Privacy Policy

En español

Last updated: October 22, 2026

This policy explains what information Bay Shore STEAM Corporation collects through its two websites, bs-steam.com and team271.com, and through its email lists, how it uses that information, and the choices you have. We have tried to write it so that anyone can read it in a few minutes.

The short version

• We collect only what you choose to send us, such as your email address when you sign up for the newsletter, plus the basic technical details every website receives.
• We do not sell personal information. We do not show ads, and neither site uses advertising or analytics cookies.
• A few outside companies run services for us, such as web hosting and email. They are named below.
• Information about students who use BS-STEAM's platforms is covered by the BS-STEAM Consent and Agreement, not by this page alone.
• To ask a question or make a request, email Info@BS-STEAM.com.

Who we are

Bay Shore STEAM Corporation (BS-STEAM) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It provides resources such as communication platforms, equipment, mentors and volunteers, funding, and event and travel support to students in programs it supports. BS-STEAM is not a program, department, or affiliate of the Bay Shore Union Free School District (the District) or Bay Shore High School.

In this policy, "BS-STEAM", "we" and "us" mean Bay Shore STEAM Corporation.

Mailing address: Bay Shore STEAM Corporation, 31 Tern Ct, Bay Shore, NY 11706 Email: Info@BS-STEAM.com

What this policy covers

• bs-steam.com, BS-STEAM's website.
• team271.com, the website of FIRST Robotics Competition Team 271, the Mechanical Marauders. BS-STEAM runs team271.com, including its hosting, its newsletter form and the newsletter list. The District runs Team 271 itself, and BS-STEAM supports it.
• Our email lists: the Team 271 newsletter and BS-STEAM's parent email list.

This policy does not cover:

• BS-STEAM's platforms (the chat and file platforms BS-STEAM hosts for students, and the outside services students use through BS-STEAM). The BS-STEAM Consent and Agreement, Section 6, explains how student data is handled there. You can read it at bs-steam.com/consent.
• The District's systems, such as school email and ParentSquare, which BS-STEAM does not operate. The District has its own policies.
• FIRST and its websites, including the FIRST Dashboard, where students register with FIRST.
• Other websites we link to, such as Donorbox, PayPal, Venmo, Instagram, YouTube and vendors on the Links page. Their own privacy policies apply once you leave our sites.

What we collect, and how

When you visit either website

Like every website, our sites receive some technical details from your browser: your IP address, the type of browser and device, the page you asked for, the page that sent you, and the time. Our web host, Hostinger, keeps these in server logs that help keep the sites running and secure, for a short time that Hostinger sets. bs-steam.com also keeps a log of administrator sign-ins and changes, which is deleted after 30 days.

Both sites use only a few cookies, all needed for the sites to work. See Cookies below.

Some pages load content from other companies, which then receive your IP address and browser details:

• bs-steam.com loads an accessibility tool (the Ally widget) from Elementor's servers, so you can change text size, contrast and similar settings. It remembers your settings in your browser.
• team271.com loads its icons from Font Awesome, and a spam check from Cloudflare (Turnstile) for the newsletter form.
• The team271.com Contact Us page shows a Google map of the shop entrance. Google's privacy policy applies to the map.

When you sign up for the Team 271 newsletter (team271.com)

The newsletter form at the bottom of every team271.com page asks only for your email address. It is for parents and guardians. When you sign up:

• Your email address, the time and your browser details are saved with your signup in the website's database for 90 days, then deleted. Since October 22, 2026 the form does not record your IP address; sign-ups from before then that still hold one are deleted on the same 90-day schedule.
• Your email address is sent to Mailchimp, which sends you an email asking you to confirm. You are not added to the list until you confirm.
• Cloudflare Turnstile checks that the signup comes from a person and not a program.
• We get an email telling us about the new signup.

We use your email address only to send Team 271 news, a few times a season. Every newsletter has an unsubscribe link.

When you email us

Email to our addresses (such as Info@BS-STEAM.com, Sponsors@BS-STEAM.com, Info@Team271.com, Parents@Team271.com and Sponsors@Team271.com) is kept in BS-STEAM's Microsoft 365 email. BS-STEAM's directors can read these shared mailboxes. We use what you send us to answer you and to do what you asked.

Our parent email list

BS-STEAM keeps an email list, in Mailchimp, of parents and guardians of students in the programs we support and of the mentors and volunteers who work with them. Addresses come from people who give them to us on a Parents Night sign-in sheet, at a recruitment event or by asking to be added. Every email has an unsubscribe link.

Mailchimp tells us whether each email was delivered and opened, and which links were clicked, for both lists.

When you give

You can give through Donorbox, PayPal Giving Fund, Venmo (@BSSTEAM) or by check. Card payments for things like team uniforms may also be taken in person through Square. These companies collect your payment details under their own privacy policies. They pass us the details we need to thank you and keep proper records: your name, email address, the amount and date, and your mailing address if you give it. They do not give us your full card or bank account number.

If you mail a check, we keep a record of your name, address and the amount, as charities must.

