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Privacy Policy

Everest Charlotte Football Club — Official Privacy Notice

These documents reflect ECFC’s commitment to fair play, privacy, and community. By using ECFC’s platforms you agree to these terms.

Last updated June 2026

1. Introduction and Scope

Everest Charlotte Football Club (“ECFC,” “the Club,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) is a sports organization domiciled and operating in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) constitutes a legally binding notice governing the collection, use, disclosure, retention, and protection of Personal Information obtained from individuals (“Users,” “you,” or “your”) who access or use the ECFC website located at ecfc.com and any related digital services, applications, or platforms operated by ECFC (collectively, the “Services”).

This Policy is promulgated in accordance with applicable federal law, including but not limited to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506; the CAN-SPAM Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7701 et seq.; and the laws of the State of North Carolina, including the North Carolina Identity Theft Protection Act, N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 75-60 through 75-66, and the North Carolina Consumer Protection Act, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-1.1.

By accessing or using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Policy. If you do not agree, you must immediately discontinue use of the Services.

2. Definitions

As used in this Policy, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth below:

  • “Personal Information” means any information that identifies, relates to, describes, or is reasonably capable of being associated with a particular natural person, consistent with the definition under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-61(10).
  • “Minor” means any individual under eighteen (18) years of age. For purposes of COPPA compliance, “Child” means any individual under thirteen (13) years of age.
  • “Service Provider” means any third-party entity engaged by ECFC to process Personal Information on ECFC’s behalf pursuant to a written data processing agreement.
  • “Processing” means any operation performed on Personal Information, including collection, storage, use, disclosure, or deletion.

3. Categories of Personal Information Collected

ECFC collects Personal Information in the following categories when you interact with the Services:

  • 3.1 Registration and Account Credentials. Upon account creation, we collect your full legal name, email address, and a cryptographically hashed password credential. This information is necessary to establish, authenticate, and maintain your account.
  • 3.2 Member and Athlete Profile Data. At your election, you may provide supplemental profile information, including jersey number, playing position, biographical narrative, and profile photograph. Submission of such data is voluntary; however, omission may limit certain features of the Services.
  • 3.3 User-Generated Content and Interaction Data. ECFC collects records of your interactions with the Services, including comments and posts, poll responses, push-notification subscription preferences, and similar engagement activity.
  • 3.4 Technical and Automatically Collected Data. When you access the Services, our servers automatically record certain technical data, including Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URLs, pages viewed, time and date of access, and session duration. This information is collected via server logs and session cookies as described in Section 7.
  • 3.5 Communications. If you contact us directly via email or inquiry form, we retain the content of that correspondence and any Personal Information you include therein.

ECFC does not knowingly collect financial account numbers, Social Security numbers, government-issued identification numbers, or biometric data through the Services.

4. Purposes of and Legal Basis for Processing

ECFC processes Personal Information solely for legitimate and lawful purposes, including:

  • 4.1 Service Delivery. To operate, maintain, and deliver the Services; to authenticate your identity; to display personalized content appropriate to your account and preferences.
  • 4.2 Communications. To transmit transactional and operational notifications to which you have affirmatively subscribed, including match alerts, schedule updates, and Club announcements, in accordance with the CAN-SPAM Act.
  • 4.3 Safety, Security, and Integrity. To detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent activity, abuse, spam, unauthorized access, and other conduct that violates ECFC’s Terms of Service or applicable law.
  • 4.4 Analytics and Service Improvement. To analyze aggregate, de-identified usage data for the purpose of understanding how the Services are used and to improve functionality and user experience. Such analysis does not re-identify individual users.
  • 4.5 Legal Compliance. To comply with applicable federal and North Carolina state laws, regulations, court orders, subpoenas, and lawful requests from governmental authorities.

ECFC does not sell, rent, lease, or otherwise transfer your Personal Information to third parties for monetary or other valuable consideration, and does not share your Personal Information with advertising networks or data brokers.

5. Disclosure of Personal Information

ECFC may disclose Personal Information only in the following limited circumstances:

  • 5.1 Service Providers. We engage third-party Service Providers to perform functions necessary to operate the Services, including database hosting, user authentication, image storage and delivery, push-notification distribution, and application error monitoring. Each Service Provider is bound by a written agreement requiring the implementation of appropriate technical and organizational safeguards and restricting use of Personal Information solely to the services rendered to ECFC.
  • 5.2 Legal Process and Governmental Requests. ECFC may disclose Personal Information when required to do so by applicable law, regulation, judicial order, subpoena, or other compulsory legal process, or when ECFC reasonably believes disclosure is necessary to (a) comply with a legal obligation; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of ECFC; (c) prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Services; or (d) protect the personal safety of users of the Services or the public, as may be required under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-65 or other applicable statutes.
  • 5.3 Organizational Successors. In the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of all or substantially all of ECFC’s assets, Personal Information may be transferred to the successor entity, provided that the successor is bound to treat such information consistent with this Policy.
  • 5.4 Consent. ECFC may disclose Personal Information for any other purpose with your prior express written consent.

