Privacy Policy

SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY

By registering with the Scientific Community (“Community”), you join an international network of citizen astronomers, which enables you to receive and share scientific information regarding the exploration of the night sky. The transmission of certain personal data is necessary in order to register as a member. We undertake to take all appropriate precautions to respect your privacy and ensure the protection of your personal data. Please note that this Community has a universal ambition; therefore, the sharing of certain information outside the United States may be necessary to achieve its objectives, namely, the sharing of knowledge.

This Privacy Policy has been prepared to inform you regarding the collection and processing of your personal data (“Data”) when you join the Community. It is designed to comply with the applicable provisions of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and its amendments under the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA).

 

Date of the latest update of this Privacy Policy: March 2025.

For clarity, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated below:

  • “Community” means the group of scientific community members composed of citizen astronomers, managed by The SETI Institute. This Community allows for the sharing and pooling of observations, information, and updates concerning the exploration of the night sky.
  • “We” or “The SETI Institute” means the data controller, located at 339 Bernardo Avenue, Suite 200, Mountain View, CA 94127.
  • “Member” means the individual who has joined the Community through registration.

OBJECT

The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to specify the type of data we collect and how we use it, in order to inform Members in a transparent, comprehensible, and concise manner in accordance with applicable California privacy laws. No processing of member data shall be implemented unless it complies with the principles and requirements of the CCPA and CPRA.

 

PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT

We only collect personal data that is necessary for the purpose for which it is processed. The mandatory nature of the information is indicated within the collection form during your registration or any subsequent update of your information.

To join the Community as a Member, the data collected during registration include:

  • Identification Data: such as your first name and last name;
  • Contact Details: such as your postal code, city, country of use, and your email address;
  • Equipment Information: such as the serial number of the telescope used.

After registration, you may provide us with additional data, such as:

  • Geolocation Data and Your Contributions: including images, raw data, and location data of photographs taken using the telescope. This data is collected to highlight your discoveries.

All or part of this personal data is obtained when you:

  • Register to join the Community via the online form;
  • Submit your contributions;
  • Send comments or inquiries;
  • And, more generally, by any other means through which you contact us.

PURPOSES FOR WHICH WE PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL DATA

The legal basis for processing will depend on the type of information concerned and the specific context. In principle, we collect the information only: (a) when it is necessary to provide you with the services and to showcase your contributions; (b) when you have provided explicit consent for the processing; (c) when it satisfies our legitimate interests, such as compliance and security; or (d) when we are required to comply with a legal obligation.

Regarding purposes based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us at citizenscience@seti.org.

The personal data we collect is processed in accordance with applicable California privacy laws to meet explicit, legitimate, and specified purposes. These purposes are as follows:

  • To enable you to benefit from the services offered by the Community

We collect and use your personal data to ensure the provision of the services we offer. This data is processed, among other purposes, to:

  • Inform you of communications and scientific discoveries;
  • Invite you to participate in scientific observation missions. By sharing your location (postal code), you may be contacted for citizen science events specifically visible from your area;
  • Credit you for the contributions you make to the Community. For example, when a detection is made by a Community member, we may provide certain information about the astronomer to highlight these discoveries;
  • Assist the scientific community in conducting research based on the contributions of Community members.

The primary legal basis for this processing is your consent. Your registration and consent to join the Community permit the use of this data, and you may withdraw your consent at any time.

  • To inform you of our services and manage our relationship with you

Your personal data is essential for our interactions with you, particularly in responding to any requests for information. We may use your personal data to inform you of scientific news, subject to your prior consent. You may unsubscribe from such communications at any time.

To ensure the quality of our services and facilitate their improvement, we also compile general statistics, which are anonymized when the processing of your personal data is not necessary for their realization.

The main legal bases for this processing are your consent and our legitimate interest.

  • To ensure the security of our data

We take all appropriate measures to safeguard your personal data, as well as that of third parties, against any unauthorized access, use, or fraudulent disclosure by implementing enhanced data protection measures. These include appropriate technical, physical, and logical security measures to guarantee the integrity of your data, as well as its confidential and secure processing.

However, no security system is infallible, and we cannot guarantee that your information is completely secure.

