Buddyhere Safety Centre

Buddyhere helps students connect through university-linked buddy, mentoring, orientation and peer-support programmes. Buddyhere peer support means informal peer-to-peer orientation and Programme support. It does not mean clinical or professional mental-health support.

This Safety Centre should be read together with our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. It provides practical safety guidance and explains Buddyhere's safety and reporting processes. It does not replace emergency services, official university procedures or professional legal, medical or other specialist advice.

Buddyhere is intended only for users aged 18 or over. If you are under 18, you must not create an account or use the platform.

Quick safety routes

1. In an emergency

Buddyhere is not an emergency service. If you are in immediate danger, believe someone may be seriously harmed, or need urgent medical assistance, contact local emergency services immediately.

In Germany, call 110 for police and 112 for ambulance or fire services.

Elsewhere in the European Union, you can call 112 free of charge for emergency assistance. Outside the EU, use the official emergency number for your location.

Move to a safe or public place where possible and contact someone you trust.

If the situation involves a university Programme, contact the relevant University Coordinator or international office as soon as it is safe to do so.

2. What Buddyhere is and is not

Buddyhere is a peer-support and connection platform. Buddies may help with orientation, introductions, campus information, events and general student experience.

Buddies are not emergency contacts, legal advisers, immigration advisers, medical or mental-health professionals, housing agents, financial advisers, employment agents or official university representatives unless a specific Programme expressly assigns such a role and clearly informs participants of it.

Information shared by other users is general information and should not be treated as professional or official advice. Important legal, immigration, housing, financial, health, safety or university information should be verified with qualified professionals, official university contacts or public authorities.

If Buddyhere introduces AI-assisted features in the future, any relevant limitations and safeguards will be explained when those features are made available.

3. Core safety rules

• Be respectful, honest and lawful.
• Respect boundaries. No one must continue a conversation, meet in person, share private contact details, share documents, lend money or accept unwanted closeness.
• Do not harass, threaten, stalk, pressure, discriminate against, exploit, manipulate or coerce another person.
• Do not request or exchange passwords, authentication codes, banking credentials or other account-access information through Buddyhere.
• Do not ask another user to send passports, visas, identity documents, medical documents, financial documents or other highly sensitive records through Buddyhere. Where such information is legitimately required by a university, authority, employer, accommodation provider or other organisation, use the organisation's official and verified channel rather than sending it to another Buddyhere user.
• Do not share another user's private messages, screenshots, contact details or personal information with unrelated persons without permission. Limited sharing may be appropriate where reasonably necessary to report a concern, seek appropriate support, comply with law, establish or defend legal rights or protect a person from serious harm.
• Do not use Buddyhere for scams, unofficial paid services, document handling, housing pressure, financial pressure or inappropriate commercial activity.

4. Messaging and online contact

• Use Buddyhere messages for appropriate Programme purposes, including introductions, arrival support, campus information, events, study or social orientation and respectful peer support.
• Do not continue messaging someone who has asked you to stop.
• Do not send unwanted sexual, romantic, discriminatory, humiliating, abusive, hateful or coercive content.
• Do not pressure another user to move communication off-platform.
• Be cautious before sharing phone numbers, social-media accounts, personal addresses or other private contact details.

Buddyhere does not routinely monitor or read all private messages. Message content may be accessed by authorised persons only where reasonably necessary for an identified support, safety, concern, technical, security or legal purpose, as further explained in the Privacy Policy.

5. Meeting in person

• Choose a public, familiar or well-lit place for a first meeting where appropriate.
• Tell someone you trust where you are going and when you expect to return, especially for first meetings and arrival pickups.
• Keep your phone charged and ensure that you can leave independently.
• Do not feel pressured to enter a private home, car, isolated place or accommodation arrangement that makes you uncomfortable.
• Avoid substances that may impair your judgement or ability to leave safely.
• You may end a meeting or conversation at any time if you feel unsafe or uncomfortable.

