PILOT VERSION · EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 28, 2026

Privacy Policy

Alongside collects only what it needs to run bookings, payments and sessions. We do not sell personal information and do not use it for targeted advertising.

1. What we collect

Information	From	Why
Name, email, password (stored encrypted by our sign-in provider), account type	Everyone	Your account and sign-in
Age group, a parent or guardian’s email, and confirmation of their permission	Students	Age rules, parent permission and parent copies of booking emails
Optional “about you” answers: high school, grade, first application deadline, intended major, dream schools, help needed, school types, sport, when you’re usually free, budget, a note	Students	Mentor match scores, and helping booked mentors prepare
Profile: name, school and type of school, degree, major, graduation year, bio, topics, price, photo, time zone, availability, and optional high school, hometown, fun fact, sport, highlights and LinkedIn link	Mentors	Your public profile and booking calendar
Enrollment or graduation evidence, 18+ and code-of-conduct confirmation	Mentors	Approval; seen only by Alongside administrators
College email address and the fact it was verified with a code	Mentors who choose to verify	Confirming enrollment; the address is seen only by the mentor and Alongside administrators, and profiles show only the school’s domain
Bookings: times, prices, status, refunds, attendance	Students and mentors	Running sessions and resolving problems
Payment records: amounts and Stripe reference numbers (never full card numbers)	Students	Payments, refunds, accounting
Payout details: identity and bank information, collected and held by Stripe	Mentors	Paying mentors
Ratings, reviews and problem reports	Students and mentors	Quality and safety
Sign-in cookies, security and activity logs	Everyone	Keeping accounts secure and the site working

Sessions happen live in a private video room. Alongside may record sessions (video and audio) for safety; when recording is on, the session page and booking emails say so. Recordings are deleted 30 days after the session, or once a reported problem is resolved if that is later. Only Alongside administrators can view them, only to look into a reported problem, a safety concern or a legal request, and each viewing is logged.

2. Who can see what

Everyone: approved mentors’ profiles (name, photo, school, major, bio, topics, price, ratings and reviews).
Mentors see the first name and optional “about you” answers of students who have booked them, and the session times. They never see students’ email addresses.
Students see their own bookings and answers, and mentors’ public profiles. Match scores are calculated for the student only and are not shown to mentors. During the pilot, a student who books a mentor also sees the payment details that mentor chose to share (such as a Venmo handle), and they are included in the booking email.
Parents or guardians of students under 18 receive copies of booking emails (confirmations, session reminders and the mentor’s notes), not reminder or follow-up emails.
Alongside administrators can see account, booking and application details to run the service and handle reports.

3. Service providers

We share information only with the companies that run parts of Alongside for us, and only what each needs:

Supabase: database, sign-in and photo storage (servers in the US)
Google: only if you choose “Continue with Google”, to confirm your name and email address
Stripe: card payments, refunds and mentor payouts
Resend: sending account and booking emails
Daily: live video rooms, and private session recordings when recording is on (stored for 30 days)
Vercel: hosting the website

We may also share information if the law requires it, or to protect someone’s safety.

4. Students under 18

Alongside is for students aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13; if we learn we have, we delete it. Students aged 13–17 give a parent or guardian’s email when signing up, and that parent approves the account by email before the student can book. We keep a record of when they approved. A parent or guardian can ask to see, correct or delete their teen’s information by emailing us.

5. How long we keep information

Account, profile and “about you” information: while the account is open, and deleted within 30 days after it is closed.
Payment, refund and payout records: 7 years, for tax and accounting.
Session recordings (when recording is on): 30 days after the session, or until a reported problem is resolved if that is later.
Safety reports and administrator records: as long as needed to handle the matter, then deleted.

6. Your choices and rights

You can change your profile and “about you” answers in your account at any time. To get a copy of your information, correct it, or delete your account, email alongside.mentors@gmail.com. We answer within 30 days. Records we must keep by law (such as payments) are kept for the periods above.

7. Security

Access is protected by passwords, administrator two-factor authentication, database rules that limit each person to their own information, and encrypted connections. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we will tell you as the law requires.

8. Changes and contact

We will post any changes here with a new effective date and email account holders about important changes. Questions or requests: alongside.mentors@gmail.com.