This Privacy Policy explains how the United States Artificial Intelligence Institute (USAII®) collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you participate in the USAII’s Global AI Hackathon 2026, including the AI Readiness Qualifier. We are committed to protecting your privacy and will never sell your data or share it with third parties for commercial purposes.
The United States Artificial Intelligence Institute (USAII®) is the organizer of the USAII’s Global AI Hackathon 2026. References to 'USAII,' 'we,' 'us,' or 'our' in this policy refer to USAII® as the data controller responsible for your personal information.
Questions about this policy may be directed to: aihackathon@usaii.org
When you register for the hackathon on Devpost or complete the AI Readiness Qualifier, we collect:
When you use the AI Readiness Qualifier app at qualifier.usaii.org, we automatically generate:
We do not collect:
We use the information we collect solely to operate the USAII® Global AI Hackathon 2026. Specifically:
We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your data with advertisers. We do not use your data for purposes unrelated to this hackathon. We do not build marketing profiles from your information.
The AI Readiness Qualifier uses an automated scoring system powered by the Claude API (Anthropic) to evaluate your team's assessment responses. This system:
Human review: USAII® staff review all flagged submissions and borderline cases before any advancement decisions are finalized. Automated scores are inputs to human judgment — not the sole determining factor.
We share limited personal information with the following service providers solely to operate this hackathon. Each provider is bound by data processing agreements that prohibit them from using your data for their own purposes:
| Provider | Purpose | Data shared |
|---|---|---|
| Devpost | Hackathon platform and submission management | Team registration data, submission details |
| Supabase (Supabase Inc.) | Database and authentication infrastructure | All participant and submission data — stored securely in US-East region |
| Anthropic (Claude API) | AI-assisted qualifier scoring | Your qualifier assessment responses — processed and not stored by Anthropic beyond the API request |
| Resend | Transactional email delivery | Contact email address, team name, submission ID for confirmation and notification emails |
| hCaptcha | Bot and spam prevention on qualifier registration | Anonymized challenge response data |
We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, court order, or regulatory authority. We will not disclose your information to any third party beyond the service providers listed above without your explicit consent.
We may publish aggregated, anonymized statistics about the hackathon — such as the number of participants by country or track, or overall score distributions — that cannot be used to identify any individual or team.
We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to operate the hackathon and fulfil our obligations to participants:
| Data type | Retention period | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifier assessment responses | Until December 31, 2026 | Appeals period and program evaluation |
| Scores and feedback | Until December 31, 2026 | Transparency and appeals |
| Advancement decisions and qualifier codes | Until December 31, 2026 | Reconciliation with Devpost submissions |
| Contact email and team registration | Until December 31, 2026 | Post-event communications and prize fulfillment |
| Devpost registrant email pool | Deleted after July 31, 2026 | No longer needed after qualifier window |
| Anonymous analytics | Up to 2 years | Program improvement for future events |
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:
If you are located in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or equivalent national law:
California residents have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, including the right to know what personal information is collected, the right to opt-out of the sale of personal information (we do not sell personal information), and the right to non-discrimination for exercising your rights.
The USAII® Global AI Hackathon is open to high school students (Grades 9-12). If you are under 13 years old, you must have verifiable parental or guardian consent before participating. By registering, you confirm that either (a) you are 13 or older, or (b) your parent or legal guardian has provided consent. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without parental consent, we will delete that information promptly. Parents may contact us at aihackathon@usaii.org to request deletion of a child's data.
To exercise any of the rights above, contact us at aihackathon@usaii.org with the subject line 'Privacy Request' and include your team name and the email address used to register. We will respond within 30 days.
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:
No security system is impenetrable. If you believe your data has been compromised, contact us immediately at aihackathon@usaii.org.
The USAII® Global AI Hackathon is a global event open to participants from all countries. Your data is stored in the United States (Supabase, AWS US-East region). If you are located outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, which may have different data protection laws than your country.
For participants in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, such transfers are made under Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent legal mechanisms where required.
The AI Readiness Qualifier app uses minimal session-based authentication (Supabase anonymous auth) to maintain your team's session while you complete the qualifier. This is a functional requirement, not a tracking cookie. We do not use advertising cookies, third-party tracking pixels, or behavioral analytics tools.
hCaptcha is used on the registration form to prevent bot registrations. hCaptcha's privacy practices are governed by hCaptcha's own privacy policy.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify registered participants by email at least 7 days before the change takes effect. The 'Last updated' date at the bottom of each page reflects the most recent revision. Continued participation in the hackathon after notification of changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
For any questions, concerns, or requests related to this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact:
Email: aihackathon@usaii.org
Subject line: 'Privacy Request'
Response time: within 30 days