Legal
Privacy Policy
Effective date: 26 May 2026
This policy explains how SportsBracket handles personal data for the website, estimator, bracket tools, checklists, events, advertising placements and other product features.
What we collect now
- Estimator input such as sport, ruleset, format, participant count and timing values is processed to calculate results. It is not used to identify you by itself.
- Basic technical data such as IP address, browser, device information, pages visited and timestamps may be collected through server logs, analytics and security tooling.
- If you email us, we collect the information you include in that message, such as your email address, name, organization and the content of the request.
Self-registration and participant data
- Some organisers use SportsBracket's self-registration feature, which allows participants to register directly for an event via a public link. When a participant submits a registration, we collect the information they enter — typically name, contact details, weight category, and club affiliation.
- This data is stored on behalf of the organiser and is visible to them through their SportsBracket account. Organisers are responsible for informing participants about how their data is used and obtaining any consent required under applicable law.
- Participants may contact privacy@sportsbracket.org to request access to or deletion of their registration data.
Account and billing data
- When you create an account we collect your name, email address and a hashed password or OAuth provider reference. We do not store plain-text passwords.
- Subscription payments are processed by Stripe. We store a Stripe customer ID, subscription ID, plan identifier and subscription status in our database. We do not store card numbers, CVV codes or full payment details — those remain with Stripe.
- Stripe may collect payment details, billing address and device information in accordance with its own privacy policy at stripe.com/privacy.
- If you subscribe to the newsletter, we process subscription status, email delivery events and unsubscribe choices.
How we use data
- To provide and improve the estimator, bracket tools, checklists, events and other product features.
- To respond to support, sales, privacy and general inquiries.
- To measure aggregate site usage, diagnose bugs, prevent abuse and keep the service secure.
- To show ads to anonymous or free users and to measure ad performance where allowed by law and consent choices.
Advertising and consent
- SportsBracket may show Google AdSense advertising and sponsored referral placements to anonymous and free users. Paid users receive an ad-free experience.
- Google and advertising partners may use cookies or similar technologies for ad delivery, fraud prevention, frequency capping and measurement. Personalized ads are controlled by consent where required.
- SportsBracket uses Google's Funding Choices consent management platform in regions where consent is required for personalized advertising or similar processing.
Analytics and cookies
- SportsBracket uses analytics to understand aggregate usage, page performance and product interest. We use this to decide what to build and improve.
- Cookies and similar storage may be used for analytics, advertising consent, security, preferences and account sessions.
- You can control cookies through your browser settings. Some account and paid features may require essential cookies to work.
Sharing
- We do not sell personal data.
- We share billing data with Stripe, Inc. as our payment processor. Stripe operates as an independent data controller for payment processing. See stripe.com/privacy.
- We may share limited data with other service providers that help us host, analyze, secure, advertise, email or operate the service.
- We may disclose data if required by law, to protect rights and security, or as part of a business transfer such as a merger or acquisition.
Retention
- Server logs and analytics data are kept only as long as reasonably needed for operations, security, troubleshooting and product analysis.
- Emails and support requests may be kept while needed to handle the request and maintain business records.
- Account and bracket data is kept while your account is active. You may request deletion by contacting privacy@sportsbracket.org.
- Billing records may be retained for as long as required by applicable tax and accounting regulations, typically 7 years.
Your rights
- Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, export or restrict the processing of your personal data.
- You may also have the right to object to certain processing or withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
- To make a privacy request, email privacy@sportsbracket.org. We may need to verify your identity before responding.