Privacy

Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 17, 2026

This Privacy Policy describes Our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of Your information when You use the Service and tells You about Your privacy rights and how the law protects You.

We use Your Personal data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, You agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Interpretation and Definitions

Interpretation

The words of which the initial letter is capitalized have meanings defined under the following conditions.

The following definitions shall have the same meaning regardless of whether they appear in singular or in plural.

Definitions

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:

  • You means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the company, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the Service, as applicable.

    Under GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), You can be referred to as the Data Subject or as the User as you are the individual using the Service.

  • Company (referred to as either "the Company", "We", "Us" or "Our" in this Agreement) refers to National Online Forensics, 12263 La Mirada Blvd. #274, La Mirada, CA 90638.

    For the purpose of the GDPR, the Company is the Data Controller.

  • Affiliate means an entity that controls, is controlled by or is under common control with a party, where "control" means ownership of 50% or more of the shares, equity interest or other securities entitled to vote for election of directors or other managing authority.
  • Account means a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service.
  • Website refers to Forensics Tournament.net, accessible from https://forensicstournament.net
  • Service refers to the Website and the FTN iOS app.
  • Country refers to: California, United States

  • Service Provider means any natural or legal person who processes the data on behalf of the Company. It refers to third-party companies or individuals employed by the Company to facilitate the Service, to provide the Service on behalf of the Company, to perform services related to the Service or to assist the Company in analyzing how the Service is used.

    For the purpose of the GDPR, Service Providers are considered Data Processors.

  • Third-party Social Media Service refers to any website or any social network website through which a User can log in or create an account to use the Service.

  • Personal Data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.

    For the purposes for GDPR, Personal Data means any information relating to You such as a name, an identification number, location data, online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity.

    For the purposes of the CCPA, Personal Data means any information that identifies, relates to, describes or is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with You.

  • Cookies are small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile device or any other device by a website, containing the details of Your browsing history on that website among its many uses.
  • Device means any device that can access the Service such as a computer, a cellphone or a digital tablet.
  • Usage Data refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).
  • Data Controller, for the purposes of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), refers to the Company as the legal person which alone or jointly with others determines the purposes and means of the processing of Personal Data.
  • Do Not Track (DNT) is a concept that has been promoted by US regulatory authorities, in particular the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), for the Internet industry to develop and implement a mechanism for allowing internet users to control the tracking of their online activities across websites.
  • Business, for the purpose of the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), refers to the Company as the legal entity that collects Consumers' personal information and determines the purposes and means of the processing of Consumers' personal information, or on behalf of which such information is collected and that alone, or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of consumers' personal information, that does business in the State of California.
  • Consumer, for the purpose of the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), means a natural person who is a California resident. A resident, as defined in the law, includes (1) every individual who is in the USA for other than a temporary or transitory purpose, and (2) every individual who is domiciled in the USA who is outside the USA for a temporary or transitory purpose.
  • Sale, for the purpose of the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), means selling, renting, releasing, disclosing, disseminating, making available, transferring, or otherwise communicating orally, in writing, or by electronic or other means, a Consumer's Personal information to another business or a third party for monetary or other valuable consideration.

Collecting and Using Your Personal Data

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data

While using Our Service, We may ask You to provide Us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify You. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

  • Email address
  • First name and last name
  • Phone number
  • Usage Data

Usage Data

Usage Data is collected automatically when using the Service.

Usage Data may include information such as Your Device's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that You visit, the time and date of Your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

When You access the Service by or through a mobile device, We may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device You use, Your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of Your mobile device, Your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser You use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

We may also collect information that Your browser sends whenever You visit our Service or when You access the Service by or through a mobile device.

Tracking Technologies and Cookies

We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on Our Service and store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze Our Service.

You can instruct Your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. However, if You do not accept Cookies, You may not be able to use some parts of our Service.

Cookies can be "Persistent" or "Session" Cookies. Persistent Cookies remain on your personal computer or mobile device when You go offline, while Session Cookies are deleted as soon as You close your web browser. Learn more about cookies in the "What Are Cookies" article.

We use both session and persistent Cookies for the purposes set out below:

  • Necessary / Essential Cookies

    Type: Session Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies are essential to provide You with services available through the Website and to enable You to use some of its features. They help to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts. Without these Cookies, the services that You have asked for cannot be provided, and We only use these Cookies to provide You with those services.

