Public Legal Policy

Effective Date: September 20, 2026

Dinka | Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States | support@dinkapickleball.com

Revision History

This Privacy Policy is part of Dinka's launch legal documentation package and should be read together with Dinka's Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, Trust & Safety Policy, DMCA Policy, and Support / Account Deletion Page.

1. Introduction and Scope

1.1 Purpose

This Privacy Policy explains how Dinka Sports Technology LLC, operating as Dinka ("Dinka," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, discloses, retains, and protects information when you use Dinka's mobile application, websites, accounts, memberships, clubs, coach features, events, tournaments, communications, and related services (collectively, the "Services").

Dinka is a United States-based sports social networking platform built for pickleball players, coaches, clubs, and related communities. The Services are designed to help users create profiles, share pickleball-related content, communicate with other users, discover clubs and coaches, and participate in the pickleball community. Because Dinka includes social features, media uploads, direct messaging, location-based features, and memberships, this Privacy Policy is intended to give clear notice of what information is involved and how Dinka uses it.

1.2 Application of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all users of the Services, including players, coaches, clubs, event organizers, tournament organizers, subscribers, reviewers, visitors, and other people who interact with Dinka. It applies whether you access Dinka through the iOS application, the web platform, a future Android application, or another Dinka-controlled interface.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to websites, applications, services, payment flows, or real-world services controlled by third parties. For example, Apple, Google, clubs, coaches, payment providers, social login providers, and future integration partners may process information under their own policies.

1.3 Age Requirement

Dinka is intended for users who are at least 13 years old. Dinka is not directed to children under 13, and users under 13 may not create an account or use the Services. Additional details are provided in Section 13, Children's Privacy.

1.4 Relationship to Other Dinka Policies

This Privacy Policy addresses privacy and data practices. Other Dinka policies address different topics. Dinka's Terms of Service govern your legal relationship with Dinka; the Community Guidelines and Trust & Safety Policy explain user conduct, reporting, blocking, moderation, and safety expectations; the DMCA Policy explains copyright takedown requests; and the Support / Account Deletion Page explains support and account deletion procedures. When another Dinka policy covers a topic in greater operational detail, this Privacy Policy cross-references that policy instead of repeating it.

2. Definitions

Account: means an account created to access the Services, whether created through email login, Google Sign-In, Apple Sign-In, or a future authentication method supported by Dinka.

Club: means a pickleball club, facility, organization, event organizer, tournament organizer, or similar entity using club-facing Dinka features.

Coach: means a user who uses coach-facing Dinka features to advertise coaching services, maintain a coach profile, or receive reviews.

Direct Messages: means private or semi-private messages sent through Dinka messaging features, including text and image messages.

Personal Information: means information that identifies, relates to, describes, can reasonably be associated with, or could reasonably be linked to a particular person or household, as defined by applicable privacy laws.

Platform: means the Dinka social networking environment and related features made available through the Services.

User Content: means content that a user uploads, posts, sends, publishes, displays, or otherwise makes available through the Services, including profile information, photos, videos, feed posts, comments, reviews, Direct Messages, event content, tournament content, and club or coach content.

you: means the person or entity using the Services. If you use the Services on behalf of a Club or other organization, "you" includes that organization where the context requires.

3. Information Dinka Collects

Dinka collects information in three main ways: information you provide, information collected automatically when you use the Services, and information received from third parties or integration partners. The specific information collected depends on which features you use, what permissions you grant, what content you choose to share, and whether you use player, coach, club, membership, event, tournament, or messaging features.

3.1 Account and Authentication Information

When you create or access an Account, Dinka may collect information such as your name, email address, username, password-related credentials or authentication tokens, login method, account identifiers, profile identifiers, and account status. If you sign in through Google Sign-In or Apple Sign-In, Dinka receives authentication information made available by that provider, such as your name, email address, provider-specific account identifier, and sign-in token. Dinka does not receive your Google or Apple password.

