NApp — the Navodayan Alumni Platform Project ("the App", "we", "us") — is a community platform for alumni and members of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas ("Navodayans"). This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how it is protected, and the choices you have. We keep it in plain language because you deserve to actually understand it.
1. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Phone number — your primary sign-in credential, verified by a one-time password (OTP).
- Email address — verified by a code we email you; used for account recovery and important notices.
- Name and Navodayan details — your name, the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (district) you attended, your entry class and year, and your batch. These are the basis of your membership verification and your automatic batch/district communities.
- Profile content — profile photo, cover photo, and any profile details you choose to add.
- Content you create — posts, comments, likes, status updates and media you share with the community.
Messages — end-to-end encrypted
Voice messages are encrypted on your device in the same way before they are uploaded: we store them so they can be delivered, but we cannot listen to them. If you report a voice message and leave “Let NApp reviewers listen” ticked, the key for that one message is shared with us so we can check it is what the sender uploaded; a copy may be kept with the report while it is reviewed and for up to 90 days after it is closed, and only our senior reviewers can listen to it. For a report about child safety the voice message is checked the same way but never kept, and nobody listens to it. Nothing else in the conversation is shared.
When the mic shows your words as you speak, to type or while you record a voice message, they are recognised by your phone’s or browser’s own speech service (for example Google or Apple), just as with your keyboard’s voice typing. When you speak to type, we receive only the words you send.
Location — once at sign-in, and in NMap only with your consent
- Exact location at sign-in. Finishing a sign-in needs the exact location of your device, taken once, at the moment you sign in. It is never taken in the background or between sign-ins. If you do not allow it, that sign-in does not finish. You can remove the location permission in your device or browser settings at any time after signing in.
- Who sees it. Only you, in Settings, Linked devices, where it shows which device signed in to your account and where. It is not shown to other members or on NMap, and NApp staff have no screen for it. A device you sign in on later does not see where your earlier devices signed in.
- The NMap feature shows nearby Navodayans only when you actively choose to share your presence.
- Visibility is strictly mutual: you can only see people who can also see you.
- Shared presence is temporary and expires automatically after a limited time; it is not a permanent movement history.
- Apart from the one location taken when you sign in, if you never turn on NMap sharing, your location is never collected.
Collected automatically
- Basic technical data needed to run the service — such as device/platform type and connection information — used for delivering the service, security and debugging.
- Aggregate usage statistics — which parts of the App are opened, how often and for how long — counted across all members together. These counts are not linked to your account and cannot identify you.
2. How we use your information
- To create and verify your account as a genuine Navodayan.
- To operate the community: your batch and district groups, profile, posts, chats, calls and NMap.
- To keep the platform safe — preventing fake accounts, abuse and spam.
- To communicate essential service information.
- To understand which features members use, so we can improve the App.
We do not sell your personal data. We do not share it with advertisers. The App shows no third-party ads.
3. What other members can see
- Your name, profile photo and Navodayan details (JNV/district, batch) are visible to other verified members — that visibility is the purpose of an alumni platform.
- Your posts are visible according to the audience you choose when posting.
- Reels you share outside NApp. If you turn on Allow sharing outside NApp for a reel, anyone with its link can watch it on iamanavodayan.com without an account. The page shows the video, which carries your name, JNV and batch, and its caption with other members' names removed; nothing else about you or any other member. Previews of the link in WhatsApp, Facebook and other apps show a picture from the reel and its caption, and may stay in those apps after you turn sharing off. Turning it off stops the link working. We do not count or record who watches, beyond standard short-lived server logs. The reel page remembers, only in the visitor's own browser, how many times that reel has played there, so that after a few plays it can suggest watching on NApp; that number never leaves their device and is not sent to us.
- Reels others may download. If you allow downloads for a reel, members who can see it may save a copy to their device and share it beyond NApp; deleting the reel cannot remove copies already saved.
- Your NMap presence is visible only under the mutual-consent rules described above.
- Your phone number and email are not publicly displayed on your profile.
4. Services we rely on
| Service | What it does for you |
|---|---|
| Firebase Authentication (Google) | Delivers and verifies the OTP used to sign in with your phone number. |
| MongoDB Atlas | Cloud database where your account and community data are securely stored. |
| Cloudflare | Serves this website and protects our services. |
These providers process data on our behalf under their own security and privacy commitments; they are not permitted to use your data for their own purposes.
5. How long we keep data
- Account data is kept for as long as your account exists.
- NMap presence data expires automatically after its short time-to-live.
- Sign-in records (the device, the time and the location taken at sign-in) are deleted automatically 90 days after the sign-in.
- Usage statistics are kept only as daily totals.
- When you delete your account, we keep it for 30 days so you can change your mind and come back. After 30 days we remove your personal data from our active systems: your name, phone number, email, date of birth, profile and cover photos, profile details, device and sign-in records, map pins and your encrypted-key backup. We also remove you from group chats.
- What remains after that includes a record with no name, contact details or batch year showing that an account from your JNV district existed and when it left, and a log that the deletion was carried out. Records that other members or our staff made about you, such as membership decisions, reports and security logs, are kept as part of those records, and some of them expire on their own.
- Posts, comments and messages you shared with other members stay, under the name you used when you posted them.
- Where the law requires us to keep a record, such as a report about child safety, we keep only what that obligation needs.
6. Delete your account & data
You can request deletion of your NApp account and the personal data associated with it at any time:
- By email: write to imanavodayan@gmail.com with the subject "Delete my NApp account" from your registered email, or include your registered phone number.
We will verify the request is really from you, then delete your account and personal data from our active systems within 30 days, as described in section 5. Posts, comments and messages you shared stay under the name you posted them with. End-to-end encrypted messages already delivered to other members' devices remain on their devices, just like SMS you have sent.
7. Security
- Personal and group chats are end-to-end encrypted.
- Data in transit is protected with HTTPS/TLS.
- Access to production systems is restricted and credential-protected.
No system is 100% secure, but protecting a trusted community is the entire point of NApp, and we treat it that way.
8. Children
NApp is intended for people who have completed Class 12 at a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya and are aged 17 or over. It is not directed at anyone younger, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 17; if you believe someone under 17 has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.
9. Your rights
Depending on your jurisdiction (including under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023), you may have the right to access, correct or delete your personal data, and to withdraw consent. To exercise any of these rights, email us — we respond to every request.
10. Changes to this policy
If we make material changes, we will update this page and change the effective date above, and notify you in the App when the change is significant.
11. Contact
Questions, concerns or requests: imanavodayan@gmail.com