Gadzook University
Privacy Policy
Effective October 8, 2026
Gadzook University is a local guide to deals, events and businesses in college towns (starting at Princeton University and Cairn University), available on the web and made by Gadzook Labs. This policy explains what information Gadzook University uses and why. The short version: you don't need an account, we don't sell or share your information, and we don't use ads or tracking.
Information we don't collect
- Visitors don't sign up, so we don't ask for your name, email, phone number or school.
- We don't use advertising or third-party analytics or tracking tools, and we don't track you across other apps or websites. The only usage information we keep is the anonymous daily counts described below.
- We never sell your information.
Student deals
Some deals are marked as student deals. You show your student ID to the business in person; Gadzook University never asks for, sees or stores your student ID, school email or student status.
Nightly brief
If you turn on the nightly brief, we store what it needs to send you one alert each night: your browser's or phone's alert address (a "push subscription"), the time you picked, whether you want an "around town" item, and the schedule you add: weekly classes, due dates and exams, and, if you paste one, your class calendar link (Canvas, Blackboard and the like) and what it lists. It's kept under a random code stored on your device. There's no name, email or account, and we can't tell who you are from it. Your class calendar link is private to you, so keep it secret; we only use it to read your upcoming due dates once a night.
If you tick "Announcements from the university", your nightly alert also includes new announcements from official university departments on Gadzook University. You can untick it any time.
Everything in your brief is deleted when you turn it off ("Turn off my brief and delete everything"), when your phone or browser stops accepting Gadzook University alerts, or the day after the semester ends.
Syllabus scans: if you scan a syllabus, the photo or PDF is sent to Anthropic, the company that makes the Claude AI, which reads the dates out of it. We don't keep the file, and Anthropic handles it under its commercial terms, which don't allow using it to train its AI. You check what it found before anything is added to your brief.
Your location
If you tap Deals near me, Show me on the map, or How far is it from me?, your device asks for permission to use your location. Your location is used only on your device to sort deals and show distances. It is never sent to our servers or stored by us. You can turn location access off at any time in your device or browser settings.
One-time coupon codes
Some coupons give you a one-time code. When you claim one, we store the code, the coupon it belongs to, when it was claimed and redeemed, and a random device ID saved in a cookie on your device. The device ID lets us give each device one code per coupon. It isn't linked to your name or any other information about you.
Business accounts
Businesses that post deals and events have an account created by us at their request. For these accounts we store the business name, the email address used to log in, a password (stored only in scrambled, "hashed" form; we can't read it), and what the business posts: coupons, events, specials and links. These are shown publicly as the business intends. A login cookie keeps the business signed in. Businesses can delete their account at any time from their account page.
A business can ask for an account by tapping "Claim this page" on its listing. For each claim we store the name, role, email address and phone number given, any note added, and the internet (IP) address and approximate city the request came from. We use these only to confirm the claim with the business and to spot and stop fake claims. Email info@gadzooklabs.com to have a claim record deleted.
A business can add staff members so employees can redeem codes. For each we store the name the business gives them and a 4-digit PIN (stored only in hashed form), plus which staff member redeemed each code. Removing a staff member, or deleting the business account, deletes these.
Anonymous visit counts
To see which campus towns and businesses people use, we keep daily totals, for example "Princeton University: 212 visits today", "this business page: 9 views" or "nightly brief alerts sent: 140". These are counts only: we don't store your IP address, device ID, location or anything that could identify you. Businesses and university departments that work with us (school partners) can see these totals, and totals about nightly briefs (for example, how many have classes added), never anything about a particular person.
Information kept on your device
The Gadzook University start page remembers which campus town you picked last, stored only in your browser on your device. Your light or dark appearance choice and which cards you keep open are stored the same way.
Services that help run Gadzook University
These providers receive your device's IP address and basic technical information when Gadzook University loads content from them. They don't receive your location or any account information from us.
- Cloudflare: hosts Gadzook University and stores its data.
- OpenFreeMap: map images on the Map tab.
- Google Fonts, cdnjs and jsDelivr: fonts and map software.
- Apple, Google, Mozilla and Microsoft: if you turn on the nightly brief, your browser's push service delivers the alerts. It receives your alert address and the alert itself, which is encrypted so only your device can read it.
- Anthropic: reads a syllabus when you scan one (see Nightly brief above).
Weather and event listings are fetched by our servers from public sources (such as the National Weather Service and public event and athletics calendars); no information about you is sent to them. Links to Google Maps, business websites and event pages take you to those sites, which have their own privacy policies.
How long we keep information
Coupon claim records are kept while the coupon program runs and used only as described above. Business account information is kept until the business deletes its account or asks us to.
Children
Gadzook University is a general-audience local guide and isn't directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update it here and change the date at the top.
Contact
Questions or requests about your information: info@gadzooklabs.com
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