Who we are

First Serve ("we", "us") is the data controller for the personal data described here. We are a small, independent project based in the UK. You can reach us at the contact below for any privacy question or request.

What we collect

You can browse courts with no account and no sign-in. We only collect personal data once you create an account or use a feature that needs it.

• Account: your email address, used to sign in and to send the game notifications you ask for.
• Your name: we ask for your first and last name when you set up your account, and it becomes your display name on First Serve. Your name is public: it is shown on your player profile, on the leaderboard, on your games, and it is searchable, so other players can find you to play. If you would rather not show your real name, you can turn on "Hide my name" in your account settings and you will be shown by your @username instead, everywhere others would otherwise see your name. We use your name to identify you in the community and to help players discover and recognise each other.
• Year of birth: we ask for your year of birth (not your full date of birth) to check you are 16 or older, which you must be to use First Serve, and to help offer age-appropriate matches. It is kept private and is never shown on your profile or to other players.
• Terms and age confirmation: when you create your account we record that you accepted our Terms of Use and acknowledged this Privacy Policy, and that you meet the 16 or older requirement, together with the date and the version of the terms you agreed to. We keep this as a record that you agreed, for safety and in case of a dispute. It is not a marketing consent.
• Profile: an optional home area (postcode and approximate coordinates) so we can show you nearby courts, and your notification preferences.
• Username (your @handle): a public handle you choose so other players can find and add you. It is shown on your public player profile and in player search, you can change it at any time, and it is removed when you delete your account. It is also what is shown in place of your name if you turn on "Hide my name".
• Optional identity details: you can add your gender (kept private, used only to help match players) and your pronouns. If you add pronouns, they are shown on your public player profile. You can also add how you play, your dominant hand, your backhand grip and a few play-style tags, which are shown on your public player profile. These are all optional, and you can change or clear them at any time.
• Profile photo: you can upload an optional profile photo so other players recognise you. It is shown on your public player profile, the leaderboard, and your games, and it is stored with our database provider (Supabase). We strip location and camera metadata from the image before it is saved. You can remove it at any time, and it is deleted if you delete your account.
• Court activity: the venues you favourite.
• Play availability: an optional weekly availability you can set in your play preferences (which days and times of day you can usually play). It is kept private. We use it to help match you with players who are free when you are, to show anonymous counts of how many players are free near a court when you are setting up a game (just numbers, never who), if you have turned on "open to invites", to show a host a coarse "free then" hint when your availability matches the day and time of a game they are setting up, and, on your own private "your week to play" page, to show you the days and times of day you and an accepted friend are both free. We only ever show other players a coarse match (a shared count, or a day and time-of-day), never your exact times or full week. You can change or clear it at any time.
• Games and results: games you host or join, and the results of ranked matches you play (who won, who lost, and the rating change). Your display name, avatar, rating, level, badges, and titles appear on a public player profile and on the leaderboard. Each venue also has a court leaderboard, your win and loss totals of ranked matches played at that venue, which is shown to signed-in players only (not to the public web) and never shows match dates or times. If a host marks you as a no-show, you can dispute it; we keep a record of disputes to keep the system fair.
• Game chat: messages you send in a game's in-app thread, visible only to the confirmed players in that game. We delete a game's chat 14 days after the game is over.
• Direct messages: private 1:1 chats between you and another player, to arrange games and stay in touch. They are visible only to the two of you. You control who can start a chat with you (anyone, players you've played, friends only, or no one) in your settings, and a stranger's first message waits in a Requests folder until you accept it. You can mute, restrict, block, or report anyone. Read receipts ("Seen") are optional and reciprocal: turn yours off and you won't see others' either. Messages are not end-to-end encrypted, so that we can review reported messages and act on abuse; please treat them as private but not secret. We keep your messages while your account is active and delete them when you delete your account.
• Friends: when you add a friend, we keep a record of your friend connections and friend requests. These are private, visible only to you and the other person, and never shown publicly. They are removed when you unfriend someone or delete your account.
• Activity feed: your in-app activity, such as creating a game, winning a match, or earning a badge, shown only to your friends so you can keep up with each other. We automatically remove each activity after 60 days, and when you delete your account.
• Kudos: the kudos you give on your friends' activity are visible only to your friends. We remove them with the activity they react to, or when you delete your account.
• Weekly friends digest: an optional weekly email that is off by default. You turn it on in your settings. It summarises your friends' recent activity and your own week. You can unsubscribe in one click from any digest email, and it stops when you delete your account.
• Notifications: if you enable push notifications, the technical subscription needed to deliver them to your device. We use it to send game updates such as invites, confirmations, when someone wants to join your game, cancellations, changes to a game, a nudge if no one has joined a game you are hosting, a reminder on the day, and a reminder to record a result.

We do not collect payment details (support is handled off-site), and we do not run advertising or third-party analytics or tracking.

Why we use it, and our lawful basis

• To run your account and send the game notifications you set (performance of a contract with you).
• To show your name and public profile and the leaderboard, and to let players find and match with each other (our legitimate interest in running a community game, which you opt into by playing ranked). You can limit this by hiding your name and being shown by your @username instead.
• To send optional update emails, and to store any optional identity details you choose to add (your consent, which you can withdraw at any time in your notification settings, by clearing the field, or via the unsubscribe link).
• To record that you accepted the terms and confirmed your age (performance of our contract with you, and our legitimate interest in keeping the community safe and being able to evidence agreement if there is a dispute). This is a record of agreement, not a consent we ask you to give or withdraw.
• To keep the service secure and working (our legitimate interest in protecting the app and its users).

Who we share it with

We do not sell your data. We use a small set of trusted providers ("processors") to run the app, each acting only on our instructions:

• Supabase: our database and authentication, hosted in the EU (London region, eu-west-2).
• Resend: sends our emails. Processed in the United States.
• Cloudflare: hosting and content delivery for the app.
• OpenFreeMap: provides the map tiles. When you open a map, your device's IP address is shared with OpenFreeMap so it can load the map. It does not receive your account details.

Your public player profile and the leaderboard are, by design, visible to anyone who visits the app. Only the information listed under "Games and results" above is shown there, and your name is shown unless you choose to hide it.

International transfers

Most of your data stays in the UK and EU. Where a provider processes data outside the UK (for example, our email provider in the United States), that transfer is covered by appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or an equivalent approved mechanism.

How long we keep it

We keep your account data for as long as your account is active. If you ask us to delete your account, we erase your personal data (your email, your name, and any profile photo) and the account is permanently closed so it can never be used again. Where your past matches are part of other players' records, your public profile is anonymised to "Former player" and kept in that form only, so their ranked history and ratings stay accurate. In-game chat is deleted automatically 14 days after a game is over. Some records may be kept briefly where we are required to for legal or security reasons.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to access your data, correct it, delete it, port it, and object to or restrict how we use it. You can also withdraw consent for optional emails at any time. To exercise any of these, email us using the link below and we will respond within one month.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

Cookies and similar technology

We only use storage that is strictly necessary to run the app: a sign-in cookie to keep you logged in, and local storage to remember preferences such as your chosen location. We do not use advertising or analytics cookies, so there is no tracking to consent to.

Children

First Serve is not intended for children under 16. Because the app helps players arrange to meet and play in person, you must be at least 16 to create an account. If you believe a child has signed up, contact us and we will remove the account.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app grows. When we make a material change, we will update the date at the top, and where appropriate let you know in the app or by email.

Contact

For any privacy question or to make a request about your data, email [email protected].