Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

RaiseTheStage ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website at raisethestage.ai, including the Just Charlie Talent Challenge campaign pages. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. For questions or privacy requests, contact us at info@raisethestage.ai.

2. Information we collect

Depending on how you use the site, we may collect:

• Contestant registration information — the contestant's name, age and age group, talent category, and performance details, submitted by a parent or legal guardian (or by an adult contestant registering themselves).
• Parent/guardian contact information — name, email address, and phone number of the registering guardian.
• Consent records — the checkboxes accepted during registration, voting, sponsorship, or host activation, along with the version of the policy text in effect and the time of acceptance.
• Video and media submissions — performance videos and related media uploaded for the campaign.
• Supporter/voter information — name and email associated with vote purchases, and any optional message of support.
• Sponsor information — business name, contact details, logo files, and sponsorship preferences.
• Payment-related information — payments are processed by Stripe. We do not receive or store full card numbers; we receive confirmation details (such as payment status and amount) needed to credit votes, entries, and sponsorships.
• Messages to Rae, our AI assistant — questions you type into the Rae chat widget, if you choose to use it.
• Technical information — standard server logs (such as IP address, browser type, and pages requested) used for security and site operation.

3. Children Under 13 and Parent or Guardian Consent

Protecting children is central to how this platform is designed. The following rules apply to contestants under 13:

• Children under 13 may not independently create an account, register, upload content, or submit personal information on this site.
• All participation by a child under 13 must be initiated and completed by a parent or legal guardian.
• A parent or guardian must provide consent before RaiseTheStage publishes the child's name, image, voice, video, performance details, or contestant profile.
• RaiseTheStage may delay or decline publication until consent and organizer review are complete. Registrations for contestants under 13 are marked for manual organizer review and are never published automatically.
• Parents and guardians may request access to, correction of, removal of, or deletion of their child's information at any time (see the Privacy requests section below).
• Withdrawing consent may require the contestant to be removed from active voting or from the campaign.
• Communications concerning a minor are directed to the parent or guardian, not to the child directly.
• RaiseTheStage does not request government-issued identity documents at this time.
• Parent or guardian attestation, verified email ownership, payment confirmation where applicable, and manual organizer review may be used as safeguards for child contestants.

These safeguards reflect how the platform currently operates. A consent checkbox is one part of this process, not the whole of it, and we continue to review and strengthen our children's-privacy practices.

4. Public contestant information

Public contestant profiles are generally limited to:

• First name
• Last initial
• Broad age group, only where needed
• Talent category
• Performance title
• An approved photograph, thumbnail, or video
• Vote total or campaign standing, when applicable

RaiseTheStage does not intend to publicly display:

• A minor's full last name
• Exact birth date
• Home address
• Personal email address
• Personal telephone number
• Parent or guardian contact information
• School name
• Precise location
• Government identifiers

unless specific documented permission and a valid campaign need exist.

5. How we use information

• Operating the talent challenge — registration, review, publishing, voting, and sponsorship.
• Verifying and reconciling payments through Stripe.
• Sending transactional emails (registration confirmations, payment confirmations, organizer notifications, password resets).
• Responding to questions and support requests.
• Maintaining the security and integrity of the platform, including fraud prevention, consent recordkeeping, and audit records.

We do not sell personal information.

6. Payment processing

Payments (entry fees, vote packs, and sponsorships) are processed by Stripe, Inc. When you make a payment, your card details are provided directly to Stripe and are governed by Stripe's privacy policy. We receive payment confirmations and limited transaction details needed to run the campaign.

7. Video and media processing and storage

Performance videos, photos, and sponsor logos are stored in access-controlled cloud storage. To operate the campaign, uploaded media may be:

• Reviewed by authorized campaign personnel
• Compressed, resized, or cropped
• Transcoded into web-friendly formats
• Moderated for family-friendly content
• Given a thumbnail or preview image
• Captioned
• Used in campaign previews
• Displayed on contestant and campaign pages
• Shared through approved RaiseTheStage social-media promotion when permission has been granted

Content is not made public automatically. Contestant videos are shown publicly only after organizer review and approval.

8. Rae, our AI assistant

The site may offer Rae, the RaiseTheStage AI assistant, to answer questions about the campaign. If you use Rae:

• Messages you submit to Rae may be processed by technology service providers in order to generate responses and provide support.
• Do not submit payment-card information, Social Security numbers, medical records, government identification, passwords, or other highly sensitive information to Rae.
• Rae's responses are informational only and may be reviewed or logged for security, quality, and support purposes.
• Rae should not be used to communicate privately with minors without the involvement of a parent or guardian.

9. Cookies and analytics

We use a strictly necessary session cookie to keep organizers and hosts signed in to their dashboards. We do not currently run third-party advertising or tracking cookies. If analytics tools are added in the future, this policy will be updated.

10. Service providers and data sharing

Information may be processed by service providers that support the operation of the platform, including providers of:

• Payment processing (Stripe)
• Email delivery
• Website hosting
• Cloud storage
• Video storage and delivery
• Security and fraud prevention
• Customer support
• Artificial-intelligence services (used to power Rae)
• Analytics, if analytics are later enabled

We also share information with:

• Campaign organizers and authorized hosts, who can view registration and payment-status details in a private dashboard in order to run the campaign.
• Authorities, if required by law or to protect the safety of participants.

We do not sell personal information.

11. Data retention

We retain different categories of records for different reasons:

• Contestant and consent records — kept while the campaign operates and afterward as needed to document consent and respond to requests.
• Transaction and accounting records — kept as needed for financial recordkeeping, reconciliation, refunds, and disputes.
• Sponsor records — kept while a sponsorship is active and as needed for follow-up and recordkeeping.
• Host and organizer account records — kept while the account is active and as needed for security and audit purposes.
• Security and audit logs — kept as needed for security monitoring and fraud prevention.
• Videos and campaign media — kept while the campaign operates and subject to removal requests.
• Support requests — kept as needed to resolve the request and improve support.

How long we keep each category depends on campaign operation, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, financial recordkeeping, legal obligations, and whether consent has been withdrawn.

12. Privacy requests

A parent, guardian, or user may request:

• Access to their information (or their child's information)
• Correction of inaccurate information
• Deletion of information
• Removal from public display
• Withdrawal of media permission
• Withdrawal of child-participation consent

Send requests to info@raisethestage.ai. Guardian requests regarding a minor's information are prioritized.

We may need to verify that the requester is the appropriate adult, account holder, purchaser, or guardian before acting on a request. We do not require an uploaded government ID. Verification may instead use:

• Confirmation from the email address on record
• Transaction information
• Campaign-registration information
• A follow-up call
• Organizer review
• Other reasonable non-document methods

We will respond to verified requests within a reasonable time.

13. Security

We use industry-standard measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed credentials, signed payment webhooks, and access-controlled organizer dashboards. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but we work to protect your information.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by an updated version number and last-updated date on this page. Please review the Terms of Service and Fundraising Disclaimer as well.