Effective Date: September 17, 2026
Hostelstars respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you provide when using the Hostelstars mobile application, website, and related services (collectively, the "Service").
This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, how it may be shared with service providers, how we protect it, and the choices available to you.
By using Hostelstars, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
Hostelstars is a hostel discovery and management platform designed to help users discover hostel accommodation and enable hostel managers to create, manage, and publish hostel listings subject to the applicable verification and approval process.
The Service may allow users to:
Browse hostel listings and accommodation information
Search for hostels by location, university, area, price, and availability
Create and manage an account
Activate access to certain premium features
Submit hostel inquiries
Manage hostel listings as an authorized hostel manager
Upload hostel or profile images
Receive service-related notifications
Submit payment information or payment proof where applicable
We collect only the information reasonably necessary to provide, secure, and improve the Service.
The information we may collect includes the following.
When you create an account, we may collect:
Name or display name
Email address
Phone number, where applicable
Authentication information associated with your account
User role and account status
Profile information
Profile photo, if you choose to provide one
Authentication information may be processed through Firebase Authentication.
We do not store your account password in plain text.
If you register or operate as a hostel manager, we may collect additional information required to operate the management features, including:
Manager name
Contact information
Phone number
Hostel information
Hostel address or area
Hostel facilities
Room and accommodation information
Hostel photographs
Listing information
Verification information
Payment or registration information
Information required for administrative review and approval
This information is used to manage, verify, and operate hostel listings.
Hostelstars may request access to your device location when a feature requires it, particularly for hostel-management functionality such as identifying or selecting an area associated with a hostel.
Location access is not required for every feature of the application.
Where Android permission is requested, you can deny location access through your device settings. Some location-dependent features may not function correctly if permission is denied.
We do not use location information for unrelated purposes.
Hostel managers may provide information about their hostel, including:
Hostel name
Location and address
Area
Nearby university or landmark information
Room types
Rent information
Availability information
Facilities
Rules and timings
Hostel photographs
Contact and inquiry information
This information may be displayed to other Hostelstars users according to the visibility and access rules of the Service.
Depending on the features you use, you may upload:
Profile photographs
Hostel photographs
Payment proof or payment screenshots
Other information voluntarily submitted through supported features
Uploaded content may be stored using third-party infrastructure providers used by Hostelstars, including Firebase Storage and Cloudinary where applicable.
We use access controls and security measures intended to protect private or restricted content.
When you submit an inquiry regarding a hostel, we may collect and store information necessary to process that inquiry, such as:
Your account identifier
Inquiry content
Relevant hostel/listing information
Timestamps
Related communication or status information
Inquiries are used to facilitate communication and hostel-related services.
Hostelstars may process information related to platform payments, including:
Payment status
Transaction references
Payment amount
Payment date/time
Payment proof or screenshots, where applicable
Information required for manual payment verification
Financial transaction records
Where payment proof is submitted, it may be securely stored for verification and fraud-prevention purposes.
Hostelstars does not intend to store complete payment-card credentials in the application database. Payment information is processed through the applicable payment provider or verification process.
Certain transaction and financial records may need to be retained for legitimate business, security, fraud-prevention, accounting, legal, or regulatory purposes.
If you enable notifications, Hostelstars may process information required to deliver push notifications, including a Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) device token.
Notification information may be used to send:
Account-related notifications
Hostel-related notifications
Manager approval or rejection notifications
Payment-status notifications
Inquiry-related notifications
Important service notifications
You can control notification permissions through your device settings.
We may use collected information to:
Create and manage your Hostelstars account.
Authenticate users and maintain secure sessions.
Provide hostel search and discovery features.
Display hostel listings and related information.
Process hostel inquiries.
Provide hostel management functionality.
Verify hostel-manager registration and listings.
Process and verify applicable platform payments.
Maintain transaction and financial records.
Send relevant service notifications.
Provide customer support.
Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, unauthorized access, and security incidents.
Enforce our platform rules and terms.
Maintain and improve the reliability and security of the Service.
Troubleshoot technical problems.
Comply with applicable legal, regulatory, and security requirements.
We do not use personal information for purposes unrelated to the operation of Hostelstars unless permitted by applicable law or with appropriate notice and consent where required.
We do not sell your personal information.
We may share or provide access to information with trusted service providers that help us operate Hostelstars.
These may include:
We use Firebase services for functions such as:
Authentication
Firestore database services
Cloud Storage
Cloud Functions
Push notifications through Firebase Cloud Messaging
We may use Cloudinary to store and deliver certain uploaded images, such as hostel or profile images.
Where location-related functionality uses reverse geocoding, location-related information may be sent to the applicable geocoding service to determine an area or location label.
We may use additional infrastructure or technology providers where necessary to operate, secure, maintain, or improve the Service.
Service providers are expected to process information only for appropriate purposes and in accordance with their applicable terms and privacy practices.
