Privacy policy

Effective date: 7 Oct 2026

This Privacy Policy describes what data we collect and why, how your data is handled, and your choices and rights with respect to your data. It applies to all users of Squaddle.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info@squaddle.co.uk.

About Squaddle

Squaddle is an online service for organising activities like sport, primarily via WhatsApp. It helps Organisers confirm attendees for their activities and collect money on their behalf (for example, to pay for the hire of a sports pitch).

Squaddle is provided by Squaddle Ltd, a company registered in the UK under number 11286335, with its registered office at 80-83 Long Lane, London, EC1A 9ET.

Squaddle Ltd is registered with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), with registration reference: ZC130325.

Accepting this Policy

By creating an account or accepting an invitation to join a squad, you agree to this Privacy Policy ("Policy"), as updated from time to time.

We may update this Policy at any time. If we make significant changes, we will change the effective date at the top of this page and notify users by sending a Service Update, as described in ‘How we contact you’. By continuing to use Squaddle after an updated Policy takes effect, you agree to it.

This Policy is governed by the law of England and Wales.

Definitions

In this Policy, the following definitions apply:

"Squaddle", "We" or "Our" means Squaddle Ltd.

"Squad" means a group created in Squaddle by an Owner, through which Organisers invite Members to activities and communicate with them.

"Squad Owner" or "Owner" means a user who creates and manages a squad or squads, organises activities, and may collect payments from Squad Members. Owners may withdraw funds.

"Squad Admin" or "Admin" means a user appointed to help manage a squad or squads. Admins have the same permissions as Owners, with the exception of withdrawing funds.

“Squad Organiser” or "Organiser" means one or both of an Owner or Admin.

"Squad Member" or "Member" means a user who receives activity invites from a squad, whether or not they confirm their attendance.

"Attendee" means a Squad Member who confirms their attendance at an activity created by an Organiser.

What we collect and why

We only collect what we need to run Squaddle effectively. This includes:

• Your name, so we can personalise your account and include your name as a member of any squads you create or join.
• Your email address and/or mobile number, so we can contact you according to your preferences.
• Technical data such as your IP address and basic device or browser information, collected automatically by tools we use to host Squaddle and log errors (see Data Sub-Processors).
• Payment details, if you use Squaddle to pay for or collect money for activities – these are handled by our payment processor, Stripe, and not held by Squaddle (see Data Sub-Processors).
• Details of activities created by your Squad Organiser, including the proposed date, time and location of an activity, and who is planning to attend.

How we collect your data

Squaddle collects your name and either an email address, a mobile number, or both, through one of the following methods: signing up for an account via the Squaddle website, or accepting an invitation to join a squad via WhatsApp or email.

Organisers create an account via the Squaddle website. This account is necessary to create squads, schedule activities (including to collect payments) and to invite members to join.

Squad Members can join an existing squad by accepting an invitation via WhatsApp or email. Verification of the email address or mobile number provided is required, but it is not necessary to create a full account to participate in activities. Squad Members can also, optionally, sign up via the Squaddle website to interact with Squaddle and manage their account.

All users are bound by this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service from the point of joining Squaddle, regardless of whether an account has been created.

If you attend an activity that collects payments, you will be asked to provide your payment information and billing address. This information is submitted directly to our payment processor, Stripe, and full card details are neither stored nor accessible to Squaddle. Squaddle retains a record of the transaction, including your name, billing address, and the last four digits of the card used, for the purposes of transaction history and payment support.

How and why we use your data

Squaddle uses your data for the following purposes:

• To provide the service you signed up for, including our website and WhatsApp integration – creating and managing squads, organising activities, inviting you to activities and recording your response, and facilitating payments via Stripe.
• To send Service Updates about the platform, such as service disruptions or changes to our Terms or this Privacy Policy. You can't opt out of these, as they are necessary to run the service.
• To meet our legal obligations, such as responding to a valid request from a court, regulator or law enforcement.
• To share contact details between Organisers and Members of the same squad, so that Organisers can reach members and vice versa .
• To reply when you contact us with a comment or question, or to inform us of a bug that needs fixing.
• Where we have a legitimate interest:
  • Keeping Squaddle secure and preventing fraud or abuse of the service, including responding to payment disputes or chargebacks using the records we hold.
  • Sending you Product Updates about new features and how to contribute to our roadmap. You can unsubscribe at any time; see 'How we contact you' for how.
  • Sending Tester Updates or granting early access to users we've personally invited to provide feedback on new features before they're made public. See 'How we contact you' for how this works.

