Privacy policy

This policy explains what personal information 港硕通知网 (gangshuotongzhi.com, “the site”) handles when you use it, why, where it is kept, for how long, and how you can see, correct or delete it. The site is run by its operator (“we”).

You can search every program and deadline without an account (the number of program pages you can see in full each day is limited; see the membership page). In that case we only handle what browsing requires:

• Requests: the site runs on Cloudflare. For every visit, Cloudflare processes your IP address, the address you requested, your browser type and similar request data to deliver pages, block attacks and fix problems. We have the site’s runtime logs switched on; Cloudflare keeps them under its own rules.
• Referral record: if you arrive through a link with campaign parameters (starting with utm_) or from another website, the site stores where you came from in your browser for 30 days. It is saved with an account only if you sign up during that time (see the next section).
• Search: what you type in the search box is sent to the server to return results and is not stored there; “recent searches” live only in your own browser.
• Program page views: to apply the daily number of program pages you can see in full, the site sets a cookie with a random ID in your browser (gs_vid) and records, by date, which program pages that ID opened, whether the day’s number was used up, and the IP address and country or region (as determined by Cloudflare) each page was opened from. The IP and region are used for statistics and to spot abuse; the daily number itself is never counted by IP. The ID is random and carries nothing about who you are. If you later sign in on that browser, your signed-in views carry the same ID, which lets us count how many people sign up or become members after reaching the daily number. Records are deleted after 90 days. Browsers that keep no cookies (search-engine crawlers, for example) leave no records.
• Browser storage: your compare list, recent searches, light/dark theme and whether you closed the sign-in note stay in your browser and are never uploaded (see Cookies and browser storage).

Saving programs, turning on deadline reminders, tracking applications, posting reports, buying membership and opening tickets need an account. When you sign up and sign in, we keep:

Saved programs

We keep the programs you save and when you saved them. Only you can see them. If you turn on deadline reminders, we email you about these programs (see Email).

My applications

We keep the programs you add to “My applications” and what you enter for them: status, submission date, interview date, deposit deadline and amount, and notes. Only you can see them. For members with reminders on, we email about deposit deadlines. You can edit or delete them at any time.

Offer reports

• What is stored: program, result, entry year, the month you heard back, your undergraduate university (or the one you typed in) and its tier, major, GPA and scale, IELTS, TOEFL, CET-6, years of work experience and your note.
• Who can see it: reports appear on the offer reports page and on the program’s page. The program, result, entry year, the month you heard back, your undergraduate tier and the posting time are visible to every visitor; your university’s name, major, GPA, test scores, work experience and note are shown only to members and to people who have posted a report, and search engines don’t see them. By default only the tier of your undergraduate university is shown (such as “985 university”); you can untick “Show only the tier, not the school name” when posting to let those users see its name.
• What is never public: your nickname, avatar, email and account details.
• Admins can see which account posted a report, to handle reports of abuse or fake results. A hidden report is visible only to you under “My results”.
• Major and note are free text — please don’t write anything that identifies you.
• You can edit or delete a report at any time under “My results”; deleted reports disappear from public pages immediately, though search-engine caches may take a while to catch up.

Tickets

• We keep the ticket title, your messages and any screenshots you upload. Only you and the site’s admins can see them.
• If ticket notifications are switched on, the title, a short excerpt of the message and account details such as your nickname and email are pushed to the instant-messaging tool the admins use (Telegram, Feishu or WeCom), so they can reply quickly.
• Screenshots are kept in object storage (see Where data is kept). Please don’t upload images showing ID numbers, passwords or other sensitive information.

• Orders: when you buy membership we keep the order number, product, amount and currency, payment channel (Alipay or WeChat Pay), the transaction number the payment provider returns, payment time, order status and any refund, and the email of the account that ordered — to start your membership, work out its term, handle refunds and reconcile payments.
• Payment happens at the provider: membership is charged through a third-party payment aggregator (Z-PAY), and you pay on Alipay’s or WeChat Pay’s own page. We never see or store your card number or your Alipay or WeChat password.
• Codes: we keep the code you redeemed and when.
• Membership status is worked out from your orders and codes; nothing else is stored for it.
• You can see your orders under “Orders” in your account area.