3.2 Profile and Player Information

Dinka may collect profile information you choose to provide, including username, display name, profile picture, biography, pickleball interests, skill-related information, preferred courts, home court or location preferences, social connections, followers, friends, rankings or ratings if supported, and other information you add to your player profile. Profiles are searchable only within Dinka unless Dinka later provides additional public profile settings and discloses them before launch.

3.3 User Content

Dinka collects User Content you create, upload, post, send, or otherwise make available through the Services. This may include feed posts, comments, photos, videos, captions, reviews, club posts, event information, tournament information, coach advertising content, and related metadata such as posting time, upload time, file type, file size, and content identifiers. You retain ownership of your User Content, subject to the license and moderation rights described in Dinka's Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.

3.4 Direct Messages

Dinka collects Direct Messages you send or receive through the Services, including text messages, image messages, timestamps, message recipients, delivery information, and related metadata. Dinka uses this information to deliver messages, maintain conversation history, enforce safety rules, investigate reports, prevent abuse, and operate the Services. Dinka messaging is not designed to be an end-to-end encrypted messaging service, and users should not send sensitive information through Direct Messages.

3.5 Location Information

Dinka may collect location information if you grant permission through Apple Location Services or a future platform permission system. Location information may include precise device location while using enabled location features, approximate location derived from your device or network, and location information you manually provide, such as a preferred court, home court, club, city, event location, or tournament location. You may deny or disable location permission through your device settings. Certain location-based features may not work or may be limited if permission is denied.

3.6 Club, Coach, Event, and Tournament Information

If you use club or coach features, Dinka may collect additional information such as club name, facility information, coach profile information, coaching descriptions, contact or booking preferences, event details, tournament details, membership type, verification information if Dinka later offers verification, reviews, ratings, user feedback, and content associated with club or coach pages. Clubs cannot collect payments through Dinka as of the Effective Date. Coaches advertise their services only and may receive user reviews.

3.7 Payment and Subscription Information

Dinka offers paid memberships through Apple In-App Purchases as of the Effective Date, including Premium Membership and Coach Membership. Club accounts are reviewed separately, and any club billing is handled outside the app. Apple processes payment card information and other payment credentials. Dinka does not receive full payment card numbers, bank account information, or Apple account passwords. Dinka may receive subscription status, entitlement status, renewal status, cancellation status, product identifiers, receipt information, transaction identifiers, purchase dates, and other information needed to verify subscriptions, provide paid features, prevent fraud, and respond to support requests.

3.8 Device, Usage, and Diagnostic Information

Dinka and its integrated service providers may process limited device, app-instance, diagnostic, and performance information needed for authentication, messaging, subscription delivery, database and storage reliability, security, and troubleshooting. Dinka does not currently use Firebase Analytics for behavioral analytics and does not sell personal information.

3.9 Communications and Support Information

When you contact Dinka, report content, appeal an enforcement action, submit a support request, request account deletion, or communicate with Dinka for another reason, Dinka may collect your contact information, request content, attachments, timestamps, account information, and other information needed to respond. Dinka may also send push notifications, password reset emails, security notices, policy notices, product updates, and transactional communications related to your Account or use of the Services.

3.10 Information from Future Integrations

Dinka may later support integrations such as DUPR integration, rankings, verified coach or club programs, sponsored clubs, sponsored tournaments, event registration, media galleries, additional authentication providers, additional payment methods, web access, Android access, or other sports-related features. If you choose to connect an integration, Dinka may receive information authorized by you or permitted by the integration provider, such as profile information, ranking or rating information, account identifiers, public athletic statistics, event participation data, or verification signals. Dinka will provide additional disclosures or controls when required by law or materially necessary to explain the feature.

4. How Dinka Uses Information

Dinka uses information only for legitimate business, operational, safety, legal, and user-facing purposes connected to the Services. Dinka does not sell personal information. Dinka does not use OpenAI or other AI-generated platform features as of the Effective Date.

