Privacy Policy
Last updated: May 2026
Introduction
The Academy ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website theacademy.gg and associated services (collectively, the "Platform"). This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you use our Platform. The Academy is operated from Massachusetts, USA. By accessing or using the Platform, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not access or use the Platform.
Information We Collect
We collect several categories of information depending on how you interact with the Platform: 1. Account & Personal Information When you create an account, we collect: • Full name • Email address • Password (stored in hashed form; we never store plaintext passwords) • City and state of residence • High school name • Graduation year 2. Athletic Data To power recruiting tools and profile features, we collect self-reported athletic information including: • Playing position(s) • Height and weight • Batting hand and throwing hand • Pitch velocities and other performance metrics • 60-yard dash time • Other sport-specific measurables 3. Academic Data To support academic eligibility tools and school matching, we collect self-reported academic information including: • Grade point average (GPA) • SAT and/or ACT scores • Course names and grades • Academic interests and intended major All academic data is self-reported by the user. We do not request, receive, or access academic records directly from schools, school districts, or any educational institution. 4. Video & Media Users may upload game film, highlight videos, and other media to their profiles. These files are stored securely and associated with your account. 5. Financial Information When you purchase a subscription or make a payment, payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe, our third-party payment processor. We never receive, store, or have access to your full credit card number, debit card number, or bank account information. We may receive from Stripe: transaction confirmation, subscription status, the last four digits of your card, and card brand for display purposes only. 6. Usage Data We automatically collect information about how you interact with the Platform, including: • Pages and features visited • Feature usage patterns • Browser type and device information • IP address • Date and time of access • Referring URLs 7. Chat & AI Interaction Data The Platform includes AI-powered features such as: • Tutoring Center (AI tutoring) • Recruiting Assistant (AI recruiting guidance) • Mental Performance Coaching (AI wellness and performance support) When you use these features, the content of your conversations (your messages and the AI responses) is sent to third-party AI providers for processing. We may store conversation history to provide continuity and improve your experience. See the "AI Features & Your Data" section below for more details.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes: • Provide and operate the Platform: To create and manage your account, deliver the features you request, and maintain Platform functionality. • Recruiting tools and analysis: To generate fit scores, school matches, profile analysis, and personalized recruiting guidance based on your athletic and academic profile. • AI-powered features: To process your messages through AI assistants and provide tutoring, recruiting guidance, and mental performance coaching. • Communication: To send you transactional emails such as account verification, password resets, payment confirmations, and important Platform updates. • Payment processing: To process subscriptions and payments through our third-party payment processor. • Platform improvement: To understand how users interact with the Platform, identify issues, and improve features and user experience. • Security and fraud prevention: To detect, prevent, and respond to security incidents, fraud, and abuse. • Legal compliance: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, and legal processes.
AI Features & Your Data
The Platform uses third-party AI providers (currently Groq and OpenAI) to power conversational features including Tutoring Center, Recruiting Assistant, and Mental Performance Coaching. What is sent to AI providers: When you use an AI-powered feature, the content of your conversation (your messages and relevant context from your profile) is sent to the AI provider to generate a response. What is NOT done with your data: • Your conversations are not used to train AI models. We use API access to these providers, and under the terms of our agreements, data sent via API is not used for model training. • Your conversations are not sold to any third party. • Your conversations are not used for advertising or marketing purposes. Data retention for AI features: Conversation history may be stored on our servers to provide continuity across sessions. Conversations are deleted when you delete your account. AI providers may temporarily retain data for abuse monitoring in accordance with their own privacy policies, but do not use API-submitted data for training.
Third-Party Service Providers
We use the following third-party service providers to operate the Platform. These providers process data on our behalf and are contractually obligated to protect your information: Supabase Purpose: Database hosting, user authentication, and file storage (including uploaded videos and media). Your account data, profile information, and uploaded files are stored on Supabase infrastructure. Stripe Purpose: Payment processing. Stripe handles all payment transactions. We never store your full payment card details on our servers. Stripe's privacy policy governs their handling of your payment information. Resend Purpose: Transactional email delivery. Used to send account verification emails, password reset emails, payment confirmations, and other Platform communications. Resend receives your email address and email content for delivery purposes only. Groq / OpenAI Purpose: AI chat and assistant features. Conversation content is sent to these providers for real-time processing and response generation. Data submitted via API is not used by these providers for model training. Vercel Purpose: Website hosting and deployment. Vercel serves the Platform's web application. Vercel may process standard web traffic data (IP addresses, request logs) as part of hosting operations.
