PRIVACY & COOKIE POLICY

1. Who We Are (Data Controller)

Plymouth Patriots Basketball Club Ltd (“the Club”, “we”, “us”) is the data controller responsible for personal data collected through plymouthpatriotsbasketball.com and our club basketball programmes.

• Club Office: Stoke Damerel Business Centre, Church Street, Stoke, Plymouth, PL3 4DT
• Data & General Enquiries: info@plymouthpatriotsbasketball.com
• Basketball & Safeguarding Lead Contact: coachdoug@plymouthpatriotsbasketball.com

2. Personal Data We Collect (Including Young Players)

Depending on how you interact with the Club, we may collect and process:

• Website Enquiries & Trial Registrations: Parent/carer or adult player name, email address, telephone number, pathway or age-group interest (e.g. Little Ballers, Community Sessions, U10 to U18 National/Regional Squads, or Post-16 Academy), and any message details you submit via our enquiry forms.
• Children’s Data Safeguard: Where an enquiry or registration relates to a player under 18, it must be submitted by, or with the explicit permission of, a parent or legal guardian.
• Active Membership & Session Bookings: Player registration, emergency contact, medical/welfare notes relevant to safe participation, attendance, and fee administration held within our secure club platforms (Spond and ClassForKids) and national governing body systems (Basketball England / PlayHQ).
• Website Technical & Cookie Data: Strictly necessary security/session tokens, form anti-spam verification, and (only if you opt in) anonymised website visit analytics.

3. How We Use Your Data & Lawful Bases

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018, we rely on the following lawful bases:

• Contract & Pre-Contractual Steps: Responding to your enquiry, arranging trials or session bookings, and administering player membership.
• Legal Obligation & Safeguarding (Substantial Public Interest): Protecting the welfare of children, young people, and adults at risk in accordance with Basketball England and UK statutory safeguarding standards.
• Legitimate Interests: Organising training and fixtures, communicating operational updates to players and parents/carers, maintaining accurate club records, and protecting our website against spam or misuse.
• Consent: Sending optional club news updates where subscribed, and placing non-essential analytics cookies when you select “Accept all” on our cookie banner. You may withdraw consent at any time.

4. Platforms & Third-Party Processors

We never sell personal data. We share data only with trusted service providers and governing bodies necessary to run the Club safely:

• Spond & ClassForKids: Secure club membership administration, session booking, attendance, and parent/player communications.
• Basketball England (PlayHQ) & AoC Sport: Official league licensing, competition fixtures, results, and standings.
• Squarespace & Microsoft 365: Website hosting, secure HTTPS form transmission, and club email mailboxes restricted to authorised staff.
• Google reCAPTCHA: Automated spam protection on public website enquiry forms.

5. Data Retention, Archiving & Deletion

We retain personal data in accordance with our published Data Retention Policy:

• Website Enquiries: General website form enquiries that do not proceed to club membership are reviewed periodically and deleted once no longer needed (normally within 12 months).
• Active & Former Members: Active records are maintained in Spond and ClassForKids during participation. When a player, staff member, or volunteer leaves the Club, their profile is deactivated or archived for administrative and safeguarding continuity, and deleted upon request where legal or safeguarding retention obligations do not apply.
• Messaging Groups: Operational club groups (such as WhatsApp) are used strictly for club logistics; parents and members may leave any group conversation at any time when they no longer wish to receive updates.
• Safeguarding & Financial Records: Financial records are retained in line with UK accounting law (typically 6 years). Safeguarding records are retained in accordance with Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and Basketball England safeguarding guidance.

6. Cookies & Managing Your Preferences

Our website uses two categories of cookies under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR):

• Strictly Necessary Cookies (Always Active): Required by Squarespace for page security (crumb CSRF protection), remembering your cookie consent choice, and protecting enquiry forms against automated bots.
• Analytics & Performance Cookies (Opt-In Only): Squarespace visitor analytics cookies (ss_cid, ss_cvr, ss_cvt) help us understand aggregate page visits. These are blocked until you click “Accept all”. Clicking “Decline all” keeps non-essential cookies disabled.

You can review or change your cookie choice at any time using the Cookie Preferences button at the bottom of any page, or via your browser settings.

7. Your UK GDPR Rights & How to Complain

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• Request access to a copy of the personal data we hold about you or your child;
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete details;
• Request deletion (erasure) of personal data where it is no longer required for club operations and no legal or safeguarding retention duty applies;
• Object to or request restriction of processing, or withdraw consent where consent is used.

To exercise any of these rights, email info@plymouthpatriotsbasketball.com. We will respond within one calendar month.

If you remain dissatisfied with how we handle your data, you have the right to complain to the UK supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or by calling 0303 123 1113.