4.1 Provide and Operate the Services

• Create, authenticate, secure, and maintain Accounts.

• Display profiles, posts, comments, photos, videos, club pages, coach pages, events, and tournaments.

• Deliver Direct Messages and maintain message history.

• Process membership entitlements and provide paid features.

• Support location-based features when you grant permission.

• Provide support, password reset emails, notifications, and service communications.

4.2 Personalize and Improve Dinka

• Understand which features are used and where users encounter friction.

• Improve feed, discovery, club, coach, event, and tournament experiences.

• Maintain rankings, ratings, recommendations, or similar product features if later introduced.

• Measure aggregate platform activity, retention, engagement, and product performance.

• Test, troubleshoot, and improve current and future Services.

4.3 Safety, Integrity, and Moderation

Dinka uses information to protect users and the Platform, including by receiving and reviewing reports, enforcing Dinka policies, detecting spam or abuse, investigating misconduct, responding to safety issues, restricting accounts, suspending accounts, permanently banning users, preserving evidence when appropriate, and preventing circumvention of enforcement actions. Dinka may review User Content, Direct Messages, account information, device or usage signals, and report information when necessary for these purposes.

4.4 Legal, Compliance, and Business Purposes

Dinka may use information to comply with applicable laws, respond to lawful requests, enforce contracts, protect legal rights, maintain records, complete corporate transactions, prevent fraud, collect amounts owed, audit subscriptions, comply with App Store requirements, and support financing, diligence, insurance, accounting, and governance activities.

4.5 Communications

Dinka may use contact information to send password reset emails, security notices, account notices, policy updates, support responses, subscription-related notices, moderation notices, appeal decisions, product updates, and push notifications. You can manage push notification permissions through your device settings. Password reset, security, and account-related communications may be required for the Services and may not be fully optional.

5. User Content, Visibility, and Social Features

5.1 Visibility Within Dinka

Dinka is a social platform. Information you choose to place on your profile, post to the feed, submit as a comment, provide as a review, publish through a club or coach page, or attach to an event or tournament may be visible to other Dinka users depending on the feature and settings. Dinka does not intentionally make user profiles searchable on public search engines as of the Effective Date, but other users may view, copy, download, record, screenshot, or share content outside Dinka in ways Dinka cannot fully control.

5.2 Ownership and License

Users retain ownership of their uploaded User Content. By using the Services, users grant Dinka a license to host, store, reproduce, display, distribute, transmit, process, modify for formatting, moderate, remove, and otherwise use User Content as necessary to operate, protect, improve, and promote the Services, as further described in Dinka's Terms of Service. Removing content or deleting an Account may not remove all copies immediately, including copies retained for safety, legal, backup, integrity, or enforcement purposes.

5.3 Moderation of User Content

Dinka may remove, restrict, label, demote, preserve, or otherwise moderate User Content that violates Dinka policies, appears unlawful, creates safety risk, infringes rights, or may harm users, Dinka, clubs, coaches, business partners, or the broader pickleball community. Additional moderation rules are described in Dinka's Community Guidelines, Trust & Safety Policy, and DMCA Policy.

6. Location, Real-World Activities, and Safety

6.1 Location Permission

Dinka asks for location permission only when a feature needs it or when location access improves the user experience. You may deny location permission. You may also disable or adjust location access through your device settings. If you deny location permission, Dinka may still use location information you manually provide, such as your selected home court, preferred city, club, event location, or tournament location.

6.2 Real-World Meetups and Pickleball Activities

Dinka helps users discover pickleball-related people, places, events, and activities, but Dinka does not control real-world meetups, games, coaching sessions, tournaments, transportation, facilities, weather conditions, injuries, user conduct, club operations, or coach services. Users should use judgment before meeting others in person, sharing location information, attending events, or participating in pickleball activities. Dinka's Terms of Service and Trust & Safety Policy contain additional disclaimers and safety guidance for injuries, meetups, coaching, tournaments, clubs, and user interactions.