Data Sharing & Disclosure
We do not sell your personal information. We have never sold personal information and will not sell personal information in the future. We do not share your personal information with third parties for their own marketing or advertising purposes. We may disclose your information only in the following circumstances: • Service providers: With the third-party service providers listed above, solely for the purposes of operating the Platform. • Legal requirements: If required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements. • Safety and rights: If we believe disclosure is necessary to protect the safety, rights, or property of The Academy, our users, or the public. • Business transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, in which case your information may be transferred as part of the transaction. We will notify you via email or prominent notice on the Platform before your information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy. • With your consent: In any other circumstance where you provide explicit consent.
Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include: • Encryption of data in transit using TLS/SSL • Encryption of data at rest • Hashed password storage (passwords are never stored in plaintext) • Access controls limiting who can access user data • Payment card data handled exclusively by Stripe (PCI-compliant) and never stored on our servers • Regular review of data collection, storage, and processing practices While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.
Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with the Platform's services. • Active accounts: All data associated with your account is retained while your account remains active. • Account deletion: When you request deletion of your account, we will delete your personal information, profile data, uploaded media, and conversation history. Deletion will be completed within 30 days of your request. • Backup retention: Some data may persist in encrypted backups for a limited period after deletion, but will not be actively used or accessible. • Legal obligations: We may retain certain information as required by law, such as transaction records for tax and accounting purposes.
Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)
The Platform is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are under 13, you may not create an account or use the Platform. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at apexsportsgg@gmail.com. Users aged 13 to 17: Users between the ages of 13 and 17 may create an account and use the Platform. We encourage parents and guardians to be involved in their child's use of the Platform. Parents or guardians may link their own account to monitor their child's account activity. Parents or guardians may contact us at any time to request access to, modification of, or deletion of their child's personal information.
Your Rights & Choices
Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information: All Users: • Access: You can access and review the personal information in your account at any time through your profile settings. • Update: You can update or correct your personal information through your profile settings at any time. • Delete: You can request deletion of your account and all associated personal information by contacting us at apexsportsgg@gmail.com. • Email communications: You can opt out of non-essential email communications. Transactional emails (account verification, password resets, payment confirmations) cannot be opted out of while your account is active. Parents and Guardians: • You may request access to your child's personal information. • You may request correction or deletion of your child's personal information. • You may link a parent account to your child's account for oversight. • You may request that we stop collecting information from your child.
California Privacy Rights (CCPA / CPRA)
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA): Right to Know: You have the right to request that we disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources from which your information was collected, the business or commercial purpose for collecting your information, and the categories of third parties with whom we share your information. Right to Delete: You have the right to request that we delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions provided by law. Right to Correct: You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information that we maintain about you. Right to Opt-Out of Sale or Sharing: We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. Because we do not engage in these activities, there is no need to opt out. However, if our practices change, we will update this policy and provide an opt-out mechanism. Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA/CPRA rights. We will not deny you services, charge you different prices, provide a different level of service, or suggest any of the foregoing because you exercised a privacy right. How to Exercise Your Rights: To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at apexsportsgg@gmail.com. We will verify your identity before processing your request. We will respond to verifiable consumer requests within 45 days. If we require more time (up to an additional 45 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. Categories of Personal Information Collected: For purposes of the CCPA/CPRA, we have collected the following categories of personal information from consumers within the last 12 months: • Identifiers (name, email address, IP address) • Personal information categories listed in Cal. Civ. Code 1798.80(e) (name, address, education) • Protected classification characteristics (age/graduation year) • Commercial information (purchase history, subscription records) • Internet or other electronic network activity (browsing history, feature usage) • Education information (self-reported GPA, test scores, courses) • Audio, electronic, visual, or similar information (uploaded videos) • Inferences drawn from the above (fit scores, recruiting analysis) We do not collect: Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, biometric information, geolocation data, or sensitive personal information as defined by CPRA.
Do Not Track Signals
The Platform does not currently respond to "Do Not Track" (DNT) browser signals. There is no uniform standard for how companies should respond to DNT signals, and we do not currently change our data collection practices based on DNT signals. If a standard is established in the future, we will update this policy to reflect our practices.
Cookies & Tracking Technologies
The Platform uses cookies and similar technologies for essential functionality: • Authentication cookies: To keep you logged in and maintain your session. • Preference cookies: To remember your settings and preferences. • Security cookies: To support security features and detect malicious activity. We do not use third-party advertising cookies. We do not use tracking cookies for cross-site advertising. We do not sell cookie data to third parties.
International Users
The Platform is operated from the United States. If you are accessing the Platform from outside the United States, please be aware that your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States. By using the Platform, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States. The data protection laws in the United States may differ from those in your jurisdiction.
Third-Party Links
The Platform may contain links to third-party websites, including college and university websites, NCAA and other athletic organization websites, and external resources. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these third-party sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party website you visit.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For material changes that significantly affect how we handle your personal information, we will provide notice through the Platform or via email before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date of the revised Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at: The Academy Email: apexsportsgg@gmail.com Location: Massachusetts, USA We will respond to all privacy-related inquiries within 30 days.