Privacy Policy

Research For The Kids is a volunteer committee in Dubuque County, Iowa. This website is run the same way: as simply as possible. This page explains exactly what it collects and what happens to it.

What the site collects

The contact form. If you send us a message we store the name, email address, phone number, subject and message you typed, so a committee member can reply. We also store the IP address the message came from, and only for that: it is what lets us block a flood of spam without putting a puzzle in front of everybody else. The address is deleted after 90 days. The message itself we keep until it is dealt with and then for as long as it is useful to remember the conversation.

Traffic counts. The committee needs to know whether anyone is looking at the site. Rather than add Google Analytics or a Facebook pixel, which would hand you to a third party, the counting happens on our own server and only totals are kept: how many times each page was viewed on each day, which site people arrived from (the host only, never the full link or what you searched for), and how many were on a phone, a tablet or a desktop.

How many people, without knowing who. To tell one person reading four pages from four people reading one, each visit is hashed together with a secret that is created fresh each day and destroyed at the end of it. The same person counts once that day; the next day there is no way to recognise them again, because the secret that could do it no longer exists. The hashes themselves are deleted after two days, and what survives is a number. No cookie is involved, which is why this site needs no cookie banner.

Server logs. Like any website, the machine serving this one records requests, which can include your IP address, so we can find out why something broke and stop abuse. They are kept briefly and then discarded.

What the site does not do

• No advertising networks, no tracking pixels, no third-party analytics. None at all, not a reduced amount.
• No cookies for visitors. See the cookie policy.
• No account to create, no newsletter list, no profile built about you.
• We never sell, rent, share or trade your information. Ever, to anyone, for any amount.

Other companies your browser talks to

We would rather this list were empty, and it nearly is.

• OpenStreetMap, on the ride page only. The map of the route is drawn from tiles served by OpenStreetMap, so loading that page tells them your IP address. Every stop is also written out as text and address above the map, so you never have to load it to get the information.
• Nothing else. The fonts, the map software, the photographs and the code are all served from this website. Earlier versions of this site loaded fonts from Google; they do not any more.

Links to Facebook, CaringBridge and the University of Iowa are ordinary links. Nothing is embedded, and nothing from those companies runs on this site or knows you were here unless you click through.

Donations

Online donations are processed by the University of Iowa Center for Advancement on their own website. When you use the donate button you leave dbqrftk.com and their privacy policy applies to everything that happens after that. We never see or store card details.

Photographs

Ride day is a public event and we take pictures. If you are in a photo on this site and would like it taken down, email us and we will do it. You do not have to give a reason.

Children

This site is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect anything from them. If you believe a child has sent us something, email us and we will delete it.

Asking what we have, or having it deleted

Email us and say so. We will tell you what we hold and delete it if you want it gone. There is no form to fill in and no charge, and we will not ask you why.

Changes

If we change what the site collects, this page changes first.