Privacy Policy

1The short version

• We collect your location while a round is running, so we can tell which hole you are on and how far you are from the target.
• We collect the questions you ask and the shot context around them, so we can generate advice and improve it.
• We collect your account details and the shots you log, so your distances and tendencies carry between rounds.
• We use OpenAI to generate advice. Your question and shot context are sent to them to produce a response. They do not train their models on it.
• When you ask by voice, a short audio recording is sent to our servers and transcribed by OpenAI. We do not keep the audio file after transcription; we retain the text.
• We do not sell your data, and we do not use it for advertising.
• You can delete your account and everything attached to it at any time — see Deleting your account.

2Who we are

Kadd.ie is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. Our contact address is Castleknock, Dublin 15, Ireland.

You can reach us about anything in this policy at hello@kadd.ie.

3What this policy covers

This policy covers the Kaddie iOS app, the kadd.ie website, and our beta and launch mailing list. It does not cover other companies’ services that you reach from ours — their own policies apply.

4The data we collect

Account data

Your email address, a securely hashed password, and your invite code. We never hold your password in readable form and cannot recover it for you.

Location data

GPS position from your device while a round is active, used to work out your hole, your distances and your local conditions. Collected only while the app is in use during a round — never silently in the background.

Game profile

The clubs in your bag, your carry distances, the shots you log, and the tendencies we infer from them (for example a consistent miss to the right).

Questions and shot context

What you ask Kaddie, plus the surrounding context — distance to target, wind, lie, elevation — and the advice returned.

Voice audio (transient)

When you ask by voice, the app records audio only while you hold the microphone button. That recording is uploaded to our servers, sent to OpenAI for transcription, and discarded by us once we have the text. OpenAI may retain it for up to 30 days under their API terms.

Round feedback audio (optional)

If you choose to leave spoken feedback after a round, that recording is stored in our EU-hosted storage so we can review and improve the product. You can skip this step entirely.

Device and diagnostic data

App version, iOS version, device model, crash reports (via Sentry), and basic voice-session events (for example capture started, transcription finished). These help us keep the app working; they do not include the content of your questions.

Mailing list data

If you request beta access on the website, your email address and where you play.

We do not collect contacts, photos, health or fitness data, financial data, or advertising identifiers.

5Location, specifically

Location is the most sensitive thing we handle, so it gets its own section.

• iOS will ask your permission before we access location at all. You can decline, and you can change your mind later in Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services.
• We request While Using the App access. We do not request Always-on background location.
• We use your position to identify the hole, calculate distances to the target and to hazards, and to fetch conditions for where you actually are.
• Precise position is processed for the round in progress. We retain the shot locations attached to rounds you have logged, because that is what makes your distances accurate over time.
• If you decline location access, Kaddie still works — you enter distances manually — but advice will be less accurate.
• We never sell location data, share it with data brokers, or use it for advertising.

6Voice and AI-generated advice

Kaddie is voice-first, so you can ask a question without taking your hands off the club.

• iOS asks your permission before the microphone is used. The microphone is active only while you are actively asking a question — not continuously through your round.
• When you hold the microphone button, the app records a short clip on your device, then uploads it to our servers for transcription.
• Transcription is performed by OpenAI (currently the `gpt-4o-mini-transcribe` model). OpenAI does not use API data to train their models and may retain it for up to 30 days to monitor for abuse, after which it is deleted.
• We do not store the audio file after transcription completes. We keep the resulting text, together with your shot context and the relevant parts of your game profile, so a recommendation can be generated and so you can review your round history.
• Spoken advice may be read aloud using OpenAI text-to-speech. The audio you hear is generated on demand and is not a recording of you.
• We keep your questions and the advice returned so you can see your round history and so we can find and fix bad recommendations.
• Advice is generated automatically, but it has no legal or similarly significant effect on you — it is a club suggestion. You are always free to ignore it.

You can always type your question instead of speaking. If the microphone is unavailable, the app falls back to text input.

7Why we use your data, and our lawful basis

To run your round and give you advice

Location, game profile, questions and shot context. Lawful basis: performance of our contract with you.

To keep your account and let you sign in

Account data. Lawful basis: performance of our contract with you.

To keep the app stable and secure

Device and diagnostic data. Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in a working, secure product.

To improve recommendation quality

Aggregated and de-identified questions, shot context and outcomes. Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in improving the service.

