Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Picklebeast, LLC ("we," "us," or "our") operates the Picklebeast website (www.picklebeast.com), mobile applications, white‑label club applications, and any related services and tools (collectively, the "Services"). The Services provide a platform for scheduling and organizing pickleball games, managing clubs and memberships, running leagues and tournaments, booking court reservations, coordinating coaching and lessons, processing payments, and facilitating social features among players.

By using or accessing the Services, you confirm that you have received this Privacy Policy and that you agree to the collection, use, and sharing of your information as described herein. If you do not agree, please do not use the Services.

We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information. We do not share your personal data with advertising networks or data brokers.

2. Information We Collect

We collect and store the following categories of information to provide and improve the Services:

• Account Information: Name, username, email address, phone number, password (encrypted), profile photo, gender, address, and any self‑ranking or skill‑level data you choose to provide.
• Game & Activity Data: Dates, times, and locations of games, open play sessions, leagues, tournaments, and events you create or participate in; invitations and RSVP statuses; match results, scores, and standings; court reservations and check‑in records.
• Club & Membership Data: Club membership status, membership type, staff roles, coaching profiles, lesson enrollments, package purchases, and waiver signatures.
• Payment Information: We use Stripe to process payments. We do not store your full credit card number on our servers. Stripe collects and securely stores your payment method details, billing address, and transaction history. We store transaction records, payout information, refund history, and subscription billing details as needed to provide the Services. See Stripe's privacy policy at stripe.com/privacy for details on how Stripe handles your payment data.
• User‑Generated Content: Profile photos, chat messages, activity feed posts, awards, comments, and any other content you create or share through the Services that may be personally identifiable.
• Location Data: Locations you associate with games, courts, and clubs. We may also collect your device's general location (city/region level) to show nearby clubs and events. We do not continuously track your precise GPS location.
• Device & Technical Data: Device identifiers, operating system version, app usage logs, crash reports, push notification tokens (Firebase Cloud Messaging and Expo), and analytics data collected via first‑party SDKs.
• Communications Data: In‑app messages, notification preferences, and email communications with our support team.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Create and manage your account, games, invitations, groups, leagues, tournaments, and club memberships.
• Facilitate court reservations, coaching lessons, open play sessions, and event registrations.
• Process payments, refunds, coach payouts, and subscription billing through Stripe.
• Send push notifications and email notifications (e.g., game invites, reminders, spot openings, match results, league updates, reservation confirmations).
• Generate rankings, standings, statistics, and achievement badges.
• Enable social features including friend connections, player groups, activity feeds, messaging, and awards.
• Provide club management tools including member management, staff roles, financial reporting, and communications.
• Improve and personalize the app experience through analytics, crash reports, and performance monitoring.
• Develop new products, features, and services.
• Communicate with you about service updates, policy changes, and — with your consent — marketing and promotional content.

4. Club Platform & Data Processing

Picklebeast serves as a platform for pickleball clubs, facilities, and organizations ("Clubs") to manage their operations. When you interact with a Club through Picklebeast:

• Club as Data Controller: Clubs may collect and manage information about their members, including membership status, attendance records, court bookings, lesson enrollments, and payment history. Clubs are responsible for their own use of this data in accordance with applicable laws.
• Picklebeast as Data Processor: We process member data on behalf of Clubs to provide the platform's management features. We do not use Club member data for our own marketing purposes without your separate consent.
• Club Communications: Clubs may send you communications (email, push notifications, in‑app messages) through the platform. You can manage these preferences in your notification settings or by contacting the Club directly.
• Club Staff & Coaches: If you serve as club staff or a coach, your name, profile, role, and availability may be visible to Club members and administrators as part of the Club's operations.

5. White‑Label Applications

Some Clubs operate custom‑branded ("white‑label") mobile applications powered by the Picklebeast platform. If you use a white‑label app:

• The white‑label app is built on Picklebeast's infrastructure, and this Privacy Policy applies to your use of it.
• Your data within a white‑label app is scoped to that Club's context, but your Picklebeast account and credentials are shared across all Picklebeast‑powered apps.
• The Club operating the white‑label app may have its own privacy policy that applies in addition to this one.

6. Sharing & Third‑Party Services

We do not sell your personal data. We do not share your personal data with advertising networks or data brokers.

We may share your information with the following categories of third parties, solely to provide and improve the Services:

• Payment Processing: Stripe processes payments, payouts, and subscription billing. Stripe receives your payment method details and transaction information.
• Cloud Infrastructure: Our Services are hosted on cloud platforms (including Heroku and Amazon Web Services) that store and process your data on our behalf.
• Push Notifications: Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google) and Expo deliver push notifications to your device. These services receive your device push token.
• File Storage: Profile photos and uploaded content are stored on Amazon S3.
• Performance Monitoring: We use application performance monitoring tools to identify and fix issues. These tools may process anonymized usage data.
• Email Delivery: Transactional and marketing emails are sent through third‑party email service providers.

