Our privacy policy is aimed at making our online personal data practices more transparent out of respect to the privacy of our participants and people visiting and using our websites. Specifically, it describes what information we collect, how we collect it, and who has access to it. Most of this information is common sense, however we believe firmly in giving people the right to know how their information is being used.
Our policy applies to websites TreeHacks owns and controls, including treehacks.com and its related subdomains. It does not apply to the personal data practices of our sponsors’ and partner organizations’ sites. Finally, the policy is subject to change at any time at the sole discretion of TreeHacks without notice.
All of the personal information we collect on users can be categorized into one of four areas.
When you register for an account on root.treehacks.com in order to apply to attend TreeHacks, you willingly provide us with information as part of your application and as part of forms you submit leading up to, during, and after our event. Unless specified below, this information is not shared with anybody outside of the TreeHacks organizing team and is used only for application review and for purposes directly related to running our hackathon.
We also collect optional demographic information about our hackers. This information is anonymized and is used solely so we can gauge how we’re doing at our goal of making the hacking community more open and diverse.
TreeHacks uses Google Analytics to gather data about our sites’ users. This information is anonymized and used only to observe general patterns so that we can enhance our practices and user experience. For more information about Google Analytics, check out the Google Analytics Terms of Use.
Third-party virtual platforms used for the event may collect their own analytics. We encourage participants to read the privacy policies of all platforms used.
TreeHacks logs limited personal information such as user account information, the user’s IP address, and the web browser user agent whenever certain actions such as logging in and resetting a password are performed. This information is only used to locate and prevent unauthorized access and is never shared with anybody outside of the TreeHacks organization.
TreeHacks may record events, workshops, and webinars. These recordings may be shared with the general public to promote TreeHacks.
If you qualify for travel reimbursements, you may be required to submit proof of your purchase as well as completed and signed tax forms and copies of identifying documents. This is required under Stanford University’s disbursement policy and is never shared with anyone outside of the TreeHacks organization and the Stanford University business offices.
The privacy and safety of our applicants and participants are always our highest concern. As a result, we want you to be aware of what information we share with our partners and sponsors.
The primary motivators for why sponsoring companies attend and support TreeHacks is to interact with our great participants. In return for their support, we provide certain sponsors with access to the following information about our hackers:
- Name
- Resume
- GitHub Username
- LinkedIn Profile
- School
- Major
- Graduating month and year
- Any awards you may have won at the current TreeHacks
You have the opportunity to decline providing any information to sponsors when you RSVP. Specifically, we never directly share your phone number or any demographic information.
As part of our close partnership with Stanford University, we work directly with Stanford University staff to ensure our hackathon's success. To help them to do their job, we may provide Stanford University staff with personal information, such as dietary restrictions and emergency contact information, on request. In addition, travel reimbursement information is handled by the University’s business offices and is always kept confidential.
Finally, we may share personal information with law enforcement and a court of law upon specific request to and beyond the extent required by law and by Stanford University's policies. Does this mean the NSA has a direct tap into our database? We would like to think not, but it's definitely not beyond the realm of possiblilty.
Our privacy policy is based on the PennApps Privacy Policy, which is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
This guide was last updated on: Jan 17, 2021