To send you beta invitations and product updates

Mailing list data. Lawful basis: your consent. Every email has an unsubscribe link.

To meet legal obligations

Whatever the law requires us to keep. Lawful basis: legal obligation.

8Who we share data with

We share data with the service providers below, only so they can do a job for us, and only under contract. They cannot use your data for their own purposes.

Supabase

Account authentication and database hosting, in the EU. Your account, game profile and round history stay within the EEA.

OpenAI

Transcribes voice questions, generates shot advice from your question and shot context, and synthesises spoken responses. Receives short voice recordings for transcription and text for advice. Does not train on your data; may hold API data for at most 30 days for abuse monitoring. Processes in the United States.

OpenWeather

Supplies wind and conditions for your position. Receives an approximate location, not your account details or your game profile.

Mapbox

Map rendering and the geospatial services behind our course maps.

Sentry

Crash and error reporting in the app, so we can find out what broke. Receives diagnostic data and an account identifier — not your rounds, your questions, or voice audio.

Apple

App distribution, TestFlight beta delivery and App Store crash reporting. Governed by Apple’s own privacy policy.

Vercel

Website hosting and privacy-friendly page analytics.

Buttondown

Delivers the beta and launch mailing list.

We may also disclose data if we are legally required to, or to establish or defend legal claims. If the business is ever sold or merged, your data may transfer to the buyer — we will tell you first, and this policy will continue to apply until you are given notice of a new one.

We do not sell personal data, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.

9International transfers

Most of your data stays in Europe, but not all of it.

• Your account, game profile and round history are stored in the EU and do not leave the EEA.
• OpenAI processes your questions and, when you ask by voice, short audio recordings for transcription, in the United States. That transfer is covered by the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.
• Sentry, Vercel and Buttondown may process data outside the EEA, under Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision for the country concerned.

You can ask us at any time which safeguard applies to a particular provider.

10How long we keep it

• Account and game profile — for as long as your account is open.
• Rounds, shots and questions — for as long as your account is open, so your history and distances stay intact.
• Diagnostics and crash reports — up to 12 months.
• Mailing list — until you unsubscribe.
• After you delete your account — account-linked data is removed from live systems immediately; remaining copies in backups and anonymised operational logs are purged within 90 days.

11How we protect it

• Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest.
• Access to production data is limited to people who need it, and is protected by multi-factor authentication.
• Our database enforces row-level access rules, so one account cannot read another account’s data.
• We review our providers’ security posture before we take them on.

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your rights or freedoms, we will notify the Data Protection Commission within 72 hours and tell you directly where the law requires it. If you think you have found a security problem, please email hello@kadd.ie and give us a reasonable chance to fix it before disclosing it publicly.

12Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct anything that is wrong.
• Delete your data (see Deleting your account).
• Restrict or object to how we process it, including profiling based on legitimate interests.
• Port your data to another service in a machine-readable format.
• Withdraw consent at any time, where we relied on consent — this does not affect processing that already happened.

To exercise any of these, email hello@kadd.ie. We will respond within one month. There is no charge.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data you can complain to the Irish Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.ie), or to the supervisory authority where you live. In the UK, that is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).

13Deleting your account

You can delete your account and all the data attached to it from inside the app: Preferences › Account › Delete account. It is permanent, and it takes effect immediately — your rounds, shots, questions and game profile go with it.

If you cannot get into the app, email hello@kadd.ie from your account address and we will do it for you. Full instructions are on the account deletion page.

14Children

Kaddie is not intended for children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a child has given us personal data, email us and we will delete it.

15Cookies and analytics

The kadd.ie website uses Vercel Analytics, which counts page views without cookies and without building a profile of you across sites. The app does not use cookies. In the app we use Sentry for crash reporting and record basic voice-session events (for example that a capture started or failed) to keep voice features reliable — not the content of what you said.

16California residents

If you live in California, the CCPA as amended by the CPRA gives you the right to know what personal information we collect, to have it deleted or corrected, and to opt out of its sale or sharing. We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined, so there is nothing to opt out of. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

To make a request, email hello@kadd.ie.

17Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top. If the change materially affects how we use your data, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect. Please keep your email address up to date so we can reach you.

18Contact us

Questions, requests or complaints: hello@kadd.ie, or write to Kadd.ie, Castleknock, Dublin 15, Ireland.