Legal information

Privacy Policy

Effective October 23, 2026Version 2026.10.23

Official IKATA document. Published content is synchronized with the existing legal CMS.

This Privacy Policy explains how Ikata collects, uses, shares and protects information about you when you use the Ikata mobile app, website and related services (together, the "Services"). Ikata is built around real-world check-ins, so some of what we collect, especially your location, is central to how the app works. We have tried to say plainly what that means.

THE SHORT VERSION

  • We use your precise location to confirm you are actually at a venue when you check in.
  • Your username, profile, city, stats, badges, team and leaderboard rankings are visible to other Ikata users.
  • We do not sell your personal information.
  • You can delete your account at any time from the app's settings.

1. Who we are

Ikata is operated by the company named below. In this policy, "Ikata," "we," "us" and "our" mean that company.

Company legal name: Ikata LLC
Privacy contact email: app@i-k-a-t-a.com

2. Information we collect

Information you give us

  • Account information: your name, username, email address, password (stored in protected, hashed form by our sign-in provider), confirmation of your age, and the city you set on your profile.
  • Profile and team details: profile photo or emoji, display name, team names, team @handles, captain status and color preferences.
  • Content you submit: venue submissions (name, location and sport categories), messages, reports, appeals, support requests and anything else you post or send through the Services.
  • Event and tournament registration: the events, tournaments, teams and divisions you join, and any access codes you use to enter organization events.

Information collected when you use Ikata

  • Precise location: When you check in, Ikata reads your device's precise GPS location to confirm you are within range of the venue. We also use your location to show nearby venues and events when you use map features. We collect location only while you use these features, unless you grant background ("Always") permission, in which case we use it only for the features explained when you grant it. You can turn location off in your device settings, but you will not be able to check in.
  • Activity and game data: your check-ins (venue, sport, date and time), points, streaks, badges, leaderboard positions, event and tournament results, and Arcade activity such as Rock Paper Scissors picks, match results and career win/loss records.
  • Device and technical data: device model, operating system, app version, language, time zone, IP address, device identifiers, push notification tokens, crash reports and diagnostic logs.
  • Fair-play signals: to detect location spoofing and duplicate accounts, we look at signals such as whether mock-location settings or spoofing apps are active, VPN use, unusual movement patterns, and device identifiers shared across accounts.

Information from other sources

  • App stores: if you buy a subscription, Apple or Google tells us your subscription status, plan and renewal dates. We never receive your full card number.
  • Event organizers: if you join an organization event, the organizer may confirm that you are eligible (for example, that you are an employee or member).
  • Other users: other users may invite you to a team, challenge your team, or report your account.
  • Public map data: venue names and locations come partly from public sources such as OpenStreetMap. That data is about places, not about you.

3. How we use information

  • To run Ikata: create your account, verify check-ins, calculate points, streaks, badges and rankings, and run events, tournaments, teams and Arcade games.
  • To keep competition fair: detect and investigate GPS spoofing, duplicate accounts, fake venues and other breaches of the Ikata Rules & Guidelines, and apply penalties.
  • To communicate with you: send push notifications (for example, that it is your team's turn, a match result, or an event update), service emails, and replies to support requests.
  • To improve Ikata: understand how features are used, fix bugs and build new features.
  • For safety, security and legal reasons: protect our users and Ikata, prevent fraud, enforce our Terms and Conditions, and comply with the law.

We do not use your location history to build advertising profiles.

4. What other users can see

Ikata is a social, competitive platform, so some information is visible to other users by design:

  • Your username, display name, profile photo or emoji, and city.
  • Your points, streaks, badges, leaderboard positions, and event and tournament results.
  • Your team memberships, captain status, career win/loss record and team history.
  • The venues where you have checked in and when, as shown on your profile, venue pages and leaderboards.

We never show other users your exact GPS coordinates. Because check-ins show places you visit, think about what you are comfortable sharing before checking in somewhere you go regularly.

