Privacy Policy

Sticks is a free tool for amateur field hockey teams, operated by Leib Consulting (South Africa) ("we", "us"). This policy explains, in plain English, what personal information we collect, why, who can see it and your rights under South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Questions? Email hello@sticksapp.site.

What we collect

• Account details: your email address and password (stored securely by our authentication provider — we never see your password). If you use Google sign-in, we receive your name and email address from Google.
• Profile: your full name, an optional cell number, your preferred position, and your gender (male/female), which is used for squad balance in mixed teams.
• Team information: the teams you belong to and your role (manager or player), plus team names, leagues and team settings.
• Fixtures: match, practice and social details posted by managers (opponent, date, venue, kit colours, notes).
• RSVPs: whether you're playing, out or tentative for each fixture.
• Match stats: scores, goal scorers, assists and goal types recorded by managers.
• Push notifications: if you turn on notifications, we store a notification token for that device (plus its browser/device description) so we can send you Sticks notifications — fixture reminders, changes and results — and your notification preferences. It's used only to send Sticks notifications and is deleted when you turn notifications off or delete your account.
• Feedback: messages you send with the Feedback button, plus the page you were on, app version, your device/browser and whether you use the installed app, so we can fix problems. Only the Sticks team can read feedback.
• MVP votes: your player-of-the-match votes. Other users never see who you voted for — only vote totals are shown.

We don't use advertising or tracking cookies and we don't collect location data.

Why we use it

Only to run your teams and fixtures in the app: showing squads, headcounts, team sheets, results and season summaries. We do not show ads and we do not sell, rent or share your personal information with third parties for their own purposes.

Who can see your information

• Team members (everyone in a team you belong to) can see your name, preferred position, gender (in mixed teams only) and your team activity — RSVPs, match stats and results.
• Only team managers can see your email address and cell number, and only for teams they manage. Managers can also edit fixtures, results and roles for their team.
• People outside your teams cannot see your profile. Shared fixture and invite links show only the team name and basic fixture details (opponent, date, time, venue) — never player names, RSVPs, contact details or scores.
• Service providers who act as operators on our behalf: our hosting, database and authentication provider, and Google (only if you choose Google sign-in). They process data only to provide those services.

We will only disclose information beyond this if required by law.

How long we keep it

We keep your information while your account is active. When you delete your account, your profile, team memberships, RSVPs, notification tokens and notification preferences are permanently deleted. Feedback you sent is kept to help improve Sticks but is no longer linked to you. Team results are kept so your team's history stays accurate, but goals or assists linked to you are shown as "Former player" and are no longer connected to your name. MVP votes remain anonymous.

Security

Data is sent over encrypted connections (HTTPS) and stored with access rules that limit each user to the teams they belong to. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information and will notify affected users and the Information Regulator of any security compromise as POPIA requires.

Your rights

Under POPIA you may:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct it — you can edit your name, cell number, position and gender anytime under Profile.
• Delete it — go to Profile → Delete my account in the app, or email hello@sticksapp.site.
• Object to how we process your information.

To exercise any of these rights, email hello@sticksapp.site.

Deleting your account

Open Profile → Delete my account and confirm, or email hello@sticksapp.site. If you're the only manager of a team that has other members, you'll first need to make someone else manager (or delete the team). A team with no other members is deleted along with your account.

Complaints

Please contact us first at hello@sticksapp.site. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa (inforegulator.org.za).

Changes

We may update this policy and will change the "last updated" date above.

Note: this policy is a template and should be reviewed by a qualified legal adviser.