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Privacy

Last updated: October 11, 2026

FilmFestScout (filmfestscout.org) is a tool that film festival scouts use to record the films they see at other festivals. FilmFestScout is responsible for the data on this site. Contact: [email protected].

What we store, and why

• Your account (scouts and festival staff): your name and email address, so that you can sign in with a one-time code. FilmFestScout is invite-only: an administrator adds you.
• Your scouting: the films you mark as seen, your ratings, notes and follow-up flags. Your festival team sees them.
• The sign-in and security log: when you ask for a code and sign in, the time, your IP address, an approximate location (country, region and city, from Cloudflare), and your browser and device type. It protects the accounts. Only the site's administrators see it. It is kept for 180 days. The sign-in code itself is never stored in the log.
• Filmmaker contact details: the name, email address and phone number that a filmmaker types into the filmmaker form on a scout's phone. The festival team uses them only to contact the filmmaker about the film. They appear only in the contact pop-up for the festival team, never on a page. A scout can also show a QR code, so that the filmmaker types their details later on their own phone; that link works for 14 days, and the scout gets an email (with the filmmaker's name only) when the details arrive.
• FilmFreeway information: from the festival's own FilmFreeway export, the film titles, directors, categories, decisions and submission dates. We do not keep submitters' email addresses, phone numbers, addresses or screener ratings.
• Invite suggestions: when a scout suggests inviting a film, an email goes to the festival's programming team. FilmFestScout never emails filmmakers.

We use this data to run the service that you or your festival asked for, and to keep it secure. Filmmakers give their contact details by their own choice, for the purpose shown in the form.

The services that run the site

• Our own server, in the United States, operated by FilmFestScout. The database and its backups are on it. It is not a public cloud service.
• Cloudflare: the secure connection (HTTPS), protection against attacks, and anonymous page statistics (Cloudflare Web Analytics, which does not use cookies).
• Zoho Mail: sends sign-in codes, invitations and invite suggestions, from [email protected].
• Anthropic: when a festival schedule is imported, reads the text of the festival's public schedule pages to find the films. No account or contact data is sent to it.

The fonts and all other files of the site come from our own server; no other company sees your visits.

Cookies

• Sign-in cookie (filmfestscout.org): keeps you signed in, for up to 30 days. Strictly necessary.
• Demo cookie (demo.filmfestscout.org): ffs_demo, your private demo copy, for 24 hours. Strictly necessary.
• Security cookies from Cloudflare may be set when Cloudflare checks that a visitor is not a bot. Strictly necessary.
• The filmmaker form keeps its state in your browser tab (session storage) while it is open.

There are no advertising or tracking cookies, so the site does not ask for cookie consent.

How long we keep data

• Accounts, scouting and filmmaker contacts: until they are removed, or until you ask us to delete them.
• The sign-in and security log: 180 days.
• Sign-in sessions: they end after 30 days.
• Backups: daily copies are kept for 14 days; encrypted backups of the server for a limited time.

Your rights

You can ask to see, correct, export or delete your data, and filmmakers can ask us to remove their contact details at any time. Write to [email protected]; we answer within 30 days. If you live in the EU or the UK, you can also complain to your data protection authority.

Security

Every connection is encrypted (HTTPS). Sign-in uses one-time codes that expire after 10 minutes; there are no passwords to steal. Only invited people can sign in, and backups are encrypted.

Changes

When this notice changes, we update the date at the top.