Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to 4LAZIE ("we", "us", or "our"). 4LAZIE is a student notes and community platform for colleges and universities in Tanzania, run by its founder and developer, Godfrey Charles Nyagwisi. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, who can see it, and the choices you have. By using 4LAZIE you agree to this policy and to our Terms of Service.

2. Information We Collect

What we collect depends on how you use 4LAZIE:

• Your account: name, email address, a hashed password (we never store your password in plain text), your college, course, level and semester, and an optional profile picture, bio and social links. If you sign in with Google, Google shares your name, email address and profile picture with us.
• What you do on the platform: notes you save or download, forum posts and comments, direct messages, quiz progress, files you upload, and your notification settings.
• Instructors: the display name you choose, your phone number (WhatsApp), the college or colleges you apply to, the status of each application, and the materials, announcements and assignments you publish. Your phone number is used only by the 4LAZIE team to confirm who you are. It is never shown to students.
• Class representatives: your class, and the announcements, assignments and notes you send for it.
• Technical information: your network (IP) address, browser and device type, and the pages you open. We use this to keep accounts safe (for example to slow down password guessing), to see account activity, and, only if you allow it, to count visits.

3. Cookies & Similar Technologies

When you first open 4LAZIE we ask for your choice about cookies. Necessary cookies always work, because the site cannot run without them. The visit-counting cookie is used only if you choose "Accept all" or allow it under "Choose what to allow". You can change your mind at any time with Cookie settings (also in the footer). Your choice is remembered for 6 months.

Stored on your device, not sent to us: your theme and colour choice, whether the menu is folded, your recent searches, quiz progress, and whether you dismissed the notification prompt. These make the features you use work and stay on your device. Clearing your browser data removes them.

If you decline visit counting, we do not set the _visitor_id cookie, we do not save visit records, and we remove a visitor ID you may have received earlier. Signed-in accounts still have security and activity records (see section 2), because they protect your account.

4. Third-Party Services

To run 4LAZIE we use a small number of providers, only to deliver the platform:

• Google — Sign in with Google (when you choose it, and the sign-in button loads Google's script on the login and sign-up pages), and Google Fonts (your browser asks Google's servers for the fonts, so Google can see your IP address). We do not receive your Google password.
• jsDelivr — a content network that delivers the Bootstrap design files used by our pages.
• Cloudinary — stores uploaded files (notes, past papers, profile pictures).
• MongoDB Atlas — stores the platform's data. Render — hosts the website.
• Gmail (SMTP) — sends verification, password-reset and security emails.
• Web push — if you turn on notifications, your browser's push service (Google, Apple or Mozilla) delivers them. We keep only the subscription needed to reach your browser.

Some of these providers may process data outside Tanzania. We do not sell your personal data to anyone, for any purpose.

5. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• provide, operate and secure the platform, and show the courses, notes and notices that match your class;
• send you the notifications you asked for, and account and security emails;
• check instructor applications and class representatives' notes before others see them;
• moderate the community and answer reports;
• understand how the site is used (only with your consent) so we can improve it;
• communicate with you about updates or support.

6. User Content

Notes, forum comments or documents you upload remain your property, but by uploading you give us a licence to display and share them with other 4LAZIE users under the platform's rules. A note that covers a subject taught in more than one course may also be shown to students of those courses.

Instructors: files in My Uploads are private to you until you choose to make them public. Once a file is public, only an administrator can take it back, correct it or delete it, after your request. Class representatives' notes stay hidden from students until an administrator approves them.

7. Student Profiles, Messaging & Connections

Your name, course, profile picture, bio (if provided) and any verified badge are visible to other registered students when they open your profile. Registered students can send you direct messages, reply to specific messages, and see basic presence information, such as whether you are online and whether a message was read. Announcements and assignments you send as an instructor or class representative show your name.

8. Content Moderation & Reporting

You can report a forum post or comment that breaks the community guidelines. Reported content stays visible until an administrator reviews it. The platform flags an account for admin review after it receives several reports. Administrators can remove content and suspend accounts, and their actions on accounts and content are recorded in an activity log.

9. Exam Generator Hub

Our platform provides tools for generating exam templates (for example UE and CAT papers). Generated PDFs are for academic use only. Authorised administrators are responsible for making sure the exams match their institution's standards.

10. Security

Passwords are hashed with bcrypt before saving. Sign-in attempts, password-reset codes and other sensitive actions are limited per network and per account to make guessing impractical, and a reset code stops working after a few wrong tries. We use HTTPS to protect data in transit, we check your role on every request, and access to administrative tools is restricted to authorised staff. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a strong password and tell us at once if you think your account was used by someone else.

11. How Long We Keep Data & Your Rights

We keep your account information for as long as your account is active. Visit records are kept for statistics. You can update your profile details at any time in your profile settings. You may ask us to show you the personal data we hold about you, correct it, delete it, or stop using it for a purpose, and you may withdraw your cookie consent at any time. Write to support@4lazie.com from the email you registered with and we will act on your request, except where the law or the safety of the platform requires us to keep something. We aim to handle personal data in line with the Personal Data Protection Act, 2022 of Tanzania; you may also contact the Personal Data Protection Commission if you are not satisfied.

12. Children

4LAZIE is built for college and university students and is not designed for young children. If you believe a child has registered, please contact us and we will remove the account.

13. Fair Use

The resources on 4LAZIE, including past papers and notes, are for academic purposes. Misusing the platform or trying to compromise it can lead to immediate account termination.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We post the new version on this page and change the date at the top. If a change affects your cookie choices, we will ask you again.

15. Contact Us

Questions about this policy? Contact the 4LAZIE support team at support@4lazie.com.