Privacy Policy
Effective date: October 18, 2026
ClimbTheLadder is made by Challenge Round LLC. This policy covers the ClimbTheLadder app for iPhone and Android, the player web app (play.climbtheladder.io), the organizer web app (admin.climbtheladder.io) used by ladder organizers, and this website (climbtheladder.io). It says what we collect, what we do with it, who else can see it, and how to delete it.
What we collect
Account information. When you create an account we collect your email address, a password (stored only in securely hashed form by our authentication provider, Supabase — we never see it), and a display name. You can optionally add a phone number and a link to your UTR (Universal Tennis Rating) profile.
Your account and device identifiers. Your account has an internal ID that ties your ladder activity to you. Your phone gets an identifier too, so that notifications reach the right device and so that activity from the same device is counted together in our analytics. Neither is your phone’s advertising identifier; we don’t collect that.
Ladder activity. The core of the service: your ladder memberships, challenges, proposed match days, match results, standings history, and what you type into the app — match-day posts, notes on a challenge, and your availability and "temporarily unavailable" settings.
Push notification token. If you allow notifications, we store a device push token so we can deliver match and challenge notifications to your phone. You can turn notifications off at any time in your phone’s settings.
How you use ClimbTheLadder. When you use the app or the web apps, we record what you do in them: opening the app or a page, sending, accepting or declining a challenge, reporting a score, posting or taking a match time, tapping a notification. We also record your device model, operating system, browser, app version, and the language and time zone your phone is set to. This record is linked to your display name and email address. We use it only to understand how the ladder is used and to improve ClimbTheLadder. We collect it with PostHog, a product analytics service named under "Service providers" below. The web apps keep a small analytics identifier in your browser’s storage so that visits from the same browser are counted together.
Visits to this website. When you visit climbtheladder.io, PostHog records which pages you open and which buttons you tap, along with your browser type and screen size. If you’re signed in to ClimbTheLadder on the web in the same browser, these visits are counted alongside your app activity; otherwise they’re anonymous, and a small identifier in your browser’s storage simply counts return visits from the same browser.
Location. We don’t collect your location. We don’t ask your phone for it, and PostHog is set to discard your network (IP) address and not to work out a city or country from it. Your time zone and language settings do say roughly which part of the world you’re in, but nothing more precise than that.
Invitations. When a ladder organizer invites someone to a ladder, we process the invitee’s email address in order to send the invitation.
Forms on this website. This website has three forms for clubs and ladder organizers. What you type into one reaches us through Formspree, a form service named below, and we use it only to reply to you and to set up your ladder.
- The club inquiry form on the home page collects your name, email address, club or group, your role, and your message.
- The club details form at climbtheladder.io/clubs/details collects your name, role, email address and mobile number if you give one, your club’s name and website, and the details of your ladder — who plays, what it costs players, its dates and settings, how members sign up, who answers players’ questions and how to reach them — and anything else you add.
- The Start a ladder form at climbtheladder.io/start collects your name, your email, your club or group name and the ladder name, and nothing else.
We do not collect your contacts, photos, or any data from other apps. We don’t use your information for advertising, and we never share it with data brokers or ad networks.
How we use your information
- To run your ladders: standings, challenges, match days, results, and the notifications that go with them.
- To let the players on your ladder reach you to arrange matches.
- To send you the emails the service depends on — invitations, challenge notices, match reminders, the daily digest, password resets — and to let you turn the optional ones off.
- To understand how ClimbTheLadder is used and make it better.
- To answer you when you contact us.
What other players can see
ClimbTheLadder is a club tool, and arranging matches means players need to reach each other:
- Your display name (and UTR link, if you added one) is visible to the players on every ladder you’ve joined, including players who have since left. It stays visible to them after you leave a ladder, and while you’re resting. Your ladder organizer can see it too. Players who have never been on a ladder with you can’t look you up. If you’re a ladder organizer, everyone who’s signed in can see your name.
- Your email address and phone number (if you gave one) are visible to the other players on a ladder you’re on, so they can contact you to arrange matches — including by texting you directly. That doesn’t change while you’re resting: players on your ladder can still see your contact details, and you can still see theirs. When a challenge or a match is set up between you and another player, the email we send that player includes your email address and phone number. Your ladder organizer can see your contact details too. Players who aren’t on a ladder with you can’t look up your contact details.
- Your availability — the days you’ve marked as available, and whether you’ve set yourself as temporarily unavailable — is visible to the same people who can see your name, so they know when to challenge you.
If you add a phone number, the other players on your ladders use it to set up matches with you, and your ladder organizer can see it too. We won’t text you, and we will never sell your personal information.
How we contact you
We contact you by email and by push notification in the app. ClimbTheLadder doesn’t send text messages, and we won’t add them without asking you to opt in first. Players text each other directly using the numbers shared on the ladder; that’s between you and them.
Service providers
These companies handle your information on our behalf, to run the service. Each gets only what its job requires.
- Supabase — authentication, database, and application hosting.
- Expo, Apple, and Google — delivery of push notifications. On Android phones, notifications arrive through Google’s Firebase Cloud Messaging. The content of a notification (for example, "Jamie accepted your challenge") passes through them.
- Resend — sending email, including invitations, challenge notices, and the daily digest.
- Vercel — hosting for the web apps and this website.
- PostHog — product analytics. PostHog receives your display name, email address, account ID, device model, operating system, app version, language and time zone, and the activity record described above. It stores this data in the United States, is set to discard IP addresses, and does not derive your location.
- ImprovMX — forwards email sent to a climbtheladder.io address to our mailbox.
- Formspree — receives what you type into the three forms on this website (the club inquiry form, the club details form and the Start a ladder form) and emails it to us. It keeps a copy for a limited time so we can find it if the email goes astray.
Data retention and deletion
We keep your information for as long as your account exists. You can edit your display name, phone number, and UTR link in the app at any time.
You can delete your account at any time from inside the app: tap Profile, scroll to the bottom, tap Delete Account, type DELETE, and confirm. Your account, login, and contact information — email address, name, phone number, UTR link — and your push notification tokens are erased immediately. We remove your record from PostHog within 30 days. Your completed matches stay visible to other players as "Deleted player" so their standings still add up.
The full steps, including what to do if you can’t sign in, are at climbtheladder.io/delete-account.
Children
ClimbTheLadder isn’t directed at children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, contact us and we’ll delete it.
Changes to this policy
When we change this policy we’ll update the effective date at the top. If a change matters to you, we’ll say so in the app or by email.
Contact
Questions or requests:
support@climbtheladder.io
Challenge Round LLC · 1235 East Blvd Ste E PMB 1408, Charlotte, NC 28203