Privacy Policy

Overview

This Privacy Policy explains how Stead collects, uses, discloses and protects personal information when you use our websites, applications, integrations and related services (collectively, the “Service”).

Stead is currently operated by its founders under the Stead name. In this Privacy Policy, “Stead,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the operators of the Service.

We aim to collect and use personal information only where reasonably necessary to operate, secure and improve Stead and provide the features you choose to use.

This Privacy Policy should be read together with our Terms of Service.

Information we collect

The information we collect depends on how you use Stead and which features you choose to enable.

Account information

When you create or manage an account, we may collect information such as:

• your name;
• email address;
• profile information;
• school or university;
• program, year or other academic information you choose to provide;
• profile photo, if you add one; and
• account settings and preferences.

If you use a third-party login provider, we may receive basic account information from that provider as permitted by your settings and authorization.

Content you provide

We may collect information you choose to create, upload, import, send or store through Stead, including:

• tasks and to-do items;
• notes;
• course information;
• schedules;
• assignments and deadlines;
• syllabi, timetables and other course documents;
• files and resources;
• calendar information;
• calendar feed links you add;
• messages;
• posts, comments and other social content;
• information submitted through forms; and
• other content you choose to add to the Service.

You decide what information you submit to Stead.

Calendar feeds you add

If you add a calendar feed link, we collect the link itself and the information the feed makes available, which may include:

• calendar and event names;
• dates and times;
• locations;
• descriptions and other event details; and
• other calendar information contained in the feed.

Adding a calendar feed is optional. How this works, and what it does not involve, is described under Calendar feeds below.

Information about how you use Stead

When you use the Service, we may automatically collect certain technical and usage information, including:

• device and browser type;
• operating system;
• IP address;
• approximate location derived from IP address;
• pages or features viewed;
• interactions with the Service;
• referring pages;
• date and time of access;
• error and diagnostic information; and
• other technical information generated when using the Service.

We use this information primarily to operate, secure, troubleshoot and improve Stead.

How we use information

We may use personal information to:

• create and maintain your account;
• provide the features and functionality you request;
• organize and display your academic and student-life information;
• retrieve and synchronize calendar feeds you have added;
• process documents or information you choose to upload;
• personalize the Service for you;
• enable communication and social features;
• respond to questions and support requests;
• authenticate users and protect accounts;
• detect, investigate and prevent fraud, abuse, security incidents and violations of our Terms;
• troubleshoot errors and maintain the reliability of the Service;
• understand how users interact with Stead;
• develop, test and improve features;
• send important administrative or service-related communications;
• comply with legal obligations; and
• enforce our Terms of Service and protect our users, rights and property.

If we want to use personal information for a materially different purpose that is not reasonably connected to the purposes described here, we will provide notice and obtain additional consent where required by law.

Academic and course information

You may upload or enter academic information yourself, including syllabi, timetables, course schedules, assignments, deadlines and other course-related information.

Where you do, Stead may process, parse, extract, organize, store and display information from what you provide - for example, reading dates and course details out of a syllabus or timetable so they can be shown on your schedule.

We use this information to provide organizational and productivity features requested by you.

Stead is not an official university system, and information stored or generated through Stead should not be treated as an official academic record.

Calendar feeds

Stead allows you to add calendar information using calendar feed links, including ICS and webcal URLs that you obtain from services such as Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook or your university’s calendar system.

When you provide a calendar feed URL, Stead may use that URL to retrieve, synchronize, process, store and display information made available through the feed, which may include event names, dates, times, locations, descriptions and other calendar information.

Stead does not require your password for these services and does not log into your Google, Apple, Microsoft or university account on your behalf through this feature.

Some calendar feed URLs, including private or “secret” calendar URLs, may allow anyone who possesses the URL to access information contained in the feed. You should therefore treat these URLs as sensitive and avoid sharing them with others.

The service that publishes a feed is operated by someone else and is governed by that provider’s own terms and privacy practices. We do not control what a provider includes in a feed, how often it updates, or whether it remains available.

We use calendar feed information only as reasonably necessary to provide, maintain, secure and improve the calendar functionality you choose to use.

Where supported, you may remove a calendar from Stead. Removing it will stop future synchronization from that feed, subject to reasonable technical, backup, security and legal retention requirements.

Third-party content and links

Stead may display news, student deals, opportunities, offers or other information obtained from third-party or publicly available sources.

This information is provided for convenience. Stead does not control and does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, availability, pricing, eligibility, terms or continued availability of third-party content or offers.

Third-party content may link to websites or services operated by others. Those third parties have their own terms and privacy practices. Stead is not responsible for how an external website or service collects, uses or protects information after you leave Stead.

How we share information

We do not sell your personal information.

We may disclose personal information in the following limited circumstances.

Service providers

We may use companies and contractors to help operate Stead, such as providers of:

• cloud hosting and databases;
• authentication;
• infrastructure;
• analytics;
• error monitoring;
• communications;
• customer support; and
• security.

These providers may process information on our behalf where reasonably necessary to perform their services.

We seek to use providers with appropriate privacy and security practices and limit their access to information based on the services they perform.

When you choose to share information

Certain Stead features may allow you to share information with friends, classmates, groups or other users.

Information you deliberately make visible to another user may be viewed or copied by that person.

You are responsible for deciding what information you choose to share through these features.

