Terms of Service & Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

CollabDocs is a real-time collaborative document editor built as a student project. It is developed and maintained by a student developer (referred to as "we," "us," or "our"). CollabDocs is not a registered company or commercial entity.

2. Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account or using CollabDocs, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, please do not use the platform. These terms apply to all users, including visitors, registered users, and collaborators.

3. What CollabDocs Does

CollabDocs allows you to:

• Create, edit, and save text documents
• Collaborate with others on documents in real time
• Share documents with other users via link or direct invite
• Use optional AI writing tools (improve, summarize, translate, and more)
• Sign in using your Google account or email and password

4. Your Account

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials. You agree not to share your login details with others. We reserve the right to suspend or delete accounts that violate these terms. You must be at least 13 years old to use CollabDocs.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree NOT to use CollabDocs to:

• Upload or share illegal, harmful, or offensive content
• Harass, threaten, or impersonate other users
• Attempt to hack, reverse-engineer, or disrupt the platform
• Spam other users or use the platform for commercial advertising
• Violate any applicable laws or regulations

We reserve the right to remove content and terminate accounts that violate these rules without prior notice.

6. Your Content

You own the content you create on CollabDocs. By using the platform, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive license to store and display your content solely for the purpose of providing the service. We do not claim ownership of your documents.

7. Service Availability

CollabDocs is a student project and is provided "as is." We do not guarantee 100% uptime or availability. The service may go offline for maintenance, updates, or due to technical issues. We are not liable for any loss of data or inconvenience caused by downtime.

8. Termination

You can request deletion of your account at any time by contacting us at the email listed in the Privacy Policy. We may also suspend or terminate your account if you violate these terms. Upon termination, your documents may be deleted from our servers.

9. Limitation of Liability

Since CollabDocs is a free student project, we are not liable for any damages, data loss, or issues arising from your use of the platform. Use it at your own risk, and please keep backups of important documents.

10. Changes to Terms

We may update these terms occasionally. If we make significant changes, we will notify users via email or an in-app notice. Continued use of CollabDocs after changes means you accept the updated terms.

1. What Data We Collect

We collect the following information when you use CollabDocs:

• Account information: your name, email address, and profile picture (from Google OAuth or sign-up form)
• Document data: the content of documents you create or collaborate on
• Usage data: timestamps of logins, document edits, and sharing activity
• AI inputs: text you choose to send to the optional AI writing tools (see section 5)

2. Why We Collect It

We use your data only to:

• Provide and operate the CollabDocs service
• Enable real-time collaboration features
• Send account-related emails (e.g., email verification, password reset, and document share invites)
• Improve the platform based on how it is used

We do NOT use your data for advertising, profiling, or sell it to any third party.

3. Google Sign-In

If you choose to sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture from Google. We do not receive or store your Google password. Your use of Google Sign-In is also governed by Google's Privacy Policy.

4. Cookies & Local Storage

CollabDocs uses:

• A secure HttpOnly cookie (refresh token) to keep you signed in
• Browser session storage to hold your temporary login token and editor state

We do not use third-party tracking cookies or advertising cookies.

5. AI Features & DeepSeek

CollabDocs offers optional AI writing tools (such as improve, summarize, fix grammar, expand, simplify, change tone, translate, outline, brainstorm, and generate titles). These features are only used when you explicitly trigger them.

When you use an AI tool, the specific text you submit for that action (for example, a selection or a document's content) is sent to our third-party AI provider, DeepSeek, which processes it and returns a result. This means:

• Only the text you choose to send for a given AI action leaves our servers — nothing is sent automatically or in the background
• Your submitted text is processed by DeepSeek under its own privacy policy and terms
• We do not send your account details, passwords, or other documents along with the request

If you prefer that your content never leaves CollabDocs, simply do not use the AI tools. Please review DeepSeek's privacy policy at deepseek.com/privacy.

6. Data Storage

Your account and document data is stored in a MongoDB Atlas database, with the application hosted on cloud platforms used to run this student project. We take reasonable steps to keep your data secure, but as a student project, we cannot guarantee enterprise-level security. Please do not store highly sensitive personal information on CollabDocs.

7. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties, except:

• With other users when you share a document with them (only the content you choose to share)
• With hosting/infrastructure providers strictly to operate the service
• With our AI provider (DeepSeek) when you use an AI writing tool — only the text you submit for that action (see section 5)
• When required by law

8. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access the data we hold about you — just email us
• Request correction of inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your account and associated data
• Export your documents before deleting your account

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at the email below.

9. Data Retention

We keep your data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will delete your personal data and documents within 30 days, unless we are required by law to retain it longer.

10. Children's Privacy

CollabDocs is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes via email or an in-app banner. The "Effective Date" at the top of this document will always reflect the latest version.