Privacy Policy

We collect the information we need to run a safe, well-organized event. Depending on how you take part, that can include:

• Participant details – name, preferred name, email, phone, school or institution, and grade, year, or student status
• Age – whether you are 18 or older
• Event logistics – t-shirt size, dietary restrictions, and any accessibility or support needs you share
• Project details – team status, interests, and hardware or project-related information
• Consent for minors – parent or guardian consent information for participants under 18
• Emergency contact – so we can reach someone if needed
• Health and safety information – allergy, medication, medical, or special-need information you provide through our consent and safety forms
• Photo and video preference – your photo and video release choice
• Project submissions – the projects you submit through Devpost
• Sponsor information – for sponsoring organizations: organization name, public display name, contact name, email, and phone, website, logo, billing contact, billing address, payment preference, invoice and payment status, and related records

We only ask for what we need to run the event well, and some details (such as medical or consent information) are collected only through our consent and safety forms.

Here's what we do with the information you share:

• Register and check you in – to manage sign-ups and confirm attendance
• Communicate with you – event updates, schedule changes, and reminders, including with parents or guardians for minors
• Support safety and accessibility – including medical and special-need information you provide
• Manage food and logistics – ordering food and planning the event
• Run judging and awards – to recognize projects
• Process sponsorships and payments – invoicing, receipts, and recognition for sponsors
• Operate and improve the event – including anonymous statistics

We don't sell your personal information or use it for unrelated marketing.

If your organization sponsors the event, we collect the details you provide on the sponsorship form, such as your organization name, contact name, email, optional phone and website, billing details, and your logo. We use this information to process your sponsorship, send invoices and receipts, recognize your support, and coordinate the benefits you choose.

Payments are processed by Stripe, our payment processor. Card and bank details are entered directly with Stripe and are handled under Stripe's Privacy Policy. We never see or store full card numbers. We keep a record of your sponsorship (organization, amount, status, and contact details) so we can manage payment, send receipts, and follow up.

Any resume sharing with sponsors is opt-in. Participants who are 18 or older can opt in themselves, and participants under 18 can opt in only with parent or guardian permission. We do not share participant contact information with sponsors.

We keep your information only as long as we need it:

• Participant registration data is generally deleted or anonymized within 90 days after the event, unless we need to retain certain records for safety, legal, accounting, dispute-resolution, sponsorship, reporting, or operational purposes
• Sponsor, payment, and invoice records, consent and waiver records, incident and safety records, and other legally necessary records may be kept longer to meet legal, accounting, and operational needs
• Project submissions may remain on Devpost according to their terms of service (it's your work, after all!)
• Anonymous statistics (like "30% of participants were first-time hackers") may be kept longer to help us improve future events

We aim to hold only what we need, and to delete or anonymize the rest once it is no longer required.

We keep your information safe with sensible, practical measures:

• Encryption in transit – Our site is served over HTTPS, and payment details go directly to Stripe over an encrypted connection.
• Limited access – Personal data is accessible only to the organizers who need it to run the event.
• Reputable providers – We rely on established services (such as Google, Devpost, and Stripe) that maintain their own security programs.

No method of storage or transmission is ever 100% secure, but we work to protect your information and to limit what we collect in the first place.

It's your data, and you're in control. Here's what you can do:

• Request to see your data – Want to know what we have on file? Just ask.
• Request deletion – We'll honor deletion requests unless we need to keep certain information for safety, legal, accounting, dispute-resolution, sponsorship, or operational reasons.
• Opt out of communications – You can opt out of non-essential communications. We may still send event-critical messages to registered participants, parents or guardians, or sponsors.

Seriously, just reach out. We're students too, and we get it. Your data, your choice.

We might update this privacy policy from time to time as we improve the event or if regulations change. If we make any major changes, we'll let you know via email.

Last updated: June 23, 2026

You can always check this page for the most current version of our privacy policy.