Improve Your State, Inc. (“Improve Your State,” “IYS,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, protect, and disclose information when you visit our website, create an account, use our educational or community-service resources, document community service, submit evidence, participate in peer review, maintain an HourLog, contact us, or use other features of the Improve Your State platform (the “Platform”).
Some Improve Your State resources may be used without creating an account, including public educational materials, project ideas, and free downloadable resources. Additional information is collected when you choose to create an account or use account-based features.
1. Information We Collect
Information You Provide to Us
Depending on how you use the Platform, we may collect information you provide directly, including your name, email address, phone number, date of birth, city, state or province, country, county or region, ZIP or postal code, account credentials, service-requirement information, target service hours, anticipated completion date, and other information you choose to provide.
Community-Service and Project Information
If you use the Platform to document service, we may collect information such as the project or activity performed, service date, claimed service time, general location, written descriptions, answers to project questions, before-and-after photographs, supporting evidence, project results, and information related to review and verification.
Image, File, and Technical Metadata
Evidence files may contain or generate technical information such as original filename, file type, file size, image dimensions, cryptographic hashes, camera make and model, capture or digitization dates, camera settings, software information, browser file-modification timestamps, and GPS coordinates when location metadata is present in the file.
We may also record technical indicators associated with screenshots, editing software, generation software, missing capture metadata, duplicate files, or discrepancies between available file information. These indicators may be used as part of our verification, security, and fraud-prevention processes and are not necessarily conclusive by themselves.
Peer Review, Verification, and HourLog Information
We may collect information concerning peer-review assignments, review activity, reviewer decisions, supervisor or administrative decisions, approval or non-approval reasons, review notes, verified service credit, HourLog entries, administrative adjustments, verification history, and related records.
Payment and Administrative-Service Information
If you request an optional paid administrative, verification, record-review, access, documentation, or official HourLog service, information associated with that transaction may be processed or retained as reasonably necessary to provide the requested service, maintain transaction records, address refunds or disputes, prevent fraud, and comply with legal or financial obligations.
Payment-card information may be collected and processed by an authorized payment processor rather than stored directly by Improve Your State.
Device, Security, and Usage Information
We may collect IP addresses, browser and device information, login dates, page requests, account activity, security events, timestamps, audit logs, session information, referral information, and other technical information reasonably necessary to operate, secure, analyze, and improve the Platform.
Communications
We may retain communications you send to us, including contact-form messages, support requests, account questions, verification inquiries, complaints, privacy requests, and other correspondence.
2. Information We Collect From Public Visitors
You may browse public portions of Improve Your State, including educational articles, project ideas, community-impact information, and free downloadable resources, without creating an account.
Even when you do not create an account, our systems may receive ordinary technical information associated with visiting a website, such as an IP address, browser information, requested pages, timestamps, cookies or session identifiers, and security or traffic information.
3. How We Use Information
We may use information to:
- Create, authenticate, maintain, and secure user accounts.
- Provide public educational materials, project ideas, and downloadable resources.
- Provide remote and in-person community-service tools and Platform features.
- Receive and evaluate documented community-service activity.
- Display appropriate submission information to authorized peer reviewers, supervisors, administrators, or other reviewers.
- Evaluate whether submitted evidence supports claimed work and service time.
- Detect duplicate, manipulated, misleading, fabricated, or potentially fraudulent submissions.
- Create, maintain, correct, and verify HourLog records.
- Provide requested administrative, verification, documentation, or official HourLog services.
- Process or support payments for optional services when applicable.
- Respond to contact forms, support requests, complaints, and other communications.
- Maintain audit, security, fraud-prevention, and system-integrity records.
- Analyze and improve Platform functionality, reliability, and user experience.
- Enforce our Terms of Service and protect the rights and safety of users and others.
- Comply with applicable legal obligations.
4. Peer Review and Limited Disclosure to Reviewers
Improve Your State may use independent peer review as part of the project verification process. An authorized reviewer may be shown information reasonably necessary to evaluate a submission, which may include project information, written answers, evidence, claimed service time, timing information, and limited technical information.
We seek to limit unnecessary disclosure of a submitting participant’s identity during peer review. Reviewers are not authorized to use information obtained through the review process to identify, contact, harass, investigate, or otherwise interact with the participant whose work they are reviewing.
5. Contractors and Service Providers
Improve Your State may use independent contractors and third-party service providers to help operate and support the Platform. Depending on the service, these providers may assist with software development, hosting, infrastructure, security, email delivery, customer support, administration, project review, verification, record processing, payment processing, document generation or delivery, analytics, maintenance, or other operational functions.
An authorized contractor or service provider may receive or access information reasonably necessary to perform its assigned function. We expect service providers handling information for us to do so in accordance with applicable contractual and legal obligations.
