Effective date: 26 September 2026
Student Services ("the app") is developed by Dr Mark Ramrattan. This Privacy Policy explains how information is handled when you use the iOS app. The app is designed as a companion for Brunel University London students and staff. It is not operated by Brunel University London.
1. Summary
- No account or sign-in is required to use the app.
- We do not collect your name, email, or other personal identity data through the app.
- Your favourite services are stored locally on your device only.
- If you turn on notifications, we store a device push token and your alert preferences on our AWS servers so we can send the alerts you chose.
- News is fetched from the public Brunel University website when you use that feature.
- We do not sell your data or use third-party advertising analytics.
2. Information stored on your device
The app stores the following locally using Apple platform storage (UserDefaults):
- Favourite services: a list of service identifiers you choose to star (for example, "library" or "student-hub").
- Notification preferences: whether notifications are on, and which topics or departments you selected.
Favourites stay on your device. Notification preferences are also sent to our servers if you enable push. You can remove local data by deleting the app.
3. Information the app accesses
- Internet: used to load news from brunel.ac.uk, to register for optional push notifications, and to open official Brunel and third-party websites in Safari when you tap a link.
- Phone: emergency contact numbers can be dialled via the system phone app when you tap a call button.
- Maps: directions to campus locations may open in Apple Maps.
- Campus map PDF: bundled in the app and available offline — no network request required.
4. Optional push notifications
Notifications are off until you allow them. If you enable them, the app sends:
- Device push token — an Apple identifier used only to deliver notifications to that device.
- Alert preferences — topics such as news, campus, or emergency, and any departments you select.
This is stored in Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the EU (London, eu-west-2) and used only to send the notifications you opted into. We do not use it for advertising or tracking. You can turn notifications off in the app or in iPhone Settings. Deleting the app stops new registrations; existing tokens are not used for anything else.
5. Information we do not collect
- No user accounts or Brunel login credentials
- No location tracking or background GPS (location is used on-device for nearby campus facilities only)
- No contacts, photos, or microphone access
- No crash or usage analytics SDKs
6. Third-party services
When you tap links in the app, you leave the app and are subject to the privacy policies of those websites — for example brunel.ac.uk, students.brunel.ac.uk, Brightspace, and social media platforms. We do not control those services.
7. Data sharing
We do not share personal data with advertisers or data brokers. Favourites stay on your device. If you enable notifications, the device token and alert preferences are processed by AWS acting as our infrastructure provider. Apple delivers the notification itself through Apple Push Notification service.
8. Children
The app is intended for Brunel University students and staff. It is not directed at children under 13.
9. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The effective date at the top of this page will be revised when changes are made.
10. Contact
For privacy questions about the app, contact: