Privacy Policy & Student Safety Guidelines
Learn how Boarding.lk protects your personal data, phone numbers, contact inquiries, and student verification records under Sri Lankan privacy and consumer safety standards.
1. Overview & Marketplace Scope
Boarding.lk operates as Sri Lanka's dedicated digital directory and peer-to-peer housing network designed specifically for university undergraduates, vocational apprentices, interns, and young professionals. Our fundamental purpose is to connect tenants directly with verified homeowners and landlords across the island without brokers, commission intermediaries, or unregulated markups.
Direct Landlord-Tenant Relationship
Unlike traditional real estate brokers who hold deposits or broker fees, Boarding.lk does not broker rental agreements or withhold security deposits. All agreements, rent amounts, and boarding house covenants ("bodim rules") are drafted solely between the property host and the occupant. This privacy policy outlines how our platform secures each party's identity throughout this discovery process.
2. Information We Collect
We gather only information essential for listing authenticity, identity verification, and anti-fraud measures on Sri Lankan telecommunication networks.
For Students & Renters
- check_circleIdentity & Contact: Full name, verified Sri Lankan mobile number (+94), and active email address.
- check_circleAcademic Affiliation: University/Campus details (SLIIT, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Kelaniya, Moratuwa, NSBM, etc.) to issue verified badge status.
- check_circleSearch Preferences: Preferred district, max monthly budget in LKR, and gender requirements (Girls Only / Boys Only).
For Landlords & Hosts
- check_circleOwner Profile: Host full name, residential address, and preferred phone/WhatsApp contact line.
- check_circleProperty Details: Room photos, precise geographic location, monthly rent, key deposit (months advance), and utility bill rules.
- check_circleVerification Proof: National Identity Card (NIC) copy and proof of residence (e.g., utility bill) for voluntary 'Verified Landlord' accreditation.
Log & Device Metadata: We automatically record IP addresses, browser agents, and timestamps strictly for identifying suspicious multi-listing spam and cyber-stalking attempts.
3. How Your Information is Used
Your data is processed strictly to maintain safety, facilitate direct tenant-landlord handshakes, and prevent financial scams common in offline boarding hunts.
Direct Inquiry Channel
Enabling registered undergraduates to initiate secure WhatsApp chats with property owners without exposing numbers to web scrapers.
Listing Authenticity
Evaluating duplicate images, suspicious rental rates, and mismatched addresses to eliminate ghost listings and fake bodim ads.
Critical SMS & OTP Alerts
Dispatching instant security PINs and landlord appointment confirmations via Sri Lankan SMS gateways (Dialog, Mobitel, Airtel, SLT).
4. Contact Number Masking & WhatsApp Privacy
Public phone numbers published openly on classified sites frequently lead to nuisance calls, late-night disturbances, and commercial marketing harassment. Boarding.lk enforces rigorous contact masking controls:
Click-to-Reveal Authentication
Phone numbers (+94 XX XXX XXXX) are masked behind a click-to-reveal button. Contact details are only displayed to authenticated, signed-in users who have verified their own account via SMS. Automated bots and unverified visitors cannot view contact details.
WhatsApp-Only Mode for Elderly Landlords & Female Occupants
Property owners have the account preference to disable voice call displays, allowing inquiries solely through designated WhatsApp chat triggers. This ensures you maintain full control over communication timings and block intrusive callers instantly.
5. University Student Verification & Institutional Credentials
To provide landlords confidence in opening their annexes or rooms to young students, Boarding.lk offers optional university verification. We uphold an uncompromised standard regarding student institutional identities:
Strict Verification Use Only
Institutional domains such as @sliit.lk, @sjp.ac.lk, @kln.ac.lk, and scanned student identification cards are scrutinized solely by our compliance team for the "Verified Student Badge".
No Commercial Exploitation
We will never sell, barter, or distribute student records or university registries to loan agents, credit card solicitors, third-party private tutoring institutes, or ad brokers.
Once verification is finalized, raw photo uploads of student IDs are quarantined in segregated, restricted-access folders and purged within 90 days of graduation or profile termination.
6. Data Retention & Security Standards
We employ bank-grade technical and procedural safeguards to preserve data integrity and guard against unauthorized interception across mobile and broadband providers.
All traffic between your smartphone or computer and our servers is encrypted using modern TLS 1.3 cryptographic suites.
Databases are managed within ISO/IEC 27001 certified cloud environments with automated security patches and hourly backups.
Only authorized compliance personnel with multi-factor biometric tokens can review landlord documentation or NIC records.
ENNever Pay Reservation Fees Before Physical Inspection!
Never deposit key money, reservation advances, or inspection charges to unknown bank accounts, eZ Cash, or mCash numbers without personally visiting the boarding house and verifying the property owner's physical presence on site. Boarding.lk will never ask you to transfer funds to our staff to hold a room.
සිංශිෂ්ය ආරක්ෂාව සහ වංචාවන්ගෙන් වැළකීමේ උපදෙස්
ප්රකාශනය: කිසිවිටෙකත් දේපළ පරීක්ෂා කිරීමට හෝ හිමිකරු පෞද්ගලිකව හමුවීමට පෙර කිසිදු බැංකු ගිණුමකට, eZ Cash හෝ mCash මගින් "Key Money" හෝ අත්තිකාරම් මුදල් තැන්පත් නොකරන්න. කිසියම් සැකකටයුතු දැන්වීමක් පිළිබඳව හෝ වංචනික ක්රියාවක් ගැන අපට වහාම දැනුම් දෙන්න.
8. Your Rights & Account Deletion
In compliance with the Sri Lanka Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), No. 9 of 2022, every tenant and landlord holds complete autonomy over their stored digital records:
Landlords can pause listings instantly once a room is rented out to stop incoming phone calls and WhatsApp messages.
You may submit an account erasure request at any moment. Your phone number, verification uploads, and listings will be permanently deleted from live servers within 48 hours.
Update your mobile contact number, university designation, or boarding photos anytime via the Landlord Portal or Account Settings.
Request an export of all listing reviews, rental bookmarks, and account metadata via email to our Data Protection Officer.
9. Contact the Data Protection Officer (DPO)
For legal inquiries, verification data removal requests, or reporting security vulnerabilities, please reach our dedicated trust & privacy team:
Helplines
Mon - Sat: 8.30 AM to 6.30 PM
Operations Hub
Physical verification desk
Colombo / Malabe Campus Hub,Western Province, Sri Lanka