6. Administrative Review and Official Documentation
If you request additional review, verification, official HourLog documentation, or another administrative service, relevant account, project, evidence, verification, and HourLog information may be made available to authorized personnel or contractors who perform that work.
Information may be used to evaluate the record, resolve inconsistencies, confirm verified service, prepare requested documentation, maintain an audit trail, provide customer support, and deliver the requested service.
7. Payment Processing
Improve Your State does not charge users for community-service hours. Community-service hours must be legitimately earned. Certain optional administrative, verification, access, record-review, documentation, or official HourLog services may involve fees.
When payment is required, transaction information may be shared with or processed by authorized payment processors and service providers as necessary to complete the transaction, prevent fraud, handle refunds, chargebacks or disputes, maintain accounting records, and comply with applicable law.
8. We Do Not Sell Personal Information
We do not sell or rent participant personal information in exchange for money. We may disclose information as described in this Policy when reasonably necessary to operate the Platform, provide a service you request, work with authorized contractors and service providers, comply with law, protect safety or security, prevent fraud, or investigate misuse.
9. Legal, Protective, and Required Disclosures
We may preserve or disclose account information, communications, activity logs, submissions, evidence, review records, IP information, transaction information, or other relevant records when required or permitted by law or when we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to:
- Respond to lawful subpoenas, court orders, legal process, or government requests.
- Investigate suspected fraud, falsified community service, hacking, abuse, or other unlawful activity.
- Protect the rights, safety, or security of participants, reviewers, personnel, contractors, the Platform, or the public.
- Address threatening, abusive, harassing, intimidating, fraudulent, or dangerous conduct.
- Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.
- Communicate with a supervising court, probation department, school, employer, agency, program, or other authority when authorized, requested by the participant, required by law, or otherwise legally permitted.
10. Court-Ordered and Other Required Community Service
Some participants use Improve Your State to document service they hope to apply toward a court-ordered, probation, school, employer, agency, program, or other third-party requirement.
When you ask us to assist with verification, documentation, or communication related to such a requirement, information reasonably necessary for that purpose may be used or disclosed as authorized by you or as otherwise permitted by law. Improve Your State does not control the recipient’s requirements or guarantee that a third party will accept the service or documentation.
11. Cookies, Sessions, and Similar Technologies
We may use cookies, session identifiers, and similar technologies to keep users signed in, maintain security, remember preferences, prevent abuse, measure traffic, and understand how the Platform is used. Disabling cookies may prevent some account features from functioning correctly.
12. Data Security
We use administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards intended to protect information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. Depending on the system, safeguards may include access controls, private evidence storage, password hashing, authenticated evidence links, role-based access, cryptographic file hashes, audit records, and server or application security controls.
No method of electronic storage, transmission, or security can be guaranteed completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
13. Evidence Storage and Retention
Original evidence files may be retained for a period reasonably necessary to review, verify, audit, or document community service and to address disputes, fraud, security, operational, or legal requirements.
We may later delete original evidence files while retaining records such as submission information, review decisions, technical metadata, cryptographic hashes, verification history, administrative adjustments, and HourLog entries. Retention periods may vary depending on account status, the nature of the service, legal requirements, operational needs, and whether a submission is under review or dispute.
14. Children's Privacy
Improve Your State account-based services are intended for individuals age 13 and older. We do not knowingly permit children under 13 to create accounts through the normal registration process.
If we learn that personal information from a child under 13 was collected through an account in a manner not permitted by applicable law, we may suspend or remove the account and delete or otherwise address the information as appropriate.
15. Communications
We may contact account holders using contact information they provide regarding account activity, project submissions, peer reviews, HourLog status, security, verification, administrative services, support requests, required actions, and important Platform notices.
Where required by law, promotional communications, if any, will provide an available opt-out mechanism.
16. Your Choices and Privacy Requests
Depending on applicable law and the nature of the information, you may request access to or correction of certain personal information or request deletion of eligible information.
Some information may need to be retained even after an account is closed or a deletion request is made, including records reasonably necessary for fraud prevention, security, legal compliance, accounting, dispute resolution, verification history, protection of other users, or preservation of accurate HourLog and audit records.
Privacy requests may be sent to helpdesk@improveyourstate.com. We may need to verify your identity before processing a request.
17. Account Information and Record Accuracy
Participants are responsible for keeping account information reasonably accurate. Authorized administrators or service providers may correct account, submission, verification, or HourLog information when appropriate. Material administrative changes may be preserved in audit records.
18. Links and Third-Party Services
The Platform may contain links to third-party websites, organizations, or services that Improve Your State does not control. Information you provide directly to an independent third party is subject to that party’s own privacy practices, not this Privacy Policy.
19. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices, technology, services, or legal obligations. When we do, we will post the revised Policy on this page and update the effective date. Additional notice will be provided when required by applicable law.
20. Contact Us
Questions, privacy requests, or concerns may be sent to helpdesk@improveyourstate.com or through our Contact Us page.