Sponsors

Businesses and organizations that sponsor the programs we support send us contact details, an application and usually a logo, by email. We use these to manage the sponsorship and, as the sponsor agrees, to thank the sponsor publicly, for example by showing the logo on our websites.

Registration and family forms

team271.com does not collect registration information itself. Its Register page links to:

• the FIRST Dashboard, run by FIRST, where students register with FIRST;
• the BS-STEAM Consent and Agreement, which families return on paper or as a scanned copy by email;
• the uniform order form, which families return on paper with payment.

What BS-STEAM does with the information on its forms, and with student information on its platforms, is set out in the Consent and Agreement, Section 6. In short, from that agreement: BS-STEAM collects and stores only the information it needs to provide its resources; it does not sell student data; and it does not receive student records from the District.

The alumni form

The form at alumni.team271.com asks former Team 271 members what they did after high school. It is BS-STEAM's form, not the District's, and it is run for us by Cloudflare. It asks for your name and graduation year, and, if you choose, your email address and other answers. We use your answers only as you allow in the form's three permission boxes, and we use your email address only to follow up with you; it is never published. Cloudflare Turnstile checks that the form is sent by a person. The technical details saved with your answers to protect the form (a scrambled form of your IP address and your browser type) are deleted after 90 days. To change a permission or remove your answers, email Info@BS-STEAM.com with the reference number the form gives you; we act within 10 business days. We keep your answers until you ask us to remove them or we stop collecting alumni stories; anything already printed or shared by others cannot be recalled. While you fill in the form, your browser keeps a draft of your answers on your own device for up to 30 days, so you can come back to it. Anyone under 18 should fill in the form with a parent or guardian.

Children and teens

• Our websites are not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information online from a child under 13. If we learn that we have, we delete it. If you think a child has given us information, email Info@BS-STEAM.com.
• Our email lists are for adults. The Team 271 newsletter is for parents and guardians, and the parent email list is for parents and guardians and the mentors and volunteers who work with students. Neither is for students. If we learn that a student has signed up, we may remove the address.
• Students who use BS-STEAM's platforms. The BS-STEAM Consent and Agreement governs this, and a parent or guardian signs it. It also sets out each family's choices about photos and names (Section B). Our rule on our websites is to name a student by first name and last initial at most, and to show students only as their family's choices allow. If you see something that does not follow this rule, email Info@BS-STEAM.com and we will fix it.

How we use information

We use the information described above to:

• run, secure and fix our websites;
• send the newsletter and parent emails you signed up for;
• answer your questions and requests;
• process and acknowledge gifts and sponsorships and keep the records charities must keep;
• keep students and our community safe, and meet our legal duties.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.

Who we share it with

Apart from what this policy describes above, we share information only with the companies that run services for us, and only as much as each one needs:

We may also share information when the law requires it, or when it is needed to protect someone's safety. We share information about students only as the Consent and Agreement allows.

Cookies

A cookie is a small file a website saves in your browser. Both of our sites use only cookies they need to work; neither uses advertising or analytics cookies. We checked this on October 22, 2026.

The accessibility tool on bs-steam.com also saves your accessibility settings in your browser's storage.

The Google map on the team271.com Contact Us page comes from Google and may set Google's own cookies, especially if you are signed in to Google. The map does not load until you click to show it.

Changing your choice. Use the "Cookie settings" link at the bottom of any page to see or change your choice. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser's settings; the sites still work, though the accessibility tool will forget your settings.

If we ever add a cookie that is not needed for the sites to work, we will update this policy and ask for your consent first through the banner.

How long we keep information

Security, and if something goes wrong

We take reasonable steps to protect information: both sites use encrypted connections (HTTPS), repeated failed logins to the sites are blocked, and only BS-STEAM's administrators can sign in to manage them. No website or email system is perfectly secure, so we cannot promise that information will never be exposed.

If we learn that personal information was accessed without permission, we will tell the people affected as New York law requires (currently within 30 days of discovering it, except where law enforcement asks us to wait). For student information, the Consent and Agreement also commits BS-STEAM to tell affected families without unreasonable delay and within 30 days.

Your choices

• Unsubscribe from any of our emails with the link at the bottom of the email, or by writing to us.
• See, correct or delete the information we hold about you: email Info@BS-STEAM.com from the address we have for you, or write to the mailing address above. We will answer within 30 days. We may need to keep some records, such as gift records or records the law or the Consent and Agreement requires us to keep, and we will tell you if so.
• Parents and guardians can ask what we hold about their child under 18, and ask us to correct or delete it, the same way. For student data on BS-STEAM's platforms, the Consent and Agreement explains what a parent can request.
• Cookies: see Cookies.

Changes to this policy

When we change this policy, we post the new version here and change the "Last updated" date at the top. If a change affects how we use information you have already given us, we will tell you by email or with a notice on the site before it applies. A new use or sharing of student data also needs a parent's written acceptance, as the Consent and Agreement says.

Contact us

Questions or requests about privacy:

• Email: Info@BS-STEAM.com
• Mail: Bay Shore STEAM Corporation, 31 Tern Ct, Bay Shore, NY 11706