Privacy Policy

1. Scope and FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) protects education records maintained by Stockton University. To the extent information in Vantage is an education record, Stockton University handles it in accordance with FERPA, applicable regulations, and University policy. Vantage does not replace Stockton University’s annual FERPA notice or other University privacy policies.

Because this is a postsecondary program, FERPA rights generally belong to the eligible student. Information may be accessed by University officials only when necessary to perform an assigned esports, athletic, club, safety, compliance, information-technology, or student-support responsibility.

2. Information We Collect

Account and identity information

• First and last name, Stockton email address, username, hashed password, and account identifiers.
• Email-verification status and tokens, password-reset tokens and expiration times, and optional persistent sign-in tokens.
• Assigned roles and permissions, such as member, player, captain, game manager, administrator, or developer.

Profile and participation information

• Optional profile pictures, display information, and linked Discord username and avatar.
• Game-community membership, team and roster membership, captain or manager assignments, league and season participation, and join dates.
• Event subscriptions, schedules, notification preferences, and preferred dashboard settings.

Competition, streaming, and program records

• Events, matches, practices, tournaments, locations, descriptions, schedules, teams, opponents, partnerships, and visibility settings.
• Match results, wins and losses, standings, playoff placements, team and program statistics, participation trends, and administrator analytics.
• Scheduled Twitch or YouTube stream names, dates, times, platforms, video links, video metadata, and display status.
• Video-on-demand links and feedback, including comments and optional video timestamps.

User-provided content and moderation information

• Community forum messages, VOD comments, uploaded program or community photos, game images, league logos, banners, social links, and other submitted content.
• Automated profanity-screening results, reports, profanity flags, pinned or deleted-message records, the identities of reporting or moderating users, and administrative audit information.
• Account suspension status, reason, duration, administrator responsible, and session-invalidation records.

Technical and activity information

• Login session data, last-seen time, active or inactive status, and authentication-cookie data.
• Basic request, error, security, and diagnostic information generated when Vantage is used.
• Browser storage used for interface preferences, such as the active tab, expanded sections, filters, dismissed notices, and whether a feedback prompt has been shown.

3. How We Use Information

We use information only as reasonably necessary to:

• Create, verify, secure, support, and administer accounts.
• Confirm eligibility and manage communities, rosters, teams, roles, leagues, seasons, and competitions.
• Schedule and display events and streams and send user-selected reminders and program notices.
• Record results, performance, standings, participation, program statistics, and aggregate administrative analytics.
• Enable community discussions, VOD review, user profiles, social links, and optional Discord features.
• Screen submitted forum text for profanity, moderate content, investigate reports, enforce program rules, maintain safety, and prevent misuse.
• Respond to support, privacy, records, and account requests.
• Meet legal, audit, records-management, and University policy obligations.

We do not use education records to build advertising profiles, serve targeted advertising, or make unrelated commercial decisions.

4. FERPA-Based Access and Disclosure

Access to nonpublic student data is role-based and limited to authorized Stockton University athletic or club administrators with a legitimate educational interest. This may include designated esports program administrators, game managers, coaches or advisors, and University technical personnel whose assigned duties require access. Authorized users must use the information only for University esports or club responsibilities and may not redisclose it except as permitted by FERPA and University policy.

We disclose student education records outside that authorized group only when the student provides valid consent or when FERPA or another applicable law expressly permits or requires disclosure, such as a health or safety emergency, a lawfully issued subpoena, or an authorized audit. Any such exceptional disclosure is handled by Stockton University and not for an independent commercial purpose.

Some profile, roster, team, schedule, result, forum, or statistical information may be visible to other authenticated program members when needed to operate the activity. Vantage does not treat student information as public merely because it appears in Vantage. University-designated directory information remains subject to Stockton University’s FERPA notice and a student’s applicable right to opt out of directory-information disclosure.