7. How Dinka Discloses Information

Dinka discloses information when needed to provide the Services, when you direct us to disclose it, when information is visible through social features, when we use service providers, when required for safety or legal purposes, or when otherwise described in this Privacy Policy.

7.1 Other Users

Dinka discloses profile information, User Content, reviews, club content, coach content, event content, tournament content, and social interactions to other users according to the feature used and applicable settings. Direct Messages are disclosed to the intended recipients and may be reviewed by Dinka when reported, when necessary for safety or abuse prevention, or when otherwise permitted by law and Dinka policy.

7.2 Clubs and Coaches

If you interact with a Club, Coach, event, tournament, review, or related feature, Dinka may disclose information necessary to support that interaction. For example, a coach profile or club page may display public-facing information; a user review may identify the reviewer according to Dinka's feature design; and an event or tournament feature may show registration, attendance, or participation information if Dinka later supports those functions. Clubs cannot collect payments through Dinka as of the Effective Date.

7.3 Service Providers

Dinka may disclose information to service providers that help Dinka operate the Services, such as cloud hosting providers, authentication providers, analytics providers, database providers, media storage providers, content delivery providers, push notification providers, email providers, subscription management providers, customer support tools, moderation tools, security vendors, legal advisors, auditors, accountants, and other operational vendors. These providers may process information only as needed to provide services to Dinka and are expected to protect information appropriately.

7.4 Payment and App Store Providers

Apple processes in-app purchases and payment credentials. Dinka may receive subscription and entitlement information from Apple or subscription infrastructure providers so that Dinka can provide paid features, validate access, resolve support requests, and prevent fraud. If Dinka later supports additional payment methods, Dinka will update or supplement its disclosures as required.

7.5 Legal Requests, Safety, and Enforcement

Dinka may disclose information when we believe disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with law, legal process, or government requests; protect the rights, safety, or property of Dinka, users, clubs, coaches, partners, or the public; investigate violations; enforce Dinka policies; prevent fraud or abuse; respond to emergencies; or preserve evidence. Dinka may object to requests that Dinka believes are overbroad, unlawful, or inconsistent with user privacy, when appropriate.

7.6 Business Transactions

Dinka may disclose or transfer information in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, sale of assets, diligence process, investment transaction, or similar corporate event. If a transaction materially changes how Personal Information is used, Dinka will provide notice as required by applicable law.

7.7 No Sale of Personal Information

Dinka does not sell Personal Information. Dinka also does not share Personal Information for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are commonly used in U.S. state privacy laws. Dinka does not operate third-party advertising networks in the Services as of the Effective Date. If Dinka later introduces sponsored clubs, sponsored businesses, sponsored tournaments, or advertising, Dinka will structure disclosures and controls to reflect the actual data use before launch of the relevant feature.

8. Diagnostics, Cookies, and Similar Technologies

8.1 Firebase and Service Diagnostics

Dinka uses Firebase services for authentication, database and file storage, push messaging, app integrity, reliability, and troubleshooting. Firebase and other integrated providers may process limited app-instance, device, diagnostic, purchase, and performance data needed to provide those functions. Dinka does not currently use Firebase Analytics for behavioral analytics and does not use this data for cross-app tracking.

8.2 Cookies and Web Technologies

Dinka’s website uses browser storage and authentication technologies to keep users signed in and provide community, club, league and account tools. Firebase and integrated service providers process information needed to deliver and secure these features. Dinka does not currently use Firebase Analytics for behavioral analytics or these technologies for cross-app advertising tracking.

8.3 Mobile Permissions and Controls

Mobile operating systems provide controls for location, photos, camera, microphone, notifications, and other permissions. Dinka only receives permission-based information when you grant permission or when the operating system otherwise permits access. You can change permissions through your device settings, although disabling permissions may affect certain features.