• The site sends email only once an email service has been set up, and only of two kinds: account email (verification and password resets) and the deadline reminders you turn on yourself (including one confirmation email when you turn them on).
• Email goes out through an email provider (Resend or Cloudflare’s email service), which handles your address and the message.
• We send no marketing email. Ticket replies are read on the site; no separate email is sent.
• Deadline reminders: off by default. You turn them on under “Saved programs”. If your account’s address isn’t verified, turning them on first sends a confirmation email, and reminders start only once you click its button; we record the confirmed address and when the last confirmation email went out (at most one per account every 10 minutes). Confirming is for reminders only and doesn’t mark your account’s email as verified. Once on, for each saved program’s rounds open to non-local applicants, we email your account address about a week before and the day before the deadline, with the program, round and date. They use your email address, your saved programs and your account’s browser language (to pick Chinese or English). We record which program and deadline each reminder was for, so none is sent twice.
• Members’ reminders: for members with reminders on, the same email also lists changes we found when updating our data for programs in their saved list or “My applications” (what changed, before and after), and deposit deadlines for programs marked as offers in “My applications” (3 days and 1 day before). This also uses the deposit deadlines and amounts you entered. We likewise record each reminder sent, so none is sent twice.
• Unsubscribing: every reminder has an unsubscribe link; open it and confirm, no sign-in needed. You can also switch reminders off under “Saved programs” at any time.

The site runs on Cloudflare. Other third-party services load only once they are set up in the site’s admin; when they load, they handle your information under their own privacy policies.

These are the cookies and browser storage the site sets itself. Third-party services above, if enabled, may set their own cookies.

You can clear all of these in your browser settings; clearing the sign-in cookie signs you out. When the footer shows “Cookie Settings”, you can change your choice there at any time.

• The site runs on Cloudflare Workers, with its database on Cloudflare D1 and uploaded images (avatars, ticket screenshots) on Cloudflare R2. These run in Cloudflare’s data centres, and data is stored and processed outside mainland China. If you use the site from mainland China, your information is transferred abroad for processing.
• Uploaded images are served from addresses that are not listed anywhere but open for anyone who has the link.
• The whole site uses HTTPS; passwords are stored only as hashes; only authorised admins can enter the admin area, and admin actions are logged.

We use information only to:

• run sign-in, saved programs, applications, reminder emails, offer reports, membership, tickets and the site’s other features, and handle payments and refunds;
• keep accounts and the site secure, and detect bulk sign-ups, spam and attacks;
• understand how the site is used (traffic, where users come from) and improve it;
• answer your tickets and feedback.

We do not sell or rent your personal information, and we don’t give account data to advertisers. We share it only:

• with service providers that help run the site (see Third-party services), limited to what they need to provide the service;
• when the law requires it, or a competent authority lawfully asks for it;
• when necessary to protect the safety or property of users, the site or the public.

• Account details and sessions: while the account exists; a sign-in session expires after 7 days without use.
• Saved programs, applications and offer reports: until you delete them, or until your account is deleted.
• Reminder setting and send log: while the account exists; deleted with it.
• Orders and redeemed codes: while the account exists; deleted with it, except any part of the transaction record that the law requires us to keep, for as long as it requires.
• Tickets: kept after they are closed so you and we can refer back; deleted with your account.
• Daily visit records: no automatic deletion period is set yet; records linked to your account are deleted with it.
• Program page views: deleted after 90 days; records linked to your account are deleted with it.
• Cloudflare runtime logs: kept under Cloudflare’s rules and deleted when they expire.
• Data in your browser: stays on your device; you can clear it at any time.

• See and correct: you can change your nickname and avatar under “Profile” in your account area, and add or remove saved programs and offer reports at any time. Email addresses can’t be changed yourself yet; open a ticket to change yours.
• Export and deletion: the site doesn’t yet offer self-service export or account deletion. To get a copy of your data or delete your account, open a ticket; once we confirm you own the account, we handle it, and deleting an account removes it together with its saved programs, applications, reminder records, offer reports, orders, tickets, visit records and program page views (except transaction records the law requires us to keep).
• Withdraw consent: clear cookies and browser storage; when the cookie banner is on, change your choice under “Cookie Settings” in the footer.
• Questions about this policy or how we handle your information are also welcome through a ticket.

The site is meant for university students and working people preparing master’s applications, not for children. If you are a minor, please use it with your parent’s or guardian’s consent and guidance. If we learn that we have handled a child’s personal information without a guardian’s consent, we will delete it promptly.

We may update this policy. When we do, we change the “Last updated” date at the top of this page; for important changes, such as collecting new information, we will say so on the site beforehand.

For any question about this policy or your personal information, sign in and contact us through a ticket.