Privacy Policy

Last updated: 15 October 2026

1. Who we are

Ocevalon (ocevalon.com) is an education discussion community. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, and the choices you have. Contact: contactocevalon@gmail.com.

2. What we collect

  • Account details: username, email address, password (stored in a scrambled form, so we cannot read it), display name and the date you joined.
  • Profile details you choose to add: headline, position, institution, location, biography, education, work and teaching experience, publications, certificates, interests, contact details, and profile and cover photos.
  • Activity: posts, comments, likes, saved posts, follows, groups you join or create, photos you attach, events you submit and reports you make.
  • Private messages between members.
  • If you choose Sign in with Google: your Google account identifier, verified email address and name, as provided by Google. We do not receive your Google password.
  • Technical information: our hosting provider and web server record details such as IP address, browser type and pages requested. We also use short-lived counters linked to your account to limit spam and abuse.

3. How we use it

  • To run Ocevalon: create your account, show your profile and posts, and let members follow and message each other.
  • To send account emails such as password resets.
  • To keep the site safe: prevent spam and abuse, review reports and enforce our rules.
  • To meet legal obligations and respond to lawful requests.

4. Who can see what

  • Your name, headline, institution, photos and posts are visible to anyone who visits the site, unless a feature says otherwise.
  • Other profile sections follow the visibility you set: everyone, logged-in members only, or only you. Career interests and contact details start as only you.
  • Your email address is never shown publicly.
  • Private messages are visible to the sender and the recipient. Site administrators have technical access to the database. They do not read private messages except where needed to investigate a report, keep the site secure or comply with the law.

5. Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with service providers who help us run the site (such as hosting and email delivery), when the law requires it, to protect people's safety or our rights, or with your consent.

6. AI

Ocevalon has an optional feature that lets an examiner ask Google Gemini for a suggested mark on a student script. It is switched off unless the site administrator turns it on, and it runs only when an examiner presses the button for one paper. When used, the exam question text, the student’s typed answers and the uploaded answer-page images for that paper are sent to Google. The examiner always decides the marks; nothing is saved from the AI automatically. We do not send posts, messages or profiles to AI services. See the AI Usage Policy and the Third-Party Services Policy.

7. Cookies

See our Cookie Policy.

8. Security

We use reasonable measures such as scrambled passwords, secure connections, login protection and rate limiting. No system is completely secure, so please use a strong, unique password.

9. Keeping and deleting data

See our Data Retention and Deletion Policy.

10. Your rights

You can view and edit your profile and settings at any time. You can also ask us to access, correct or delete your personal information, or object to how it is used, by emailing contactocevalon@gmail.com. Depending on where you live, you may also have rights under data protection law, such as Sri Lanka's Personal Data Protection Act, No. 9 of 2022, and the right to complain to the relevant authority.

11. Children

Ocevalon is not meant for children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has registered, contact us and we will act. Members under 18 should take extra care with what they share. Report anyone who contacts a young person inappropriately.

12. Other countries

Our hosting provider may store data outside Sri Lanka.

13. Changes

We will update this policy when our practices change and show the date at the top.