Privacy policy
This page explains what Beacon Book collects, why, how long we keep it, and who helps us run it. We wrote it in plain words.
[TODO: effective date. Set when the page goes live.]
The short version
- We collect only what a sign-up needs.
- No ads, no trackers, and we never sell your data.
- Your data is stored in the United States.
- We delete the names and emails of people who signed up 90 days after a sheet's last date.
Who we are
Beacon Book is a service for making sign-up sheets. It is run by the person named below.
Dan Luk
[TODO: postal address. Dan to provide.]
Organizers and participants
An organizer makes a sign-up sheet. A participant signs up for a spot on it.
Organizers must be 18 or older. Participants are adults who sign up for themselves or for their family.
What we collect
If you make a sheet, you don't need to give us your name or email address. We store:
- the sheet you make: its title, note, spots, dates, times, time zone, and how many people can take each spot
- the language you used to make it
- a scrambled copy (a hash) of the sheet's secret key. The key itself is kept only in a cookie in the browser you used and in your private link. It is what opens your sheet's page.
- a photo for the top of your sheet, if you upload one. We crop it and remove hidden details in the file, such as where it was taken. Vercel stores it. We delete it when you remove it or when the sheet is erased.
- the questions you add for people who sign up, such as how many cars they're bringing
- your email address, if you type one to get your links or emails about your sheet. We delete it with the names and emails on the sheet
If you sign up for a spot, we collect:
- your name and email address
- the spot you chose
- the language of the page when you signed up, so your email comes in that language
- whether your confirmation email was sent
- whether your reminder email was sent
- your answers to the organizer's questions, if the sheet asks any. Only you and the organizer see them. We delete them with your name and email address
When you visit, our servers also see technical details such as your IP address and browser type. We use them to deliver pages and to block abuse. We do not store your IP address in our database. To limit abuse and to hold a spot while you type, we store a scrambled code made from it (a keyed hash). We delete these codes within two days.
To keep anyone from using Beacon Book to flood someone's inbox, we also keep a scrambled code made from each email address we send to (a keyed hash), and we delete it within two days. If you ask us to stop emailing you, or your email provider tells us you reported our email as spam, we keep that code so we never email that address again.
How we use it
- to show a sheet to people who open its link
- to show the organizer who signed up
- to send emails about a sheet, such as a confirmation and a reminder the day before to the person who signed up
- to keep Beacon Book working and safe from abuse
We do not use your information for ads, and we do not build profiles about you.
Where your data is kept
We keep your data in the United States. If you use Beacon Book from another country, your information is sent to the United States.
How long we keep it
We delete the name and email address of everyone who signed up on a sheet 90 days after the sheet's last date. The last date is the end of the latest time on the sheet or, if the sheet has only an event date, the end of that day.
Every new sheet has a date. A sheet made before October 18, 2026 may have none. For such a sheet, we delete them 90 days after the last sign-up activity on it: the last time someone signed up or was removed. If its organizer adds the event date, we delete them 90 days after the end of that day instead.
After that, the sheet still shows how many spots were taken, but not who took them.
An organizer can delete a sheet at any time on the sheet's page. It disappears at once, and there are a few seconds to undo. Then we erase the sheet and every sign-up on it for good. If the page is closed before that, we erase it within two days. We keep only the sheet's link code for one year, so the old link can say that the sheet was removed.
Otherwise, a sheet stays until its organizer deletes it.
Ads, cookies, and tracking
Beacon Book has no ads. We use no ad networks and no tracking tools from other companies. Our pages do not load fonts, videos, or other content from other websites.
We use only the small files (cookies) the site needs to work: one remembers the language you pick, one holds a spot for you for a few minutes while you sign up, and one lets the browser you made a sheet in open that sheet's page. We do not use cookies for ads or tracking.
While you make a sheet, your browser keeps your unfinished draft on your device. We receive it only when you publish the sheet.
Children
Beacon Book is for adults. We do not make accounts for children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children.
If you think a child’s information is on a sheet and should not be, contact us. We will look into it and remove it.
Your choices
You can ask us to show you, fix, or delete your information. To change or remove a sign-up, ask the organizer or contact us.
Depending on where you live, the law may give you more rights. Contact us and we will help.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page.
Contact us
Questions about privacy? Write to us.