6. Minors and Children’s Privacy

The Services are directed to users who are thirteen (13) years of age or older. ECFC does not knowingly collect Personal Information from Children (individuals under age 13) without verifiable parental consent, in compliance with COPPA, 15 U.S.C. § 6502. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your Child has provided Personal Information to ECFC without your consent, you must promptly contact us at ecfccharlotte@gmail.com. Upon verified notification, ECFC will take prompt steps to delete such information from our systems.

For registered youth athletes who are Minors (under 18) participating in ECFC programs, account creation, enrollment, and all associated consents are administered by a parent or legal guardian as part of the formal program registration process. The Club does not directly solicit Personal Information from Minors outside of that supervised enrollment procedure.

7. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

ECFC employs a limited set of strictly necessary session cookies for the sole purposes of authenticating your identity and maintaining your signed-in session state across pages of the Services. These cookies are essential to the technical operation of the Services and are not used for behavioral profiling, targeted advertising, or cross-site tracking.

ECFC does not deploy third-party advertising cookies, cross-site tracking pixels, or social media tracking technologies on the Services. You may configure your browser to refuse or delete cookies; however, doing so may impair the functionality of certain features, including your ability to remain signed in.

8. Data Security

ECFC implements reasonable technical, administrative, and physical safeguards designed to protect Personal Information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction, consistent with industry standards. Such measures include, without limitation: encrypted data transmission via Transport Layer Security (TLS); cryptographic hashing of account passwords using industry-recognized algorithms; and least-privilege access controls limiting internal access to Personal Information on a need-to-know basis.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, no method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure. ECFC cannot guarantee the absolute security of Personal Information transmitted over the internet. In the event of a security breach affecting North Carolina residents’ unencrypted Personal Information, ECFC shall provide notification in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-65.

9. Data Retention

ECFC retains Personal Information only for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, to maintain your account and provide the Services, and to comply with applicable legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. When Personal Information is no longer necessary for these purposes, we will take commercially reasonable steps to delete or de-identify it in a timely manner.

Technical and server log data may be retained for a period not exceeding twelve (12) months from the date of collection, unless a longer retention period is required by law or necessary for the investigation of a security incident.

10. Your Rights and Choices

Subject to applicable law, you have the following rights with respect to your Personal Information:

  • 10.1 Access and Correction. You may review, update, or correct your account profile information at any time by accessing the account settings page within the Services. If you are unable to correct inaccurate information through the Services, you may contact us at ecfccharlotte@gmail.com.
  • 10.2 Notification Preferences. You may opt out of push notifications at any time through your device’s operating system settings or through the notification preferences section of your account page. Opting out of push notifications does not affect your receipt of essential transactional communications.
  • 10.3 Account Deletion. You may request deletion of your account and associated Personal Information by submitting a written request to ecfccharlotte@gmail.com. ECFC will process such requests within a reasonable time, subject to applicable legal obligations that may require retention of certain records. Note that some information may persist in backup archives for a limited period following deletion.
  • 10.4 Opt-Out of Email Communications. You may opt out of non-essential email communications by following the unsubscribe instructions included in each email or by contacting us at the address below. ECFC will honor opt-out requests within ten (10) business days, in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act.

To exercise any of the rights described above, please contact ECFC at ecfccharlotte@gmail.com. We may require verification of your identity before processing your request. ECFC will not discriminate against you for exercising any rights available under applicable law.

11. Third-Party Links and Services

The Services may contain links to third-party websites, platforms, or services that are not owned or controlled by ECFC. This Policy applies solely to information collected by ECFC through the Services. ECFC has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the privacy practices of any third-party websites or services. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

12. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

This Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of North Carolina, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to this Policy shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. By using the Services, you irrevocably consent to the personal jurisdiction of such courts.

13. Amendments to This Policy

ECFC reserves the right to amend this Policy at any time. Amendments will become effective upon posting of the revised Policy to this page, with the “Last Updated” date revised accordingly. Where changes are material, ECFC will endeavor to provide advance notice to registered account holders by email or by a prominent notice on the Services prior to the change becoming effective. Your continued use of the Services following the posting of an amended Policy constitutes your acceptance of the amended terms. If you do not agree to an amendment, you must discontinue use of the Services.

14. Contact Information

All inquiries, requests, or complaints relating to this Policy or to ECFC’s privacy practices should be directed to:

Everest Charlotte Football Club
Charlotte, North Carolina
Email: ecfccharlotte@gmail.com

ECFC is committed to resolving complaints about the collection or use of your Personal Information. We will respond to all inquiries within a reasonable time not to exceed thirty (30) calendar days.