This Privacy Policy explains how SportCells (“SportCells”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, uses, discloses, and protects information when you visit www.sportcells.com (the “Site”). SportCells is an independent sports statistics website. We deliberately keep data collection to a minimum. You can browse the entire Site without an account; an optional account — used only for interactive features such as the prediction game — is created with your email (a passwordless magic link) or Google sign-in.

1. Who we are

SportCells operates www.sportcells.com as a free, ad-supported sports statistics platform. For any privacy question or request, contact us at sportcellstech@gmail.com. For the purposes of the EU/UK GDPR, SportCells is the “controller” of the limited information described below.

2. Information we collect

We collect very little, and almost all of it is collected automatically and in aggregate:

  • Usage & device data — pages viewed, time on page, referring URL, approximate (city-level) location, browser type, device type, operating system, and language. Collected via analytics and standard server logs.
  • IP address — processed transiently by our hosting and security layers (for delivering pages, rate-limiting, and abuse prevention) and by analytics in anonymised form. We do not use it to identify you.
  • Cookie identifiers — set by analytics and, where shown, advertising partners (see §3).
  • Interaction & session-replay data — our product-analytics provider (Microsoft Clarity) records anonymised interactions such as mouse movement, clicks, scrolls, and page navigation to build aggregate heatmaps and session replays that help us improve usability. Text you type into form fields is masked and not captured. See §7.
  • Information you give us voluntarily — only if you email us (e.g. your email address and message contents).
  • Account information (optional) — if you create an account to play the prediction game, we store your email address and, if you sign in with Google, your Google display name and profile picture. We never receive or store your Google password.
  • Your predictions — the bracket picks you make while signed in, linked to your account.
  • Poll votes & reactions — when you vote in a match poll or react to a live-commentary event, we store your choice together with a salted one-way hash of your IP address, used only to prevent duplicate submissions. The hash cannot be reversed to identify you, and no account is required.

Accounts are optional and passwordless — we never collect or store passwords, and we do not collect payment information. Everything except the prediction game is available without signing in.

Accounts and the prediction game

Creating an account is optional and only needed to make predictions. We use a third-party authentication provider to handle sign-in via passwordless email links or Google. Your bracket predictions are stored against your account and counted on a public leaderboard, which displays your name and profile picture alongside your score. You can ask us to delete your account and predictions at any time by emailing sportcellstech@gmail.com.

3. Cookies and similar technologies

The Site uses the following categories of cookies:

  • Analytics — Google Analytics 4 sets cookies (e.g. _ga, _ga_*) to measure aggregate traffic and how the Site is used. Microsoft Clarity sets cookies (e.g. _clck, _clsk) to build aggregate heatmaps and session replays.
  • Advertising — where ads are shown, Google and its partners may set cookies (e.g. the DoubleClick / __gads cookies) to serve and measure ads (see §6).
  • Authentication — if you sign in to play the prediction game, our authentication provider sets session cookies to keep you logged in. These are set only for signed-in users.
  • Strictly necessary — a single sign-in cookie (sc_admin) exists only for our own staff admin area; it is never set for ordinary visitors.

You can control cookies through your browser settings, and opt out of analytics/ads as described below. In the EEA, UK, and Switzerland we ask for your consent through a cookie banner before setting any non-essential (analytics or advertising) cookies, and we apply Google Consent Mode so those cookies and personalised advertising stay disabled until you accept. You can change your choice at any time by clearing this site’s cookies and site data in your browser, which makes the banner appear again on your next visit.

Some pages (for example, tournament award highlights) embed video clips from YouTube using the privacy-enhanced youtube-nocookie.com domain. When you play an embedded clip, YouTube may set cookies and receive your IP address and device information under Google’s Privacy Policy.

4. How we use information

  • To operate, maintain, and display the Site and its live scores, standings, and articles.
  • To understand and improve performance and content using aggregate analytics.
  • To display advertising that keeps the Site free.
  • To protect the Site against abuse, spam, and excessive automated requests.
  • To respond to you if you contact us.

5. Legal bases (EEA/UK)

Where the GDPR applies, we rely on our legitimate interests (running, securing, and improving the Site) and on your consent for non-essential analytics and advertising cookies, which you may withdraw at any time.

6. Advertising

The Site may display advertising through Google AdSense. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to the Site and/or other sites on the Internet. You may opt out of personalised advertising via Google Ads Settings, and learn more or opt out of third-party vendors at aboutads.info and youronlinechoices.eu (EEA). See also Google’s how Google uses information from sites that use its services.

7. Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 to measure aggregate usage. You can prevent this with the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. Google’s practices are described in its Privacy Policy.

We also use Microsoft Clarity for product analytics. Clarity captures anonymised behavioural metrics — heatmaps and session replays of how visitors interact with pages — using first-party and third-party cookies, to help us understand and improve the Site. Text entered into form fields is masked and not recorded. Microsoft processes this data as described in the Microsoft Privacy Statement; see also how Clarity handles data. You can opt out of non-essential analytics via your browser or cookie controls.

8. How we share information

We do not sell your personal information and do not share it except with the service providers that help us operate the Site, or where required by law, or to protect our rights and the security of the Site. If you create an account and make predictions, your display name and profile picture are shown publicly on the prediction leaderboard.

9. International transfers

The Site and its providers are operated primarily from the United States. If you access the Site from elsewhere, your information may be processed in the US and other countries with different data-protection laws.

10. Data retention

Aggregate analytics data is retained according to Google Analytics’ configured retention period. Server and security logs are kept for a short period for operational and abuse-prevention purposes. Emails you send us are kept only as long as needed to handle your request.

11. Your rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or restrict processing of your personal information, to object to processing, to data portability (GDPR), and to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information (CCPA/CPRA). To exercise any right, email sportcellstech@gmail.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority.

12. Children’s privacy

The Site is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country), and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact us and we will delete it.

13. Security

We use reasonable technical measures (including HTTPS, security headers, and a strict content-security policy) to protect the Site. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

14. Third-party links

The Site links to third-party websites (for example, data sources and maps). We are not responsible for their content or privacy practices; review their policies separately.

15. Do Not Track

Because there is no industry standard for “Do Not Track” signals, the Site does not currently respond to them. You can still use the opt-out tools in §6 and §7.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as the Site evolves. Material changes will be reflected here with a new “last updated” date. Continued use of the Site after changes constitutes acceptance.

17. Contact us

Questions or requests? Email sportcellstech@gmail.com or use our contact page. See also our Terms of Use.