We may also share aggregated or anonymized usage statistics that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

We may disclose your data if required by law, subpoena, or court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Picklebeast, our users, or the public.

7. Cookies & Web Technologies

When you use the Picklebeast website, we use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Essential Cookies: Maintain your login session, authenticate your account, and protect against cross‑site request forgery (CSRF). These are necessary for the website to function.
• Preference Cookies: Remember your settings such as theme preference (light/dark mode) and sidebar state.
• Analytics Cookies: Understand how users interact with our website to improve performance and usability.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies may prevent you from using certain features of the website. The mobile applications do not use browser cookies but may use similar local storage mechanisms for authentication tokens and preferences.

8. Push Notifications

We use push notifications to keep you informed about game invites, match results, league updates, reservation confirmations, club announcements, and other activity relevant to you.

• Device Tokens: When you enable push notifications, your device provides a push token (via Firebase Cloud Messaging or Expo). We store this token to deliver notifications to your device.
• Notification Preferences: You have granular control over which types of notifications you receive. You can manage these preferences in the app's notification settings, including categories such as games, leagues, tournaments, coaching, court reservations, open play, club events, friends, achievements, and more.
• Opting Out: You can disable push notifications at any time through the app's settings or through your device's system settings.

9. Data Retention

We retain your personal data as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you the Services. When you request account deletion, we will remove or anonymize your personal data within 30 days, subject to the following exceptions:

• Financial Records: We may retain transaction records, payment history, and billing information as required by tax, accounting, or financial reporting obligations.
• Legal Obligations: We may retain data as necessary to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce our agreements.
• Anonymized Data: We may retain information in anonymized or aggregated form that cannot reasonably be used to identify you, for analytics and service improvement purposes.
• Match & League Records: Anonymized match results, scores, and standings may be retained to preserve the integrity of league and tournament history for other participants.

To request deletion of your account and data, email us at picklebeast@picklebeastpickleball.com or use the account deletion option in the app.

10. Security

We take the security of your data seriously and use multiple layers of protection:

• Encryption in Transit: All data transmitted between your device and our servers is encrypted using HTTPS/TLS.
• Encryption at Rest: Sensitive data including passwords are encrypted using industry‑standard hashing algorithms. Authentication tokens are stored securely using platform‑native secure storage (iOS Keychain / Android Keystore).
• Access Controls: We use role‑based access controls and authentication to limit access to personal data to authorized personnel only.
• Payment Security: Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe, a PCI DSS Level 1 certified payment processor. We never store your full credit card number.

No proprietary or custom cryptography is used. While we implement commercially reasonable safeguards, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but will notify affected users promptly in the event of a data breach.

11. Your Choices & Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access & Correction: You can view and update your profile information, notification preferences, and privacy settings at any time through the app.
• Notification Preferences: You can manage push notification and email preferences on a per‑category basis in the app's settings.
• Marketing Opt‑Out: If you receive marketing communications from us, you can opt out at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the email or adjusting your communication preferences in the app. We will not send marketing communications without your prior consent.
• Account Deactivation: You can request to deactivate your account, which suspends your profile and removes you from active listings while preserving your data in case you wish to reactivate in the future. Contact us at picklebeast@picklebeastpickleball.com to request deactivation.
• Account Deletion: You can request permanent deletion of your account and personal data. Email us at picklebeast@picklebeastpickleball.com or use the in‑app account deletion feature. Deletion will be completed within 30 days, subject to the retention exceptions described in Section 9.
• Data Portability: You may request a copy of your personal data in a commonly used, machine‑readable format. Contact us at the email above to make this request.

12. International Data Transfers

Picklebeast is based in the United States. Your personal data is stored and processed on servers located in the United States. If you access the Services from outside the United States, your data will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction.

By using the Services, you consent to the transfer of your data to the United States. We take steps to ensure that your data receives an adequate level of protection in accordance with this Privacy Policy regardless of where it is processed.

13. Children's Privacy

Picklebeast is intended for users ages 13 and up. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under the age of 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information as promptly as possible. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal data, please contact us at picklebeast@picklebeastpickleball.com.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. We will post the updated policy here with a revised "Last updated" date. For material changes, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you via email or in‑app notification prior to the changes taking effect. Your continued use of the Services after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

• Email: picklebeast@picklebeastpickleball.com
• Mail:

We will respond to privacy‑related inquiries within 30 days.