Emberhall: volunteer shift scheduling and check-in for events

Who we are

CrownForge LLC ("we," "us," or "our") operates Emberhall (emberhall.app), a tool that organizations use to recruit, schedule and check in volunteers and officials for their events and games. This Privacy Policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, and the choices you have. Emberhall has its own accounts; other CrownForge products have their own accounts and policies.

We collect only what Emberhall needs to work. We don't sell personal information, we don't show ads, and we don't use tracking or analytics tools.

Organizations and volunteers: who is responsible for what

Emberhall is used by organizations (for example a festival, a food bank, a race or a youth sports league) to run their volunteer and officiating programs.

When you volunteer or officiate for an organization, that organization decides what it asks you for and what it does with it, including its pay rules and any background-check requirement. It is responsible for your volunteer or official information, and Emberhall stores and processes it on the organization's behalf. Questions about how an organization uses your information should go to that organization first; we'll help if you contact us.
When you create an Emberhall account, or sign up your organization, we are responsible for that account information.

Information we collect

Emberhall accounts

Name and email address.
Password, stored only as a secure one-way hash (we can't see it), if you choose to set one.
One-time sign-in links: if you sign in by email link instead of a password, we email a single-use, expiring link and keep only a hashed form of it. If you request a link for an email address that doesn't have an account, we show the same confirmation either way, so a sign-in attempt can't be used to check whether someone has signed up.
Google sign-in: if you sign in with Google, we receive your Google account ID, name and email address. We ask only for basic profile access.
Language preference and the date you verified your email.
Organizations you follow: if you follow an organization that lists itself publicly, we keep a record of which ones, so we can show you their sign-ups in one place.

Organizations

Organization name, website, contact name and contact email, and the note sent with a request for access. New organizations go through a review before we approve them.
Public listing: whether the organization has chosen to list itself publicly so people can find and follow it.
Billing: payments are handled by Stripe. We keep a Stripe customer reference and subscription status. We never see or store card numbers.
Logos and images the organization uploads for its pages.

Volunteer and official information

What an organization collects depends on what it asks for. Typically:

Name, email address and phone number.
SMS consent: if you opt in to text messages, we keep that choice, when you gave it, and delivery status for each message. See "Text messages" below.
Shift and game sign-ups: the events, shifts or games you signed up for or claimed, and whether you were placed, waitlisted or canceled.
Check-in records: when you checked in and who checked you in.
Extra questions the organization adds to its sign-up form (for example t-shirt size, an address or experience). The organization chooses these.
Guardian contact: if an organization requires a guardian for a shift, the guardian's name, email and phone number.
Waiver acceptance: if an organization requires a waiver, we record which version you accepted, when, and the IP address it was accepted from, so the organization has a record of the agreement.
Notes organization staff add to a sign-up.
Certifications: if an organization tracks officials' certifications, the details you or the organization enter (type, issuer, dates) and a copy of the certificate (a PDF or photo). The copy is deleted when the certificate is rejected or replaced, or when your volunteer record is deleted.
Officiating and pay records (officials only): your level, availability, ratings an assignor gives after a game, earnings per game and their status (pending, approved, paid or void), and payout history.
Payout account reference (officials only): if you're paid through Emberhall, a reference to your Stripe Connect Express account and its status. Your bank details, tax information and identity documents go to Stripe directly; we never see or store them.
Background check status (officials or volunteers in a role that requires one): Checkr's invitation and report reference ids, the package used, who paid for it, and the result as clear or needs review only. We do not receive or store the underlying report.
Calendar feed: if you turn one on, we keep a hashed form of its private link and when it was last used.

You can volunteer without creating an Emberhall account. Officiating and getting paid require one.

Messages

When an organization emails or texts volunteers or officials through Emberhall (reminders, updates, cancellations, open-game alerts), we keep a copy of each message and its delivery status.

Security and technical information

Activity log: we record important actions (such as a sign-up being edited, canceled or checked in, or an earning being approved) and who performed them, to keep records accurate and investigate problems.
Rate limiting: to stop abuse, we briefly keep IP addresses tied to sign-in and sign-up attempts. These are deleted automatically after 2 days.

We do not collect dates of birth, signatures, location or device fingerprints. The only photos we store are certificate images an organization's officials choose to upload (see Certifications); we don't otherwise photograph you. We don't use advertising or analytics trackers.

How we use information

To run Emberhall: sign-ups, schedules, waitlists, check-in, reminders, messages and texts.
To let organizations manage their volunteers and officials, including exports of their own lists, running pay approvals, and requesting background checks.
To process payouts to officials through Stripe, and background checks through Checkr, when an organization uses those features.
To keep accounts secure and prevent abuse.
To process organization subscriptions.
To provide support. Emberhall staff can access an organization's data when needed to support that organization, fix problems or keep the service secure, and those accesses are logged.

We don't sell personal information, and we don't use volunteer or official information for marketing. We don't use Emberhall data to train AI models.