We'll never sell your personal data to third parties, and we won't use your name or details in testimonials or marketing material without your permission.

We may only share your data in the following ways, and always in a way that complies with data protection law:

Within a squad, as described in ‘Sharing your data within a squad’;

• With data sub-processors listed below, who help us deliver Squaddle;
• Where required by law;
• If the business changes ownership, as described in ‘Changes of ownership and business control’.

Sharing your data within a squad

Squaddle is used by groups for organising activities, so some of your personal information is visible to other people in your squad. This is part of how the service works.

If you are an Organiser:

• Your email address is included in the invitations sent to Members by email.
• Members of your squad can request your contact details by replying "admins" to Squaddle in WhatsApp. This triggers a message with links to view your name, and the email address and/or WhatsApp number you use with Squaddle.

If you are a Member:

• The Organisers of any squad you belong to can see your name and the email address and/or WhatsApp number you use with Squaddle. They can also see your response to activity invitations and whether you have paid for an activity. They cannot see any other details of your transactions.
• Other Members of squads you belong to can see your name if you have responded “In” or “Out” to an upcoming activity. They can see this by using the “Who’s going?” button in WhatsApp, replying "Who" in WhatsApp, or by clicking "See who's going" in an email invitation.

Organisers are responsible for how they use information about Members. We ask them to use it only to run their squad and activities.

Keeping your data secure

Squaddle takes the security of your personal data very seriously. We do our utmost to preserve your personal data and prevent it from being stolen, damaged, or misused.

When you create an account, you can choose to create a password. Passwords are stored using industry-standard encryption. Alternatively, you can choose to sign in with Google (via Google Identity Platform), in which case Squaddle does not see or store any password data.

Data is encrypted in transit using HTTPS, and encrypted at rest by our hosting provider. Access to the database or services that contain user data is restricted to authorised personnel according to necessity, and protected by multi-factor authentication. Credentials are stored securely and rotated when necessary. We use continuous backup with point-in-time recovery; backups are retained for up to 7 days and are subject to the same security controls as live data.

We also rely on trusted third parties to help deliver Squaddle, some of whom may be located outside the UK and European Economic Area, including in the United States. All our sub-processors are listed in the Data Sub-Processors section below, and we maintain records of the policies and assurances they provide in respect of the security of your data.

In the event of a data breach affecting your personal data, we will notify the ICO and inform affected individuals without undue delay, where required by law.

Data retention

Squaddle only collects a small amount of personal information – such as your name, email address and account activity. We retain data for as long as necessary for the reasons it was collected, after which we may delete or aggregate it.

We may retain information indefinitely for legal reasons – for example, to resolve disputes, recover outstanding debt, or deal with a breach of our terms.

In general, we collect and retain Personal Data as follows:

• Account and profile data (such as your name, email address and/or mobile number, and squad membership information) is retained for as long as your account is active, and indefinitely thereafter unless you ask us to delete it.
• Payment and transaction data is retained for as long as necessary to process payments, resolve disputes, and meet our accounting and tax obligations.
• Name, email address and phone number if you contact us for support or with a new business enquiry, we retain the Personal Data you supply indefinitely unless you ask us to delete it.

You can request deletion of your account or personal data at any time by emailing info@squaddle.co.uk. We'll process your request promptly, except where you have outstanding payments owed to a squad – in which case we'll retain only the data necessary for debt recovery until those payments are settled or waived by an Organiser.

How we contact you

Squaddle primarily uses WhatsApp messages and notifications to enable Organisers to communicate with members. This messaging is subject to WhatsApp's standard Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. We use the WhatsApp Business Platform and Twilio to send these messages.

Squaddle notifications can also be sent by email (instead or as well) depending on your communication preferences. We use third-party providers to send these emails from the app. See our list of Data Sub-Processors below for details.

When your Organiser creates an activity, you'll receive messages from Squaddle, sent on their behalf, to your preferred communication channel(s). This makes it easy to join a squad, receive and respond to invites, and make payments.

