Privacy Policy - The San Francisco Improv Festival

by San Francisco Improv Festival Last updated: May 27, 2026

Introduction

The San Francisco Improv Festival (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating the art of improvisational theater. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you visit our website at SFImprovFestival.com (the “Site”) or submit an application to perform, teach, or volunteer at our festival.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling any information you share with us responsibly. Please read this policy carefully. By using our Site, you agree to the practices described here.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide Through Applications

We use Google Forms to collect applications from individuals interested in performing, teaching, or volunteering at our festival. When you submit an application, you may provide:

Your name and contact information (email address, phone number)
Professional or artistic biography and experience
Links to videos, websites, or social media profiles
Availability and scheduling preferences
Emergency contact information (for volunteers)
Any other information you choose to include in your application

Submitting an application is entirely voluntary. You choose what information to share with us.

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our Site, certain information is collected automatically through cookies and standard web technologies. This may include:

Your IP address and general geographic location (city/region level)
Browser type and version
Operating system
Pages visited and time spent on those pages
The website that referred you to our Site
Date and time of your visit

We do not collect this information to identify you personally. It is used in aggregate to understand how visitors use our Site and to improve the experience.

How We Use Your Information

Application information is used to:

Review and evaluate applications to perform, teach, or volunteer
Communicate with you about your application status
Coordinate logistics with accepted applicants (scheduling, venue details, etc.)
Maintain records of festival participants

Automatically collected information is used to:

Analyze website traffic and usage patterns
Identify and fix technical issues
Improve Site content and navigation

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties. We do not use your information for commercial marketing purposes.

Third-Party Services

Google Forms

Our application forms are hosted by Google Forms, a service provided by Google LLC. When you submit a form, your responses are transmitted to and stored on Google’s servers. Google’s collection and use of data submitted through Google Forms is governed by the Google Privacy Policy.

By submitting an application through our Google Forms, you acknowledge that your information will be processed by Google in accordance with their privacy practices. We encourage you to review Google’s Privacy Policy if you have questions about how Google handles your data.

We access application data through our Google Workspace account and store it only as long as necessary for festival operations.

YouTube

Our Site embeds videos hosted on YouTube, a service provided by Google LLC. When you visit a page containing an embedded YouTube video, YouTube may collect information about you — including your IP address and browser information — even if you do not play the video. If you are logged into a Google account while visiting our Site, YouTube may associate your visit with your account.

YouTube’s data collection is governed by the Google Privacy Policy. We do not receive or control the data that YouTube collects through embedded players.

To limit YouTube’s data collection, you can:

Log out of your Google account before visiting our Site
Use your browser’s private/incognito mode
Install a browser extension that blocks third-party tracking

Cookies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by websites you visit. They are widely used to make websites work efficiently and to provide information to site owners.

What Cookies We Use

Our Site may use the following types of cookies:

Essential Cookies These cookies are necessary for the Site to function properly. They do not collect personal information and cannot be disabled without affecting how the Site works.

Analytics Cookies We may use analytics tools (such as Google Analytics) to understand how visitors interact with our Site. These cookies collect information in aggregate and anonymized form, including which pages are most visited and how long visitors stay. This helps us improve the Site over time.

Third-Party Cookies Embedded content on our Site — including Google Forms and YouTube videos — may set their own cookies when you interact with them, and in some cases even when you do not. YouTube in particular may set cookies when a page with an embedded video loads, regardless of whether you press play. These cookies are governed by the Google Privacy Policy, not this policy. See the “Third-Party Services” section above for more detail.

Managing Cookies

Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can typically:

View what cookies have been set
Delete cookies individually or all at once
Block cookies from specific sites or all sites

Please note that disabling cookies may affect the functionality of our Site or embedded tools like Google Forms. To learn how to manage cookies in your browser, visit your browser’s help documentation or a resource such as allaboutcookies.org.

You can also opt out of Google Analytics tracking specifically by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Data Retention

We retain application information for as long as needed to conduct festival operations and for a reasonable period afterward for recordkeeping and alumni communication purposes. Aggregate, anonymized website analytics data may be retained indefinitely.

If you would like us to delete your application data, please contact us using the information below.

Children’s Privacy

Our Site is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has submitted personal information to us, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

Links to Other Websites

Our Site may contain links to external websites, including social media platforms, ticketing services, and partner organizations. This Privacy Policy applies only to our Site. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external sites and encourage you to review their policies when you visit them.

Your Privacy Rights

California Residents — CCPA/CPRA

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) give you specific rights regarding your personal information:

Right to Know: You may request that we disclose what personal information we have collected about you, the sources of that information, the purposes for which it is used, and any third parties with whom it has been shared.
Right to Delete: You may request that we delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions (for example, information we are required to retain by law).
Right to Correct: You may request that we correct inaccurate personal information we hold about you.
Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing: We do not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. However, embedded third-party services on our Site (such as YouTube and Google Forms) may collect data subject to their own policies.
Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA/CPRA rights.

To exercise your California privacy rights, please contact us using the information in the “Contact Us” section below. We will respond to verified requests within 45 days as required by law.

European Visitors — GDPR

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you may have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or equivalent laws, including the right to access, rectify, erase, or restrict processing of your personal data, and the right to data portability.

Our lawful basis for processing application data is your consent, given when you voluntarily submit an application to our festival. You may withdraw consent at any time by contacting us, which will not affect the lawfulness of processing prior to withdrawal.

Please be aware that our website and embedded third-party services (YouTube, Google Forms) are operated by U.S.-based companies. By using our Site, you understand that your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States, which may have different data protection standards than your home country.

To exercise your GDPR rights or to lodge a complaint, please contact us using the information below. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

All Other Visitors

Regardless of your location, you may contact us at any time to request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information. We will respond within a reasonable timeframe.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of our Site after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.