Privacy & terms.

Privacy Policy

Last updated October 4, 2026

History Hands Network ("History Hands", "we", "us") is a free, self-run website that connects historical societies and community archives with volunteers. This policy explains what information we collect, who can see it, and the choices you have. If anything is unclear, email us at historyhandsnetworks@gmail.com.

1. What we collect

• Society accounts: the society's name and kind of group, street address, town, state and ZIP code, email, a contact person's name, and anything you add: phone, website, bio, photos, and a map location if you choose to be on the map.
• Volunteer accounts: first and last name, email, birthday and state, and anything you choose to add: gender, pronouns, school, grade, languages, interests, bio and photos.
• Sign-ups: when you sign up for an opportunity, your name, email, an optional note, and your age if you have an account. You can also sign up without an account.
• Activity: the posts you make (opportunities, projects and donated-items requests), likes, the volunteer hours societies give you, chat messages and notifications.
• News list: your email address, if you join it.
• Passwords are handled by our account provider and stored scrambled. We can't see them.

History Hands is free and doesn't take payments, so we never ask for bank or card details.

2. Who can see what

• Anyone visiting the site can see society pages (name, kind of group, town and state, contact email, phone, website, bio and photos, plus the street address only if the society chose "full address" for the map), and all opportunities, projects and donated-items requests. Volunteer pages show a first name and last initial, state, bio, school, interests, languages, photos and confirmed hours. Age and gender only show if the volunteer turns that on. The leaderboard only lists volunteers who chose to appear on it.
• The society you sign up with sees your name, email, note and age (if you have an account). No other society or volunteer can see your sign-up.
• The person you chat with sees your messages. A chat is only visible to the two people in it.
• History Hands editors, the people who run the site, can see account details such as emails, join dates, birthdays and sign-ups, to keep the site safe and help with problems. Editors can fix or remove names, bios, photos, posts and sign-ups that break our Terms, and can send you a password reset email if you ask for help. Editors can't read chats, unless someone in a chat reports it and chooses to share the messages.
• If you report something, editors see your report, your name or email if you give it, and any chat messages you choose to include. The person you report isn't told who reported them.

We don't sell, rent or trade your information, and we don't share it for advertising.

3. Emails we send

• Account emails: confirming your email address and resetting your password.
• Sign-up emails: when you sign up or cancel, when someone signs up for your opportunity, and when hours are added. When a society and a volunteer are connected through a sign-up, the email includes the other person's email address so you can reply.
• Message alerts: when someone writes to you. You can turn these off on your Dashboard, under Profile.
• News emails, if you joined the list.

All of our emails come from historyhandsnetworks@gmail.com.

4. Services we use

These companies handle information for us so the site can work:

• Supabase stores accounts, posts, sign-ups, chats and photos, and handles logging in.
• Netlify hosts the website.
• EmailJS and Google (Gmail) send our emails.
• OpenStreetMap provides the maps and address lookup. When a society looks up its address, the address is sent to OpenStreetMap to place the pin. "Near me" uses your device's location only inside your browser to move the map. We don't save it.
• Google Fonts, cdnjs and jsDelivr deliver the site's fonts and code, and YouTube provides the video pictures on the Resources page.

When your browser connects to these services, they can see basic technical information such as your IP address. Each one has its own privacy policy.

5. Cookies and browser storage

We don't use advertising cookies, tracking or analytics. Your browser saves your login, so you stay logged in, and your pop-up notification setting. Logging out removes your login from that browser.

6. Ages 13 and up

You must be 13 or older to make an account or sign up for an opportunity. If you're under 18, a parent or guardian should know you're volunteering. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you think a child under 13 has given us information, email us and we'll delete it.

7. Keeping and deleting your information

We keep your information while your account is open. You can delete your account at any time on your Dashboard, under Profile, with Delete my account. This deletes your profile, posts, sign-ups, hours, likes, chats (for both people in them) and photos. If a society deletes its account, volunteers still waiting on its opportunities are told their sign-up was removed. If you signed up without an account and want your sign-up deleted, email us. Deleted information may stay in our providers' systems for a short time before it's cleared.

8. Security

Information travels over encrypted connections, and our database only lets each person see what this policy describes. No website is perfectly secure, so please use a password you don't use anywhere else, and tell us right away if you think someone got into your account.

9. Your choices

• See and change your profile at any time on your Dashboard.
• Hide yourself from the leaderboard, and choose whether your age and gender show.
• Turn off message emails and pop-up notifications.
• Delete your account.
• Ask us for a copy of your information, or to correct or delete it, by emailing historyhandsnetworks@gmail.com.

10. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If the change is important, we'll also let people know on the site.

Terms of Use

Last updated October 4, 2026

By using History Hands Network you agree to these terms. Please read them along with our Privacy Policy.

1. What History Hands is

History Hands is a free, self-run website where historical societies and community archives post volunteer opportunities, share projects and ask for donated items, and where volunteers find ways to help. We provide a place to connect. We don't run the opportunities, and we aren't part of any society listed on the site.

2. Who can use it

• You must be 13 or older. If you're under 18, a parent or guardian should know you're volunteering.
• Give true information about yourself.
• A society account must be made by someone allowed to represent that society.

3. Your account

Keep your password private. You're responsible for what happens on your account. If you think someone else has used it, change your password and email us.

4. What you post

You keep ownership of what you post. By posting, you let History Hands show it on the site. Only post photos and writing you have the right to share, and don't post other people's personal information without their permission.

5. Be respectful

These aren't allowed on History Hands:

• Harassment, bullying, threats or hateful content.
• Sexual content of any kind.
• Spam, scams, or asking anyone for money, passwords or bank details. Societies may never charge volunteers to help.
• Fake societies, fake opportunities or pretending to be someone else.
• Anything illegal.

6. Staying safe

• Keep conversations on History Hands chat.
• For in-person opportunities, meet at the society's public location. Volunteers under 18 should have a parent or guardian's OK first.
• Societies are responsible for supervising their volunteers and keeping them safe.
• Use the Report button on any post, profile or chat to tell our editors about a problem.
• If anything feels wrong, stop and email us at historyhandsnetworks@gmail.com.

7. Volunteer hours

Hours are entered by the society you helped. History Hands doesn't check them. If a school or program needs proof of your hours, ask the society directly.

8. Donated items

Donations are arranged directly between you and the society. History Hands doesn't handle, value or take responsibility for any items.

9. What we can do

We may edit or remove posts, profile details, photos or sign-ups, or delete accounts, that break these terms or put people at risk. We may also change or stop parts of the site at any time.

10. No guarantees

History Hands is free and provided "as is". We work hard to keep it running well, but we can't promise it will always be available or free of mistakes. As far as the law allows, we aren't responsible for what societies, volunteers or other users do, or for any loss that comes from using the site.

11. Changes to these terms

If we change these terms, we'll update the date at the top. Using the site after a change means you accept the new terms.

12. Contact

Questions? We're only one hand away: historyhandsnetworks@gmail.com.