Privacy Policy

This policy is effective as of May 30th, 2022.

Your privacy is important to us. It is Challenge Hound's policy to respect your privacy regarding any information we may collect from you across our website, www.challengehound.com, and other sites we own and operate. Collectively Challenge Hound LLC and its operating entities (“The Company”, “The Platform”, “We”, “Us”) are committed to safeguarding your privacy. This Privacy Statement is meant to help you understand what data we collect, how we use it, and what safeguards are in place to protect your data on Challenge Hound sites. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully before using the “platform” or allowing/directing someone to use the platform. By voluntarily providing any personal data to Challenge Hound and using our platform, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood this policy and that you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of such data as set forth in this privacy policy. If you do not agree to the terms of this privacy policy, please do not provide us with any data.

INFORMATION THAT CHALLENGE HOUND COLLECTS

1. Information that all users provide

When you sign up with Challenge Hound, we will collect the following information:
  • Full Name
  • Email Address
If you do not provide this information, we will not be able to provide the platform to you.

2. Information that challenge or event organizers provide

  • Challenge details such as challenge names, descriptions, durations, logos, distances, start dates, challenge timezone, accepted activity types, and organizational groups;
  • Billing Information, such as credit card number and billing address;
  • Information about businesses, such as company name.
  • Company logos and descriptions

3. Information that challenge or event participants provide

When participating in a challenge, participants provide the following additional information:
  • Profile Photo
  • City and State
  • Activity Ids
  • Activity Names
  • Activity Duration
  • Activity Total Distance
  • Activity Start Date and Time
  • Activity Total Elevation
  • Activity Type

4. Third-Party Connected Apps Information

Challenge Hound allows you to sync activities with third-party apps and services, such as Health Connect, Apple Health, Coros, Fitbit, Strava, UACF, or Garmin (collectively, “Third-Party Accounts”). If you connect and sync Third-Party Apps or Accounts Challenge Hound will collect information that you have agreed to make available such as activity names, activity durations, activity distances, activity start date and times, activity elevations, activity types, activity ids, and account preferences (imperial vs metric). This information is collected by syncing data with the Third-Party Account provider and is provided to Challenge Hound under the Third-Party Account provider"s privacy policies. You can generally control the information that we receive from these sources using the privacy controls in the Third-Party Account or app. Often the raw data offered by Third-Party Account providers exceeds Challenge Hound"s needs and is provided, but not collected. This includes device locations, GPS data, heart rate information, and biometrics.

5. Information collected automatically

When you use our Services, we use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about your location, and your activities on our website, information about your device and log information. This is described in more detail below. These cookies and similar technologies collect anonymized Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, the files viewed on our site (e.g., HTML pages, graphics, etc.), operating system, date/time stamp, and/or click stream data.

You can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level, but if you choose to disable cookies, it may limit your use of certain features or functions on our website or service. We do not use, or allow the use of cookies or similar technologies in connection with your customers' data.

Data that is NOT collected or stored

Information available from Third-Party products and services varies depending on the Third-Party. Challenge Hound does not collect all of the information that is available from Third-Party products. Challenge Hound collects and stores the minimum amount of information to make challenges fun and engaging. Challenge Hound does not collect or store:
  • GPS coordinates or locations
  • Activity routes or physical locations
  • Biometric health data, such as heart rate, blood pressure, or stress levels
  • Sex or sexual orientation
  • Data that reveals your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs and trade union membership

Challenge Hound does NOT use Google Analytics.

HOW CHALLENGE HOUND USES INFORMATION

To provide services

We use the information we collect and receive to provide services on the platform, including providing you with the ability to:
  • Create challenges and virtual races.
  • To join and participant in challenges.
  • Record activities and analyze challenge progress.
  • Interact with other participants. For example to compete in a challenge or encourage engagement.
  • To visualize challenge activities in new ways. For example, charts, graphs, and maps.
Your information, including parts of your profile, name, photos, your activities, the third-party applications that you use, and comments you give and receive will be shared on Challenge Hound so that you may be able to participate in the platform, for example to show your place on a leaderboard. Certain information (e.g., your first name, and some profile information) is also available to non-members on the web.

To protect you and the services

We use the information we collect to protect members, enforce our Terms of Service. For example, we find and remove content that violates our terms, such as hate speech or spam, as well as suspend or terminate accounts that share such content.

We may use your personal data to identify and protect against fraud or other illegal or inappropriate activities such as willful attacks on Challenge Hound’s information technology systems and as necessary to establish or preserve a legal claim or defense.

To improve the services

We also use the information we collect to analyze, develop and improve the platform. To do this, Challenge Hound may use third-party analytics providers to gain insights into how our Services are used and to help us improve the platform.

To communicate with you

We use the information we collect to provide support in response to your requests and comments.

We may also use the information we collect to promote the platform, activities and challenges on Challenge Hound. This includes marketing and push communications, where you have not opted out of receiving such messages and notifications.

