Privacy Policy

Who we are

Blackbird is made by Space Pirate Labs ("we", "us"). Questions about this policy or your data go to hello@throwblackbird.com.

What we collect

Account. A sign-in identifier: your email address if you save your account with an email code, or, if you use Sign in with Apple, an Apple identifier and the email Apple shares (which can be a private relay address). Before you save your account, Blackbird uses an anonymous account that lives on your phone.

Profile. The name, username, face and home course you choose, and a PDGA number and rating if you add them.

Rounds. Your scorecards: course, holes, throws, and who was on the card with you. That includes rounds you bring in from another app's CSV export: only your own scores from that file are kept.

Your Blackbird rating. Your phone works it out from your rounds and saves it with your account, along with who may see it. With each finished round we also keep how it was scored (on a shared card, with your phone at the course, scored without location, or entered afterwards) and the wind and rain at the course that day. Your location itself isn't saved: when you tap FINISH, the phone only checks whether it's at the course, and only that yes or no is kept.

Your Blackbird tag. Everyone with a username holds one, numbered in the order they joined. We keep its number, and for each shared card that moved it, the numbers before and after, the course and when.

Your bag and practice. Your discs, your bags and what's in their pockets, your photos of them and of your face, your putting sessions and field throws, your gameplans, hole notes and settings. They're kept privately with your account so they follow you onto any device you sign in to, the newest change winning. Only you can see them.

Cards for people without the app. You can put someone on your card by name. Their name and scores stay on your phone unless you send them their card: then we keep the name you typed, their scores and yours on that round, and a short code, for 90 days, so the link can show it. If they save it in Blackbird, it becomes their round.

Friends. Who you've asked to be friends, who's accepted, and who you've blocked.

Live and open to play. Only when you turn live sharing on: the course you're on, the hole you're playing and your score so far, while a round is going. If you say you're open to play: which course, the format and a short note, until it runs out. Live presence disappears 45 minutes after your last update.

Course checks. If you answer "Is the basket here?" with NO, we save where your phone says you're standing and how accurate it thinks that is, so a mapper can fix the hole. A YES saves only the answer.

Notifications. If you allow notifications, your phone's push token, so we can tell you when a friend asks you to play, adds you to a card or says nice.

Reports. If you report a player, the reason and any note you add.

Usage counts. A short list of events like "opened the app", "started a round" or "sent a friend request", tied to your account, so we can see which parts of Blackbird work. These never include your location, your scores or anything you write.

Early access. If you join the list on blackbirddiscgolf.com: your email address, whether you said you run tournaments or a league, and when you joined. We use it only to send your invite and to tell you when Blackbird is out. Email us and we'll take you off the list.

Your location, photos and camera

Blackbird uses your phone's location while you're using it: to list the courses near you and open the map around you, for the rangefinder (distance to the basket), to show where you are on the hole, to measure your throws when you mark them or throw in a field session, and, when you finish a round, to check that you're at the course. During a round it keeps the GPS on even with your phone locked (iPhone shows the blue location indicator), so the distance is ready the moment you look; you can turn that off on You, under On the course, GPS ready during a round. Your location isn't sent to us or to anyone else, with two exceptions: when you tell us a basket isn't where the map says, and the throws you measure in a field session (where each one started and landed), which are kept privately with your account, with your bag and your practice, so they come back on any device you sign in to. Only you can see them.

If you add your own photo of your face, a disc or a piece of gear, it's kept with your account so it shows on every device you sign in to. It's stored at a long, random web address that only your devices keep, so nobody comes across it; remove the photo and it's deleted, and deleting your account deletes them all. Blackbird only opens your photo library or camera when you choose to add a photo.

The camera is also used by the distance tools in practice ("How far am I?" and the laser guide), on iPhone, while they're open: they find the ground so they can show how far you are from the basket. Nothing from those is recorded, saved or sent anywhere.

On Apple Watch, during a round you started on your iPhone, Blackbird uses your Watch's location to show how far you are from the basket and which disc to throw; it stays on your Watch. If you play the round as a workout, Apple Health keeps it (time, heart rate, distance walked and calories) under your Health settings, and Blackbird doesn't send it anywhere.

Who can see what

Your name, username and face are visible to other signed-in players, so friends can find you.

Live sharing has three settings: off, friends, or everyone. Live is mutual: you only see others while you share too. Open to play is shown to friends.

Your Blackbird rating has its own setting: nobody, friends (the default) or everyone. It's also used for handicaps on cards you share. Your rounds, together with other players', help set how hard each hole plays; only totals across at least two players are used, never your scores on their own. Your own rating is measured against other players' rounds, not yours.

Your Blackbird tag's number shows on your profile to anyone on Blackbird who opens it, and by your name on cards you share. Friends see each other's numbers on the tag's page; the cards that moved yours are only shown to you.

Your friends see the bag you carry: each disc, its numbers, plastic and colour, and how far it goes for you (never your throws themselves). A friend can follow your bag and hear when it changes. If you share your bag, the picture and a copy of the bag at that moment are public at blackbirddiscgolf.com/b/ and your username, with your first name, your rating and your town if you left them on. Only the newest picture is kept; deleting your account deletes them all.

Friends who can see your live status can see your finished rounds for three weeks (your own scores only, never your card-mates'). With live sharing off, your rounds stay private.

A card link (blackbirddiscgolf.com/r/…) shows anyone who has it the name on the card, that player's scores, the course and date, and the first name and score of whoever kept it. A league link shows the league, its divisions and how full they are, and the director's first name, never who's going.

Nobody sees who reported them, and blocked players can't find you, see you on the map or ask to be friends.

Services we use

Supabase stores Blackbird's data (in the United States). Apple and Expo deliver notifications, and Expo delivers updates to the app. Mapbox, Esri and Johnson County, Iowa provide map and aerial imagery, and Open-Meteo and the U.S. Geological Survey provide weather and elevation for course locations; these services see a request from your phone (and so its IP address) but not who you are. We've turned Mapbox's usage telemetry off. If you sign in with Apple, Apple handles that sign-in.

We don't sell your data, share it with advertisers, or use it to show you ads. There are no third-party analytics or advertising SDKs in Blackbird.

How long we keep it

Your account data stays until you delete your account. Live presence expires after 45 minutes and open to play when you set it to. Reports are kept so we can act on them; if either account is deleted, the report stays without that account attached. Cards you send to people without the app expire after 90 days; a saved one stays as that player's round.

Deleting your account

In the app: You → Account → DELETE ACCOUNT. That deletes your account right away, with your profile, rounds, friends, cards, checks, notification tokens, and your bag, practice, photos and settings. It can't be undone. Hole positions you saved as a course mapper stay with the course. You can also email hello@throwblackbird.com and we'll delete it for you.

Children

Blackbird isn't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect data from them. If you think a child under 13 has an account, email us and we'll delete it.

Your rights

You can see and change your profile in the app, delete your account from the app, and email us for a copy of your data or with any other request. Depending on where you live (for example in California or the EU), you may have further rights under local law; we'll honor them.

Changes

If this policy changes in a way that matters, we'll say so in the app before it takes effect. The date at the top is the latest version.