Legal and safety reasons

We may disclose information where we reasonably believe doing so is necessary to:

• comply with applicable law, legal process or a lawful government request;
• investigate fraud, abuse or security incidents;
• protect the safety of users or others;
• enforce our Terms of Service;
• protect Stead’s rights, property or systems; or
• establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We will only disclose information in these circumstances where permitted or required by applicable law.

Business transactions

If Stead is involved in an incorporation, financing, restructuring, merger, acquisition, sale of assets or similar transaction, information may be disclosed or transferred as permitted by applicable law and applicable platform policies.

Where additional consent is legally or contractually required before particular information can be transferred, we will seek that consent.

Social and shared features

Some parts of Stead may allow users to create profiles, communicate, share resources or otherwise interact with other users.

Information you make available through these features may be visible to the audience you select or, depending on the feature, to other Stead users.

Do not share information through public or shared areas of Stead that you do not want others to see.

We cannot control how another user uses information that you intentionally share with them outside of Stead.

Aggregated and de-identified information

We may create statistics or insights from information that has been aggregated or de-identified so that it does not reasonably identify an individual.

We may use this information to understand usage, improve Stead, evaluate features and operate the Service.

Where information is maintained in de-identified form, we will not intentionally attempt to re-identify it except where necessary for security, legal compliance or as otherwise permitted by law.

Data retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or as required by law.

Retention periods may vary depending on:

• the type of information;
• how the information is used;
• whether your account remains active;
• security and fraud-prevention requirements;
• backup and disaster-recovery processes; and
• legal or regulatory obligations.

When you delete content or your account, we will take reasonable steps to delete or de-identify associated personal information within a reasonable period, subject to legitimate technical, security, backup and legal requirements.

Information may remain temporarily in backups before those backups are overwritten or securely deleted.

We may retain limited information where reasonably necessary to prevent fraud, enforce our agreements, resolve disputes or comply with legal obligations.

Account deletion

Where available, you may delete your Stead account from within the Service.

You may also contact us to request account deletion.

Deleting your account may remove access to your account, your content and any calendar feeds you added.

Some information may remain for a limited period in backups or where retention is required or permitted for security, legal or operational reasons.

Content you previously shared with other users may remain visible if another user has retained or independently shared it.

Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

What those measures are may vary by system and change over time, and may include access controls, authentication, secure infrastructure and monitoring where appropriate.

However, no internet service, storage system or method of transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

You are also responsible for protecting your login credentials and devices, and for treating any private or “secret” calendar feed URL you hold as sensitive.

If we become aware of a security breach involving personal information, we will investigate and take appropriate action, including notification to affected individuals or regulators where required by applicable law.

International processing

Stead and the service providers we use may store or process information in Canada, the United States or other jurisdictions.

As a result, personal information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction where it is processed and may be accessible to courts, law-enforcement agencies or government authorities in accordance with applicable law.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that service providers handling personal information use appropriate safeguards.

Your privacy choices and rights

Depending on applicable law and the information involved, you may have the right to:

• access personal information we hold about you;
• request correction of inaccurate information;
• delete certain information;
• withdraw consent for certain processing;
• remove calendar feeds you have added;
• request information about how your personal information has been used or disclosed; and
• raise a concern about our privacy practices.

Some requests may be subject to legal exceptions or limitations.

We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request.

Withdrawing consent may prevent us from providing features that require the relevant information.

Consent

By providing personal information or choosing to use features that require it, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information for the purposes communicated to you, subject to applicable law.

For particularly important or sensitive uses, we may provide additional explanations or request consent directly within the Service.

You may withdraw consent where legally permitted, subject to reasonable notice and any legal or contractual restrictions.

Younger users

Stead is designed primarily for university and post-secondary students.

If you have not reached the age of majority where you live, you should review this Privacy Policy with a parent or legal guardian where appropriate.

Where applicable law requires parental or guardian consent before we collect personal information from a younger user, we will seek that consent.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children where doing so would violate applicable law.

Cookies and similar technologies

Stead may use cookies, local storage and similar technologies to:

• keep you signed in;
• authenticate your account;
• remember preferences;
• maintain security;
• understand how the Service is being used; and
• improve performance and functionality.

Some cookies are necessary for Stead to function.

Your browser may allow you to block or delete cookies, although disabling certain technologies may prevent parts of the Service from working correctly.

If we introduce non-essential tracking technologies that require additional consent, we will provide appropriate choices where required by law.

Communications

We may use your contact information to send messages necessary to operate Stead, such as:

• account notifications;
• security alerts;
• service updates; and
• important changes to the Service or our policies.

If we send optional promotional communications, we will provide any consent and unsubscribe mechanisms required by applicable law.

Do Not Track

Some browsers provide “Do Not Track” or similar signals.

Because there is not currently a universally accepted technical standard for responding to all such signals, Stead may not respond to every browser-based Do Not Track signal.

We will comply with any legally required privacy preference signals where applicable.

Privacy responsibility

Stead is responsible for personal information under its control.

Privacy questions, access requests, complaints and other concerns may be directed to the person responsible for privacy at Stead using the contact information below.

We will review privacy concerns and respond within a reasonable period.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as Stead, our technology or applicable requirements change.

When we make changes, we will update the “Last updated” date above.

For material changes, we may provide additional notice through the Service, by email or by another reasonable method.

Where a material change requires additional consent under applicable law or applicable third-party platform rules, we will request that consent before using information for the new purpose.

Contact

Questions, requests or complaints about privacy can be sent to:

Privacy Officer
Stead
teamsstead@gmail.com