Privacy Policy.

1. Who We Are

The Geneva Guardians Rugby Club is a Swiss non-profit sports association based in Geneva and founded on 5 February 2026. We are the data controller for the club’s own processing. For privacy questions, contact info@genevaguardians.ch. This policy covers website visitors, prospective players, trial participants, members, coaches, volunteers, committee members, event participants, sponsors, donors and other club contacts, online and offline.

Privacy deserves particular care in an LGBTQIA+ inclusive club. Membership does not establish anyone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, and we do not infer those attributes from participation. Public association with the club can have privacy implications, particularly when names, images or member lists are shared.

We accept members aged 18 or over. Our website is accessible to people of any age. If someone under 18 contacts us, we use their information only as needed to respond and keep it no longer than necessary for that purpose.

2. What Information We Collect

What we handle depends on your interaction with the club. It can include your name and contact details; information you submit for membership and your membership or payment status; training availability and attendance; event, tournament, trip or merchandise-order details; messages and volunteer, sponsor or donation records.

We also handle photographs, videos and recorded image-use preferences. Safety or emergency information you provide, including injury details or incident reports, may contain sensitive health data. Website use generates usage statistics and technical connection information. The following sections explain these activities without assuming that every person provides every category.

3. How and Why We Use Information

We use personal data to respond to enquiries, arrange trials, administer membership and fees, organise rugby and events, communicate, support safety, publish authorised content, manage club support, maintain and understand the website, and meet applicable legal duties.

Our primary framework is the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP): transparency, purpose limitation, proportionality and appropriate security. Ordinary club administration does not automatically require consent. Where the EU GDPR applies to a particular activity, its relevant legal ground and any condition for sensitive data must also be met. EU residence or website access alone does not establish its application.

4. Membership and Training

Prospective players may attend three free trial sessions. Attending a trial or joining the public WhatsApp group does not constitute official membership or consent to publicity.

Official registration is through register.genevaguardians.ch. Google Forms collects submissions and Google Sheets manages the linked responses; original responses may also remain in Google Forms. Only committee members have club-side access to registration records. We use them for applications, member administration, fees and image-use preferences. The club determines those purposes and manages access; Google provides its services under the terms linked in section 9.

SportEasy supports member organisation, training schedules, attendance, sporting communications and events. The club is responsible for the information it enters and accesses in its account. SportEasy also processes data under its own privacy policy.

5. Communications

We communicate by email, through the public WhatsApp recruitment group, separate member groups and Instagram. In an ordinary WhatsApp group, other participants can see your phone number, name and visible profile information, read messages and save or redistribute what you share. The public group is not anonymous.

You can email info@genevaguardians.ch without using either platform. WhatsApp and Instagram are Meta services with their own processing under the WhatsApp and Meta privacy policies. Administrative club messages are separate from any optional marketing or fundraising communications.

6. Photographs and Videos

We take photographs and videos during training, matches and other club activities to share club life. Identifiable images require particular care because public association with an LGBTQIA+ club may be sensitive. Joining does not automatically authorise publication of your name or image.

At registration, members can consent to or refuse use of their image. The choice is recorded in Google Forms responses and the committee can check it. Before taking photographs, we also ask participants whether they wish to appear and explain possible website and social media publication. Photography is optional: a member may decline a particular photo despite earlier consent. A recorded refusal must be respected; a casual agreement to one photo does not automatically change it. Trial participants are asked separately and may decline without affecting participation.

Taking an image, internal sharing, public publication and providing it to press or sponsors are distinct uses. Each use must stay within the relevant permission or another applicable justification. Photography permission does not automatically cover video or unrelated commercial advertising.

To ask about an image, update your choice, withdraw consent, object to a publication or request removal, email info@genevaguardians.ch. Withdrawal does not by itself make earlier processing unlawful. We assess requests under applicable law and remove club-controlled content where required or appropriate, unless another valid justification permits continued use. Copies saved or redistributed by unrelated third parties may remain outside our control.

7. Health and Safety

If you provide relevant injury, health, access-needs or emergency-contact information, it may be used for safe participation, injury management, emergencies or incident response. Accident or safeguarding records, when created, require access limited to people handling the matter. Necessary information may be shared with emergency services.

Health data is sensitive and should be accessible only to people with a legitimate need for a defined purpose. It should not be disclosed to teammates, sponsors or others without appropriate justification, or posted in general WhatsApp groups. This does not mean the club routinely collects detailed medical records.

8. Events and Other Club Activities

Matches, tournaments, trips and social or community events may require limited participant details for coordination and registration. Relevant recipients can include host clubs, organisers, travel or accommodation providers and, where applicable, federations or insurers. Information should be limited to what the activity requires; international disclosures are described below.

We use sponsor contact details and agreement records to manage support, and donor information received by the club for administration and accounting. GoFundMe is an external fundraising service visitors choose to use; the club does not necessarily receive everything a donor gives it. Sponsorship does not give routine access to member contact lists. Any proposed disclosure needs a separate lawful purpose and appropriate information.

9. Service Providers and International Transfers

These services have different roles and may also process information for their own purposes under their applicable terms.

Google operates international infrastructure; no specific region is confirmed for the club’s Forms and Sheets account. SportEasy states that its platform uses France and European data centres; this does not establish every support or subcontractor location. Umami Cloud documents US and EU infrastructure, but the club’s selected region is unverified.

WhatsApp and Instagram use Meta infrastructure and can involve international processing, including the United States. GoFundMe documents US hosting and processing in the United States, India, Poland and Argentina. Necessary event information may reach providers in destination countries, including Italy and the United Kingdom for the club’s published international activities. The website host handles connection requests; its identity and hosting country remain unconfirmed. Google Maps opens when a schedule link is selected.

Swiss rules require recognised adequate protection, appropriate safeguards or an applicable statutory exception for international disclosures. Swiss–US Data Privacy Framework adequacy covers certified organisations and covered data only. Specific safeguards for some club disclosures remain unverified; this notice does not claim a single mechanism or Swiss/EU-only processing for all services.

Limited information may also reach emergency services, professional advisers or authorities where the activity or law requires it.

10. Data Retention and Security

We keep club information while needed for its purpose, an applicable legal duty or a relevant claim. External services may have their own retention rules.

Deleting registration information may involve the original Google Forms response, the linked Sheet entry and authorised copies or exports. Applicable duties and claims may justify keeping specific records; immediate deletion from systems outside our control cannot be guaranteed.

Registration records are restricted to committee members within the club and intended for committee use. We aim to limit other access according to club responsibilities and take particular care with sensitive information.

11. Your Rights

Contact info@genevaguardians.ch to request access, correction or deletion, object to a relevant use, withdraw consent where relied on, or ask for removal of an image. Describe the information concerned so we can find it. We may ask proportionate questions to verify a request without routinely requiring identity documents.

Requests are assessed under applicable law and its exceptions. Swiss law also provides portability where its conditions are met. Where GDPR applies, additional rights such as restriction may apply. You can consult or raise a concern with the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner.

12. Website Analytics and Cookies

We use Umami Cloud to measure pageviews, interactions and general website usage statistics. The current tracker operates without analytics cookies, but technical requests can still involve personal data, including an IP address. We do not describe all analytics as anonymous.

Some member shop and trip pages embed Google Forms; viewing them can contact Google. Other external links contact their services when selected. The website host may process connection logs. Retention depends on the relevant service settings.

13. Changes to This Policy

Last revised: 14 October 2026. We may update this policy as practices or legal requirements change and communicate material changes through an appropriate club channel.