SHARING INFORMATION AND ACTIVITIES

Challenge Administrators, Organizations, and Related Parties

When you join a challenge on the platform, you consent to our providing your data to the Challenge Administrators, Organizations, and Related Parties of such challenge. While on the platform, any Challenge Administrator, Organization, or Related Party with access to your data is required to respect your privacy in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable privacy laws. However, Challenge Administrators, Organizations, and Related Parties are not bound to treat your data in accordance with this Privacy Policy if they move such data off the platform. You agree that we are not responsible for the actions of these Challenge Administrators, Organizations, and Related Parties with respect to your data. It is important that you review the applicable policies of the Challenge Administrators, Organizations, and Related Parties of a challenge before providing data or other information in connection with that challenge or event.

Service Providers and Vendors

We may share your information with third parties who provide services to Challenge Hound such as supporting, improving, promoting and securing the Services, processing payments, or fulfilling orders. These service providers only have access to the information necessary to perform these limited functions on our behalf and are required to protect and secure your information.

Legal Requirements

If we are requested to disclose Personal Data by law, court of law, or as requested by a governmental or law enforcement authority, we may do so.

Business Transfer

In the event of a future business transfer, corporate sale, merger, re-organization, dissolution or similar event, Personal Data may be part of the transferred assets. You acknowledge and agree that any successor to or acquirer of Challenge Hound (or its assets) will continue to have the right to use your Personal Data and other information in accordance with the terms of this privacy policy.

Challenge Hound does not sell to third parties any Personal Data derived from a visitor’s visit to or from the use of the Challenge Hound platform except as part of a business transfer as described above.

RETENTION OF DATA

We retain information for as long as it is necessary to provide services to you and others, considering any legal obligations that require us to keep it longer. Information linked to your account will generally be kept until it is no longer needed to provide services, or until your account is deleted or becomes inactive. In making these decisions, we take into account the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the purposes for processing it, whether those purposes can be achieved by other means, and applicable legal requirements.

Additionally, you can delete certain pieces of information, such as profile details, and remove individual activities from Challenge Hound without deleting your account. After you delete your account, it may take up to 45 days to completely remove your personal information and system logs from our systems. We may also retain information to comply with legal obligations, prevent fraud, collect fees, resolve disputes, troubleshoot issues, assist with investigations, enforce our Terms of Service, and take other actions as permitted by law. Any information we retain will be managed in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Deleting Account

You can delete your account using our self-service tools found with the Account section of Challenge Hound. To delete your account please follow the instructions provided here.

After you request to delete your account, we permanently and irreversibly remove your personal information from our systems, including backups. Once deleted, your data, including your account, activities, and leaderboard standings, cannot be reinstated. It may take up to 45 days to fully delete your personal information and system logs from our systems. Additionally, we may retain information to comply with legal obligations and take other actions permitted by law.

Note that we do not have control over content you have shared directly with others, such as photos or videos on other social media platforms, or that others may have copied. In other words, content or information may remain available after you have deleted your account or deleted specific information from your own profile. In addition, Challenge Hound does not have control over your activity data that is associated to challenges you have joined, that may have been downloaded or programmatically exported by challenge administrators.

HOW WE PROTECT INFORMATION

Challenge Hound has implemented critical physical, organizational and technical measures to guard against unauthorized or unlawful processing of the data we collect. We have also taken steps to avoid accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, your Personal Data. While no system is completely secure, the measures implemented by Challenge Hound significantly reduce the likelihood of a data security breach.

In addition, we recommend that you do your part in protecting yourself from unauthorized access to your Challenge Hound account by ensuring no one else uses your computer or device when you are logged in, by logging off when you are not using the platform. Challenge Hound is not liable for any unauthorized use of your personal information that is beyond our reasonable control.

Here are some examples of the data security controls in place at Challenge Hound:

  • The use of encryption when personal information is transferred to and stored on Challenge Hound servers. Transmission between your browser and our web server is implemented using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology;
  • Limited access to personal information by Challenge Hound staff on a need-to-know basis, and the use of robust authentication processes;
  • The use of cloud based data centers with effective physical and logical data security controls, and the use of reputable third parties (AWS) who have demonstrated security consciousness; and Secure office premises and staff that are keenly aware of their data protection responsibilities.
  • Challenge Hound protect data processing of information using advanced firewall technology.
No method of transmitting or storing data is 100% secure. As a result, although we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us. If you have reason to believe that your Challenge Hound account is no longer secure, you must immediately notify us of the problem at coach@challengehound.com in order for Challenge Hound to resolve the issue.

CHILDREN POLICIES AND NOTE TO PARENTS

Challenge Hound takes the privacy of children seriously. The Challenge Hound platform is not directed at children under the age of 13 nor is intended to collect data from children under the age of 13. In order to comply with the provisions of the U.S Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and other data protection laws around the world aimed at protecting children, children under 13 are not permitted to access or use the platform. Accordingly we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 through our service platform and we request that children under the age of 13 not submit any personal information through our services. In countries where the digital age of consent may be greater than 13, you may only use the platform if you have reached the age of digital consent of your country. If you have not reached the age of digital consent in your country you must cease using the platform immediately. Parents and guardians are encouraged to monitor their children’s internet usage and to help enforce their privacy laws and our Privacy Policy.

