Priest Bass Fishing Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

PBF may collect information reasonably necessary to provide and operate its services.

Depending on the services a user chooses to use, this may include:

• name or display name;
• email address;
• account and authentication identifiers;
• date of birth for forum age eligibility;
• forum profile information;
• forum posts, replies, photos, reactions, reports, and other submitted content;
• Private Messages when that feature is available;
• tournament registration information;
• membership information;
• information voluntarily submitted to participate in tournaments or other PBF activities;
• order, payment, and fulfillment information necessary for purchases;
• communications sent directly to PBF;
• moderation, security, fraud-prevention, and account-enforcement information; and
• limited technical information reasonably necessary to operate, secure, troubleshoot, or protect PBF services.

PBF does not intentionally collect information merely for the purpose of tracking users across unrelated services or building unrelated profiles about them.

PBF does not need to know what device a person uses unless technical information relating to that device is reasonably necessary for security, authentication, troubleshooting, fraud prevention, or operation of PBF services.

2. Data Minimization

PBF intends to collect and retain only information reasonably necessary for PBF-related purposes.

PBF does not intentionally collect personal information unrelated to the forum, tournaments, memberships, purchases, account administration, security, moderation, or other services the user requests from PBF.

Information collected for one PBF service may be used with another PBF service when reasonably necessary to maintain one consistent account and user identity.

3. Account Identity

A user's email address and internal authentication identifier are used to maintain the user's PBF account identity.

A forum-only user who later becomes a PBF member or participates in additional PBF services should continue using the same existing account whenever possible.

PBF does not intend to require users to create separate accounts simply because they later become a tournament participant or PBF Series member.

Email addresses are not publicly displayed as forum identity information.

4. Display Names

Forum users may have a public display name.

During account creation, PBF may suggest an initial display name based on the portion of the user's email address appearing before the `@` symbol.

Users must be given an opportunity to select or change their display name.

Public display names should be unique to reduce impersonation, confusion, marketplace issues, Private Message errors, and moderation problems.

Changing a display name does not change the user's underlying account identity.

5. Date of Birth & Age Requirements

PBF Forum accounts require users to be at least 16 years old.

PBF collects a full date of birth during forum signup for the limited purpose of determining whether the user meets PBF's age requirements and whether the user is a minor.

Date of birth is private account information.

A user's date of birth must not be displayed publicly on their forum profile or forum posts.

PBF should not use date of birth for unrelated marketing, profiling, advertising, or other purposes unrelated to legitimate PBF services.

Users under 16 are not permitted to create or maintain a PBF Forum account.

6. Minors

Minors who are old enough to create a PBF Forum account must have permission from a parent or legal guardian before creating an account.

A minor must confirm during signup that they have received that permission.

PBF does not require collection of a parent's or guardian's identification, driver's license, government identification, or other unnecessary personal information solely to create the forum account unless PBF later determines such collection is legally or operationally required.

PBF may restrict, suspend, or delete an account if PBF reasonably determines that the user does not meet the forum's age requirements or did not obtain the required permission.

7. How PBF Uses Information

PBF may use information for legitimate PBF services, including:

• creating and maintaining accounts;
• authenticating users;
• operating the forum;
• providing profiles, posts, replies, reactions, and community features;
• operating Private Messages when available;
• administering tournaments;
• processing tournament registrations;
• administering PBF memberships;
• processing payments and purchases;
• fulfilling merchandise orders;
• communicating with users about specific PBF services they use;
• providing account or customer support;
• enforcing the Forum Rules and Terms of Use;
• investigating reports or abuse;
• preventing fraud and protecting users;
• maintaining security;
• troubleshooting technical problems;
• maintaining records reasonably necessary for PBF operations;
• complying with applicable legal requirements; and
• providing services specifically requested by the user.

PBF does not intend to use personal information for purposes unrelated to Priest Bass Fishing services.

8. Public Forum Information

Certain information submitted to the forum is intended to be public.

Public information may include:

• display name;
• forum profile;
• topics;
• posts;
• replies;
• photos and videos submitted publicly;
• reactions;
• public contribution history; and
• other content intentionally posted in public forum areas.

