Safety Governance & Intermediary Trust
Trust & Safety Architecture
Last Revised: May 07, 2026 • Enterprise Safety Standards
At Hallway Technologies Pvt. Ltd., peer trust and student safety form our foundational architecture. We combine strict cryptographic institutional email authentication with real-time peer reporting, zero-retention WebRTC transmission, and statutory grievance mechanisms to deliver a secure digital environment across Indian universities.
The Collegiate Safety Standard
Every student on Hallway is authenticated via recognized university infrastructure. We do not permit anonymous internet traffic, disposable emails, or commercial bots.
1. INSTITUTIONAL VERIFICATION PIPELINE
Our identity verification pipeline operates strictly on institutional whitelisting:
- Domain Whitelisting: Authentication is gated by institutional domains registered with the UGC, AICTE, or Ministry of Education (
.ac.in, .edu, .edu.in, and state university portals);
- Cryptographic Magic Link Auth: Verification tokens are dispatched via encrypted SMTP headers directly to the student's university mailbox;
- Disposable Email Rejection: Public webmail services (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook) and temporary email generators are automatically blocked at our ingress layer;
- Single-Account Enforcement: Each verified institutional email is tethered to a unique student profile to prevent ban evasion.
2. ZERO-TOLERANCE CODE OF CONDUCT
Pursuant to Rule 3(1)(b) of the Information Technology Intermediary Rules, 2021, Hallway enforces non-negotiable bans for:
- Sexual Misconduct & Exposure: Any broadcast or display of nudity, sexual harassment, or explicit behavior;
- Non-Consensual Recording: Capturing, screenshotting, or streaming peer video feeds (prohibited under Section 66E of the IT Act);
- Hate Speech & Targeted Bullying: Derogatory remarks targeting religion, caste, gender, sexual orientation, or regional identity;
- Impersonation & False Representation: Misrepresenting college affiliation, department, or student credentials;
- Commercial Exploitation: Soliciting UPI transfers, promoting third-party products, or academic dishonesty schemes.
IMMEDIATE ENFORCEMENT PROTOCOL: Confirmed violations result in immediate session severance, permanent device identifier hashing, and permanent blacklisting of the institutional email domain. Severe offenses involving minors or non-consensual imagery are immediately escalated to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
3. REAL-TIME INCIDENT DISPOSITION
Students retain total autonomy during live calls through two immediate controls:
- Instant Session Termination ("Skip"): Disconnects the peer connection in under 50 milliseconds;
- In-Call Incident Reporting: Transmits an encrypted flag containing session identifiers, reported timestamp, and selected category to our Trust & Safety desk.
Safety investigations are prioritized based on severity:
Critical Flags (Nudity/Harassment): Automated temporary account freeze + human review within 4 hours.
Standard Grievances: Human investigation and resolution within 24 hours.
4. LAW ENFORCEMENT ENGAGEMENT GUIDELINES
Hallway cooperates with authorized Indian law enforcement agencies pursuant to legal process issued under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (or Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023) and Section 69 of the IT Act.
Law enforcement requests must be transmitted on official departmental letterhead from an authorized government email domain (e.g. @nic.in, @ips.gov.in, or police departmental domains) to safety@hallwaychat.online.
5. CRISIS & STUDENT WELLBEING RESOURCES
If you or a peer are experiencing psychological distress or a personal crisis, free, confidential national support is available:
- KIRAN Mental Health Helpline (Govt. of India): 1800-599-0019 (24/7 Toll-Free)
- Tele-MANAS National Helpline: 14416 / 1800-891-4416 (24/7)
- National Emergency Response Center: 112
6. STATUTORY CONTACT CHANNELS