9. Data Retention

Dinka retains information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the Services, maintain Accounts, support safety and moderation, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, prevent abuse, maintain backups, and support legitimate business purposes. Retention periods vary by information type, feature, legal requirement, and safety context.

When Dinka deletes information, it may not be removed from backups, logs, caches, or archival systems immediately. Dinka may also retain limited information after account deletion where necessary to prevent abuse, comply with law, resolve disputes, enforce Dinka policies, maintain financial records, protect safety, or preserve the integrity of the Platform.

10. Account Deletion and User Controls

10.1 In-App Account Deletion

Dinka provides Delete Account functionality directly in the application. Deleting your Account begins Dinka's account deletion process and may remove or de-identify account information, profile information, and certain user-facing content associated with your Account, subject to retention described in Section 9. Dinka may require reasonable steps to verify that the request is authorized by the account holder.

10.2 Effect of Account Deletion

Account deletion may not automatically remove all content or information in every context. For example, Dinka may retain information required for legal compliance, safety investigations, enforcement history, fraud prevention, backup integrity, subscription records, dispute resolution, or security. Content previously visible to other users may have been copied, downloaded, screenshotted, quoted, or shared outside Dinka by others. Direct Messages may remain visible to other conversation participants unless removed or restricted by Dinka.

10.3 Editing Profile Information

You may update certain Account and profile information through the Services, including username changes where supported. Dinka may retain prior versions or change records for safety, integrity, abuse prevention, support, or legal purposes.

10.4 Blocking, Reporting, and Notifications

Dinka provides blocking and reporting tools. Blocking may limit interactions with another user but may not remove all visibility in every feature. Reporting helps Dinka review potential violations of Dinka policies. You can manage push notifications through device settings and may manage other communication preferences where Dinka provides controls.

10.5 Location Controls

You can deny or revoke location permission through your device settings. You may also edit manually entered location preferences where Dinka provides that functionality. Revoking device location permission does not automatically delete location information already stored in connection with your Account, content, events, tournaments, clubs, or support history.

11. Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have privacy rights under applicable law. Dinka intends to honor applicable privacy rights for eligible users and may extend similar controls more broadly where practical. These rights may include the right to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of Personal Information; the right to opt out of certain processing; the right to limit certain uses of sensitive Personal Information; the right to appeal certain privacy decisions; and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising privacy rights.

11.1 How to Submit a Privacy Request

You may submit a privacy request by using in-app tools where available or by contacting Dinka at support@dinkapickleball.com. Dinka may ask for information reasonably necessary to verify your identity, confirm your authority to act for another person, understand the request, protect account security, and comply with applicable law. Dinka may decline or limit requests when permitted by law, including where fulfilling the request would violate another person's rights, compromise safety or security, interfere with legal obligations, reveal trade secrets, or prevent Dinka from enforcing its policies.

11.2 Authorized Agents

Where required by applicable law, you may authorize another person to submit a privacy request on your behalf. Dinka may require proof of authorization and may ask the account holder to verify the request directly unless prohibited by law.

11.3 Appeals

If Dinka denies a privacy request and applicable law gives you the right to appeal, you may appeal by replying to Dinka's decision email or contacting support@dinkapickleball.com with the subject line "Privacy Appeal." Dinka will review appeals according to applicable law and respond within the required timeframe.

11.4 Sensitive Personal Information

Certain information, such as precise location information, account credentials, Direct Messages, and uploaded media, may be considered sensitive under some privacy laws. Dinka uses sensitive information only for purposes described in this Privacy Policy, such as providing requested features, securing Accounts, delivering messages, supporting safety, preventing abuse, complying with law, and operating the Services. Dinka does not use sensitive Personal Information to infer characteristics for sale to third parties.

