VolontaireBack to websitePrivacy Policy
Volontaire is a free, student-built website and Android app that helps students find volunteer opportunities, plan service projects, and organize volunteer records. This policy applies to volontaire.app and the Android app with package name app.volontaire.mobile.
The short version: we do not sell personal information, show ads, or use behavioral advertising. We use information to provide Volontaire, personalize results, keep records you choose to save, and protect the service. You may request deletion at any time.
Information we collect
Account information
You may sign in with Google or with an email address and password. Firebase Authentication processes the sign-in credential and provides us with your email address, display name, profile photo when available, sign-in provider, and a unique account ID. Volontaire does not receive your Google password and does not store or have access to a readable copy of an email/password account’s password. Firebase may send password-reset and account or email-verification messages when you request those actions.
When you create an email/password account, your date of birth is checked on your device only to confirm that you are at least 13. Volontaire does not save or transmit the birthdate entered in that sign-up check.
Profile and preference information
- Name, age, interests, availability, transportation options, volunteer-hour goals, career interests, and goals summary.
- Optional health notes or concerns and an optional emergency contact, if you choose to add them.
- Photos, saved opportunities, recommendations, project plans, and settings you choose to keep.
Volunteer records and community content
Volunteer logs can include an organization, cause, date, hours, notes, proof photos, supervisor contact details, an optional signature, verification status, and court-service details you choose to provide. These are account records, available to you and authorized staff, not a public service history. Support tickets include your account ID, account email, subject and messages and are available to you and authorized support staff.
We store organization suggestions, reports, ratings, reviews and shared project templates you submit. Reviews are visible to other signed-in users; new reviews use the display label “Volunteer.” Approved project templates use “A volunteer.” Account identifiers associated with public contributions remain in database records; these labels do not make contributions anonymous. Organization suggestions and project templates are reviewed before publication. Newly approved suggestions include organization information, not submitter email/name, private notes or verification contact fields. Those verification fields are private to the submitter and staff while pending and removed from the suggestion when approved. Other organization contacts supplied by our listing sources may be displayed. Never include your home address, personal contact details, school schedule, health information, or private service history in shared content. Automated screening catches some common contact patterns, not every kind of sensitive information.
Older public contributions may contain names or other personal information supplied by their authors. If you find personal information in a public contribution, contact us to request review or removal.
Location
Location is optional. When you choose the existing device-location button, Volontaire first explains the purpose in a “Use Your Location” dialog with Allow Location and Not Now. Only Allow Location starts a standard browser or Android permission request. Browser or device permission remains under your control. Volontaire does not request device location automatically on page load or continuously track it. You may use the existing city or ZIP search instead.
Approximate or precise device coordinates are used in memory for the current search and map; Volontaire does not permanently save those device coordinates in its account database or browser storage. Reloading or closing the app clears the in-memory selection. A manually selected location may be remembered in Android session storage for up to two hours, without requesting GPS. Turning off device location in Settings clears current device coordinates and local search caches; it does not revoke operating-system permissions or delete cloud account data. Legacy permanently saved device coordinates and old browser nearby-search caches are removed on startup.
Search coordinates/place names are sent only to the existing location providers needed for geocoding and nearby results, as listed below. Map tile requests indicate the map area viewed. Nearby results are cached in app memory for up to 15 minutes; provider-side caches and logs may retain request data under their own policies. Users' precise search coordinates are not part of public profiles or shared service records. No location sale, advertising sharing or background tracking is implemented in Volontaire's code.
AI features
If you use recommendations, chat, or project planning, Volontaire sends your prompts and relevant age, interests, career/goals, selected location label and listed-organization context through the Netlify backend to Groq for text responses. Account name/email, private health/emergency fields, proof photos and exact device coordinates are not automatically included in AI context. Anything you type into a prompt may still be sent to Groq. Chat history and recommendations that you save are account records. The assistant is restricted to text-only, age-appropriate help and is not designed to generate images. AI may be wrong; verify its suggestions. Do not enter passwords, your home address, financial/health details, or other unnecessary sensitive information.
Technical information
Firebase manages persistent sign-in state in browser/device storage. Volontaire stores theme, motion preference, intro completion and optional location choice locally. This is functional storage, not an advertising profile. The app does not initialize an analytics SDK or advertising tracker. Service providers may keep their own operational logs as described below.
Providers may process IP addresses, browser/device information, request times and security/operational logs when your device connects. Android sign-in diagnostics include package/version, signing-certificate fingerprint and error stage/code; these are shown for troubleshooting, not a background analytics feed. Do not send passwords or tokens with a support request. Netlify stores account-ID-based API usage counters to limit abuse.
