Student safeguarding
When it comes to mental health, confidentiality and safeguarding are of the utmost importance.
That’s why we have world-class moderation and signposting measures as well as a strict privacy policy in place to protect students on TalkCampus.
What is TalkCampus?
TalkCampus is a global social network where students can talk openly and honestly with others about the ups and downs of life. It’s a place where no one needs to feel alone or judged for who they are.
TalkCampus is available on iPhone, Android, and desktop and is free for students to download when they use their campus email address.
Is TalkCampus a clinical service?
We are an online peer support community and not a clinical service. We cannot diagnose or treat users and we do not provide advice or professional support. If you are worried about your own mental or physical health or someone else’s, please seek professional help from a doctor or qualified health practitioner.
Does TalkCampus provide crisis support?
TalkCampus is not a crisis support service and we cannot directly support users who are suicidal. If we identify someone in need of immediate support or showing signs of being in crisis, we signpost them to emergency services or one of the resources listed in our help center.
We are not providing direct crisis support through TalkCampus. As such, we do not allow posts that actively discuss suicide attempts or methodologies. We prominently provide resources on where to seek crisis support help for students in our ‘I need help’ section in-app.
With TalkCampus, all of your existing student services are embedded in-app for intelligent signposting alongside our verified 24/7 crisis support options and global resources.
Student protection & safeguarding features
Student protection is something we take extremely seriously. With every update, we continue to release features that strengthen the security, privacy, and mental health of our community and ensure that students who need help have access to the most appropriate service. Some of our major safeguarding tools and strategies are listed below.
The TalkCampus safety team
TalkCampus has a global safety team working around the clock to remove inappropriate content and users within seconds. They are professional paid staff and review every flagged post in real time.
When it comes to mental health, privacy, and safety are of the utmost importance. Users who violate our guidelines will have their posts removed and if necessary will be suspended from use for 48 hours.
Users who are repeat offenders are blocked for a further 7 days and finally a lifetime ban.
Community moderation
Every member of the TalkCampus community has the ability to flag content and users. These flags are instantly reviewed and acted upon by our safety team.
In addition, we provide users with a number of features to enable them to customize their experience of TalkCampus and to protect themselves.
We also employ automated machine learning systems which warn users against posting explicit language and graphic terms and encourage them to post in a way that's safe for everyone.
We provide real-time, human-in-the-loop moderation averaging 40-second response times. These systems also signpost to crisis support services when a user begins writing content that suggests they are at risk.
Blocking & hiding users
We empower users so they can control their online experience. Our blocking feature means students can block a user so that person is unable to contact them and will not appear on any of their TalkCampus features.
There is also the option to hide users if they would prefer not to see any content from them on their feed.
Flagging & reporting
Users can flag any inappropriate or abusive content. This will bring it to the attention of the TalkCampus safety team who are able to suspend or ban users where necessary.
Students can flag content in the following categories: abusive, unsafe, overly promotional, unrelated, nudity or upsetting. They can flag content on the TalkCampus feed, private messages, or an individual user’s profile.
Trigger warnings
These exist to protect our users from potentially triggering content. They can set their own trigger warnings and we will put a filter over posts that contain content that they don’t want to see.
We also encourage users to add a trigger warning to their own posts if they think they could be triggering to another user. We do not allow posts that talk graphically or in detail about suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders.
Please see our community guidelines for more information.
Age
TalkCampus is rated 17+ in the Apple App Store & has an IRAC certificate in Google Play. We are committed to complying with the United States Children Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
The site and services are not targeted at children under the age of 17. We do not knowingly collect information from children under the age of 17 and if you are under this age you must not use our app or our site. If we become aware that you are under 17 and using our app or our site, we may terminate your user account.
Once a user has downloaded TalkCampus with their student email address, they are able to open TalkCampus and view the TalkCampus feed. In order to actively use the platform, they will need to create an account.
Sharing information
At TalkCampus, we know the importance of privacy and confidentiality in mental health. We remove anything that might personally identify a user, such as their email address, telephone number, or precise location.
We are committed to protecting student privacy and ask our users to do the same. Our platform allows you to connect and share your comments, content, and information publicly or with friends.
We ask our users to please be mindful of their own privacy needs and the privacy needs of others as they choose whom to connect with and what to share and make public. We cannot control the privacy or security of information you choose to make public or share with others.
Student data
We may use third-party vendors, such as Amazon, to store your data. Your data may be transferred to and stored in locations outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”), including but not limited to the United States.
It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for us or for a third-party vendor. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing to jurisdictions outside the EEA.
We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this student privacy policy.
All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. Any payment transactions will be encrypted using SSL or other appropriate technology.
Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password that enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone.
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data and are committed to student confidentiality on the platform, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk.
Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorized access.
Account removal
We reserve the right to remove content and/or delete user accounts at our discretion, including if a user violates any of the agreed terms of service or breaches our community guidelines.
If you notice any user acting in violation of these rules please report this immediately to our system administrators at support@talklife.co.