Back to guestbook
Mikel Calderon · grad.mikelcal.co

Privacy
Policy.

Serious, but make it human. Informed by W231: Behind the Data.

The short version: This is a personal graduation website. If you sign the guestbook, your name and message will be displayed publicly. Any contact information you share is private and will only ever be seen by Mikel. Nothing is sold. Nothing is tracked beyond what Firebase needs to function. You can ask for your data to be deleted at any time.

This policy was written with DATASCI 231 — Behind the Data: Humans & Values in mind. That course taught that privacy isn't a legal checkbox — it's a design commitment. The right to know, the right to limit, the right to delete. These aren't fine print. They're the point.

01
What We Collect

When you sign the guestbook, we collect the following:

Public
Name and message — displayed on the guestbook page for anyone who visits. You chose to share these publicly when you signed.
Public
How you know Mikel and whether you're attending — also displayed publicly alongside your message.
Private
Contact info (if provided) — email, phone, social handle, or whatever you choose to share. This field is optional, clearly labeled, and never displayed publicly. Only Mikel can see it in the Firebase dashboard.
Automatic
Timestamp — the server time when your entry was submitted. Used to sort messages and nothing else.

We do not collect IP addresses, browser fingerprints, behavioral data, or anything you didn't explicitly type into the form.

02
How It's Used

Your public guestbook entry (name, message, relation, attending status) is displayed on this website so other visitors can read it. That's it.

Your private contact info, if provided, will only be used for Mikel to reach out directly — to say thank you, coordinate plans, or stay in touch. It will not be used for marketing, added to mailing lists, or shared with anyone for any reason.

The Amazon affiliate links in the Library section use your standard Amazon session — this site does not track affiliate clicks beyond what Amazon's own system records. The mikelcal-20 tag identifies the referral source so Mikel gets credit if you buy something.

03
Who Sees Your Data

Public data (name, message, relation, attending status) is visible to anyone who visits this website.

Private data (contact info) is stored in Google Firebase Realtime Database and visible only to the project owner (Mikel) through the Firebase console. Firebase is a Google product — Google's infrastructure processes and stores this data subject to Firebase's privacy terms.

No data is sold, rented, licensed, or shared with any third party — advertisers, data brokers, analytics companies, or anyone else.

04
Your Rights

You have the following rights with respect to your data:

Know
You have the right to know what data was collected about you. This policy is that disclosure.
Access
You can request a copy of everything stored under your guestbook entry.
Correct
If something is wrong or you want to update your entry, just ask.
Delete
You can request deletion of your entry — public and private data — at any time, no questions asked.
Limit
You chose what to share. The contact field is optional. Signing is optional. Nothing here is required.

To exercise any of these rights, reach out directly. There is no form, no waiting period, no runaround.

05
Storage & Security

All guestbook data is stored in Google Firebase Realtime Database. Firebase provides encryption at rest and in transit (HTTPS/TLS). Database access rules are configured so that contact information is write-only from the public side — the browser can submit it, but the database rules prevent it from being read back in the public display.

This is a personal project, not a commercial service. It does not have a security team or formal incident response plan. In the unlikely event of a data incident affecting your private contact info, Mikel will notify you directly if contact details are available to do so.

06
Cookies & Tracking

This website does not use cookies, analytics trackers, advertising pixels, or session tracking of any kind. Firebase may set technical cookies required for its SDK to function — these are functional, not behavioral, and are governed by Google's policies.

There are no third-party ad networks, retargeting scripts, or social media tracking pixels on this site.

07
Changes to This Policy

This is a static personal website for a graduation event. It is not expected to change materially. If it does, the effective date below will be updated. This site has no mechanism to notify you of changes, so check back if you're curious.

Effective: April 2026
Contact: Click to reveal email
Site: grad.mikelcal.co · Guestbook · github.com/mikelcal