Open Sauce 2026

Privacy Policy.

How we collect, use, and protect your information when you visit the site, use our app, or attend the festival.

What We Collect

When you buy tickets, apply to exhibit, sign up for the newsletter, or contact us, we collect the information you provide: name, email, phone, billing details, social handles, and anything else you share with us. We also collect basic analytics about how you use the site (pages viewed, device type, IP address) to keep the site fast and useful.

The Open Sauce App

The Open Sauce 2026 mobile app collects no personal data. There are no accounts or sign-in, no tracking, no advertising, no analytics, and no third-party SDKs. The sessions and exhibits you save, and your in-app settings, are stored only on your device and never sent to us or anyone else. The app downloads the public event guide (schedule, exhibits, creators, map, and announcements) from our servers; that's the same public information everyone sees, not anything about you.

Delete the app and that on-device data is gone. We never see it in the first place.

The Staff App (GOOSH)

Our crew runs the festival on a separate internal app called GOOSH — checking in creators and exhibitors, scanning badges at controlled areas, coordinating schedules, and posting to an internal staff feed. It's sign-in only for people working the event; attendees never use it. If you're on crew, it processes your name, email, job, and schedule from the staffing roster, your sign-ins, the photo you choose for the staff directory, and anything you post to the internal feed. If you attend or exhibit, it processes your badge scans at access points (which badge, where, when, and whether access was allowed) and — for creators and exhibitors checking in at the desk — the badge photo our team takes with your knowledge. The app also sends us crash and diagnostic logs so we can fix problems during the show.

All of it lives on our own event systems, is used only to run the event safely, is never used for advertising, and is cleared once we no longer need it to run and wrap the event. Crew members can email us to see or delete their data.

How We Use It

We use your info to deliver tickets, communicate about the event, process applications, send the newsletter if you opted in, and improve the experience. To spread the word about Open Sauce, we also run ads on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and TikTok, which use cookies and pixels to measure how those ads perform and to reach people likely to want in. We never sell your data for cash — but California law counts sharing it with ad platforms for targeted advertising as a "sale" or "share," so you can opt out anytime (see Cookies & Tracking).

We're a festival, not a data broker — but we do use the same ad tools everyone does. One tap on "Reject" (or "Cookie Preferences" in the footer) turns the ad tracking off.

Who We Share It With

We share information with the providers that help us run and promote the festival: ticketing (Eventbrite), email (newsletter platform), payment processors, analytics (Google Analytics), and advertising platforms (Meta and TikTok) that help us measure and target our ads. They only get what they need to do their job, and they're contractually required to keep it safe.

Cookies & Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies — including Google Analytics and the Meta and TikTok advertising pixels — for essential site functions, remembering preferences, analytics, and measuring and targeting our ads. Our cookie banner lets you accept or reject advertising and analytics cookies, and you can change your mind anytime via "Cookie Preferences" in the footer. We honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signals as an opt-out, and visitors in the EU, UK, and EEA are opt-in — nothing non-essential loads there until you accept. Essential cookies (like checkout) always stay on; block everything in your browser and parts of the site may not work.

Photo & Video at the Event

By attending Open Sauce, you grant us the right to record and broadcast your likeness from event coverage. If you spot yourself in our footage and want it taken down, email us and we'll work with you.

Your Rights

You can request a copy of the data we have on you, ask us to correct or delete it, or unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time. California residents can also opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information for targeted advertising — hit "Reject" or "Cookie Preferences," and we'll stop sharing your activity with ad platforms. Email us at the address below and we'll get back to you within 30 days.

That opt-out is your "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" right under California law.

Kids

Open Sauce is family-friendly, but the website is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you're a parent and think your kid signed up, contact us and we'll delete it.