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Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

Effective Date: February 1, 2026

At the Emporia Vipers, we value the privacy of our athletes, coaches, volunteers, and supporters. This policy outlines how we collect, use, and protect your information when you visit https://emporiavipers.org.

1. Who We Are

Our website address is: https://emporiavipers.org. We are a local team affiliated with Special Olympics Kansas (SOKS). While we operate this independent website, we adhere to the spirit of the Special Olympics mission to protect the dignity and privacy of our participants.

2. Information We Collect

  • Comments
    • When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
    • An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
  • Media & Athlete Photos
    • If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included.
    • Note on Athlete Privacy: Consistent with Special Olympics Kansas (SOKS) policies, we only publish photos or names of athletes who have a signed Media Release on file. If you are a parent or guardian and wish for a specific photo to be removed, please contact us immediately.
  • Contact Forms & Registration
    • If you fill out a contact form or interest form for the Emporia Vipers, we collect your name, email, and any details provided to respond to your inquiry. This data is used solely for team communication and is not sold to third parties.

3. Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select "Remember Me", your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

4. Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites (such as SOKS.org or YouTube) behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

5. Data Sharing

Who we share your data with:

    • Internal Use: Your data is shared only with authorized Emporia Vipers coaches and administrators for the purpose of team management.
    • Special Olympics Kansas: If you submit registration or medical forms through our site, that data is shared with Special Olympics Kansas (SOKS) to ensure eligibility and safety at state-sanctioned events.
    • Security: If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email. 

6. How Long We Retain Your Data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

7. Your Rights Over Your Data

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal (such as athlete medical waivers), or security purposes.

8. Where Your Data is Sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. Official athlete registration data may be transmitted to the Special Olympics Kansas state office via secure portals.

9. Community Photo Drop & Media Release Terms

The Emporia Vipers website features a "Community Photo Drop" where parents, volunteers, and fans can upload photos taken at our events. By uploading files to our website, you agree to the following terms:

  • Grant of Rights: You grant the Emporia Vipers and Special Olympics Kansas (SOKS) a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, edit, publish, and distribute the uploaded photographs across any and all media platforms (including our website, social media, and printed materials).

  • Ownership: You confirm that you are the original photographer of the uploaded images and have the legal right to share them.

  • No Compensation: You understand that these photos are provided voluntarily as a community contribution without financial compensation or guaranteed attribution.

  • Athlete Privacy (SOKS Compliance): We reserve the right to review all submitted photos. Consistent with SOKS policies, we will only publish images of individuals who have an active, signed SOKS Media Release waiver on file.

  • Right of Refusal: Team management reserves the right to decline, delete, or choose not to publish any photo for any reason, at their sole discretion.

10. Contact Information

For privacy-specific inquiries or to request the removal of media featuring you or your athlete, please contact the Emporia Vipers Team Management via the contact form on our website.