Users should understand that publicly posted information may be viewed by people who are not registered PBF users.

Users should not post sensitive personal information publicly.

Email addresses, dates of birth, authentication credentials, payment information, and other private account information must not be publicly displayed as part of ordinary forum participation.

9. Photos & User Content

Users retain ownership of their original content subject to the permissions granted to Priest Bass Fishing under the PBF Terms of Use.

Publicly submitted photos and content may be displayed and used by PBF as described in the Terms of Use.

Users should not upload content containing private information they do not want publicly displayed.

10. Private Messages

Private Messages are not publicly visible forum posts.

However, users should not treat Private Messages as guaranteed confidential or end-to-end private communications.

PBF may access, preserve, or review Private Messages when reasonably necessary to:

• investigate a reported violation;
• enforce the Forum Rules, Terms of Use, or Privacy Policy;
• investigate harassment, threats, scams, fraud, or abuse;
• protect a user or Priest Bass Fishing;
• secure or operate the service; or
• comply with applicable law.

PBF may preserve or disclose Private Message information when required by a valid subpoena, court order, warrant, or other lawful legal process.

PBF may also provide information to appropriate authorities when required by applicable law.

The existence of this authority does not mean PBF routinely reads users' Private Messages.

11. Tournament & Membership Information

PBF may collect information reasonably necessary to administer tournament fishing, registrations, memberships, results, eligibility, payments, communications, and related PBF activities.

Information requested for a particular tournament, Series, membership, or registration should be limited to what is reasonably necessary for that activity.

PBF does not intend to disclose tournament or membership information for unrelated purposes.

Some tournament information may necessarily become public, such as angler names, registration status, tournament results, standings, winnings, photos, or other information customarily associated with tournament participation.

12. Payments

Payments may be processed by third-party payment providers.

PBF should not store full payment-card numbers when the payment processor handles that information directly.

Payment processors may receive information reasonably necessary to process payments, prevent fraud, issue refunds, maintain transaction records, or satisfy legal requirements.

Those providers may maintain their own privacy policies and terms.

13. Merchandise Fulfillment

When a user purchases merchandise, PBF may provide fulfillment providers with information reasonably necessary to complete the order.

This may include a recipient name, shipping address, product selection, order information, and other information required to produce or deliver the merchandise.

PBF does not provide unrelated personal information to fulfillment providers merely because a user made a purchase.

14. Service Providers

PBF may use third-party companies and services to operate portions of its website and services.

These may include providers for:

• website hosting;
• databases;
• authentication;
• email delivery;
• payments;
• merchandise fulfillment;
• security;
• maps or directions;
• analytics;
• technical infrastructure; and
• other services necessary to operate PBF.

These providers may receive information reasonably necessary to perform the service they provide.

PBF should not provide them with unrelated personal information.

15. Sale of Personal Information

Priest Bass Fishing does not sell users' personal information for money.

PBF may provide information to service providers when reasonably necessary to operate PBF services, complete transactions, provide services requested by users, protect PBF or users, or satisfy legal requirements.

Providing necessary information to a service provider is not intended to constitute selling a user's personal information for unrelated commercial purposes.

16. Advertising & Tracking

PBF does not intend to build user profiles for unrelated targeted advertising or sell personal information to third-party advertisers.

If PBF later introduces advertising technologies or practices that materially change how personal information is collected, tracked, shared, or used, the Privacy Policy should be updated before those practices are implemented.

Ordinary PBF sponsors or advertisements do not by themselves authorize unrelated tracking of individual users.

17. Cookies & Similar Technologies

PBF may use cookies, local storage, or similar technologies when reasonably necessary for:

• authentication and login sessions;
• account security;
• shopping-cart functionality;
• user preferences;
• fraud prevention;
• service operation;
• basic analytics;
• troubleshooting; and
• other necessary site functionality.

PBF should not add unnecessary cross-site tracking solely for unrelated advertising or profiling.

18. Email & User Communications

PBF may send users communications relating to services they use or request.

