Terms of use
TERMS OF USE of the "Athar" mobile app
Version of 18 October 2026. In force from its publication on athar.ac.
Translation. The legally binding original is the Russian text. If there is a discrepancy, the Russian text prevails.
1. General
1.1. These Terms govern the use of the "Athar" mobile app (the "App") between Abdelrahman Yahya, an individual (the "Administration"), and the person using the App (the "User").
1.2. The User accepts these Terms when registering an account (with a separate checkbox). Personal data is governed by the Personal Data Processing Policy and the separate Consent to the Processing of Personal Data. Accepting these Terms is not consent to personal-data processing.
1.3. The Community Rules form an integral part of these Terms.
1.4. The App is free. The only paid service is document translation (section 7), which is provided under a separate order.
2. The service
2.1. The App helps students, mainly from Arab countries, find and track study opportunities in Russia. Depending on the version, it offers: - a catalogue of scholarships, olympiads, courses and other opportunities with links to official sources, plus short-lived "quick" opportunities; - guides and a reference library, which also work offline; - the Athar Assistant: answers and search across the guides on the device, and an optional Smart Assistant that uses the User's own Google Gemini key; - saved opportunities, a "My journey" plan, application tracking, checklists (including a preparation checklist for each opportunity), comparison of opportunities, adding deadlines to the device calendar, and local deadline reminders; - in-app notifications; - (where available) proof of admission; - (where available) mentoring by volunteer students, with private chat with a mentor; - (where available) questions and answers, and communities (group chats); - (where available) ordering document translation.
2.2. Features that are not yet available may be shown as "coming soon". The Administration may change, add or turn off features.
2.3. Feature availability. Some features are switched on by the Administration on the server and may be off in a given version or edition of the App: proof of admission, mentoring and private messages, Q&A and communities, push notifications, the Smart Assistant, and placing and paying for new translation orders in the App. Sections 5 (as to user content) and 6 and the Community Rules apply only while the related features are on. Accepting these Terms is not consent to use features that are off and is not a condition of turning them on in future.
3. Account
3.1. Registration uses an e-mail address and password (at least 8 characters), or Google (where available). When registering, the User enters a name that other users will see.
3.2. The User agrees to: - give a real e-mail address; - not create accounts in other people's names; - keep the password secret; - report any unauthorised access.
3.3. Age. - Communication features (mentoring, private messages, communities, posts) are open only to people who confirm they are 18 or older. - During Early Access, the App may be used by people aged 18 or older; by accepting these Terms, the User confirms that they are 18 or older.
3.4. Roles. The Administration may give individual users the role of community moderator, opportunity editor, notification manager or translator. A role does not create an employment relationship.
4. Acceptable use
The User must not: 1. post unlawful content, including content whose dissemination is prohibited under Russian law, calls to violence, or extremist material; 2. insult, harass, bully or discriminate against other users; 3. post phone numbers, e-mail addresses, or messenger and social-media links, whether their own or other people's (such messages are blocked automatically); 4. post other people's personal data (passport number, address, passwords, etc.); 5. advertise, sell, spam, promise "guaranteed admission", offer paid "application services", or ask for or send money; 6. impersonate another person, a university or the Administration; 7. infringe copyright or other third-party rights; 8. circumvent the App's limits, interfere with how it works, or scrape user data by automated means; 9. use mentoring to earn money.
5. User content
5.1. Content means posts, replies, community messages, private messages, mentor profiles, feedback, reports and any other material the User posts.
5.2. Rights. The User keeps the rights to their content. The User grants the Administration a free, simple (non-exclusive) licence to use the content solely to operate the App: - storage; - reproduction and display to users within the visibility described in the Policy; - moderation.
The licence lasts for as long as the content remains in the App, worldwide. The User warrants that they have the right to post the content.
5.3. Moderation: - posts and replies in Q&A are pre-moderated; - community and private messages appear immediately, subject to automatic checks: no contact details, at most 2 links, rate limits, duplicate protection, and "slow mode".
The Administration and moderators may delete or hide content that breaks these Terms or the Community Rules, and give a reason.
5.4. Deleting content. - The User can delete their own community message: its text is erased and members see "Message deleted". - A post or reply can be hidden; its text is fully erased when the account is deleted (see the Policy, section 8).
