How Tino University Mind handles your data

Tino University Mind ("Tino", "we", "us") is an AI study companion app that helps university students organise courses, upload lecture materials, learn with an AI tutor, follow an adaptive study plan, connect with classmates, and buy or sell study-related services. The app is owned and operated by Wacoo Paul, trading as Tino University Mind, which is the data controller for the personal data described here — we decide what is collected and why.

This policy explains what data we collect, why, who sees it, how long we keep it, and the choices you have. We process your data to perform our contract with you (running your account and the study features), on our legitimate interests (security, abuse prevention, cost control and improving Tino), with your consent where we ask for it (optional analytics, marketing-style study nudges), and to meet legal obligations (tax, accounting, lawful requests).

This policy tells you how we handle your data; it is not a request for your consent. Where we rely on consent (optional analytics and preferences), we ask for it separately, it is off until you choose, and you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the rest of Tino.

What we collect

• Account & identity: name, email, the @username and Student ID you choose, university, programme, year and semester. When you sign in with Google we receive the name, email and profile picture Google shares with us.
• Authentication data: a session token kept in your browser's local storage by our authentication provider so you stay signed in, plus sign-in timestamps. Passwords are stored only as salted hashes by the provider; we never see them.
• Course & study content: the courses, topics, timetable and study sessions you add, and the files you upload (lecture PDFs, slides, notes, photos). Uploaded documents are fingerprinted so that an identical file uploaded by another student is processed once; your reference to it stays private to you.
• Study activity: pages viewed, AI explanations generated for you, practice answers, flashcard results, quiz scores, study-plan progress, coursework projects and a "last active" timestamp.
• Connect & Meet activity: messages, voice notes, reactions, polls, group sessions and the call signals needed to connect you to other students. Call media flows directly between devices, or through a relay when a direct connection is impossible; we do not record calls.
• Earn marketplace activity: listings, orders, the agreed payment method, and reviews.
• Email engagement: which of our emails were sent, delivered, opened or clicked, and your email preferences and unsubscribe status.
• Usage analytics (with consent): first-party events describing which features you use, tied to your student account. Off until you switch Analytics on in Cookie Preferences.
• Reliability & security logs: failed processing jobs, AI request outcomes and costs, error reports, IP-derived country/region and device type, used for stability, cost control and abuse prevention.

Why we use it

• To create and run your account and sign you in securely.
• To turn your own materials into explanations, study guides, quizzes and plans, and to track your progress.
• To let you message, call and study with classmates.
• To run the Earn marketplace.
• To send you service emails and, unless you opt out, helpful reminders and study nudges.
• To keep the service working, control AI costs, fix bugs, prevent abuse and enforce our Terms.
• With your consent, to understand which features are used so we can improve Tino.

How AI features work

Tino sends the text and page images you upload, the questions and answers you type, and voice recordings you choose to send, to AI providers so they can process that specific request (explanations, reading scanned pages, tutoring, marking, voice narration and transcription, research). Our main AI provider is Google (Gemini API); voice narration and transcription run through Lovable's AI gateway using OpenAI models; research may use Google Search grounding. To check answer quality, staff may have a small sample of lesson requests answered again by additional AI providers (currently Anthropic and Lovable's AI gateway); those answers are never shown to you. Providers process this content on our behalf. Tino does not use your study materials to train AI models, and each provider's own retention and training terms apply to the content it receives. Your requests carry no advertising identifiers. AI output can be wrong — always check it against your course material.

Cookies & browser storage

Tino uses one first-party cookie (to remember your cookie choice) and a small amount of browser local storage. Essential storage keeps you signed in and keeps the app working offline. Optional Preferences and Analytics categories are off until you turn them on. We use no advertising cookies and no third-party analytics services. Every item is listed in the Cookie Policy, and you can change your choice any time via Cookie Preferences.

Emails

We email you from noreply@tinouniversitymind.app for account matters (for example welcome and security messages) and, unless you turn them off, for study reminders when you have been away. You can change reminder emails in Email preferences or with the unsubscribe link in any email. Reminder emails may mention your own saved activity (for example the lecture you last opened) — never anything invented.

