features and user experience

We do not sell, rent, trade, or license your personal information to any third party for commercial purposes, ever.

4. Information Visible to Other Users

Your display name, profile photo, skills, bio, forum posts, and comments are visible to all verified users of the Platform. Your email address is never publicly displayed to other users. Direct messages are visible only to participants in those conversations. You are solely responsible for any personal information you choose to include in public-facing content. Exercise caution — the Platform cannot un-publish information you have voluntarily disclosed.

5. Third-Party Service Providers

We use the following infrastructure providers to operate the Platform. Each processes data solely to provide their respective services and is governed by their own privacy policies:

• Cloudflare — hosting, DDoS protection, and CDN
• Oracle Cloud Infrastructure — database and object storage
• Resend — transactional email delivery

We have no control over these providers' internal data handling practices beyond our contractual agreements with them. We expressly disclaim all liability for any data processing, breach, or incident occurring within or attributable to these third-party systems. By using the Platform, you acknowledge and accept that your data necessarily passes through these providers.

6. Data Retention

We retain your account data for as long as your account remains active. If you request account deletion, we will make reasonable efforts to remove your personal data within 30 days, subject to any applicable legal obligations or legitimate operational needs (such as fraud investigation). Content you have posted may persist in database backups for up to 90 days following deletion. We are not responsible for content that has been cached, archived, or copied by third parties prior to deletion.

7. Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including password hashing, JWT-authenticated API access, encrypted transport (HTTPS/TLS), and access controls. HOWEVER, NO SECURITY SYSTEM IS IMPENETRABLE. WE CANNOT AND DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT YOUR DATA WILL REMAIN SECURE AT ALL TIMES. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU PROVIDE YOUR INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK. In the event of a data incident that we determine affects your account, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you in a timely manner.

8. Limitation of Liability for Data Incidents

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ZILKER NETWORK, ITS FOUNDERS, OPERATORS, VOLUNTEERS, AND CONTRIBUTORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO, DISCLOSURE OF, ALTERATION OF, OR DESTRUCTION OF YOUR DATA, WHETHER RESULTING FROM CYBERATTACKS, HACKING, ZERO-DAY EXPLOITS, INSIDER THREATS, THIRD-PARTY INFRASTRUCTURE FAILURES, ACTS OF GOD, OR ANY OTHER CAUSE BEYOND OUR DIRECT REASONABLE CONTROL. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IN THE EVENT OF A DATA INCIDENT IS TO DISCONTINUE USE OF THE PLATFORM.

9. Children's Privacy

The Platform is restricted to enrolled university and community college students. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 13. If we become aware that a user under 13 has registered, we will promptly delete that account. Because access requires an active institutional email address from a post-secondary institution, we expect all users to be at least 18 years of age.

10. Your Rights and Choices

You may update or delete your profile information at any time through the Settings page. To request full account deletion, a copy of your stored data, or to raise a privacy concern, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to verifiable requests within a reasonable timeframe. We reserve the right to verify your identity before processing any data request.

11. No Warranty Regarding Privacy Practices

WE PROVIDE THIS PLATFORM AND ITS ASSOCIATED PRIVACY PRACTICES "AS IS." WE MAKE NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, THAT OUR PRIVACY PRACTICES WILL MEET ANY PARTICULAR STANDARD, COMPLY WITH ANY LAW NOT EXPRESSLY CITED HEREIN, OR SATISFY YOUR INDIVIDUAL EXPECTATIONS OR REQUIREMENTS. YOUR USE OF THE PLATFORM CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS LIMITATION.

12. Dispute Resolution

Any dispute arising from or relating to this Privacy Policy shall be resolved exclusively through binding individual arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association, conducted in Travis County, Texas. You waive any right to bring or participate in any class action, class arbitration, or representative proceeding arising from or relating to this Privacy Policy. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to prevent irreparable harm.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy at any time. Material changes will be indicated by an updated effective date. Your continued use of the Platform following any update constitutes your unconditional acceptance of the revised policy. It is your responsibility to review this page periodically.

14. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

15. Contact

For privacy-related questions or requests, contact [email protected].