Tunghai Honors Instructor App Privacy Policy

Effective date: August 30, 2026

1. What This Policy Covers

This Privacy Policy applies to the Tunghai Honors Instructor App.

The app provides authorised instructors with mobile access to teaching, communication, attendance, meeting, and course-management functions. It may be used by instructors at Tunghai University and, where access has been enabled, by instructors at other institutions.

For course, student, and institutional records, the relevant instructor or institution is generally responsible for determining why that information is processed and how long it is retained. The Instructor App provides the technical interface through which authorised users access and manage those records.

2. Information Processed by the App

Depending on the features used, the Instructor App may process:

• instructor account information, including name, email address, institution, position, and account permissions;
• information submitted when applying for an instructor account;
• course information, schedules, assignments, attendance records, teaching tasks, and voting activities;
• meetings and committee information, including dates, times, participants, locations, and topics;
• instructor chat messages and information used to determine whether messages have been read;
• course notifications created or sent through the app;
• notification preferences and device push-notification tokens;
• secure device-session information used for saved login; and
• student and course information that the instructor is authorised to access.

3. Student and Course Information

The Instructor App may display and process student and course information already held in the associated teaching system.

Depending on the instructor’s permissions and the features used, this may include student names, student identifiers, enrolment information, attendance records, submitted academic work, feedback status, course participation information, and profile photographs where available.

The app does not provide instructors with unrestricted access to all student information. Access is determined by the instructor’s account, course responsibilities, institutional permissions, and other access rules within the teaching system.

Instructors should access and use student information only for legitimate educational and administrative purposes for which they are authorised.

4. How Information Is Used

Information is processed as necessary to provide the Instructor App’s educational and administrative functions.

These functions may include:

• authenticating instructors;
• providing access to authorised courses and student records;
• managing classroom attendance;
• reviewing teaching and assessment tasks;
• creating and managing meetings;
• communicating with other instructors;
• sending course notifications;
• managing voting and classroom activities;
• providing reminders and push notifications; and
• maintaining secure saved-login sessions on supported devices.

Information is not used for advertising.

5. Saved Login and Device Authentication

On supported devices, the Instructor App may offer a saved-login function.

If saved login is enabled, the app stores a secure device credential or token used to restore the instructor’s session.

Access to saved login may be protected by the device’s own authentication system, including Face ID, Touch ID, fingerprint authentication, or a device passcode, PIN, pattern, or password.

Biometric authentication and device credentials are handled by the operating system. The Instructor App does not receive or store facial data, fingerprint data, device PINs, passcodes, patterns, or passwords used to unlock the device.

If suitable device authentication is unavailable, saved login may not be offered. Normal account sign-in remains available.

Saved device access may be revoked when the user signs out, changes credentials, when the saved session expires, or when an administrator revokes the device session.

6. Bluetooth Classroom Check-In

When classroom check-in is started, the Instructor App may broadcast a temporary Bluetooth Low Energy classroom identifier that nearby student devices can detect.

This Bluetooth broadcast is used only to support classroom attendance and check-in.

The Instructor App does not use Bluetooth to continuously track users, determine their geographic location, or build a record of nearby devices.

7. Push Notifications

If push notifications are enabled, the app may store a device notification token and use it to deliver enabled notifications.

These may include instructor-chat activity, meeting or teaching reminders, and other relevant notifications.

Push-notification delivery may involve Firebase Cloud Messaging and the notification services provided by Apple or Google.

Users can control notification permissions through the app where available and through their device settings.

8. Service Providers

The Instructor App relies on external technical services to provide some of its functions.

These may include:

• Supabase, for application data, authentication-related services, and backend functions;
• Firebase Cloud Messaging, for push-notification delivery; and
• Apple or Google services, where required by the mobile operating system for device authentication, notifications, or related platform functions.

These services process information only as necessary to provide the relevant technical functions.

9. Sharing, Advertising, and Sale of Information

The Instructor App does not contain third-party advertising.

Personal information is not sold to advertisers or data brokers.

Information may be processed by service providers where necessary to operate the app, or disclosed where required by applicable law or legitimate institutional requirements.

Course and student information may also be accessible to other authorised instructors, administrators, or institutional users according to the permissions of the associated teaching system.

10. Data Retention

Retention of course, student, meeting, attendance, assessment, and institutional information is generally determined by the instructor or institution responsible for that information.

Saved device sessions and push-notification registrations may remain active until they expire, are revoked, are replaced, or are otherwise no longer required.

The app may also retain technical information necessary to prevent duplicate notifications, maintain account security, or support normal operation of the service.

11. Security

Reasonable technical measures are used to protect information processed through the Instructor App.

These measures include secure device storage for saved-login credentials or tokens, operating-system authentication where supported, and access controls within the associated teaching system.

No electronic system can guarantee absolute security, and users should protect access to their devices and account credentials.

12. User Choices and Data Requests

Users may choose to use normal account sign-in instead of saved device login.

Users may also control push-notification permissions and other device-level permissions through their operating-system settings.

Requests concerning course, student, attendance, assessment, or institutional records should normally be directed to the instructor or institution responsible for those records.

Questions specifically concerning the operation of the Instructor App, saved device access, or this Privacy Policy may be directed to the contact below.

13. Contact

Questions about the Instructor App or this Privacy Policy may be directed to:

Michael Hemmingsen
Tunghai University
Taichung, Taiwan
mhemmingsen@thu.edu.tw

14. Changes to This Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated when the Instructor App’s features, services, or data practices change.

When the policy is revised, the effective date at the top of this page will be updated.