5. How we share information

  • Service providers that host and run Ikata for us, such as cloud hosting, database, sign-in, push notification, analytics, crash reporting, email and customer support providers (for example, Google Firebase). They may use your information only to provide services to us.
  • Event organizers and partners: If you join an organization or sponsored event, we share your display name, your check-ins at the event venues, your ranking, and the details needed to award prizes. The organizer's own privacy policy covers what they do with it.
  • App stores (Apple and Google), to process purchases and subscriptions.
  • For legal and safety reasons, when we believe in good faith it is required by law or legal process, or needed to protect the rights, property or safety of our users, the public or Ikata.
  • In a business transfer, such as a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, subject to this policy.
  • With your consent or at your direction.
  • Aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably identify you, for example, "basketball check-ins in Dallas rose 20% this month."

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising.

6. How long we keep information

  • Account and profile information: for as long as your account is active.
  • Check-ins and activity: for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account, we delete or de-identify this information within 30 days, except as described below. Copies in backups are removed within a further 90 days.
  • Team records: under the Ikata Rules & Guidelines, team win/loss records are permanent. If you delete your account, your name is removed from team histories, but the team's totals remain.
  • Enforcement records: if an account is suspended or banned, we keep the records needed to enforce that decision, including device identifiers, for as long as needed to stop banned users from returning.
  • Legal requirements: we keep some information longer where the law requires it or to resolve disputes.

7. Your choices and rights

  • Profile: you can view and edit most of your profile information in the app.
  • Delete your account: use the delete option in the app's settings, or contact us using the details in the Contact us section.
  • Location: you can turn location access on or off at any time in your device settings.
  • Notifications: you can turn off push notifications in your device settings, and stop marketing emails with the unsubscribe link in any of them.

Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to access, correct, delete or receive a portable copy of your personal information; to object to or restrict certain uses; to withdraw consent; and to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information or targeted advertising (we do not do either). To make a request, contact us using the details in the Contact us section. We will verify your identity before acting on a request, and you may use an authorized agent. If we decline your request, you can appeal by replying to our decision. We will not treat you differently for exercising your rights.

8. Notice for U.S. state residents

Several U.S. states, including California, give residents specific privacy rights. In the past 12 months we have collected the categories of personal information below, for the purposes described in this policy.

  • Identifiers: name, username, email, IP address and device IDs. Disclosed for business purposes to service providers and app stores.
  • Commercial information: subscription plan and history. Disclosed for business purposes to service providers and app stores.
  • Internet or app activity: check-ins, feature use and crash logs. Disclosed for business purposes to service providers.
  • Precise geolocation: GPS location at check-in. Disclosed for business purposes to service providers.
  • Account login: username and password. Disclosed for business purposes to our sign-in provider.
  • Contest and event data: event check-ins and rankings. Disclosed for business purposes to event organizers you choose.

Precise geolocation and account login details are "sensitive personal information" under California law. We use them only to provide the Services you request, to keep them secure and fair, and as otherwise permitted by law, not to infer characteristics about you.

9. Users in the EEA, UK and Switzerland

If data protection laws such as the GDPR apply to you, we rely on these legal bases: performance of our contract with you (running your account, check-ins and competitions); legitimate interests (fair play, security, fraud prevention and improving Ikata); consent (precise location permission, push notifications and marketing, which you can withdraw at any time); and legal obligations.

Ikata is based in the United States, and your information is processed there. Where required, we use safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

10. Children

Ikata is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you live in a country that sets a higher age for consent to data processing, you must meet that age. Users aged 13 to 17 need a parent's or guardian's permission to use Ikata. If we learn that we have collected information from a child under 13, we will delete it. If you believe this has happened, please contact us.

11. Security

We use safeguards designed to protect your information, including encryption in transit, access controls and database security rules. No system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please use a strong password and keep it to yourself.

12. Third-party services

Ikata may link to or work with services we do not control, such as app stores, map providers, venue websites and event organizers. Their own privacy policies apply to the information you give them.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will tell you in the app or by email before they take effect. The effective date at the top shows when the policy last changed.

14. Contact us

Questions, requests or complaints about privacy can be sent to:

Company legal name: Ikata LLC
Privacy contact email: app@i-k-a-t-a.com