Agenthon
Privacy Notice
Version 2026-08-17 · Agenthon 2026 — NeurIPS 2026 Competition Track · AH26-POL-03
Policy set: Official Competition Rules ·
Terms of Participation ·
Privacy Notice ·
Data & Software Licensing Policy
This Notice explains what personal data Agenthon processes, why it is used, who receives it, what is made public, how international transfers and retention are handled, and what privacy rights may apply.
Data-use boundary. Agenthon does not sell participant personal data, does not use it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and does not use non-public submissions or participant personal data to train general-purpose AI models.
1. Scope and who we are
This Privacy Notice applies to personal data processed for Agenthon 2026, including registration, team formation, submissions, evaluation, communications, leaderboards, integrity review, prizes, verification, event participation, and related administration.
Agenthon 2026 is organized by the Society of Quantitative Analysts (SQA) and CEWIT at Stony Brook University (the “Organizers”), subject to applicable institutional approvals and any allocation of privacy responsibilities required by law. Primary privacy contact: admin@agenthon.net.
2. Personal data we collect
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Registration and identity | Name, email, country/region when needed, affiliation, public profile URL, account identifiers. |
| Team information | Team name, members, captain status, invitations, changes, and track participation. |
| Submission and evaluation | Submission files or containers, configuration, provenance declarations, technical reports, scores, gates, rankings, outputs, and verification materials. |
| Technical and security | IP address, login/session data, timestamps, device/browser data, execution logs, audit records, security events, and leakage indicators. |
| Communications | Support requests, forum posts, email, rule questions, conduct reports, and verification correspondence. |
| Prize and payment | Identity, address or tax residency where needed, payment details handled by the payer/provider, and legally required tax forms. |
| Optional publicity | Biography, public method description, social handle, photographs, or audio/video where provided or consented to. |
Do not place unnecessary personal data, sensitive information, private credentials, or confidential third-party information in a submission.
3. How we obtain data
- Directly from you when you register, join a team, communicate, submit, or provide verification or prize information.
- From your captain or teammates when they manage membership or submit on the team’s behalf.
- Automatically from the Competition Site, platform, sandbox, and evaluation systems as needed to operate and secure the Competition.
- From service providers or public sources when reasonably necessary to verify eligibility, affiliation, integrity, or prize administration and permitted by law.
4. Why we use data and legal bases
| Purpose | Typical legal basis where applicable |
|---|---|
| Register participants, create teams/accounts, and provide access | Contract or steps requested before entering a contract. |
| Run submissions, score results, maintain leaderboards, and communicate | Contract; legitimate interests in a fair research competition. |
| Protect integrity, prevent leakage or abuse, and secure systems | Legitimate interests in security, fraud prevention, and scientific validity; legal obligation where applicable. |
| Verify finalists/winners and administer prizes | Contract; legal obligation; legitimate interests. |
| Publish results and preserve the scientific record | Legitimate interests in transparency and scientific reporting; contract where publication is an announced condition. |
| Send optional future-event or news communications | Consent where required; consent may be withdrawn. |
| Use identifiable event photos or recordings | Attendance-based consent at in-person events, as described in the Terms of Participation (attending in person constitutes consent, with an on-site objection route and notice at the venue); consent or another disclosed lawful basis otherwise. |
Automated technical evaluation generates scores and diagnostics. Decisions with material consequences beyond the score — such as disqualification, integrity findings, or prize confirmation — may be reviewed by the Organizers. Agenthon does not use participant data for credit, employment, lending, insurance, or investment decisions.
5. Who receives personal data
- Competition, hosting, storage, authentication, sandbox, and compute providers may process data needed to operate the Competition.
- Organizing Committee members, track leads, evaluators, and integrity/security reviewers may access data reasonably necessary for their role.
- Sponsors and Question Partners do not receive contact details or non-public submissions merely because they support Agenthon. A designated evaluator may receive limited materials only when necessary and subject to appropriate confidentiality obligations.
- Payment processors, accountants, legal advisers, institutional administrators, or tax/reporting providers may receive information needed for a prize or legal compliance.
- Information may be disclosed to authorities or other recipients when reasonably necessary to comply with law, enforce rules, protect security, or establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.