  • Cookies Policy / Notice Acceptance Cookies

    Type: Persistent Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies identify if users have accepted the use of cookies on the Website.

  • Functionality Cookies

    Type: Persistent Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies allow us to remember choices You make when You use the Website, such as remembering your login details or language preference. The purpose of these Cookies is to provide You with a more personal experience and to avoid You having to re-enter your preferences every time You use the Website.

For more information about the cookies we use and your choices regarding cookies, please visit our Cookies Policy.

Use of Your Personal Data

The Company may use Personal Data for the following purposes:

  • To provide and maintain our Service, including to monitor the usage of our Service.
  • To manage Your Account: to manage Your registration as a user of the Service. The Personal Data You provide can give You access to different functionalities of the Service that are available to You as a registered user.
  • For the performance of a contract: the development, compliance and undertaking of the purchase contract for the products, items or services You have purchased or of any other contract with Us through the Service.
  • To contact You: To contact You by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication, such as a mobile application's push notifications regarding updates or informative communications related to the functionalities, products or contracted services, including the security updates, when necessary or reasonable for their implementation.
  • To manage Your requests: To attend and manage Your requests to Us.

We may share your personal information in the following situations:

  • With Service Providers: We may share Your personal information with Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service, for payment processing, to contact You.
  • For Business transfers: We may share or transfer Your personal information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of Company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.
  • With Affiliates: We may share Your information with Our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy. Affiliates include Our parent company and any other subsidiaries, joint venture partners or other companies that We control or that are under common control with Us.
  • With other users: when You share personal information or otherwise interact in the public areas with other users, such information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside. If You interact with other users or register through a Third-Party Social Media Service, Your contacts on the Third-Party Social Media Service may see Your name, profile, pictures and description of Your activity. Similarly, other users will be able to view descriptions of Your activity, communicate with You and view Your profile.

The FTN iOS App

The app uses account and profile information, linked competitor or judge records, program affiliations, tournament entries and results, schedules, ballots, and messages to provide the features you use. Depending on your role and actions, this includes names and contact details, profile photos, submitted scores and feedback, and chat or contact-message content. Tournament staff, program administrators, and other authorized participants can see information needed for their roles; tournament results may also be published.

If you enable notifications, FTN associates your device's push token with your account to send relevant tournament alerts. The app stores sign-in credentials securely and caches selected account and schedule information on your device. FTN also processes technical request and account-activity information to operate and protect the service.

Registration forms can collect coach and participant phone numbers, registration or billing addresses, entry notes, submitted video links, and answers to organizer-defined questions. FTN stores these submissions and makes them available to authorized program and tournament staff. Organizers choose their additional questions; contact the organizer if you are unsure why a question requests personal information.

FTN records recent account activity and app/device version information, and uses internal reports to understand app adoption and usage. These reports can associate activity with account names, email addresses, and identifiers.

Firebase Cloud Messaging handles push delivery and processes push identifiers and technical SDK information. Its supporting libraries also process technical information for service operation and analytics. FTN uses Sentry on its backend to record service errors and request-performance information for troubleshooting and reliability. See the Firebase privacy information and Sentry Privacy Policy.

If you report a message, FTN stores the message, your report details, account identifiers, and the moderation decision for review by FTN administrators. A report is not shared with the reported sender or tournament staff through the reporting feature. Blocking stores your sender preferences and hides matching messages and alerts in the app.

Account Deletion

You can initiate account deletion in the app under Account > Delete account or from your website profile. Deletion revokes sign-in access, removes account contact information and the profile photo, and anonymizes linked competitor and judge profiles. Linked profile contact details, pronouns, phonetic names, NSDA links, accommodation notes, and judging philosophies are removed.

Tournament entries, ballots, scores, and results are preserved with anonymized linked profiles. Unrelated people's records are not changed. Existing message content, moderation evidence, and records needed to resolve disputes or meet legal obligations may remain; account deletion does not automatically remove identifying text that other people entered into historical records. Contact FTN if particular content also needs review. Copies already delivered by email or push cannot be recalled.

Retention of Your Personal Data

The Company will retain Your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use Your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

The Company will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of Our Service, or We are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.

Transfer of Your Personal Data

Your information, including Personal Data, is processed at the Company's operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of Your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from Your jurisdiction.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by Your submission of such information represents Your agreement to that transfer.