5.5. Reports. Every message, post, reply, mentor profile, community member and conversation can be reported. The reasons are: - harassment or abuse; - spam or advertising; - scam or asking for money; - inappropriate content; - impersonation; - sharing personal data; - safety of a minor; - something else.
Copyright complaints go to the moderation address (5.8). The reported person is not told who reported them.
5.6. Blocking. A User can block another user. After that: - neither sees the other's content; - requests and mentorships between them end; - they cannot communicate.
5.7. Moderation measures are described in the Community Rules: mute, removal from a community, community ban, message deletion, hiding a post, ending a mentorship, disabling a mentor profile, and restricting the account for 1 to 365 days.
5.8. Moderation contact: [email protected]. We aim to review reports within 48 hours of receipt; this is a target, not a guarantee.
6. Mentoring (where available)
6.1. Mentors are volunteer students whose admission has been verified and whom the Administration has approved. Mentoring is free, and mentors must not ask for payment.
6.2. Mentors do not represent universities, the Administration or government bodies; they share personal experience.
6.3. A request with no reply expires after 72 hours. Either side can end a mentorship. After it ends, both sides can still read the conversation but cannot write.
7. Document translation service (where available)
7.1. In the current App version, placing new orders and paying for translation are not available. For orders placed earlier, the App lets the User view the order, correspond about it, accept the price and request a correction.
7.2. Orders are placed on the athar.ac website. The terms of the service — how to order and pay, and the rules for cancellation, refunds and corrections — are stated on the website when the order is placed and apply to the order.
7.3. The service is available to people aged 18 or older; this is confirmed with a checkbox when placing the order, without uploading documents.
7.4. Nothing in these Terms limits the consumer's rights provided by law.
8. Information in the App and limitation of liability
8.1. Information in the App (the catalogue, guides, Assistant answers, student experiences, mentor advice) is for reference only and is not official. Always check official deadlines, conditions and requirements on the opportunity page and its official source.
8.2. The Administration does not guarantee admission, a scholarship, passing a selection, or recognition of documents.
8.3. The Assistant's answers are compiled automatically from Athar materials (in the Smart Assistant, generated by the User's chosen Google model from those materials) and may contain errors. If something is not confirmed by the sources, the Assistant says so.
8.4. The Administration is not responsible for what users post, but acts on reports as set out in section 5.
8.5. The App is provided "as is". To the extent permitted by law, the Administration is not liable for interruptions, malfunctions, loss of data on the device, or decisions the User makes based on information in the App.
8.6. Smart Assistant (Google Gemini, the User's own key). It is optional and available to Users aged 18 or older. The User obtains the key from Google, accepts Google's terms and is responsible for its use, any quota limits and any charges if the User enables billing in their Google project. The Administration does not pay for, receive or store requests to Google and never asks the User for the key. The App shows only generated answers that cite Athar excerpts; they may still contain errors. The User can report an answer in the App ("Report this answer"); reports are reviewed as set out in 5.8. Availability depends on Google, including the User's country and age.
9. Restricting and ending access
9.1. If a User breaks these Terms or the Community Rules, the Administration may, giving a reason: - restrict interaction for 1 to 365 days; - disable a mentor profile; - refuse access to features.
The User sees the reason and the term of the restriction in the App.
9.2. Deleting the account: in the App, "Your data & privacy → Request account deletion". Deletion can be cancelled within 7 days. After that, the account and its data are permanently deleted, no later than 30 days from the request. Details are in the Personal Data Processing Policy.
9.3. Deleting the account does not release the User from obligations under unpaid or unfinished orders.
10. Governing law and disputes
10.1. These Terms are governed by the law of the Russian Federation. Disputes involving consumers are heard by a court in accordance with consumer-protection law, including at the consumer's choice (art. 17 of the RF Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights"). Nothing in these Terms limits the consumer's rights provided by law.
10.2. Claims are sent to [email protected]. A reply is given within the periods set by law; we aim to reply within 48 hours.
11. Changes to these Terms
11.1. The Administration may change these Terms. The new version and its date are published in the App and at https://athar.ac/en/app/terms/.
11.2. Where possible, the User is notified of material changes in the App in advance, except for urgent changes required for security reasons or by law. If the community rules change, the User must accept them again before writing in a community.