Bridge Instructors connects bridge players with pros, teachers and clubs. This policy explains what we collect when you use bridgeinstructors.com and the teachers' websites that run on it, why, who we share it with, and the choices you have. It is written to be read - if anything is unclear, write to us at support@bridgeinstructors.com.

  1. Who we are
  2. What we collect
  3. How we use it
  4. What others see
  5. Who we share it with
  6. Google Calendar
  7. Payments
  8. Cookies
  9. How long we keep it
  10. Your choices and rights
  11. Security
  12. Children
  13. Changes
  14. Contact

1. Who we are

Bridge Instructors is run by Bridge Instructors LLC, which is responsible for the information described here. Teachers who have their own website on our platform decide what they offer their students on it; the account you use there is your Bridge Instructors account, and this policy applies to it.

2. What we collect

What you give us

  • Your account: your name, email address and password (stored only in scrambled, one-way form - we cannot read it), and the kind of account you chose: player, pro or teacher.
  • Your profile: what you choose to add - a photo, a short bio, your town and state, the languages you speak, the levels you play and teach, the clubs you play at, your phone number, your ACBL number and BBO name.
  • As a pro: the services you offer and their prices, your availability, your clients and partners, and the ways you accept payment (for example your Venmo or Zelle details) that you choose to show.
  • Bookings and messages: the games and lessons you book or are booked for, with the notes you add to them.

What we collect as you use the site

  • Location: we work out an approximate location from the town you give us, to show you the pros, clubs and tournaments near you. If you press "Use my location", your browser shares your position for that one search; we use it to find what is near and do not keep it.
  • Your time zone, so times are shown in yours.
  • Technical details your browser sends with every visit - such as your IP address and browser type - kept in our server logs to run and protect the site.

From others

  • A pro may add you to their list of clients with your name and email - for example to book you into a game. You are then invited to set up your own account, and can ask the pro or us to remove you.
  • If you connect your Google Calendar or a published calendar, we read the times you are busy - see Google Calendar.
  • If you pay through the site, Stripe tells us whether the payment went through - see Payments.
  • Public information about bridge clubs and tournaments comes from the ACBL and from the clubs' own websites.

3. How we use it

  • To run your account and the features you use: finding and booking pros, your bridge calendar, your partners and clients, payments, and teachers' lessons.
  • To show you what is near you and in your time zone.
  • To send you the emails the service needs - confirming your email address, booking requests, reminders, receipts, password resets - and, only if you have agreed, our newsletter.
  • To keep the site safe: preventing abuse, fraud and unauthorised access, and fixing problems.
  • To meet legal obligations, such as keeping payment records.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not show advertising.

4. What others see

  • A pro's profile is public by default so players can find them: name, photo, bio, town, languages, levels, clubs, services and prices you choose to show, and when you are free or taken (never with whom or why).
  • A player's profile is shown to signed-in members by default. You can choose who sees your profile - everyone, members only, or no one - in your settings.
  • Your email address and phone number are not shown on your profile; the pros you book with see what they need to arrange the game.

5. Who we share it with

We share information only as needed to run the service, with these kinds of providers, who may use it only to work for us:

  • Hosting and storage for the site and its database, in the United States.
  • Email delivery, to send you the site's emails.
  • Stripe, for card payments (see Payments).
  • Google, if you connect Google Calendar, and to turn a town name into a place on the map (only the town and state, never your street address).
  • Maps and content delivery: map images come from OpenStreetMap, and parts of the site's code and fonts from content delivery networks; like any website you visit, they see your IP address when your browser loads them.
  • The people you deal with: the pros, teachers and players you book, pay or connect with see the details needed for that.

We may also share information when the law requires it, to protect people's safety or our rights, or as part of a sale or merger of the business - in which case this policy continues to protect it.

6. Google Calendar

Pros can connect a Google Calendar so their bookings appear there and their other appointments keep those times busy on Bridge Instructors. When you connect it, you choose which calendar we write to, and you grant us access to:

  • See and edit events (calendar.events) - to add your Bridge Instructors bookings to your calendar, update them when they change, and remove them when they are cancelled. We only change events we created.
  • See your calendars (calendar.readonly) - to list your calendars so you can choose one, and to read the start and end times and titles of your events so those times show as busy.

We keep the times and titles of your events for the next six months, refreshed about every 15 minutes. The titles are shown only to you, on your own Bridge Instructors calendar; everyone else sees only that a time is taken. We do not use your calendar data for anything else, we do not share it, and no person at Bridge Instructors reads it except when you ask us for help or the law requires it.

You can disconnect Google Calendar at any time from your Integrations page; we then delete the events we read and stop reading your calendar. You can also remove our access in your Google Account settings.

Bridge Instructors' use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

7. Payments

Card payments are handled by Stripe. Your card details go straight to Stripe and never pass through or stay on our servers; we keep the amount, the date and whether the payment succeeded or was refunded. A pro who takes card payments connects their own Stripe account, and Stripe's own privacy policy applies to what it collects. Payments made outside the site - for example by Venmo or Zelle - are recorded only as the pro or player marks them paid.

8. Cookies

We use only the cookies the site needs to work: one that keeps you signed in, one that protects forms against forgery, one that remembers your time zone, and - if you tick "Keep me logged in" - one that keeps you signed in for longer. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies, and we do not use analytics services that follow you across sites.

9. How long we keep it

We keep your account information for as long as you have an account. When you ask us to delete it, we delete or anonymise your personal information within 30 days, except records we must keep - such as payments and bookings other people rely on - which we keep with your name removed, for as long as the law requires. Server logs are kept for a short time only.

10. Your choices and rights

  • You can see and change most of your information yourself, in your account and settings.
  • You can choose who sees your profile. If we send you a newsletter, you can stop it at any time from the link in it, or by writing to us.
  • You can ask us for a copy of your information, to correct it, or to delete your account and your personal information - write to support@bridgeinstructors.com.

Depending on where you live - for example in California or the European Union - you may have further rights, such as to object to or restrict how we use your information, or to complain to a data protection authority. We will honour them; write to us to use them. We will not treat you differently for doing so.

11. Security

We protect your information with encrypted connections (HTTPS), scrambled passwords, limited access for our staff, and regular updates. No system is perfectly secure; if something goes wrong that affects you, we will tell you.

12. Children

Bridge Instructors is not meant for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their information. Younger players may take part through a parent or teacher who manages the account. If you believe a child under 13 has given us information, write to us and we will delete it.

13. Changes

We may update this policy as the service changes. We will change the date at the top, and tell you by email or on the site before an important change takes effect.

14. Contact

Bridge Instructors LLC ยท support@bridgeinstructors.com