6. Arrival, airport and train-station pickup

If a Buddy and Mentee agree to meet during arrival, confirm the time, location and meeting point in advance. Use clear identifiers such as the Buddy's first name and the agreed meeting place. The Mentee should know how to reach the next destination independently if plans change.

Do not hand over passports, visas, residence documents, bank cards, passwords or other sensitive documents to another user.

Do not make or accept unofficial payments between Buddyhere users for pickup, accommodation, document handling or similar Programme-related assistance. If a payment is genuinely part of an official university process, verify it directly through the university's official channels before paying.

If the pickup does not feel right, remain in a public area and contact a trusted person, the relevant University Coordinator, Buddyhere or emergency services where necessary.

7. Accommodation, money, work and documents

International students and newly arriving students may be vulnerable to pressure involving accommodation, money, employment, immigration documents or unofficial services. Buddyhere must not be used for scams, financial pressure, document pressure or unsafe housing arrangements.

• Be cautious about offers of housing, paid services, loans, jobs, visa assistance or document handling from people you do not know well.
• Never share passwords, banking access, one-time security codes or identity documents with another user.
• Verify housing, payments, employment and immigration information through official sources.
• Report any user who pressures you for money, documents, addresses, bank details or private information.

8. How to report a concern

If you experience or witness harassment, discrimination, threats, stalking, coercion, scams, misuse, document pressure, inappropriate money requests, unsafe behaviour or another possible breach of the Terms of Service, contact Buddyhere at: help@buddyhere.de

If the concern relates to a university-linked Programme, you may also contact the relevant university coordinator or international office where appropriate and where you feel safe doing so.

If there is an immediate threat to life or safety, contact the relevant emergency services first.

Reporting content you believe is illegal

If you believe that specific content or activity on Buddyhere is illegal under applicable EU or national law, contact Buddyhere at: help@buddyhere.de

To help us identify and assess the content, a notice should include, where applicable:

• an explanation of why you believe the content or activity is illegal;
• enough information to identify its exact electronic location, such as a message, conversation, profile or other relevant identifier;
• your name and email address, except where applicable law permits a notice without that information; and
• confirmation that you believe in good faith that the information in the notice is accurate and complete.

Where required by applicable law, Buddyhere will acknowledge receipt of the notice and inform the reporting person of its decision.

When reporting a concern, provide enough information to identify what happened, when it happened and who or what was involved.

Where appropriate, you may provide relevant messages or screenshots if you can do so lawfully and safely. Do not download, copy, forward or redistribute content that may itself be unlawful or that would unnecessarily expose highly sensitive or intimate information. Where possible, provide a message, conversation, profile or other identifier instead.

Buddyhere may preserve relevant information already held on the platform where this is necessary and lawful for investigating a Report, protecting users, complying with legal obligations or establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.

9. How Buddyhere may respond

Buddyhere assesses reports according to their seriousness, urgency and connection to a university Programme. Depending on the circumstances, Buddyhere may provide support, preserve relevant evidence, restrict contact, cancel or prevent a Match, warn a user, suspend or terminate an account, involve the relevant University Coordinator or Programme contact, or contact an authority where legally permitted or required.

Buddyhere may take immediate temporary action where reasonably necessary to prevent harm, protect security, preserve evidence or comply with law. Important non-temporary safeguarding or enforcement decisions will ordinarily involve review by an authorized person. Buddyhere may take proportionate temporary measures without prior review where reasonably necessary to address an urgent safety or security risk, preserve relevant information or comply with law.

10. What happens after a report

Buddyhere assesses Reports based on the information reasonably available, including the seriousness and urgency of the concern, the nature of the alleged conduct, the risk to affected users, any relevant previous incidents and the connection to a university-linked Programme.

Where Buddyhere restricts content, access to content, a Match, particular platform functionality or an account because information is considered illegal or incompatible with the Terms of Service, Buddyhere will provide the affected user with information about the decision and its main reasons where required by applicable law.

