1. Information We Collect

Account information: When you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture from your @dvc.edu account. We use this solely for authentication and to associate your chat history with your account.

Chat messages: Your conversations with DVC Course Advisor are stored to provide chat history and improve your experience. Messages are associated with your account (or an anonymous session ID if not signed in).

Uploaded files: If you upload transcript images or PDFs, they are processed in memory to extract text for course recommendations. We do not permanently store uploaded files.

Usage data: We collect basic analytics (page views, feature usage) via Vercel Analytics to improve the Service. This does not include personal identifiers.

2. How We Use Your Information

• Provide and maintain the Service, including personalized course recommendations
• Store your chat history so you can revisit past conversations
• Authenticate your identity and restrict access to @dvc.edu users
• Improve the Service based on aggregate usage patterns

3. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

• OpenAI: Chat messages are sent to OpenAI's API to generate responses. OpenAI's privacy policy applies to data processed by their models.
• Google OAuth: Used for sign-in. Google's privacy policy applies to the authentication process.
• Vercel: Hosts the application and collects anonymous analytics.
• Neon: Cloud database provider that stores account and chat data.

4. Data Retention

Chat messages are retained indefinitely unless you delete them. You can delete individual chats at any time from the sidebar. Account data is retained as long as your account exists. Anonymous session data may be periodically cleared.

5. Data Security

We use industry-standard security measures including HTTPS encryption, secure database connections, and OAuth 2.0 authentication. However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure.

6. Your Rights

You can:

• Delete your chat history at any time
• Sign out to stop data collection associated with your account
• Request deletion of your account data by contacting us

7. Children's Privacy

DVC Course Advisor is intended for university students (typically 18+). We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy at any time. We will notify users of significant changes via the Service.

9. Contact

Questions about your privacy? Reach out at advisor@dvc.edu.