Privacy Policy

1. Scope of this policy

This Privacy Policy applies to the QUFC website at qufc.it.com and pages served as part of that website. It does not govern third-party websites or services that you may visit by following an external link.

2. Information you choose to provide

Contact form

If you use the QUFC contact form, you may provide your name, email address, selected topic, and the contents of your message. QUFC uses that information to read and respond to your message, maintain relevant correspondence, and help prevent abuse or spam.

Contact-form submissions are processed through Formspree, a third-party form service, and are delivered to the QUFC inbox. Please do not submit passwords, financial account information, medical information, government identification numbers, or other sensitive information through the contact form.

QUFC competition interest list

If you join the QUFC competition interest list, QUFC collects the email address you provide, the number of people you are representing, whether you are interested in competing, voting, or both, and where on the QUFC website you joined the list.

This information is used to measure interest in future public QUFC competitions and to contact people who have asked to hear about future competition or voting opportunities.

Waitlist submissions are processed through Google Apps Script and stored privately in Google Sheets. QUFC does not intentionally send your email address to Google Analytics.

If you would like your waitlist information removed, you may contact QUFC and request its deletion.

Donations and voluntary support

If you choose to support QUFC through PayPal or Zelle, the payment is handled by the applicable payment provider or financial institution. QUFC does not receive or store your full credit-card number, debit-card number, or bank-account credentials through the website.

Depending on the payment method, QUFC may receive ordinary transaction details made available by the provider, such as a donor or sender name, email address, payment amount, transaction identifier, or note.

3. Camera and QUFC Face-Off

Camera permission

QUFC Face-Off requests access to your device's camera only after you choose to open the camera and your browser allows the request. Face-Off requests video access only; it does not request microphone access. You can deny or revoke camera permission using your browser or device settings.

Local photo processing

The live camera preview, captured Face-Off photo, and generated Face-Off share card are processed locally in your browser. QUFC does not upload captured Face-Off photos to QUFC servers or store those photos in a QUFC database, unless you explicitly opt in to help train the AI judge, as described below. Closing Face-Off clears the current local preview and capture data used by the page.

Sharing a Face-Off

A Face-Off photo leaves the page only when you choose to share or save it. If your browser supports native file sharing, QUFC can hand the generated Face-Off card and Face-Off invitation text and link to your browser's sharing interface so you can choose where to send it. If direct image sharing is not supported, QUFC may instead download the generated Face-Off card to your device and copy the Face-Off invitation text and link to your clipboard for manual sharing.

Once you intentionally share, save, or send a Face-Off card through another app or service, that copy is handled by your device, the recipient, and any third-party service you choose. QUFC does not control how those external services handle the copy you send.

Face-Off match records

When you send a Face-Off, QUFC creates a match record so that both players can be shown the same declared winner. That record contains only your Ugly Score out of 100, the category name the scoring produced (for example “Mouth Mayhem”), and the optional short name you type onto your scorecard. When your opponent plays, their score, category, and optional name are added to the same record and the higher score is declared the winner.

Match records do not contain photographs, and are entirely separate from the optional AI-training upload described below. Match records also contain no account, no email address, and no contact details.

Match records are stored in Google Cloud Firestore, the same service used by the judge-training page. Each match has a long random identifier, and the link containing that identifier is the only way to reach it: match records cannot be listed or browsed, and cannot be searched for. Anyone you send the link to can view that match's two scores and its winner, so only share a Face-Off link with people you intend to show it to. Once a score is recorded it cannot be edited or removed from the client, and a match can be answered only once.

The optional name is stored only if you type one; leaving the field blank stores an empty value and your card shows a generic label instead. The name you type is also remembered in your own browser's local storage so you do not have to retype it, and you can clear it by clearing site data for qufc.it.com.

Optional: helping train the AI judge

Before scoring your photo, Face-Off briefly captures your relaxed, normal face so it has a personal baseline to measure your expression against. That reference capture, like the rest of Face-Off, is processed locally in your browser and is not uploaded anywhere by default. After Face-Off scores your photo, you may see an optional checkbox offering to send both that reference capture and your Face-Off photo to help train QUFC's AI judge. This box is unchecked by default, and nothing is sent unless you check it and then actually send your Face-Off. Checking the box and then retaking your photo or closing Face-Off instead sends nothing.

If you opt in, QUFC uploads two photos together as a pair — your relaxed reference capture and the captured Face-Off photo — along with your Ugly Score and the underlying category breakdown the scoring produced (for example, how much distortion was measured around your mouth, eyes, brows, chin, and cheeks/nose) to a private QUFC database. This is the one situation where a Face-Off photo leaves your device and reaches QUFC.

Opt-in submissions are stored separately from the Face-Off match records described above and are not linked to any match, name, or shareable link. Your relaxed reference capture is never shown to anyone but QUFC's administrator, under any circumstance. Your Face-Off photo is used to help improve the accuracy of QUFC's automated scoring, and may also be shown — anonymously, with no name or other identifying information attached — to other visitors on the Train the Judge page, where people vote on which of two photos looks uglier. Only QUFC's administrator can access the full pair and the score data behind it, through access controls on the underlying storage and database service; the Train the Judge page itself can only ever see the single Face-Off photo of a submission, never the reference capture, and only once its submitter has agreed to this. You may request deletion of an opt-in submission you sent through the Contact page, though QUFC may not always be able to locate a specific submission without identifying details.

