Download on the App Store
Download on the App Store

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 23 July 2026

1. Who operates Start Pickleball

Start Pickleball (“Start Pickleball”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is operated by Darren Tracey. You can contact us at hello@startpickleball.app.

2. The app and the website

This policy covers two different things, which handle data differently:

  • The Start Pickleball app for iPhone and Apple Watch, which stores your pickleball data locally on your device.
  • This marketing website at https://startpickleball.app, which describes the app and links to support, this policy and the Terms of Use.

Where a section applies only to the app or only to the website, that is stated. The website section is at the end of this policy.

3. Data stored locally by the app

Start Pickleball is designed to work without an account. The data you create in the app is stored locally on your device using Apple platform storage, and is not uploaded to a Start Pickleball account or a Start Pickleball server. Depending on how you use the app, this local data may include:

  • Your player name and profile.
  • Your playing level and dominant hand.
  • Your improvement goals.
  • Teams and player names you record.
  • Match dates, formats, scores, points, tags and notes.
  • Post-match reflections and transcribed text.
  • Coaching plans and recommended drills.
  • Practice history and recorded practice results.
  • Progression, skill rating, XP and achievements.
  • Where you have granted Apple Health read access, fitness values such as heart rate or active energy for a match or practice session may be stored locally alongside that session.
  • App preferences.

This data may be included in your device’s standard backups (for example iCloud device backup or an encrypted computer backup) if you have those enabled. Those backups are managed by Apple and your own settings, not by Start Pickleball.

4. Voice and speech

Microphone and speech access are optional and permission-based. If you choose to speak a post-match debrief, your speech is transcribed to text on your device when supported by your device and settings. The resulting text is stored locally with your match, and you can edit it.

Start Pickleball does not permanently store recorded audio. If this behaviour changes in a future version, this policy will be updated first.

5. Apple Intelligence and on-device processing

On eligible devices, Start Pickleball may use Apple’s on-device foundation models to support features such as coaching, extraction of details from your debrief, or rules guidance.

This processing runs entirely on your device. The match data, debrief text, notes and player names used by these features are not sent to a Start Pickleball server, are not sent to Apple’s Private Cloud Compute or any other cloud AI service, and are not shared with any third party for generation. They are also not used to train Apple’s models or ours. Because the model runs locally, these features work without a network connection.

Availability depends on your device, operating system, language, locale and Apple Intelligence settings. Where these on-device generative features are unavailable, Start Pickleball uses its own curated training library and rule-based guidance instead.

6. Apple Health

Apple Health integration is optional. Nothing is written to or read from Apple Health until you turn the integration on and grant permission. Apple asks you to approve reading and writing separately, and you can approve some data types and refuse others.

What Start Pickleball can write, with your permission

  • A workout for a completed match, and a workout for a completed practice session, recorded with its start time, end time and duration.
  • Where you permit it, completed activity may be written to Apple Health. You can manage those records in the Health and Fitness apps.

What Start Pickleball can read, with your permission

  • Heart rate, where a heart-rate source such as Apple Watch is available, so effort and intensity can be shown alongside the match or session. Start Pickleball has no heart-rate sensor of its own: the readings come from your Apple Watch or another source you have connected to Apple Health.
  • Active energy and permitted workout summaries, used to provide training context.
  • Where no heart-rate or energy data is available, or you decline that permission, the feature is simply left out — everything else in the app continues to work.

Health data read by Start Pickleball stays on your device and is used only to show and interpret your own activity. It is not sent to a Start Pickleball server, is not shared with third parties, and is not used for advertising or profiling.

You can revoke Health permissions at any time in iOS Settings or the Health app, and turn the integration off in Start Pickleball. Deleting your local Start Pickleball data does not delete workouts already written to Apple Health; those are managed in the Health app, where you can also delete individual workouts written by Start Pickleball.

7. Apple Watch

If you use the Apple Watch companion, match state and completed match information may be exchanged between your paired Apple Watch and iPhone using Apple’s device connectivity services. This exchange is between your own devices.

8. Shared content

You may choose to share a result card or other content from Start Pickleball using your device’s share sheet. The app uses the information you enter to create that content on your device.

Shared content can contain other people’s names and results. Please review player names and scores before resharing, and only share content you are entitled to share.

9. Purchases

Start Pickleball Pro is sold as an in-app subscription. Apple processes your payment. We use RevenueCat to retrieve subscription offerings, manage your subscription entitlement status, and support Restore Purchases. Start Pickleball does not receive your full payment-card details.

10. Tracking and advertising

Based on the current implementation, the app does not use advertising tracking and does not sell personal data. If this changes, this policy and, where required, the App Store privacy information will be updated.

11. Retention and deletion

Your local app data remains on your device until you delete it, use “Delete all app data”, or remove the app, subject to normal device backups and Apple-managed services.

  • Apple Health: match and practice workouts already written to Apple Health are managed in the Health app and are not removed by deleting Start Pickleball data.
  • Purchases: your subscription and purchase records are held by Apple and, for entitlement status, RevenueCat. Removing the app does not cancel a subscription; manage that through Apple.

12. Security

Because your core data is stored locally, it benefits from the standard protections of your device and operating system, such as device passcode, encryption and app sandboxing. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Keeping your device and operating system up to date, and using a device passcode, helps protect your data.

13. Children’s privacy

Start Pickleball is intended for a general audience of pickleball players. The app does not require an account and does not knowingly collect personal information on a Start Pickleball server.

Start Pickleball does not set a specific minimum age. If the law where you live requires a minimum age or parental consent to use apps like this, that requirement applies.

14. International users and legal rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights over your personal data. Because your core app data is stored locally on your device, you can exercise most controls directly in the app and your device settings, for example by editing or deleting your data, or revoking permissions.

  • EU / EEA (GDPR) and United Kingdom (UK GDPR): you may have rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection. Because we do not hold your app data on our servers, the most effective way to exercise these rights is directly on your device. You can also contact us about anything else, and you have the right to lodge a complaint with your data protection authority.
  • California (CCPA / CPRA): we do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined in California law.

15. Website privacy

This marketing website is designed to be lightweight. It does not use non-essential cookies, and it does not include advertising trackers or third-party analytics scripts. Because there are no non-essential cookies or trackers, the site does not show a cookie consent banner.

If analytics or other non-essential technologies are added in future, this policy will be updated first, and appropriate consent controls will be provided where required.

The website is hosted by Netlify, whose servers may keep standard request logs for security and reliability. See the Netlify Privacy Policy for details.

16. Changes and contact

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the “Last updated” date at the top of this page, and, for significant changes, provide additional notice where appropriate.

Questions about this policy or your data can be sent to hello@startpickleball.app.