The Company will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that Your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of Your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of Your data and other personal information.

Disclosure of Your Personal Data

Business Transactions

If the Company is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, Your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before Your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.

Law enforcement

Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency).

Other legal requirements

The Company may disclose Your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • Comply with a legal obligation
  • Protect and defend the rights or property of the Company
  • Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service
  • Protect the personal safety of Users of the Service or the public
  • Protect against legal liability

Security of Your Personal Data

The security of Your Personal Data is important to Us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While We strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect Your Personal Data, We cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Detailed Information on the Processing of Your Personal Data

Service Providers have access to Your Personal Data only to perform their tasks on Our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.

Service Communications and Advertising

FTN uses contact details for account, security, support, and tournament communications. FTN does not use app users' names or email addresses for newsletters or promotional campaigns, and does not share users' information with advertising partners or use it for targeted advertising.

Payments

The FTN app has no paid features or subscriptions. Participating tournaments may charge registration fees, which can be paid through a Stripe-hosted checkout opened from the app.

Stripe processes the payment and collects the payment-method and billing information entered at checkout. FTN retains payment amounts, status, transaction references, and the associated account, program, and tournament. FTN can also access payment-method and billing details made available by Stripe, such as card brand, last four digits, and billing address, to administer payments, refunds, and disputes.

Card entry is handled by Stripe's hosted checkout. See Stripe's Privacy Policy for its processing practices.

GDPR Privacy

Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data under GDPR

We may process Personal Data under the following conditions:

  • Consent: You have given Your consent for processing Personal Data for one or more specific purposes.
  • Performance of a contract: Provision of Personal Data is necessary for the performance of an agreement with You and/or for any pre-contractual obligations thereof.
  • Legal obligations: Processing Personal Data is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the Company is subject.
  • Vital interests: Processing Personal Data is necessary in order to protect Your vital interests or of another natural person.
  • Public interests: Processing Personal Data is related to a task that is carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Company.
  • Legitimate interests: Processing Personal Data is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the Company.

In any case, the Company will gladly help to clarify the specific legal basis that applies to the processing, and in particular whether the provision of Personal Data is a statutory or contractual requirement, or a requirement necessary to enter into a contract.

Your Rights under the GDPR

The Company undertakes to respect the confidentiality of Your Personal Data and to guarantee You can exercise Your rights.

You have the right under this Privacy Policy, and by law if You are within the EU, to:

  • Request access to Your Personal Data. The right to access, update or delete the information We have on You. Whenever made possible, you can access, update or request deletion of Your Personal Data directly within Your account settings section. If you are unable to perform these actions yourself, please contact Us to assist You. This also enables You to receive a copy of the Personal Data We hold about You.
  • Request correction of the Personal Data that We hold about You. You have the right to to have any incomplete or inaccurate information We hold about You corrected.
  • Object to processing of Your Personal Data. This right exists where We are relying on a legitimate interest as the legal basis for Our processing and there is something about Your particular situation, which makes You want to object to our processing of Your Personal Data on this ground. You also have the right to object where We are processing Your Personal Data for direct marketing purposes.
  • Request erasure of Your Personal Data. You have the right to ask Us to delete or remove Personal Data when there is no good reason for Us to continue processing it.
  • Request the transfer of Your Personal Data. We will provide to You, or to a third-party You have chosen, Your Personal Data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Please note that this right only applies to automated information which You initially provided consent for Us to use or where We used the information to perform a contract with You.
  • Withdraw Your consent. You have the right to withdraw Your consent on using your Personal Data. If You withdraw Your consent, We may not be able to provide You with access to certain specific functionalities of the Service.

Exercising of Your GDPR Data Protection Rights

You may exercise Your rights of access, rectification, cancellation and opposition by contacting Us. Please note that we may ask You to verify Your identity before responding to such requests. If You make a request, We will try our best to respond to You as soon as possible.

You have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority about Our collection and use of Your Personal Data. For more information, if You are in the European Economic Area (EEA), please contact Your local data protection authority in the EEA.

CCPA Privacy

Your Rights under the CCPA

Under this Privacy Policy, and by law if You are a resident of California, You have the following rights:

  • The right to notice. You must be properly notified which categories of Personal Data are being collected and the purposes for which the Personal Data is being used.
  • The right to access / the right to request. The CCPA permits You to request and obtain from the Company information regarding the disclosure of Your Personal Data that has been collected in the past 12 months by the Company or its subsidiaries to a third-party for the third party's direct marketing purposes.
  • The right to say no to the sale of Personal Data. You also have the right to ask the Company not to sell Your Personal Data to third parties. You can submit such a request by visiting our "Do Not Sell My Personal Information" section or web page.