Face-Off analytics

QUFC may record ordinary interaction events in Google Analytics, such as opening Face-Off, opening the camera, capturing or retaking a photo, or using the share action. These analytics events are used to understand feature engagement and do not include the captured Face-Off image.

4. Google Analytics and site-usage information

QUFC uses Google Analytics 4 to understand how the website is being used and to improve the site. Google Analytics may collect information such as pages viewed, interactions with the site, approximate geographic area, device and browser information, referral information, session information, and similar technical or usage data.

Google Analytics uses first-party cookies and similar technologies to distinguish visitors and sessions. These may include cookies such as _ga and related Google Analytics cookies.

QUFC uses Analytics to understand overall traffic and engagement, not to ask Google Analytics to identify visitors by name.

Learn more about how Google uses information from sites that use its services: Google — How information from partner sites is used ↗

5. Hosting and technical requests

QUFC is hosted using Neocities. Like other hosting providers, Neocities may process technical information needed to deliver the website, secure its service, and operate its infrastructure. That processing is governed by Neocities' own privacy practices.

Neocities Privacy Policy ↗

6. Google Fonts

QUFC uses Google Fonts to load the Courgette typeface used in parts of the site's design. When your browser requests a font from Google, it connects to Google's font infrastructure and may send ordinary technical request information needed to provide that resource.

Google Fonts privacy information ↗

7. Third-party content, embeds, and external links

Some QUFC pages contain or link to third-party content. Examples may include embedded video, retro-game content, content-delivery networks, payment services, or other external resources.

When you open a page that loads third-party content, your browser may connect directly to that third party. The third party may receive technical information such as your IP address, browser information, requested page, or cookies according to that provider's own privacy practices.

QUFC does not control the privacy practices of third-party websites or services. You should review their privacy policies if you want more information about how they handle data.

8. Cookies and your choices

Cookies are small pieces of data stored by a website or service in your browser. QUFC's current use of cookies is primarily related to Google Analytics and any cookies or similar technologies used by third-party content that you choose to load.

Most browsers let you block, delete, or restrict cookies. Blocking cookies may affect how some third-party features work.

Google also provides a browser add-on for visitors who want to opt out of Google Analytics: Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on ↗

9. How QUFC uses information

Information available to QUFC may be used to:

• operate, maintain, and improve the website;
• understand traffic, performance, and visitor engagement;
• respond to messages and legitimate correspondence;
• measure interest in future QUFC competitions and contact people who asked to hear about competition or voting opportunities;
• improve the accuracy of QUFC's automated Face-Off scoring, using photos and score data only from visitors who explicitly opt in;
• process or document voluntary support and donations;
• identify technical problems, spam, misuse, or security issues; and
• comply with applicable legal obligations when required.

10. When information may be shared

QUFC does not sell personal information. Information may be processed or shared only as reasonably necessary in situations such as:

• with service providers used to operate the website, such as Google Analytics, Google Apps Script, Google Sheets, Google Cloud Firestore and Cloud Storage (Firebase), Formspree, Neocities, and payment providers;
• when you intentionally use a third-party feature, payment method, or external service;
• to protect the website, its visitors, or others from fraud, abuse, or security threats; or
• when disclosure is required by applicable law or a valid legal process.

11. Data retention

QUFC may retain contact messages and related correspondence for as long as reasonably useful for responding, maintaining relevant records, preventing abuse, or resolving issues. Payment providers and other third parties maintain their own records according to their policies and legal obligations.

QUFC may retain competition interest-list information while the waitlist remains active and for as long as reasonably useful for organizing future competitions, contacting people who requested updates, maintaining accurate participation records, or preventing abuse. You may request deletion of your waitlist information through the QUFC Contact page.

Analytics information is retained according to the settings and retention practices of the Google Analytics property and Google Analytics service.

Photos and score data submitted through the optional AI-training opt-in are retained for as long as reasonably useful for improving QUFC's scoring model. You may request deletion of a specific submission through the QUFC Contact page.

12. Children's privacy

QUFC is a family-friendly project, but the contact form and competition interest list are not intended to collect personal information directly from children under 13. If you are under 13, please do not submit personal information through either form without the involvement of a parent or legal guardian.

Face-Off photos are processed locally by the page and are not uploaded to QUFC unless you choose to check the optional box to help train the AI judge. If you are under 13, please use the Face-Off camera, any sharing features, and the AI-training opt-in only with the involvement of a parent or legal guardian.

If QUFC learns that personal information from a child under 13 was submitted inappropriately, QUFC will take reasonable steps to remove it from records under QUFC's control.

13. Access, correction, and deletion requests

If you have submitted information directly to QUFC and want to ask what information QUFC has, correct it, or request deletion of information under QUFC's control, use the Contact page.

Some information is controlled independently by third-party providers. Requests involving those providers may need to be made directly to the provider under its own privacy process.

14. Advertising

QUFC does not currently serve third-party advertisements. If advertising services such as Google AdSense are added in the future, this Privacy Policy will be updated to describe the advertising technologies, cookies, data practices, and visitor choices that apply at that time.

15. Changes to this policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated when QUFC changes its website features, third-party services, analytics setup, payment options, advertising practices, or legal/privacy requirements. The current version will be posted on this page with an updated date.