Privacy Policy & Public Data Stewardship

1. Information We Collect

HQ Tennis Foundation Inc. collects only the minimum personal information necessary to deliver safe youth tennis instruction, fulfill civic volunteer applications, and maintain required non-profit reporting records. We collect information under three distinct circumstances:

• General Communications & Clinic Inquiries: When you submit a message through our contact portal, we collect your full name, email address, optional telephone number, subject category, and message text. This data is utilized solely to respond to your specific request.
• Volunteer & Coach Applications: When applying to volunteer, we collect contact information, preferred instructional role, weekly availability, and athletic background details. Upon advancing in onboarding, volunteers provide background check authorization to our accredited verification vendor.
• Participant Registration & Medical Authorizations: When enrolling a minor child in our athletic programs, parents or legal guardians provide the child’s name, date of birth, emergency medical contacts, known allergies, and signed parental consent waivers.

2. Our Strict Non-Commercial Data Pledge

Unlike commercial sports clubs and fitness portals that monetize visitor traffic, HQ Tennis Foundation Inc. adheres to an absolute non-commercial data ethics standard:

• NO Commercial Sale or Rental: We never sell, rent, license, or exchange your personal information, email address, or phone number with commercial third parties for marketing or advertising purposes.
• NO Third-Party Advertising Pixels: We do not deploy Facebook tracking pixels, Google remarketing scripts, behavioral telemetry tags, or cross-site tracking cookies on this portal.
• NO Commercial Telemarketing or Spam: Contact information provided to us is never used for automated robocalls, unsolicited commercial emails, or third-party partner promotions.

3. Children's Online Privacy & Parental Rights (COPPA)

The protection of minors is our foundational priority. In compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), HQ Tennis Foundation Inc. does not knowingly solicit or collect personal information directly from children under thirteen years of age through our website.

All clinic registrations, emergency medical disclosures, and photographic release waivers must be submitted by a verifiable parent or legal guardian. Parents and legal guardians retain the absolute right to:

• Review any personal records maintained by the foundation regarding their enrolled child.
• Request the prompt correction or complete deletion of their child’s personal records from our databases.
• Revoke photo release permissions at any time, requiring the removal of images featuring their child from our public communications.

4. Technical Security & Data Safeguards

HQ Tennis Foundation Inc. implements multi-layered administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect all submitted data from unauthorized access, accidental alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

All communications between your browser and this portal are encrypted in transit using industry-standard Transport Layer Security (TLS 1.3) with cryptographic cipher suites. Stored digital rosters, volunteer records, and participant waivers are maintained within access-restricted, password-protected administrative repositories with multi-factor authentication (MFA) required for all authorized staff accounts.

Physical documents, such as printed sign-in sheets and hard-copy emergency contact binders, are stored in locked filing cabinets at our Brooklyn operational facility and are accessible solely by our Head Tennis Director and certified on-court safety coordinators.

5. Data Retention & Destruction Schedule

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the specific purpose for which it was gathered and to satisfy statutory non-profit recordkeeping requirements under New York State and federal laws:

• General Inquiries: Contact correspondence that does not result in active program enrollment or volunteer appointment is purged from our systems within twelve months.
• Participant Health & Liability Waivers: Emergency medical releases and participation waivers are retained for three years following the close of the calendar year of enrollment to satisfy insurance liability standards.
• Volunteer Screening Documentation: Official background check verification clearances are maintained throughout the volunteer’s active service plus three years thereafter.

6. Your Legal Rights & Access Requests

Under applicable New York State laws and federal guidelines, you possess comprehensive rights regarding your personal information. You may at any time:

• Request confirmation of whether HQ Tennis Foundation Inc. holds personal information concerning you or your child.
• Request a complete, machine-readable digital copy of your personal data records.
• Request the immediate rectification of inaccurate or outdated contact information.
• Request the permanent deletion ("erasure") of your records, subject only to mandatory legal and insurance retention obligations.

To exercise any of these privacy rights, please submit a written request to our Data Privacy Officer at [email protected]. We will acknowledge and resolve your request without fee within thirty calendar days.

7. Technical Cookies & Stateless Architecture

Unlike commercial web platforms that rely on invasive browser fingerprinting and advertising cookies, HQ Tennis Foundation Inc. maintains an essentially stateless website architecture. We do not set persistent advertising cookies, social media tracking beacons, or third-party behavioral profiling identifiers.

The only technical mechanisms utilized on our portal are transient, server-level session parameters and HTTP cache-control headers designed to ensure fast, reliable content delivery. We employ dynamic file modification timestamping (`filemtime`) on stylesheets and image assets to ensure your browser always displays current information without storing long-term tracking cookies on your device. You may disable cookies in your browser settings at any time without compromising your ability to browse our programs or submit contact inquiries.

8. Vendor Due Diligence & Service Provider Oversight

HQ Tennis Foundation Inc. partners with carefully vetted third-party service providers to facilitate operational functions such as background screening, website hosting, and secure communications. We demand that every operational vendor maintain strict data security standards.

Our volunteer background screening agency is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA) and maintains SOC 2 Type II compliance. Our cloud hosting infrastructure utilizes enterprise-grade encryption at rest and in transit. No service provider is granted authorization to use, share, or monetize data provided by HQ Tennis Foundation Inc. for any secondary purpose.

9. Data Breach Notification Protocol (New York SHIELD Act)

In strict compliance with the New York Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act (SHIELD Act), HQ Tennis Foundation Inc. maintains an institutional Data Breach Incident Response Plan. In the unlikely event of a security breach involving unauthorized access to or disclosure of personal information, our technical team is mandated to contain the incident within twenty-four hours.

If personal identifiable information is compromised, we will notify affected individuals and the New York State Attorney General’s Office, Department of State, and State Police without unreasonable delay in accordance with New York General Business Law Section 899-aa, providing clear guidance on protective steps and remedial actions taken.

10. Contacting Our Data Privacy Officer

If you have questions, concerns, or grievances regarding our privacy practices, data handling protocols, or compliance with youth protection laws, please contact our administrative office:

HQ Tennis Foundation Inc. – Data Privacy Officer
Headquarters: Brooklyn, New York
Federal EIN: 81-3301812
Email: [email protected]
Portal: contact.php