How we use information
- Create and secure your account and keep you signed in.
- Provide nearby and personalized volunteer results.
- Save your profile, projects, volunteer records, reviews, and support requests.
- Generate text-only recommendations and service-project guidance.
- Review reports and submitted hour-verification information, prevent abuse, troubleshoot errors, and maintain the service.
- Comply with law and protect users, organizations, and Volontaire.
We do not sell personal information, share it with data brokers, or use it for targeted advertising.
Service providers and disclosures
| Provider | Purpose | Information processed |
|---|---|---|
| Google Firebase | Authentication and Cloud Firestore storage | Account information and data you save or submit |
| Netlify | Website hosting and server functions | App requests, submitted function data, IP address, and logs |
| Geoapify and OpenStreetMap services | Geocoding, maps, and nearby-organization search | Search terms, place names, or coordinates |
| OpenStreetMap Nominatim and Overpass services | City/ZIP geocoding and fallback organization search | Entered location text, search coordinates and request information |
| ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer | Look up nonprofit registration information | Organization name or EIN and server request information; not your private profile |
| Groq | Text-only AI recommendations, chat, project plans, and optional calendar drafts | Prompts and relevant profile, location, and organization context. Calendar drafting sends only the description you enter, your time zone, and the current date—not your saved calendar. |
| Google Fonts and map tile services | Display fonts and maps | Network request information such as IP address |
| Google Maps and external volunteer sites | Directions, registration and additional listings when you open a link | Organization/search information in the link and the recipient's ordinary network requests |
When you ask an organization or supervisor to verify service, they may receive the entry details you choose to send. We may disclose information when required by law or reasonably necessary to protect safety, rights, or service security.
Retention and deletion
Calendar events, including titles, times, locations and notes, are stored privately under your account in Firestore. Other users and staff accounts cannot read your calendar through the app. Importing a calendar file saves only the events you confirm; exporting downloads a copy to your device. These file actions do not enable synchronization.
Optional Google Calendar connection requests permission to create a separate calendar and manage its events, not to read your personal calendars. After you review and confirm a sync, event titles, dates, times, locations and notes are sent directly to Google. Sync is one-way and on demand, not a background service. Replacing exported copies uses your reviewed Volontaire snapshot; removing old copies requires an additional choice. Your Google email is displayed during the connection, and a hashed account identifier and calendar ID are stored privately to reconnect to the same calendar. Access tokens stay in browser memory and are not saved in your profile or browser storage. Disconnect clears the local session; you can revoke permissions in your Google Account. Copies already sent remain in Google until you remove them.
Account records remain in Firestore until edited, removed through an available feature, or handled through a verified manual deletion request. Inactive accounts, support messages and API usage counters are not currently deleted on an automatic schedule. Provider logs and backups follow their separate retention settings and may take time to expire.
Account/data deletion is handled manually by the support team. Your request covers associated profile data, calendar events and connections, submissions, shared contributions and support messages, subject to any lawful retention requirement we explain to you. Signing out, uninstalling, clearing browser storage or deleting a sign-in credential alone does not delete all cloud records. Copies you exported or sent to Google and records independently held by an organization remain outside Volontaire's storage.
To request deletion, visit Delete your Volontaire account or email volontaire.support@gmail.com from the account email. We may verify your identity before completing the request.
Your choices
- Edit most profile information and remove optional photos or contact details inside the app.
- Choose Not Now, turn off device location in Settings, or revoke permission in browser/device settings. Continue using the existing city or ZIP search.
- Request access, correction, or deletion by contacting us.
- Revoke Google access from your Google Account permissions page.
Children and teens
Volontaire is intended for users age 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13. If you believe a child under 13 provided information, contact us so we can investigate and delete it. Teens should involve a parent, guardian, teacher, or other trusted adult when an opportunity involves travel, in-person meetings, safety concerns, or sharing personal information.
Security
We use encrypted network connections, authenticated access, and Firestore security rules intended to limit records to the user and authorized staff. No online service can guarantee absolute security.
Third-party sites and changes
Volontaire links to organizations and third-party services with their own privacy practices. Confirm an opportunity directly with the organization before sharing information or attending. If this policy changes materially, we will update the date above and provide notice when appropriate.
Contact
Privacy questions or requests: volontaire.support@gmail.com
Volontaire is operated by a team of high school student developers based in Frisco, Texas, United States, using Volontaire as the team's project name.