Privacy Policy - Early Scholars Speech and Debate

Early Scholars Speech and Debate ("Early Scholars," "we," "us," or "our") operates the Early Scholars mobile application. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information.

Information We Collect

When you create an account, we collect:

Account information: Full name, display name, email address, and password
Profile information: Location, gender, children's names (optional, for parent accounts), and profile photo
Usage data: Messages you send in community posts and private chats, group memberships
Device information: Push notification tokens for sending notifications to your device

How We Use Your Information

To provide and maintain the Early Scholars app and its features
To enable communication between members (community posts, group chats, direct messages)
To send push notifications about messages and events
To verify and approve new member accounts
To display your profile to other community members

Information Sharing

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. Your information is shared only:

With other Early Scholars members (your display name, profile photo, and messages you post)
With service providers who help us operate the app (Supabase for data hosting, Expo for push notifications)
When required by law or to protect our rights

Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored securely using Supabase, which provides encrypted data storage and secure authentication. We implement appropriate security measures to protect your personal information.

Children's Privacy

Early Scholars is a speech and debate community for families. Student accounts may be created by students themselves or by their parents. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. If you are a parent and believe your child under 13 has provided personal information without your consent, please contact us to have the account removed.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

Access your personal information through your profile
Update your information at any time via the Edit Profile feature
Delete your account and all associated data through the Delete Account option in your profile settings

Account Approval

All new accounts require administrator approval before gaining access to the app. This measure protects our community and ensures a safe environment for all members.

Push Notifications

You may receive push notifications for new messages and events. You can disable these at any time through your device settings.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new policy within the app.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact us at:

Early Scholars Speech and Debate
Email: info@earlyscholars.org
Phone: +1-347-474-3140