Privacy and User Information

All areas of the GLOBE website containing user information follow NASA's Web Privacy Policy. The GLOBE Data and Information System is managed by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Learn more about GLOBE's privacy policies below:

All users supply an email address when creating their GLOBE account. A user’s email address is not displayed publicly anywhere on the GLOBE website unless a user with a GLOBE educator account posts it on their GLOBE MyPage. GLOBE uses email addresses internally to send GLOBE Program messages such as satellite match emails and GLOBE monthly news briefs. Users can opt in or opt out of these communications through the "Settings" page of The GLOBE Program's app, GLOBE Observer, or by accessing the “Account Settings” located under the user profile link in the upper right corner of the GLOBE website. GLOBE Team managers have the ability to email team members, but the email addresses are not publicly displayed. 

GLOBE Observer accounts are only associated with an email address and country of residence. GLOBE does not request or store any additional personal information in its system for a GLOBE Observer account. When a new user creates an account, that user is assigned a unique, numeric user identification. The email associated with the account is never publicly displayed.

Countries have different requirements for technology use by children. According to the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, paired location and email address may be considered personally identifiable information. Children under the age of 13 should only use the Observer app with an adult’s supervision, such as through a teacher-generated GLOBE student account or with an account created with a parent's email. GLOBE does not store home addresses and does not expose user emails when it publicly posts measurement data.

Each GLOBE teacher account may create up to 50 GLOBE Student accounts. Student account logins are structured as email addresses, but they are not active addresses that can be used to send or receive email. A teacher can use a GLOBE student account to allow students to enter measurements on GLOBE.gov or access The GLOBE Program's App, GLOBE Observer, without providing any students' personal information.

When data is submitted using a GLOBE student account, it is associated in the system with the school’s name and the teacher’s account but not with a particular student. In the GLOBE Data Visualization System, the data will be identified as part of the school, regardless of how it is set up in the system — for example, “My Town Middle School.”

The training for the GLOBE Observer app states that users must exclude identifiable faces or other personal information, such as license plate numbers, in the photos associated with their observations. GLOBE scans all photos submitted as part of an observation for faces and text, such as street signs and license plates. Any photos containing these features will either be rejected and excluded from the GLOBE database or altered to obscure identifiable faces and text. 

The GLOBE website occasionally posts pictures or videos from GLOBE events as part of news stories or feature articles. Before such photos or videos can be posted on GLOBE.gov, all identifiable people in the photo or video must sign a GLOBE Media Release Form.