Privacy Policy

Last updated: 28 July 2026

The University of Zimbabwe ("the University", "we", "us") is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of all users of this Alumni and Graduate Tracking Portal ("the System"). This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights under the Cyber and Data Protection Act [Chapter 12:07].

1. Who This Policy Applies To

This policy applies to all users who register and use the Alumni and Graduate Tracking Portal, including graduates of the University, and to employers who post opportunities or provide feedback through the System.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

During registration and use of the System, the University may collect and process personal information including your full name, contact details such as email address and telephone number, date of birth, gender, city and country of residence, national identity number, a profile photograph where you choose to upload one, and your academic record comprising student number, programme, faculty, and years of study and graduation, together with any further qualifications you add.

The System also records the information you choose to contribute about your outcomes after graduating: your employment history including employer, job title, sector, industry and country of work; details of any business you have established; responses to graduate surveys; attendance responses for alumni events; applications you make to advertised positions and any curriculum vitae attached to them; connection requests between alumni; and success stories you submit. Where the University's giving facility is in use, records of contributions and any proof of payment you upload are also held. A technical audit record of the time, account and network address of actions that change data is kept for security and accountability.

3. Why We Collect This Data

Personal information submitted will be processed strictly for purposes related to the University's alumni relations and graduate tracking functions. These purposes include establishing where graduates are, what they are doing and the impact they are making in their sectors; using those findings for the continuous improvement of University programmes and systems; confirming that a person registering is a graduate of the University; enabling graduates to connect with one another and with alumni events and opportunities; reporting graduate outcomes to the Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education and other bodies to which the University is accountable; and complying with applicable legal and reporting obligations. The information collected will not be used for any purposes unrelated to alumni relations and graduate tracking at the University.

Statistics published in institutional reports are aggregated — they describe groups of graduates, not identifiable individuals.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

The processing of personal information is based on the consent of the graduate, given by ticking the acceptance box upon registration, as well as the University's legitimate interest in administering its alumni relations functions and its obligation to report graduate outcomes to its regulators. Registration constitutes acknowledgement of this Privacy Policy and consent to the processing activities described herein. Consent may be withdrawn at any time as set out in Section 8.

5. Who Has Access to Your Data

Your personal information may be shared internally with authorised University staff involved in alumni relations, graduate tracking and institutional reporting. Access is tiered by role, and staff without an administrative role have no access to personal records.

Other graduates using the directory see your name, faculty, programme and graduation year. Your contact details are never shown in the directory — they are visible only to graduates whose connection request you have accepted, and only for the fields you have enabled in your settings. Employers who advertise a position see only the applications submitted to that position, including any curriculum vitae attached. Organisers of an event see the attendee list for that event; other graduates see only those attendees who have chosen to be listed.

Where the giving facility is in use, payments are processed by Paynow (Webdev (Private) Limited, Zimbabwe). Card and mobile money details are entered on Paynow's own pages and are never seen by or stored on this System.

The University does not sell, trade, or unlawfully disclose your personal information to third parties, and does not use it for advertising. Bodies to which the University reports receive aggregated statistics only, not individual records.

6. How Long We Keep Your Data

Alumni relations are a lifelong relationship, and graduate outcome data retains its value for as long as the University tracks the performance of the programmes concerned. Your personal information is therefore retained for as long as you hold an account with the System. Where you close your account, your personal information is deleted except where the University is required to retain it by law, and except for the graduate record itself, which forms part of the University's permanent academic record. Financial records relating to contributions are retained for the period required by Zimbabwean tax and audit law. Technical audit records are deleted after 180 days.

7. Data Security

The University implements appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), tiered access controls, audit logging of changes to records, and regular security reviews. Passwords are stored in hashed form and cannot be read by anyone, including University staff. Uploaded documents such as curricula vitae and proofs of payment are stored in a protected area that is not publicly accessible. No system is perfectly secure; should a breach occur that places you at risk, we will inform you and notify the regulator.

8. Your Rights

In terms of the Cyber and Data Protection Act [Chapter 12:07], you have the right to request access to your personal information, seek correction of inaccurate or incomplete data — much of which you may edit yourself in your profile — request deletion of your account and the information in it, withdraw your consent, object to a particular use of your information, and lodge a complaint. You may stop receiving alumni communications at any time from your settings.

All such requests should be directed to the University's Data Protection Officer at dpo@admin.uz.ac.zw. We will respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response you may complain to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), which supervises data protection.

9. Sensitive Data

Some data we collect is classified as sensitive personal data under the Cyber and Data Protection Act [Chapter 12:07], including gender, date of birth and national identification numbers. This information is collected solely for the purposes stated in Section 3 and treated with the highest level of confidentiality.

10. Cookies

We use only what the System needs in order to work: a session cookie that keeps you signed in, and a security cookie that protects forms against cross-site attacks. There are no advertising or third-party tracking cookies. Fonts and stylesheets are loaded from Google Fonts and jsDelivr, which will see your network address as part of serving those files.

11. Changes to This Policy

If we change this policy materially we will inform account holders by email before the change takes effect.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, please contact:

Data Protection Officer
University of Zimbabwe
P.O. Box MP167, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
Email: dpo@admin.uz.ac.zw

For general alumni enquiries, contact the Alumni Office at alumni@uz.ac.zw.

See also our Terms of Use.