6. What we make public
- Public leaderboards may display team name, rank, total or per-track score, and relevant diagnostics.
- The permanent record may include final team names, ranks/scores, and, for finalists or winners, member names, affiliations, prize information, and public method summaries.
- A confirmed prize winner may separately publish a reproducibility repository under the Official Competition Rules.
- Non-public source code, containers, model artifacts, verification materials, email addresses, tax information, and security logs are not made public merely because a participant enters, is ranked, is verified, or wins.
- Event photographs or recordings are used as described when consent or another applicable basis is obtained.
7. Submission confidentiality and AI training
Non-public submissions and private verification materials are handled as competition-confidential under the Terms of Participation. Winning status does not automatically make Organizer-held materials public. A winner’s open-source package is a separate participant-controlled release.
The Organizers do not sell personal data or non-public submissions, do not use them for cross-context behavioral advertising, and do not use them to train general-purpose AI models. Automated systems may process submission content only to score, test, secure, or verify the Competition.
8. International transfers
Agenthon is operated in the United States and may use providers in the United States or other countries. Where law restricts international transfers, the Organizers or relevant provider will rely on an available mechanism such as an adequacy decision, a recognized privacy framework, Standard Contractual Clauses, a UK Addendum/IDTA, or another lawful mechanism. Participants may contact admin@agenthon.net for available information about safeguards relevant to their data.
9. Retention
| Data | Typical retention approach |
|---|---|
| Non-winning registration, submission, and routine evaluation data | Generally up to 12 months after the Competition, then deleted or anonymized unless needed for a dispute, investigation, incident, legal duty, or reproducibility record. |
| Finalist/winner verification records | Only as reasonably necessary for final-result auditability, prizes, disputes, security/integrity review, and announced reproducibility obligations; kept non-public and reviewed periodically. |
| Prize and tax records | Generally up to 7 years or another period required by tax, accounting, institutional, or legal rules. |
| Public competition record | Team names, final ranks/scores, and published finalist/winner information may be retained indefinitely as part of the historical and scientific record. |
| Optional marketing | Until consent is withdrawn, the address becomes undeliverable, or retention is no longer appropriate. |
| Security and audit logs | For a period proportionate to security, integrity, incident response, and audit needs, then deleted or aggregated where practical. |
10. Security
The Organizers use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures appropriate to the Competition, including access controls, sandboxed evaluation, role-based access where practical, logging, security review, and data minimization. No internet or storage system is completely secure, and absolute security cannot be guaranteed.
11. Your privacy rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, or information about processing; to object to certain processing; to withdraw consent; and to appeal or complain to a privacy regulator. Rights may be subject to legal exceptions, including preserving Competition integrity, resolving disputes, complying with law, and maintaining a lawful public scientific record.
To exercise a right, email admin@agenthon.net. Identity verification may be required. Withdrawing optional consent does not affect prior lawful processing and ordinarily does not invalidate a score or result already published under another legal basis. Withdrawing an optional consent is as easy as giving it — use the same email or your account settings.
12. U.S. state notices, age, and external services
Where applicable U.S. state privacy laws provide additional rights, eligible participants may submit requests through the contact below. Agenthon will not discriminate for exercising an applicable right, subject to requirements genuinely necessary to provide the Competition or maintain integrity.
Agenthon is intended for participants who are at least 18 and have reached the age of majority. The Organizers do not knowingly accept children through the Competition registration process.
External services — including the competition platform, GitHub, NeurIPS, social networks, or partner sites — process data under their own notices. NeurIPS registration, badge, visa-support, conference-access, and venue data submitted directly to NeurIPS or a venue provider are not automatically part of Agenthon records. Relevant external notices: the NeurIPS privacy policy and NeurIPS Code of Conduct.
13. Changes, contact, and complaints
The Organizers may update this Notice for changes in the Competition, providers, legal requirements, or data practices. The version and date will be updated, and material changes affecting registered participants will be communicated through an official channel where reasonably practicable.
Privacy questions and rights requests: admin@agenthon.net. Additional published contacts: admin@sqa-us.org and info@cewit.org. Participants in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland may also complain to their local data-protection authority.