11.5 California and Other U.S. State Privacy Disclosures

For purposes of U.S. state privacy laws, Dinka may collect the categories of Personal Information described in Section 3 and the data summary table above. Dinka may disclose those categories to the recipients described in Section 7. Dinka does not sell Personal Information or share Personal Information for cross-context behavioral advertising. Dinka does not knowingly sell or share Personal Information of users under 16. Dinka will update this Privacy Policy or provide additional disclosures if its practices materially change.

12. Security

Dinka uses reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, authentication controls, vendor controls, encryption in transit where appropriate, monitoring, backups, logging, and internal security practices. No internet, mobile, cloud, or messaging service can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Users are responsible for using strong account credentials, protecting devices, keeping login methods secure, and promptly notifying Dinka of suspected unauthorized access.

If Dinka becomes aware of a security incident involving Personal Information, Dinka will investigate and provide notice where required by applicable law. Dinka may also take steps such as disabling accounts, resetting credentials, preserving logs, notifying vendors, or cooperating with law enforcement where appropriate.

13. Children's Privacy

Dinka is not directed to children under 13, and users under 13 are not permitted to create an Account or use the Services. Dinka does not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 13. If Dinka learns that it has collected Personal Information from a child under 13, Dinka will take reasonable steps to delete the information or terminate the Account, subject to safety, legal, and enforcement retention where appropriate.

Users who are at least 13 but under the age of majority in their jurisdiction should use Dinka only with permission from a parent or legal guardian. Parents or guardians who believe a minor has provided information to Dinka in violation of this Privacy Policy may contact support@dinkapickleball.com. Dinka may request information reasonably necessary to review and process the request.

14. International Users

Dinka is based in the United States and the Services are operated from the United States. If you access the Services from outside the United States, your information may be collected, processed, stored, and transferred in the United States or other countries where Dinka or its service providers operate. Privacy laws in those countries may differ from the laws where you live. By using the Services, you understand that information may be processed in the United States and other applicable locations.

If Dinka materially expands international operations, launches localized offerings, or becomes subject to additional international privacy regimes, Dinka may supplement this Privacy Policy with jurisdiction-specific disclosures or rights.

15. Third-Party Services and Links

The Services may allow you to interact with third-party services, including Apple, Google, Firebase, payment and subscription infrastructure, clubs, coaches, event organizers, tournament organizers, websites, social platforms, map services, identity or verification providers, future DUPR integration, and other partners. Dinka does not control the privacy practices of third parties. Your use of third-party services is subject to their policies and terms. Dinka encourages users to review third-party privacy notices before connecting accounts, sharing information, registering for events, or interacting outside Dinka.

16. Future Features and Product Changes

Dinka is designed to grow. Future features may include DUPR integration, rankings, sponsored clubs, sponsored businesses, sponsored tournaments, event registration, media galleries, verified coaches, verified clubs, additional membership tiers, additional authentication providers, additional payment methods, web access, Android access, and additional discovery or community tools. Dinka may collect or use additional information if those features are launched. Dinka will update this Privacy Policy, provide just-in-time notices, request permissions, or add controls when required by law or when materially necessary to explain the feature.

Dinka will not treat this future-looking language as permission to collect unrelated information without appropriate notice. Actual data practices will be based on features Dinka makes available, permissions users grant, and disclosures Dinka provides at the time.

17. Changes to this Privacy Policy

Dinka may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the Services, legal requirements, business practices, vendors, integrations, safety practices, or user feedback. The "Effective Date" at the top of the Privacy Policy indicates when the current version became effective. If Dinka makes material changes, Dinka will provide notice as required by law, which may include in-app notice, email notice, update notes, or another reasonable method. Continued use of the Services after the updated Privacy Policy becomes effective means the updated Privacy Policy applies to your use of the Services.

18. Contact Dinka

Questions, privacy requests, account deletion questions, security concerns, or concerns about this Privacy Policy may be sent to Dinka using the contact information below.