Some hostel information is intended to be visible to users of Hostelstars.
For example, published hostel listings may include:
Hostel name
General location
Facilities
Room information
Pricing or availability information
Hostel photographs
Other listing information provided by the hostel manager
Private information, payment records, authentication information, and restricted account information are protected according to the access controls of the Service.
Users should not submit sensitive personal information into public hostel descriptions, listing fields, inquiries, or other areas where such information is not required.
We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, loss, or misuse.
Our security measures may include:
Firebase Authentication
Firestore security rules
Firebase Storage security rules
Server-side authorization
Protected Cloud Functions
Access-controlled financial records
Restricted administrative operations
Secure HTTPS/TLS network communication
Authentication and authorization checks
Environment-specific production controls
However, no method of transmission or electronic storage is completely secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
If we become aware of a security incident that legally requires notification, we will take appropriate steps consistent with applicable requirements.
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.
Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information.
For example:
Account information may be retained while your account remains active.
Hostel listing information may be retained while the listing is active or as necessary for platform records.
Inquiry information may be retained as necessary to operate the Service and maintain relevant records.
Payment and financial records may be retained for legitimate accounting, security, fraud-prevention, business, legal, or regulatory purposes.
Security and audit information may be retained for an appropriate period to protect the Service.
When information is no longer required, we may delete, anonymize, or otherwise securely dispose of it, subject to applicable retention obligations.
You may request deletion of your Hostelstars account and associated personal information by contacting:
Email: hostelstars@gmail.com
Please include:
Your registered email address
Your name
A clear request to delete your Hostelstars account
We may need to verify your identity before processing a deletion request.
When an account deletion request is approved and processed, we will delete or anonymize personal information associated with the account that we are not required to retain.
Certain information may be retained where necessary for:
Legal or regulatory compliance
Fraud prevention
Security
Dispute resolution
Accounting or financial recordkeeping
Enforcement of legitimate platform rights
Other legally permitted purposes
Where information must be retained, we will limit its use to the purpose for which retention is required.
For third-party service providers processing information on our behalf, we may request deletion of applicable information where appropriate and technically feasible.
Important: Hostelstars is required to provide users with an accessible account-deletion mechanism. The external deletion request process is available through this privacy policy/contact channel. The application will also provide an in-app account-deletion path where required by applicable platform policies.
Depending on the features available to you, you may have choices regarding:
Account information
Profile information
Location permissions
Notification permissions
Uploaded content
Account deletion
Certain optional information
You can control Android permissions through your device settings.
You may also contact us regarding your privacy choices using:
hostelstars@gmail.com
Hostelstars may request location permission for features that require identifying the user's current area or location, particularly hostel-management functionality.
Location permission is optional where the underlying feature allows it.
If you deny location permission, you may continue using features that do not require location access, although location-dependent functionality may be unavailable.
Hostelstars does not intentionally use location information for advertising purposes.
Hostelstars may send push notifications through Firebase Cloud Messaging.
Notifications may include information related to:
Account activity
Hostel approval
Hostel rejection
Payment status
Inquiry status
Important service updates
You can disable notifications through your Android device settings.
Disabling notifications may prevent you from receiving time-sensitive service notifications.
Hostelstars is not designed specifically for children.
We do not knowingly request or intentionally collect personal information from children in violation of applicable laws.
If you believe that a child has provided personal information through Hostelstars without appropriate authorization, please contact us at:
hostelstars@gmail.com
We will review the request and take appropriate action where required.
Hostelstars relies on certain third-party technology and infrastructure providers to operate the Service.
These providers may process information according to their own privacy policies and applicable terms.
Examples may include:
Firebase / Google
Cloudinary
OpenStreetMap / Nominatim
Payment service providers, where applicable
We encourage users to review the privacy practices of third-party services where relevant.
Some of our service providers may process or store information on infrastructure located outside your country of residence.
Where applicable, such processing may be subject to the laws and contractual requirements governing the relevant service provider.
By using Hostelstars, you acknowledge that your information may be processed through the infrastructure required to provide the Service.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect:
Changes to Hostelstars features
Changes in data processing practices
Changes in technology
Changes in applicable legal or regulatory requirements
Improvements to privacy and security practices
When we make material changes, we may provide appropriate notice through the application, website, or other reasonable communication channels.
The updated policy will include a revised Effective Date.
We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy.
If you have questions, concerns, requests, or complaints regarding this Privacy Policy or the way Hostelstars handles personal information, please contact us.
Privacy & Support Email:
hostelstars3@gmail.com
For account deletion requests, please use the same email address and clearly state:
"Hostelstars Account Deletion Request"
We may request reasonable information to verify the account before processing the request.
By using Hostelstars, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and understand how your information may be collected, used, stored, and shared as described above.
Effective Date: September 17, 2026
Last Updated: September 17, 2026
Hostelstars
Contact: hostelstars@gmail.com