Privacy Policy

Information you give us

• Account details: email address, name, and a password, which we store only as a one-way hash. We send a verification email when you register.
• Phone number: only if you choose SMS tee time alerts. We send a verification code before any alert is sent, and you can remove the number at any time in Settings.
• Tee time alerts and saved searches: the courses, dates, times and player counts you ask us to watch.
• Payment: paid subscriptions are processed by Stripe. Your card details go directly to Stripe and never touch our servers. We keep Stripe's customer and subscription identifiers and a record of subscription events (payment succeeded, failed, cancelled) so we can manage your plan.
• Feedback and course condition reports you submit through the site.

Information collected automatically

• Usage logs: which pages and searches you make, with timestamps and your IP address, used to run the service, enforce rate limits, detect abuse and understand which features are used.
• Browser errors: if a page breaks in your browser we record the error message and page so we can fix it. No form contents are included.
• Analytics: we use Google Analytics 4 to measure traffic and feature use in aggregate. Google sets its own cookies for this; see Google's privacy policy for how it handles that data.
• Push notifications: if you enable them, we store the push subscription your browser issues so we can deliver alert matches to that device.

Cookies and browser storage

We keep your sign-in token, dark mode choice, recent searches and dismissed tips in your browser's local storage so the site remembers them between visits. Course listings are cached in session storage to make pages load faster. Apart from Google Analytics, we do not use advertising or tracking cookies.

How we use your information

• To show tee times, course conditions and your alerts.
• To send the alert emails, text messages and push notifications you asked for, plus account emails such as verification, password reset and billing notices.
• To occasionally email account holders about new features. Every such email has an unsubscribe link.
• To operate, secure and improve the Service.

We do not sell your personal information.

Service providers we share data with

• Stripe for payments.
• Twilio to send SMS alerts and verification codes to the phone number you provide.
• Google for sending email and for Google Analytics.
• Hetzner, which hosts our servers in its data centers.

Each provider receives only what it needs to perform its function. Booking links take you to the golf course's own booking site, which has its own privacy policy.

Course conditions and public social media posts

Course condition badges (frost delays, cart path only, aeration, closures) come from the courses' own websites and booking pages. Some course operators announce closures and delays only on their official public Threads account. For those courses we read the operator's recent public posts through Meta's Threads API, classify them into condition labels, and show the label with a link back to the original post. We store only the post text, timestamp and link, for no more than 14 days. We never read private accounts, user profiles or anyone's followers, and we never post, reply or message on anyone's behalf. You can request that an operator's feed be removed from this process by emailing us.

Affiliate links

The golf gear page contains Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through one, Amazon may pay us a small commission at no cost to you. Amazon's cookies and privacy policy apply on its site.

Data retention

Your account data is kept while your account is open. Usage logs are kept for up to 400 days for signed-in users and 90 days for anonymous visits. Alert records are kept after the alert expires so you can see your history. Database backups are retained for 14 days.

Your choices

• Delete your account: Settings → Delete account removes your profile, alerts and phone number, cancels any subscription and deletes your customer record at Stripe. Stripe keeps completed payment records for as long as the law requires.
• Turn off notifications: each alert's email, SMS and push options can be changed or removed in Settings at any time.
• Access or correct your data: email us and we will send you what we hold or fix it.

Children

The Service is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their information.

Changes

We may update this policy. The date at the top shows the latest revision, and material changes will be announced on the site.

Questions? Contact us at support@coteetimes.com.