Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 2026

UWAdvisor is a degree planning tool built for University of Waterloo students. We collect only the data needed to make the tool work, we never sell your information, and you can delete your account at any time. This page explains exactly what we collect and why.

What we collect

Account information

  • Email address (required to log in)
  • Display name (optional, you choose it)
  • Program, current term, graduation year (optional, can be left blank)

Transcript data

  • Course codes (e.g. "CS 135")
  • Grades and credit weights
  • Term labels (e.g. "1A", "Winter 2024")
  • No student ID, no real name, no personal details from the PDF

Course plan

  • The courses you place in each term in the Planner
  • Saved plan names and program selection
  • Declared options, minors, and specializations

AI Advisor usage

  • Questions you ask the Advisor (used to generate responses)
  • Response content (stored to enforce the 10/day rate limit)
  • Usage is counted per user account, not per device

What we don't collect

  • Student ID numbers
  • Real names (unless you enter one as a display name)
  • Payment information — the tool is free
  • Device identifiers, IP addresses, or browsing history
  • Any data from your transcript other than course codes, grades, and term labels

How it's stored

Your account data and course plan are stored in a PostgreSQL database. Credentials (email and password) are managed entirely by Firebase Authentication (Google) — we never store your password ourselves.

Transcript data is stored as course codes and grades only, linked to your account by a random internal identifier (UUID). It contains no personally identifiable information beyond what you choose to enter in your profile.

Third-party services

Firebase Authentication (Google)

Handles login, registration, and password reset. Stores your email and password hash.

Groq AI

Powers the Advisor feature. Your question and plan context are sent to Groq to generate a response. Groq's own privacy policy applies to that data.

UWFlow

Course ratings (liked %, easy %, useful %) are scraped from UWFlow and stored locally in our database. No user data is sent to UWFlow.

Delete your data

You can permanently delete your account and all associated data (profile, plan, transcript, advisor history) from your Profile page using the "Delete account" button. This also removes your Firebase credentials and cannot be undone.

To request manual deletion, email fhuss999@gmail.com.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email fhuss999@gmail.com.

UWAdvisor is an independent student-built tool. It is not affiliated with the University of Waterloo. Always verify degree requirements with your official academic advisor.