5. Authorized Service Providers and Integrations

Vantage uses limited service providers to perform University-authorized functions. Where these providers receive student data, they process it on Stockton University’s behalf and may not use it for their own advertising or unrelated purposes. Depending on the feature used, providers may include:

• Database and cloud infrastructure providers, including AWS services, used to host application data and community messages.
• Cloudinary, used to host profile pictures, program photos, game images, league logos, and banners.
• Brevo or another authorized mail service, used to deliver verification, password-reset, reminder, and notification emails.
• Discord, when a student voluntarily links an account, to retrieve an account identifier, username, authorized email scope, tokens, and optional avatar, and when administrators provide a community invite link to retrieve server metadata.
• YouTube, when authorized users add VOD or stream information, to retrieve video metadata and display video content.
• Twitch, to retrieve and display the Stockton Esports channel’s public live-stream or video status and embedded player.
• The configured profanity-screening service, which receives submitted community-message text to identify potentially profane content for moderation.

Discord account identifiers and access tokens are encrypted before database storage. A student may disconnect Discord through Vantage. We do not authorize service providers to sell student data or use it independently; they may process only the information needed to provide the requested or authorized service.

6. External Sites and Embedded Content

Vantage links to or loads content from external services, including Stockton University, Google Forms, Discord, YouTube, Twitch, Google Fonts, Font Awesome, Chart.js, and Cropper.js content-delivery networks. When a user follows an external link or loads embedded content, that provider may receive ordinary technical information such as the user’s IP address, browser details, referring page, and cookie or account information under the provider’s own privacy terms.

Feedback submitted through Google Forms is provided directly to Google and the form owner under the notices shown on that form. Users should avoid including sensitive education-record information unless the form specifically requests it through an approved University process.

7. Cookies and Browser Storage

Vantage uses an essential session cookie to keep users signed in and protect authenticated features. If a user selects “Remember me,” Vantage stores a persistent authentication token for up to 30 days; logging out clears that token. These cookies are used for authentication and security, not advertising.

Local or session browser storage may remember interface choices and dismissed prompts. Users can clear cookies or site storage through their browser, but doing so may sign them out or reset preferences.

8. Data Security

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. Current safeguards include role-based access controls, password hashing, encrypted database connections, secure session-cookie settings, encrypted storage of Discord identifiers and tokens, email verification, and account suspension and moderation controls.

No system can guarantee absolute security. Users should protect their credentials, use a unique password, log out of shared devices, and promptly report suspected unauthorized access.

9. Retention and Deletion

We retain student data only for as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy and in accordance with Stockton University’s records-retention, legal, audit, and program requirements. Retention may differ by record type. Current profile and membership data may be updated during participation, while historical schedules, results, statistics, moderation records, analytics, or legally required records may be retained longer.

When information is no longer required, it will be deleted, de-identified, or securely archived as University policy permits. Account removal deletes or disconnects associated account, permission, notification, Discord, activity, verification, and suspension records where supported. Some event, result, security, backup, moderation, or audit records may remain when required for legitimate University purposes.

10. Student FERPA Rights and Privacy Choices

Subject to FERPA and Stockton University procedures, an eligible student may:

• Request to inspect and review education records maintained about the student.
• Request correction of records believed to be inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights.
• Provide consent before disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records, except when FERPA permits disclosure without consent.
• Request information about applicable disclosures and University-designated directory information.
• Exercise available choices by editing profile information, notification settings, community membership, event subscriptions, or a linked Discord account.
• File a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office regarding an alleged FERPA violation.

A request to amend a record does not guarantee that the record will be changed; the University will review it under its applicable FERPA procedure. Privacy and records requests should identify the student, the relevant record, and the requested action.

11. Children’s Privacy

Vantage is intended for Stockton University students and authorized program personnel, not children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through Vantage. If such information is identified, contact us so it can be reviewed and removed as appropriate.

12. Policy Changes

We may update this policy when Vantage, University practices, or legal requirements change. The effective date above will be revised, and material changes will be communicated through Vantage or an appropriate University channel. We will not apply a material change in a way that is inconsistent with FERPA or previously provided consent.

13. Contact Us

Questions about this policy, account data, or Vantage may be sent to esports@stockton.edu. FERPA record requests, amendment requests, disclosure questions, or complaints should also be directed through Stockton University’s designated FERPA or Registrar process so the University can verify identity and respond under its official procedures.

Stockton University Esports Program
101 Vera King Farris Drive
Galloway, New Jersey 08205