Privacy Policy

1. What this Policy covers

This Privacy Policy explains how the Hall handles personal information through the public website, guest passes, contributor tools, Hall Desk, media library, editorial systems, first-party analytics, operational logs and backups.

2. Information we may collect

Public-site activity: page path, referring hostname, archive searches, story interactions, approximate engagement time, event timestamps and a privacy-protective hashed session identifier used for first-party analytics.

Contributor information: name, role, venue affiliation, optional profile/social information, guest-pass identifiers, drafts, submissions, comments, media, credits, rights information, review history and acceptance of legal terms.

Editorial and administrative records: People/Inductee records, publication history, revisions, workflow events, import history, continuity relationships, operational health records, backup manifests and security/session logs.

Technical information: information needed to deliver and secure the service, which may include IP address and standard request metadata processed by hosting and security providers.

3. How we use information

We use information to operate and secure the Hall; save drafts; review and publish submissions; maintain contributor attribution; administer guest access; preserve revision and editorial history; improve navigation and content; measure first-party audience usage; investigate errors, abuse and legal concerns; perform backups and recovery; and comply with law.

4. First-party analytics

The Hall operates first-party analytics for audience and editorial insight. It is designed to avoid third-party advertising identifiers. Raw analytics events are automatically pruned after approximately 45 days under the current operational configuration, while aggregated statistics may be retained longer.

5. Sharing and service providers

We may share information with infrastructure and service providers that host, secure, store, transmit or help operate the Hall, and with professional advisers or authorities when reasonably necessary for legal compliance, rights protection or security. Publicly published stories, contributor profiles and media are, by their nature, available to the public.

As of the effective date, the Hall does not sell personal data and does not use personal data for cross-context behavioral or targeted advertising. If those practices materially change, this Policy will be updated and legally required choices will be provided.

6. Public information and submissions

Information you knowingly submit for public publication may become publicly accessible, searchable, quoted, linked, archived or copied by others. Removing material from the Hall cannot guarantee removal from third-party caches, screenshots, search indexes or archives.

7. Data retention

Retention varies by purpose. Drafts and guest-pass records may be retained while needed for editorial work. Published content, revisions, sources, audit events and continuity records may be retained as part of the historical/editorial archive. Raw analytics are subject to shorter retention. Backups may preserve older states for disaster recovery. We may retain records longer when reasonably necessary for legal obligations, disputes, security or enforcement.

8. Security

We use administrative and technical safeguards appropriate to the nature of the service, including protected administrator access, scoped guest permissions, server-side publishing controls, private media states, audit history and backups. No internet service can guarantee absolute security.

9. Your privacy requests

You may ask to access, correct or delete personal information associated with you, subject to applicable law and legitimate archival, legal, security and editorial exceptions. You may also ask questions about processing or request an appeal of a privacy decision where required by law. Use the Legal & Content Notice form and select “Privacy request.” We will verify requests as appropriate before acting.

10. Texas privacy rights

Where the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act applies, eligible Texas residents may have rights to confirm processing, access, correct, delete and obtain certain personal data and to opt out of certain sale, targeted advertising or profiling activities. The Hall does not currently sell personal data or use it for targeted advertising. Statutory applicability and exemptions depend on the circumstances, and this section does not waive any exemption available under law.

11. Children

The Hall is not directed to children under 13 and does not knowingly solicit personal information from children under 13. Guest contributors should be adults unless a parent or legal guardian has provided lawful authorization. If you believe a child has provided personal information improperly, contact us.

12. Third-party services

Embedded video, social media, external links and other third-party services have their own privacy practices. Their collection is governed by their policies, not this Policy.

13. Changes

We may update this Policy as the Hall changes. The date above identifies the current version.

14. Contact

Use the Legal & Content Notice form for privacy questions or requests.