The primary legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interest.

  • To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations

We are subject to various legal and regulatory obligations that require the retention of your personal data. This data may also be used for identifying the authors of content deemed to be illicit.

 

RECIPIENTS OF THE PROCESSED PERSONAL DATA

We process your personal data exclusively for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. The information is intended for The SETI Institute and, more specifically, for authorized personnel.

We may engage trusted partners—namely, scientific organizations acting as sub-processors for scientific and research purposes—to collaborate in improving research in the field of astronomy. To this end, we may engage:

  • Trusted partners acting as sub-processors for scientific and research purposes. We work, for example, with scientific organizations such as SETI, Euraster, IOTA, MPC, AAVSO, and NASA;
  • Partners acting as sub-processors, for instance, to host your data (e.g., Amazon Web Services) or to send you an email.

In any event, these third parties are contractually prohibited from using the personal data provided for any purpose other than that for which they have been engaged, and they are required to maintain the security and confidentiality of your information with protection equal to or exceeding that which we implement.

We will not disclose your personal data without prior notice except:

  • If required by applicable law;
  • If such disclosure is necessary to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, a judicial proceeding, or an administrative order;
  • To protect and defend our rights or property, or that of our partners;
  • More generally, to act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of Members.

RETENTION PERIOD OF YOUR DATA

We retain your personal data only for the period necessary to achieve the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless law requires that your personal data be retained for a longer period.

For example, we retain data as long as you are a Member of the Community and wish to contribute to the detection of discoveries and/or continue to be informed about such discoveries.

If you withdraw your consent, we will delete your personal data in our possession. However, we may continue to use your contributions for research and scientific purposes in an anonymized form. Credits assigned to your contributions will, however, continue to acknowledge you as the contributor.

Such data may be archived to manage claims and ongoing litigation, as well as to comply with legal and regulatory obligations and to respond to requests from authorized authorities.

 

TRANSFER OF YOUR DATA

In the context of providing our services and conducting research with our partners, we may transfer your personal data to third parties, including entities outside of California. In such cases, we ensure that the transfer is carried out in compliance with applicable regulations by taking all appropriate measures and implementing legal, technical, and operational safeguards to ensure the confidentiality and security of the data.

 

YOUR RIGHTS AND HOW TO EXERCISE THEM

Under the CCPA and CPRA, you have the right to access, correct, delete, or restrict the processing of your personal data, as well as the right to data portability. You also have the right to opt out of the sale of your personal data, subject to applicable exceptions.

  • Right of Access: Members have the right to request from The SETI Institute whether data concerning them is being processed. You may request a copy of your personal data.
  • Right of Rectification: You may request the correction of inaccurate or incomplete information concerning you.
  • Right to Erasure: You may request the deletion of your personal data.
  • Right to Data Portability: You have the right to retrieve a portion of your data in an open and readable format.
  • Right to Opt Out: Where applicable, you have the right to opt out of the sale of your personal data.

These rights may be exercised by contacting us at citizenscience@unistellaroptics.com and providing proof of your identity.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant California authorities responsible for enforcing the CCPA and CPRA.

Finally, please note that we may be required to disclose your personal data, under the conditions provided by law, to a duly authorized judicial or administrative authority.

 

SECURITY OF INFORMATION

We take the security of your data very seriously and commit to taking all necessary precautions to prevent the information from being modified, inadvertently deleted, or accessed by unauthorized third parties. Appropriate physical and technical security measures are in place to ensure the security of your information.

In the event of a personal data breach, The SETI Institute will take prompt action in accordance with applicable California law, including notifying the appropriate authorities and affected users if required.

 

MODIFICATIONS TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We may, from time to time and at our discretion, make changes to this Privacy Policy, notably as a result of evolving our services and/or due to requirements imposed by applicable California privacy laws. Such changes will apply to personal data collected after the effective date indicated in the updated Privacy Policy.

In any event, we recommend that you review this Privacy Policy regularly to obtain the most up-to-date information on our privacy practices.

The most recent version of the Privacy Policy is the one dated in this document.

 

If you have any questions or need further clarification regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us at citizenscience@seti.org.