  • The right to know about Your Personal Data. You have the right to request and obtain from the Company information regarding the disclosure of the following:

    • The categories of Personal Data collected
    • The sources from which the Personal Data was collected
    • The business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling the Personal Data
    • Categories of third parties with whom We share Personal Data
    • The specific pieces of Personal Data we collected about You
  • The right to delete Personal Data. You also have the right to request the deletion of Your Personal Data that have been collected in the past 12 months.

  • The right not to be discriminated against. You have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising any of Your Consumer's rights, including by:

    • Denying goods or services to You
    • Charging different prices or rates for goods or services, including the use of discounts or other benefits or imposing penalties
    • Providing a different level or quality of goods or services to You
    • Suggesting that You will receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.

Exercising Your CCPA Data Protection Rights

In order to exercise any of Your rights under the CCPA, and if you are a California resident, You can contact us at support@forensicstournament.net.

The Company will disclose and deliver the required information free of charge within 45 days of receiving Your verifiable request. The time period to provide the required information may be extended once by an additional 45 days when reasonable necessary and with prior notice.

Sale and Advertising Use of Personal Information

FTN does not sell personal information or share it with advertising partners for targeted advertising. Contact support@forensicstournament.net with questions about how your information is used or to exercise applicable privacy rights.

"Do Not Track" Policy as Required by California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA)

Our Service does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

However, some third party websites do keep track of Your browsing activities. If You are visiting such websites, You can set Your preferences in Your web browser to inform websites that You do not want to be tracked. You can enable or disable DNT by visiting the preferences or settings page of Your web browser.

Children's Privacy and Age Eligibility

FTN accounts and private tournament access are for people age 13 or older. Children under 13 must not create or use their own accounts, use another person's sign-in, or use private competitor access links themselves. A parent or authorized coach must manage their tournament participation using the adult's own account and device.

When creating a new account in the iOS app or on the website, users choose their own age group. The website also checks age before opening private headquarters links without signing in. Accounts that existed when this registration check was introduced can continue signing in without a new age check; we record that existing-account status separately from an age confirmation. For new confirmations, we retain the eligibility confirmation and its date, not a date of birth. Neither existing-account status nor a self-reported age choice is identity verification or verified parental consent.

Parents, coaches, and tournament organizers may provide participant information needed to administer tournaments, including a competitor's name, program affiliation, entries, and results. They must have authority to provide that information. Information about a younger competitor supplied by an adult is distinct from allowing the child to use FTN directly. The age check does not remove existing roster or result records.

FTN does not currently offer a verified parental-consent process for independent access by children under 13. The minimum age of 13 is our access policy; it does not replace additional protections or authorization requirements that apply to young people's personal information in their country.

Parents and Guardians

Contact support@forensicstournament.net to request access to, correction of, or deletion of a child's information, or to report an account being used by a child under 13. Include enough information to locate the relevant account or program, but do not send identity documents unless FTN requests them through an appropriate process. We may need to verify your authority before acting on records managed by a program or tournament.

Your California Privacy Rights (California's Shine the Light law)

Under California Civil Code Section 1798 (California's Shine the Light law), California residents with an established business relationship with us can request information once a year about sharing their Personal Data with third parties for the third parties' direct marketing purposes.

If you'd like to request more information under the California Shine the Light law, You can contact Us using the contact information provided below.

California Privacy Rights for Minor Users (California Business and Professions Code Section 22581)

California Business and Professions Code section 22581 allow California residents under the age of 18 who are registered users of online sites, services or applications to request and obtain removal of content or information they have publicly posted.

To request removal of such data, and if you are a California resident, You can contact Us using the contact information provided below, and include the email address associated with Your account.

Be aware that Your request does not guarantee complete or comprehensive removal of content or information posted online and that the law may not permit or require removal in certain circumstances.

Links to Other Websites

Our Service may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Us. If You click on a third party link, You will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise You to review the Privacy Policy of every site You visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify You of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

We will let You know via email and/or a prominent notice on Our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the "Last updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, You can contact us:

  • By email: support@forensicstournament.net