Examples may include:

• account verification;
• authentication;
• password or security notices;
• tournament registration;
• tournament updates;
• membership information;
• purchase or payment confirmations;
• order information;
• moderation notices;
• Private Message notifications;
• support responses; and
• other communications directly related to PBF services.

PBF does not intend to operate the forum as a source of unsolicited spam email.

Users may not use PBF systems, Private Messages, member information, or forum features to send unauthorized spam or mass solicitation.

Marketing or promotional communications, if introduced, should be handled separately and include appropriate user controls where required.

19. Security

PBF takes reasonable measures to protect information under its control.

However, no website, network, database, or online service can guarantee absolute security.

Users are responsible for protecting their passwords and account credentials.

Users should notify PBF if they reasonably believe their account has been compromised.

20. Data Retention

PBF may retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to:

• maintain an active account;
• operate PBF services;
• administer tournaments or memberships;
• maintain financial or transaction records;
• comply with legal or accounting requirements;
• prevent fraud or abuse;
• investigate rule violations;
• resolve disputes;
• enforce agreements; or
• protect PBF and its users.

Information may remain temporarily in backups, security logs, or technical systems after it is removed from active use.

PBF should not retain personal information indefinitely when there is no reasonable PBF-related purpose for keeping it.

21. Account Deletion

Users may request deletion of their forum account.

When an account deletion request is approved and processed:

• the user's active forum profile should be deleted or deactivated as appropriate;
• the user should no longer be able to post or reply;
• the user should no longer be able to send or receive Private Messages;
• private personal information should be deleted, de-identified, or retained only where PBF has a legitimate operational, security, legal, tournament, accounting, fraud-prevention, or recordkeeping reason to retain it; and
• existing public forum posts and replies may remain.

Public posts and replies are not automatically deleted simply because the associated account is deleted.

The system should preserve the historical author attribution necessary to maintain discussion continuity, moderation records, and forum integrity.

Do NOT automatically replace the visible author name on every historical post with `Deleted User` unless the underlying forum architecture requires that behavior.

If the system can safely retain the historical display name on old posts without retaining an active profile or unnecessary personal information, that is the preferred behavior.

Historical posts from a deleted account must not provide an active path to a functioning user profile or allow interaction with the deleted account.

PBF may remove particular content separately when appropriate or legally required.

22. User Privacy Requests

Users may contact PBF to request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information associated with their PBF account, subject to applicable law and legitimate recordkeeping requirements.

PBF may need to verify the identity of the requester before acting on a privacy request.

PBF may retain information that it is legally required or reasonably permitted to retain for security, fraud prevention, financial records, tournament records, dispute resolution, or enforcement purposes.

23. Legal, Safety & Security Disclosures

PBF may preserve, use, or disclose information when reasonably necessary to:

• comply with applicable law;
• respond to a valid subpoena, court order, warrant, or other lawful legal process;
• protect the safety of users or others;
• investigate fraud, threats, harassment, abuse, or unlawful conduct;
• enforce the Terms of Use, Forum Rules, or Privacy Policy;
• protect PBF's rights, property, systems, or services; or
• respond to an emergency involving a risk of serious harm where disclosure is permitted by law.

24. Business or Organizational Changes

If Priest Bass Fishing is reorganized, transferred, merged, acquired, or otherwise changes ownership or control, information associated with PBF services may be transferred as part of that transaction where permitted by law.

Any successor should remain subject to applicable privacy obligations concerning that information.

25. Third-Party Websites & Services

PBF may link to websites or services operated by third parties.

Those third parties have their own privacy policies and practices.

PBF's Privacy Policy does not control how unrelated third-party websites or services collect, use, or protect information.

Users should review the privacy practices of third-party services they choose to use.

26. Changes to This Privacy Policy

PBF may update this Privacy Policy as its services, technologies, or legal obligations change.

The current policy should display an effective or updated date.

If a material change significantly affects how account information is collected, used, or shared, PBF may notify affected users or require renewed acceptance when appropriate.

27. Contact

Questions, concerns, privacy requests, or account-deletion requests may be submitted to Priest Bass Fishing using the contact methods provided on the PBF website.