The information provided may include the nature and duration of the restriction, the relevant factual circumstances, whether the decision relates to a user Report or another source of information, the applicable Terms or legal basis, and available options for review or redress, to the extent that providing this information is lawful and does not create an unacceptable safety, privacy or security risk.

Depending on the circumstances, Buddyhere may:

• provide information or support;
• preserve relevant information;
• restrict or prevent contact between users;
• cancel or prevent a Match;
• issue a warning;
• temporarily restrict an account or particular functionality;
• suspend or terminate an account;
• involve an appropriate university or Programme contact where necessary and lawful; or
• contact competent authorities where required or permitted by applicable law.

A person who reports a concern may not receive full details of the outcome because Buddyhere must also protect privacy, confidentiality, investigation integrity and the safety of other people.

A user affected by a warning, Match restriction, content restriction, account suspension or account termination may request a review by contacting help@buddyhere.de and identifying the relevant decision.

Review requests will be assessed by an authorised person and will not be decided solely by an automated system.

Buddyhere may limit the information disclosed where this is reasonably necessary to protect another person, preserve confidentiality, avoid compromising an investigation or comply with legal, privacy, safety or security requirements.

11. Blocking, stopping contact and cancelling a Match

You do not have to continue a conversation, Match or meeting. Where platform controls are available, you may block another user, stop contact or cancel a Match. If a relevant platform control is unavailable, contact help@buddyhere.de. Where appropriate, you may also seek assistance from the relevant university coordinator or international office.

12. When Buddyhere may contact a university or authority

Buddyhere does not automatically notify a university or authority about every Report or safety concern.

Buddyhere may share relevant information with an appropriate university, university coordinator or Programme contact where this is necessary and lawful for Programme safeguarding, concern handling, participant protection or administration of the relevant Programme.

Buddyhere may share information with law-enforcement authorities, courts, regulators, emergency services or other competent authorities where required by law or where another applicable legal basis permits disclosure and the disclosure is necessary and proportionate.

Where applicable law requires Buddyhere to report information concerning suspected criminal conduct involving a threat to a person's life or safety, Buddyhere will make the required report to the competent authority.

Buddyhere aims to disclose only information that is relevant and necessary for the specific purpose. Further information about personal-data sharing and the relevant legal bases is provided in the Privacy Policy.

13. AI-enabled safety or support features

Buddyhere processes personal data in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

Ordinary private messages are not routinely monitored or read. Relevant message content may be accessed by authorised persons where reasonably necessary for an identified support, safety, concern, technical, security or legal purpose.

Messages and other records connected to a concern, safety issue, security incident or legal matter may be preserved and access-restricted where necessary for the relevant purpose.

Applicable retention periods, exceptions for legal holds and information about account deletion are described in the Privacy Policy.

14. Privacy, message review and retention

Buddyhere processes personal data as explained in the Privacy Policy. Ordinary private messages are not routinely monitored or read. Relevant messages may be reviewed where necessary for support, safety, concerns, technical investigation, misuse prevention, platform security, legal compliance or the protection of users.

Reported messages and related records may be preserved while a case is being assessed and afterwards for as long as reasonably necessary for follow-up, safety, misuse prevention, legal compliance or legal claims. Access is restricted and retention is reviewed periodically.

Account closure and deletion are handled in accordance with the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

15. Support for affected users

Buddyhere may direct users to publicly available information about relevant university services, counselling services, public authorities or specialist support organisations. Unless expressly stated otherwise, Buddyhere does not operate, control or endorse those third-party services and cannot guarantee their availability or suitability for a particular situation.

Buddyhere does not itself provide clinical, legal or emergency services.

16. Contact

Support, technical issues, illegal concerns, and safety: help@buddyhere.de
General questions, privacy enquiries and data-protection rights requests: info@buddyhere.de

Company details and our electronic point of contact are set out in our Impressum.