Privacy Policy

IConnect is a professional networking platform that connects Nepalis worldwide through communities, posts, direct messaging, and professional profiles.

This Service is currently operated by Prasun Malla, an individual founder. IConnect is not currently registered as a separate legal entity.

Questions about this Privacy Policy or your personal information can be sent to prasunmalla@outlook.com.

We only collect information through the forms and features that exist in the Service. We do not use analytics tools, tracking pixels, or third-party advertising services of any kind.

Information you provide directly

• Account credentials — email address, password (required to register)
• Profile information — full name (required); profile photo, profession, industry, company, location, education, bio, and skills (all optional)
• Content you create — posts, comments, community names/descriptions, and direct messages

We do not ask for or collect phone numbers, date of birth, government-issued ID, precise device location, or payment/billing information. If a future version of the Service collects these, this Policy will be updated first.

Information we do not automatically collect

The application itself contains no analytics, tracking, or telemetry code. We do not use cookies. The Service does not log your IP address, device fingerprint, or browsing behavior at the application level.

Local storage on your device

The Service stores exactly two pieces of information in your browser's local storage — never in cookies: an access token that keeps you signed in (removed on sign-out or expiry), and your light/dark theme preference. Neither is used for tracking, advertising, or shared with any third party.

We use the information described above only to operate the Service, specifically to:

• Create and secure your account and keep you signed in
• Display your profile to other members, as controlled by the fields you choose to fill in
• Let you create posts, comments, and communities that other members can view and interact with
• Deliver direct messages between you and other members
• Power search so other members can find people, communities, skills, and professions
• Send you in-product notifications (e.g., a like, a connection request, a new message)

We do not use your information for advertising, and we do not sell your information to anyone.

If you upload a profile photo or attach an image to a post, that image is stored with Cloudinary, a third-party image hosting provider. Uploaded images are served from a URL that is not access-restricted — anyone who has or obtains the image URL can view it, regardless of your other privacy settings. Profile photos are cropped and resized on your device before upload; post/event images are uploaded as provided. When you replace a profile photo or post image, we attempt to delete the old image, but this is not guaranteed to succeed in every case.

We use one third-party service provider to operate the Service:

• Cloudinary — image hosting and delivery for profile photos and post/event images

We do not currently use any analytics provider, advertising network, email/SMS delivery service, customer support platform, error-tracking or monitoring service, or social login. If this changes, this Policy will be updated to name the new provider before the change takes effect.

Public profile pages (name, photo, profession, industry, company, location, education, bio, skills) and search results are visible to anyone visiting the Service, including people who are not signed in. Your email address and password are never shown to other users. Posts and comments are visible according to where you post them. Direct messages are visible only to the sender and the recipient. Connections are used to power the Service's networking features.

If you would prefer certain profile fields (bio, location, education, company, skills) not be public, simply leave them blank — every profile field beyond your name is optional.

Your password is never stored in plain text — it is one-way hashed (bcrypt) before being saved. Your information is stored in a database that is not directly accessible to the public. We do not apply additional field-level encryption to profile information, post/comment content, or direct messages beyond standard database access controls — direct messages are not end-to-end encrypted. IConnect uses secure third-party infrastructure providers to host application services and data; specific infrastructure details are not publicly disclosed for security reasons.

IConnect retains user account information and user-generated content while a user's account remains active. Users may request deletion of their account and personal data by contacting IConnect. Data may be retained when necessary for security, fraud prevention, legal obligations, or legitimate business purposes.

• Access and correction — you can view and edit most of your profile information at any time from your profile settings
• Sign out — removes your session from the device you're using
• Account and data deletion — self-service account deletion is not yet available. Users can request deletion of their account and associated personal data by contacting prasunmalla@outlook.com. Requests will be reviewed and processed within a reasonable timeframe.
• Message deletion — direct messages currently cannot be deleted by either party once sent

IConnect respects applicable data-protection laws and provides users with rights regarding their personal information, including requesting access, correction, or deletion of personal data where applicable.

IConnect is intended for users who are at least 13 years old. IConnect does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

IConnect is built to connect Nepalis around the world, which means your information may be accessed by, or transferred to, users and infrastructure in different countries. IConnect uses secure third-party infrastructure providers to host application services and data; specific infrastructure details are not publicly disclosed for security reasons.

We may update this Privacy Policy as the Service changes. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, the updated policy will be posted on the website with a new "Last Updated" date. Users may also be notified through appropriate methods such as in-app notifications or email.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how your information is handled, contact us at prasunmalla@outlook.com.