GDPR COMPLIANCE

Under the General Data Protection Regulation EU/2016/679 (GDPR), Challenge Hound is the Data Controller that determines the purposes and means of the processing of Personal Data. Data is processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner. Personal Data is collected for the specified and legitimate purpose of providing and utilizing the Challenge Hound platform. This includes storing and processing Personal Data for Participants, Registrants, Managers and Related Parties. The data collected is adequate, relevant and is limited to what is necessary to provide the user with the benefits of the Challenge Hound platform. Challenge Hound takes accountability for the security and use of such data when users register to join a challenge, sending confirmations, processing payments and generally managing the Challenge Hound platform and its challenges. Examples of managing Personal data collected include providing challenge progress reports, charting participant progress, providing personal analytics for distance, elevation and timing information for challenges, and obtaining challenge feedback, etc. All data is kept accurately and up to date and is kept only as long as necessary. Data is processed in an appropriate manner to maintain security for the user of the platform.

Challenge Hounds legal grounds for processing Personal Data include the provision of consent, the contractual relationships through the Terms of Service with Participants, Registrants, and Related Parties, and the legitimate and effective challenge platform that Challenge Hound provides it’s users.

EU data subjects permanently residing in the European Union may have supplementary statutory rights with respect to their personal data as outlined in the GDPR. This includes the right to access their personal data, have it deleted, have it corrected, or object to/restrict processing of such data. If you would like to make such a request, please e-mail coach@challengehound.com. Challenge Hound has developed an EU Data Subject Rights Procedure to ensure your request is responded to in a timely manner. In the context of a request for erasure, Challenge Hound will scramble or pseudonymize the data subject’s information to make it anonymous. Once removal of Personal Data from the Challenge Hound platform is executed, Challenge Hound is no longer the Controller of such downloaded data.

CALIFORNIA PRIVACY NOTICE

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) provides you with certain rights and options regarding your personal information.

Categories of Personal Information Sold, Transferred and Shared

Please see our Privacy Policy (“Policy”) for information about our information collection practices. We do not “sell” personal information for purposes of the CCPA. As set forth in the Policy, we disclose personal information to third parties for business purposes of running the platform, including without limitation, payment providers, email providers, and other services performed on our behalf, to protect against fraud and malicious activity, and for other business purposes described in the Policy. During the preceding twelve (12) months, we have disclosed each of the above-listed categories of personal information for such business purposes. In addition, your information may be accessible to third parties with whom you interact or direct us to share your information through our services.

Your Choices

The CCPA allows California residents the following rights. However, these rights are not absolute, and in certain cases we may decline your request as permitted by law. You can request that we provide you the following information regarding our use of your Personal Information in the past 12 months:
  • The categories of your Personal Information that we have collected
  • The purposes for which we have collected or used such Personal Information
  • The categories of sources for the Personal Information we have collected about you
  • The categories of third parties with whom we have disclosed your Personal Information
  • If we have disclosed your Personal Information for a business purpose, a list identifying the Personal Information categories that each category of recipient obtained
  • If we have sold your personal information, a list identifying the Personal Information categories that each category of recipient purchased
  • Access. You can request that we provide you a copy of your Personal Information that we have collected in the past 12 months.
  • Deletion. You can request that we delete your Personal Information collected in the past 12 months when we no longer need such data in connection with our Services (subject to certain exceptions that may apply under applicable law).
    • If you are a resident of California, and you wish to exercise any such rights listed above, please contact us at coach@challeneghound.com
Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may make a verifiable consumer request related to your Personal Information. Please understand that we are required to verify your request and may require you to provide some information to enable us to carry out such verification. We cannot respond to your request or provide you with Personal Information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the Personal Information relates to you.

Privacy Policy Information

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time without prior notice to better reflect our current data handling practices. Any changes to our statement will become effective upon the posting of the updated Privacy Policy. We encourage you to periodically review our Privacy Policy to ensure familiarity with the most current version of it. You can determine when this policy was last revised by referring to the "Effective Date" at at the top of this page. Your continued use of the Challenge Hound Platform after changes or revisions to this Privacy Policy constitutes your agreement with the terms of such revised Privacy Policy.

Contact Challenge Hound with any other concerns or questions.

Change Log:

  • May 30th, 2022 - Removed paragraph in 4. Information collected automatically concerning the use of Google Analytics, as Challenge Hound no longer uses Google Analytics.
  • June 18th, 2024 - Updated INFORMATION THAT CHALLENGE HOUND COLLECTS, specificially item 4, to include more specifics on how Challenge Hound syncs data with third-party providers, the exact providers, and what Challenge Hound does and does not sync.
  • June 24th, 2024 - Added RETENTION OF DATA section which details Challenge Hound's data retention policy and includes specifics on account deletions and removal of data.