Privacy Policy

1. Who this policy covers

This policy applies to the public website at cooperdebateteam.com, the Members Portal, and forms or services linked from those pages. The site is operated as a volunteer community-service initiative for the Cooper Debate Team at Cooper Middle School in McLean, Virginia.

Some linked services, such as Google Drive, Google Accounts, or the FCPS website, have their own privacy policies and terms. Those policies apply when you leave this website and use the linked service.

2. Information we collect

Information you provide

• Applications: student name, grade, student ID, school and personal email, debate experience, parent or guardian name and contact information, answers about team commitments, and other information entered into the application form.
• Member records: names, approved login email addresses, profile information, grade or graduation year, roles, activity information, tournament participation, results, speaker scores, volunteer signups, and notes maintained by authorized coaches or Website Admins.
• Communications: information included when you contact the team by email or submit a question, request, or correction.

Information collected when you sign in

The Members Portal uses Firebase Authentication. With FCPS Google Workspace sign-in, Google provides the account email address and basic profile information made available for authentication. With approved adult email-link sign-in, the site uses the email address you enter to send and complete the sign-in link. The website does not receive your Google password.

Technical and device information

Hosting, security, and abuse-prevention providers may process technical information such as your IP address, browser type, device information, requested pages, and approximate timestamps. The site also uses essential browser storage for authentication sessions, pending sign-in or application steps, and notification preferences.

If you allow browser notifications in the Members Portal, Firebase Cloud Messaging may process a device notification token so the site can deliver team announcements or event notifications. You can revoke notification permission in your browser settings.

3. How we use information

We use information only for legitimate team, school-community, and website purposes, including to:

• review applications and contact students, parents, guardians, coaches, or volunteers;
• provide approved members with resources, schedules, announcements, tournament history, and statistics;
• manage team membership, roles, tournament entries, volunteer assignments, and communications;
• send application confirmations, team messages, or service notices;
• protect the site, prevent spam or abuse, troubleshoot problems, and maintain security; and
• meet legal, school, or safety obligations when required.

4. When information is shared

We share information only as needed to operate the team and the website:

• Authorized coaches and Website Admins may access member, application, tournament, and volunteer information needed for their responsibilities.
• Application information may be sent to designated team email recipients and to the student or parent email addresses entered for confirmation.
• Firebase and Google provide authentication, database, hosting, notification, and related infrastructure services. Cloudflare Turnstile helps protect the application form from automated abuse, and an email delivery provider helps deliver form notifications.
• Some member resources link to Google Drive. Opening those links takes you to Google and is governed by Google’s policies and the sharing permissions on the linked file or folder.
• We may disclose information if necessary to comply with law, respond to a valid legal request, protect safety, or investigate fraud or misuse.

5. Public information and member access

Public pages may contain team news, tournament information, awards, educational resources, and other content intended for general viewing. Private member records, applications, internal announcements, volunteer administration, and detailed statistics are restricted to approved accounts and authorized roles.

Please do not submit sensitive information that the form does not request. Coaches and Website Admins should avoid placing medical information, financial account information, passwords, or other unnecessary sensitive details in member notes or announcements.

6. Children and families

The team serves middle-school students. Applications request parent or guardian information and include parent or guardian acknowledgements because families are part of the team process. Parents or guardians may contact us to ask about information associated with their student, request a correction, or request deletion where appropriate.

We do not knowingly use student information for advertising or sell it to third parties. School, FCPS, and applicable youth-privacy requirements may also apply to team activities and records.

7. Retention, security, and your choices

We retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to administer the team, maintain accurate competition and membership records, respond to requests, resolve disputes, and meet legal or school obligations. Inactive member access can be disabled without deleting historical records that are needed for team administration or tournament history.

We use access controls, Firebase security rules, authenticated roles, and reputable service providers to protect information. No online service can guarantee absolute security, so please protect your account and sign out of shared devices.

You may ask us to review, correct, or delete personal information by contacting the team. Some information may need to be retained for legitimate team, safety, legal, or historical-record purposes.

8. Cookies and third-party services

This site does not intentionally use third-party advertising cookies or an advertising profile. Essential browser storage and authentication technologies may be used to keep you signed in, resume a form, remember settings, and provide security features.

The site loads fonts from Google Fonts and uses services from Google/Firebase, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare, email delivery providers, and Google Drive as described above. Those providers may process technical information under their own policies.

9. External links

The website links to school, tournament, Google Drive, and other external sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of an external site. Review its privacy policy before submitting information there.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when the site, team processes, or applicable requirements change. The “Last updated” date at the top will identify the current version. Material changes will be communicated through the website or normal team communications when appropriate.