Privacy Policy
Last updated: October 2, 2026
Courtbird is operated by Emberlitt, Inc., which is the data controller for your personal data.
Courtbird ("we", "us") is a free app that helps tennis players find partners, groups, coaches and courts nearby. This policy explains what we collect, why, and the choices you have.
What we collect
- Account info: your name, email address (or Apple/Google sign-in identifier), username and password hash, managed by Firebase Authentication.
- Profile info you choose to share: photo, bio, skill level, how and when you like to play, home court, profile colours and style tags, your Instagram username if you add one, and, if you give lessons, your coaching details (price, the levels you teach and a short note).
- Approximate location: with your permission we use your device location to show players, courts and games nearby. Only a coarse position (rounded to roughly 1 km) is ever stored or shown to other players, never your exact location. You can use the app without location by setting your area manually.
- Content you create: messages (one-to-one, and in the chat of groups you're in), game proposals, the times you say you're free to play and the invites you send, groups and your In/Out answers, match results, kudos you give, tournaments, and Moment photos.
- Device settings: a push notification token, the language the app is shown in, and which groups you muted, so notifications reach you, in your language, only when you want them.
How we use it
- To run the app: showing you players, coaches, groups and courts nearby, delivering messages, and sending the notifications the app needs (messages, invites, match confirmations, group games).
- To keep the community safe: reviewing reports of abusive content or behavior.
- We do not sell your data or use it for third-party advertising. Coaches list themselves for free, and lessons are arranged and paid between players; we take no part in payments.
What other players can see
Your profile (name, username, photo, bio, skill level, style, home court, approximate area, activity status, kudos totals, coaching details and Instagram username if you added them), when you're free to play (only the court or area you pick, and only until it ends), the groups you're in, the content you post (Moments, tournaments), messages you send to them, and messages you write in a group's chat (seen by that group's members only). If you have a confirmed match, your Birds Rating and win/loss record appear in the "Top players near you" ranking for players nearby. Match results are visible to the players involved.
Service providers
Courtbird runs on Google Firebase (Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage, Cloud Messaging, Cloud Functions). Court locations come from OpenStreetMap and weather from Open-Meteo; our servers fetch and cache both, so your device never contacts them, and they only ever see map areas, never who you are. Maps are shown with Apple Maps on iPhone and Google Maps on Android; when a map loads, Google may receive standard device information under the Google Privacy Policy. Group chat links (WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal) open in those apps, under their own policies. These providers process data on our behalf under their own privacy commitments.
Your choices and rights
- Delete your account anytime in Profile → Settings → Delete account. This permanently removes everything: your profile and private settings, photos and Moments, chats (including your messages in group chats), match results, kudos, invites, groups you organise and your answers in others, tournaments and check-ins. See our account deletion page for full details, including how to request deletion if you can't access the app.
- Location can be turned off in your device Settings (iOS or Android); the app keeps working with a manually chosen area.
- Notifications can be turned off in your device Settings.
- Blocking: you can block any player; you won't see each other's content. Every profile, photo, message, invite and group can also be reported in the app.
- For any data request, email us at the address below.
Legal bases (EU, UK and similar laws)
- Contract: to provide the service you signed up for (account, profile, matching, messages, groups, notifications).
- Consent: for device location and notifications (you can withdraw it anytime in your device settings) and for anything you choose to post publicly.
- Legitimate interests: to keep the community safe (moderation, abuse reports, fraud prevention) and to keep the service working and secure.
- Legal obligation: where the law requires us to keep or disclose information.
Where your data is stored
Data is stored on Google Cloud / Firebase servers in the United States. If you use Courtbird from outside the US, your data is transferred there; we rely on our providers' safeguards for international transfers, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU–US Data Privacy Framework where applicable.
Security
Data is encrypted in transit, access is restricted by security rules so each person can only change their own data, and exact location never leaves your phone. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we will notify you and the authorities as the law requires.
Data retention
Your data is kept while your account exists. Deleting your account removes your profile, private settings, photos and Moments, chats (including your messages in group chats), match results, kudos, invites, groups you organise and your answers in others, tournaments and check-ins. Moment photos older than 90 days stop being shown in the app. Times you say you're free disappear when they end. Abuse reports about an account may be kept, de-identified where possible, for safety and legal reasons.
Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR in the EU/UK, or US state laws such as the California CCPA/CPRA), you can ask to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your data, object to or restrict certain uses, and withdraw consent. Most of this you can do yourself in the app (edit your profile, delete posts, delete your account). For anything else, email us; we answer within 30 days. We will not treat you differently for exercising your rights. If you are in the EU or UK you can also complain to your local data protection authority (in Spain the AEPD, in France the CNIL).
We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising, and we do not use your data for automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects.
Website
Our website doesn't use advertising or analytics cookies. Our hosting provider (Google Firebase) processes standard technical data such as IP addresses to deliver the pages securely.
Age
Courtbird is only for people aged 18 and over. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 18; if we learn we have, we delete the account.
Future changes to the service
Courtbird may grow: for example optional paid features (such as promoted coach listings), new features that need new kinds of data, or new service providers. If we ever want to collect new types of personal data or use your data for a new purpose, we will update this policy first, tell you in the app before it applies, and ask for your consent wherever the law requires it (for example for any advertising use or for sensitive data). We will always follow the privacy laws that apply to you, you will keep the rights described above, and anything optional will stay optional. If Courtbird is ever transferred to a new owner (for example our own company), your data will stay protected by this policy or by one at least as protective, and we will tell you.
Changes
If this policy changes materially, we'll update this page and tell you in the app before the change takes effect.