Beyond our core messaging functionality, by signing up, you agree to our Terms and this Privacy Policy, which includes consenting to receive occasional messages from Squaddle, such as Service Updates and Product Updates. We send three types of updates, consent for which can be managed differently.

• Service Updates include things like scheduled maintenance, service disruptions, and changes to our Terms or this Privacy Policy. They're sent via WhatsApp and/or email, to owners, admins, members, or everyone, depending on what the update is about.
  You can't opt out of Service Updates, as they're necessary for us to run the Squaddle service and keep you informed.
• Product Updates are sent occasionally to announce new features and improvements to Squaddle, and may include content related to the wider business such as a request to leave a review. You're opted in by default when you sign up.
  
  On WhatsApp, we'll send an invitation asking if you'd like to see what's new. Reply "Yes" to read the full update, or ignore it if you prefer. By email, we send out Product Updates in a newsletter format. If you'd like to unsubscribe from Product Updates, on either channel, you can do so via your Account Settings.
• Tester Updates are sent to users who have been personally invited to help test new features. If that's you, we'll contact you via WhatsApp with early access, feature previews, or requests for feedback. If you'd like to stop receiving Tester Updates at any time, just let us know.

Your rights

Our users have the following rights in relation to their data:

• Right to access. The right at any time to request copies of the data we hold about you.
• Right to correct. The right to have your information rectified or updated if it is incorrect.
• Right to erase. The right to request that we delete all information relating to you from our systems.
• Right to restrict. The right to 'block' our use of your information or limit the way that we use it.
• Right to data portability. The right to request that we move, copy or transfer your data.
• Right to object. The right to object to us processing your data for direct marketing purposes at any time. See 'How we contact you' for how to manage your preferences.

We won't charge you for responding to requests to exercise your rights, unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive. In some cases the law may allow us to decline a request. If that happens, we'll always explain why.

To make enquiries, exercise any of your rights set out above, or withdraw your permission for Squaddle to process your data, please email your request to info@squaddle.co.uk.

If you are not satisfied with the way a complaint you make in relation to your data is handled by us, you may be able to refer your complaint to the relevant data protection authority. For the UK, this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The ICO's contact details can be found here.

Data Sub-Processors

We use third party sub-processors, such as cloud hosting services and customer support software, to operate Squaddle day-to-day and monitor performance.

Some of these services are based outside of the UK/EEA. Wherever they're located, we ensure all our sub-processors have GDPR-compliant data processing agreements, and appropriate safeguards for the security and privacy of user data.

The following is a list of personal data sub-processors we use.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files, unique to your account or browser, that are sent between your device and Squaddle. We use two types:

• Strictly necessary cookies enable the basic features of Squaddle that you probably take for granted, such as keeping it secure. These are set by Squaddle’s software directly, and without these, Squaddle wouldn't work properly.
• Functional cookies are set by trusted third-party providers to improve your experience. They aren't used for advertising, analytics or tracking.

We don't use analytics cookies, marketing or advertising cookies, or any from social media platforms or embedded third-party content. We don't track you across other websites.

Squaddle doesn't have a cookie consent banner because we have chosen to limit cookies on Squaddle to those that are necessary or have minimal privacy impact.

You can control, delete or block some cookies through your browser settings. However, some parts of Squaddle won't work properly if you do.

Changes of ownership and business control

If Squaddle Ltd, or any part of its business or assets, is sold, merged or otherwise transferred, the personal data relating to that part of the business will be transferred with it. The new owner will be able to use your data only for the purposes for which you originally provided it, and only in line with this privacy policy.

General

• You may not transfer any of your rights under this Privacy Policy to any other person. We may transfer our rights under this policy where we reasonably believe your rights will not be affected.
• If any court of competent authority finds that any provision within this policy (or part of any provision), in invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that provision or part provision, to the extent that is required will be deemed to be deleted. The validity or enforceability of other provisions within this policy will not be affected.
• Unless otherwise agreed, no delay, act or omission by a party in actioning any right or remedy will be deemed a waiver of that, or any other right or remedy.

Questions or complaints

You can contact us or use other options to resolve any complaints.If you have questions or complaints regarding this Policy, please contact by emailing info@squaddle.co.uk.