Who we share information with

The organization you volunteer or officiate for sees the information you give it, and can export it.
Service providers that run parts of Emberhall for us, only as needed:
- Resend delivers email.
- Twilio delivers text messages, if you opt in.
- Stripe processes organization payments and, for officials, payouts through Stripe Connect Express. Officials set up and manage their payout account directly with Stripe, under Stripe's own terms.
- Checkr runs background checks an organization requires, after you authorize one.
- Google handles Google sign-in, if you choose it.
- Hosting: a hosting provider runs our servers in the United States, and a network provider carries traffic to them securely.
- Off-site backups: a backup provider in the United States stores an encrypted copy of our backups. The copy is encrypted on our servers before it is sent, so the provider can't read it.
Legal reasons: if required by law, or to protect people's safety or the security of the service.
Business transfer: if CrownForge LLC or Emberhall is sold or merged, information would transfer under this policy, and we'd tell you first.

We never share your mobile number with third parties or affiliates for their own marketing.

Cookies and storage on your device

Emberhall uses one cookie, which keeps you signed in (it lasts up to 14 days). It is required for the site to work, and we use no advertising or analytics cookies.

Check-in stations can work offline. To do that, the device used for check-in keeps a copy of that shift's or game's roster (names, contact details and notes) in the browser until it reconnects and syncs. Organizations should use check-in devices they trust and sign out when done.

How long we keep information

Emberhall accounts: until you delete your account.
Volunteer and official information: for as long as the organization keeps it in Emberhall, or until it is deleted by you or the organization. When an organization closes its Emberhall account, its data is deleted within 30 days.
Waiver acceptances: kept for 3 years after the event so organizations have a record, after which the IP address is removed.
Earnings and payout records: kept for our financial and tax record-keeping, generally 7 years, even if you later delete your account.
Background check results: kept only as clear/needs review plus Checkr's reference ids, for as long as the role requiring it is active or as required by law, whichever is longer. We never receive the underlying report to retain.
SMS consent and delivery records: kept while your account is active, so we can honor an opt-out and show delivery history. The text of a message is pruned after 90 days; delivery status is kept longer. If you reply STOP, we keep that phone number on a do-not-text list, even after your account is deleted, so we never text it again. We also keep a separate record of that consent event; once your account is deleted, that record keeps the number only as a one-way hash, not the number itself.
Activity log: kept for 2 years.
Rate-limit records: 2 days.
Expired sign-in and email links: deleted automatically.
Backups: we keep backups on our own secured storage, with an encrypted off-site copy in the United States, to protect against data loss: hourly backups for 2 days, daily backups for 30 days, and weekly backups for up to 12 months. If you delete your information, it may remain in a backup until that backup expires, but it is not restored into Emberhall: if we ever restore a backup, we re-apply deletions made since.

Your choices and rights

Delete your Emberhall account: from your account page. Your personal details, including your phone number, are removed and your active sign-ups are canceled. The organization keeps an anonymous record of past shifts or games (for example, that a shift had a volunteer who checked in), with nothing that identifies you. Any waiver you accepted, and earnings/payout records, are kept for the periods above, because they are records of an agreement or of money already paid. If you'd opted out of texts, we keep just enough of a record to honor that opt-out and avoid texting the number again.
Volunteered without an account: use the link in any of your sign-up emails to manage or cancel your sign-ups, or ask the organization to remove you. You can also contact us and we will help.
Text messages: reply STOP to any text to opt out, or turn texts off from your account settings.
Get a copy of your information: from your account page, or by contacting us.
Correct your information: from your account page or sign-up link, or through the organization.
Emails: reminders and messages come from the organizations you volunteer or officiate for. You can cancel a sign-up to stop reminders for it.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under privacy laws, such as the right to know, access, correct or delete personal information. Contact us to use any of them; we'll respond within 30 days and won't treat you differently for asking. If a request is about information an organization controls, we may pass it to that organization.

Children

Emberhall accounts are for people 13 and older. Organizations decide whether younger people can volunteer at their events and can require a guardian's contact details and consent for a shift. Getting paid as an official or being screened through Checkr requires you to be an adult (18 or older). Stripe's payout accounts and most background-check products aren't available to minors, so organizations pay minor officials outside Emberhall instead (see the Terms). We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13 without a guardian's involvement through the organization. If you believe a child's information was collected improperly, contact [email protected] and we will delete it.

Security

Passwords are hashed, sign-in links and email verification links are stored only in hashed form and expire, traffic is encrypted, and each organization can only see its own volunteers and officials. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your information, we'll notify you as required by law.

Changes to this policy

If we make a significant change, we'll notify account holders by email and on Emberhall at least 7 days before it takes effect. The effective date above shows the current version.

Jurisdiction

CrownForge LLC is operated from Pennsylvania, United States, and Emberhall's servers are located in the United States. If you use Emberhall from outside the US, your information will be processed in the US.

Contact

Privacy requests: [email protected]
Everything else: [email protected]