Payments & subscriptions

International subscriptions. Our order process is conducted by our online reseller Paddle.com Market Ltd (Paddle.com). Paddle.com is the Merchant of Record for all our international orders, provides customer service enquiries and handles returns. When you check out, Paddle collects and processes your payment details — we never see or store your full card number. For checkout, payment processing, fraud and risk screening, sales-tax and VAT compliance, invoicing, refunds, chargebacks and subscription management, personal data is shared between Paddle and us: your name, email address, billing country and address details, the plan bought, the amount and currency, the transaction, subscription and customer references, payment status and refund or dispute outcomes. Paddle acts as a controller for its own payment, tax and fraud-prevention purposes under its own privacy notice.

Uganda mobile money. Payments for Service Credits in Uganda are made by MTN or Airtel mobile money directly to us. For those, we record the amount, the payment reference you submit, the phone number used where you give it, and the review outcome, so we can confirm the payment and credit your account. Paddle is not involved in these payments.

Earn marketplace. Earn is student-to-student. We do not take, hold, process or transmit money for Earn deals — you and the other student agree the price and method and settle between yourselves. We only record the agreed order, its status and any review. Be careful when meeting or paying someone you do not know.

Sharing & visibility

• Other students: your @username, display name, university and course memberships are visible to people you study or trade with. Private messages are visible only to their recipients.
• Service providers: Lovable Cloud (hosting, authentication, database and file storage); Google (Gemini AI and, if you choose it, Google sign-in); OpenAI via Lovable's AI gateway (voice); Anthropic (occasional answer-quality checks, see "How AI features work"); Resend (email delivery); Metered (call relay when a direct connection is impossible). They process data on our behalf only as needed to run Tino.
• Staff access: a small number of authorised staff can view aggregated analytics and, when needed to fix a problem, individual processing logs. Staff areas are protected by separate role checks.
• Merchant of Record: Paddle.com Market Ltd (Paddle.com) for the sale of international subscriptions — checkout, payment processing, fraud prevention, sales tax and VAT compliance, invoicing, subscription management and refunds.
• Professional advisers & authorities: accountants, auditors or lawyers where needed, and public authorities where the law requires it.
• Law & safety: we may disclose data if required by law or to protect the safety, rights or property of Tino and its users.
• We do not sell your personal data and we do not share it with advertisers.

Your rights & choices

• Edit your profile, courses and timetable in the app at any time.
• Delete uploaded materials and study content from the relevant screen.
• Change email reminders and cookie/analytics choices at any time.
• Request a copy of your data or a correction by emailing us.
• Delete your account in the app (Profile → Delete account) or, if you cannot sign in, on our account deletion page. That page explains what is deleted, what must be kept and how long it takes.
• Object to or restrict processing where the law gives you that right; you may also complain to your local data-protection authority.
• Sign out of Google from your Google account settings at any time.

Data retention

We keep your account and study content while your account is active. Deleted content leaves your view immediately and our systems within a reasonable period, except where a copy is required for legal or security reasons. Reliability logs and analytics events are kept only as long as needed for their purpose. Shared, de-identified document extractions may be kept so identical files never need to be processed twice.

Security

Every table is protected by row-level access rules so students can only read their own data, staff areas require a verified role, and all connections are encrypted in transit. API keys and provider credentials live only on our servers and are never sent to your browser. No system is perfectly secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we work to protect your information with industry-standard measures.

Students under 18

Tino is intended for university students who are adults in their country. If you are under 18, please do not use Tino without a parent or guardian, and do not use Earn. If you believe a child has created an account, email us and we will review and, where appropriate, delete it.

International use

Tino may be used from many countries, and your data may be processed or stored outside your own country on our providers' infrastructure. We make these transfers because they are needed to provide the service, and we rely on the safeguards our providers offer for international transfers.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as Tino grows. We will change the "Last updated" date above and, for material changes, notify you in the app or by email. Continued use after a change means you accept the revised policy.

Contact

Questions about your data? Email tinouniversitymind@gmail.com. Related: Cookie Policy · Terms of Service · Refund Policy · Pricing.

Tino University Mind is owned and operated by Wacoo Paul, trading as Tino University Mind, the data controller. This policy does not create any rights in favour of third parties.