Summary: VC Tools processes all data locally on your device. No personal information is collected, stored on servers, or shared with third parties.
1. What VC Tools Does
VC Tools consists of two components:
- Web-based Tools: A collection of utilities (hosted at volunteer.systems) that help volunteers process data from FIRST VMS reports.
- Browser Extension: An optional Chrome extension that connects VMS directly to the web-based tools.
Both components are designed to make managing volunteer data easier while keeping volunteer data private and secure.
2. How Data Is Handled
VC Tools is designed with privacy as a primary concern:
- Local Processing Only: All data processing happens directly in your browser. CSV files are processed entirely on your device.
- No Server Storage: The CSV data you upload is never sent to our servers. It exists only in your browser's memory during processing.
- No Data Collection: We do not collect, store, or transmit any of your personal information or the data contained in your files.
- Temporary Storage: When using the browser extension, CSV data is only stored temporarily in your browser's local storage until it's imported into the relevant tool, then it's immediately cleared.
3. Browser Extension Permissions
If you choose to use the optional VC Tools browser extension, it requires the following permissions:
- Storage: When you click "Open in VC Tools", the report is held in your browser's local extension storage just long enough for the VC Tools page to read it, then deleted.
- Clipboard (write only): When you click "Open in Google Sheets", the report is copied to your clipboard so you can paste it into the new sheet. The extension never reads your clipboard.
- Site access: The extension runs only on VMS pages (my.firstinspires.org/VMS) to add its buttons and optional styling, on volunteer.systems to hand over a report you sent, and on Google Sheets to show the "paste in A1" tip.
When you use "Open in Google Sheets", the report reaches Google only if you paste it into a sheet in your own Google account; the extension itself sends nothing to Google.
These permissions are requested only to facilitate the direct transfer of data between VMS and the web tools.
4. Personal Identifiable Information (PII)
Both the website and extension handle PII contained in VMS reports (such as volunteer names, emails, and phone numbers):
- This information never leaves your browser
- No PII is sent to our servers or to any third-party servers
- The tool developers never see this data
- You maintain complete control over your data at all times
The browser extension simply passes CSV data from one tab to another within your browser session. The web tools process the data entirely in your browser using JavaScript.
5. Google Analytics Usage
The volunteer.systems website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous usage statistics. This helps improve the tools by understanding which features are most used. This analytics:
- Does not track individual users
- Does not track the content of your CSV files
- Only tracks basic usage patterns (which pages are visited, etc.)
If you prefer not to be tracked by Google Analytics, you can use browser extensions that block tracking scripts.
6. Children's Privacy
VC Tools is designed for use by adult volunteers. We do not knowingly collect or process data from children under 13 years of age. If we discover that we have inadvertently received data from a child under 13, we will delete it immediately.
7. Changes to this Policy
If this privacy policy changes, updates will be posted here.
8. Contact Information
If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy or the privacy practices of VC Tools, please contact tools.privacy@jaredhk.com.