Privacy Policy

Declared is an independent platform and is not affiliated with, partnered with, or endorsed by the NAIA, the NCAA, the NJCAA, or any other athletic association or conference. This policy explains, in plain language, how Declared collects, uses, shares, and protects your information. This Privacy Policy is part of, and incorporated into, the Terms of Service.

1. What we collect

Athlete-entered information. What athletes enter themselves: name, current school, position, class, eligibility remaining, height, hometown, stats (including whether a season was played, or was a redshirt or did-not-play season), GPA, current and target major, bio, photo, and a film link. Also a short set of recruiting answers: why they are transferring and what they are looking for, whether they want an athletic scholarship, and whether they receive or qualify for academic aid. An athlete who signs up with a personal email address also gives the last season they played and supporting details that show it; Declared uses those only to review the account before it goes live, and coaches never see them.

All of it is self-reported by the athlete. Declared does not collect it from schools, athletics websites, or any other third-party source, and does not scrape.

Academic aid. If an athlete says they receive or qualify for academic aid, Declared records only broad categories: an academic or merit scholarship from a school, need-based grant or aid, an outside or private scholarship, or that they are not sure which. Declared does not collect award names or dollar amounts, and does not ask questions about race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, or household income.

Information you provide. What you add to your profile (bio, stats, photo, film links, preferences), your email, and any optional phone number.

Messages to Declared. If you write to Declared's administrator through the site, Declared keeps your message with your account's email address so it can answer you, and deletes it when your account is deleted. Declared answers on the site, where its replies are kept with your messages, and emails you a notice when there is a new one.

Account and device data. Basic sign-in, session, and device information used to run password login (with email verification) and enforce the 2-device limit. Declared also records the date you confirmed you are 18 or older, and when you last opened the app, which runs the 30-day inactivity rule described in the Terms. When a password reset is requested, Declared keeps a one-way hash of the email address and of the requesting network address for seven days, to limit how many emails one person can make Declared send; a hash cannot be turned back into the address. Payments are handled by our payment processor; Declared does not store your full card number.

Coach account verification. For coach accounts Declared records the school email address, the school it belongs to, and whether that address matched Declared's records. A coach may also add a profile photo. It is shown only to signed-in athletes in the coach's sport, on the Programs and Recruiting Needs pages and in their messages with that coach, and to Declared's administrator to remove one if needed, and it is deleted when the coach removes it or the account is deleted.

Coach notes and recruiting boards. A coach can add athletes to a private recruiting board, set a stage such as Contacted or Offered, and write private notes about an athlete. See section 5 for exactly who can see these and section 7 for how they are handled in an information request.

Administrative records. Declared keeps a record of account actions taken by its administrator, such as approving, suspending, or deleting an account and honoring a removal request. The record shows what was done, to which account, and when. Declared also keeps a record that an account was deleted and when, whichever way it was deleted: by the administrator, by the account holder, or by the 30-day rule for committed athletes. That record identifies the account by its internal identifier, not by name or email address.

2. What we never collect

Transcripts, medical records, or anything from a registrar. GPA is self-reported only. Declared does not build profiles of anyone under 18.

Declared does not collect athlete information from schools, athletics websites, or data vendors, and does not create a profile for anyone who has not signed up themselves. Every athlete on Declared put themselves there.

3. How we use it

To run the platform: show declared profiles to coaches, enable messaging after an athlete signs up, process coach payments, keep the database real, and keep accounts secure. Declared does not sell or rent your information to advertisers, data brokers or anyone else to use outside Declared, and does not use it for advertising. Coaches and approved Other accounts pay for access to the platform, and seeing declared profiles there is part of that access (sections 1 and 4b).

4. Who we share it with

Only the service providers that run the platform (for example hosting, database, email delivery, and payment processing), and only as needed to operate the service or when required by law. Declared does not sell or rent your information to advertisers, data brokers or anyone else to use outside Declared, and does not use it for advertising. Coaches and approved Other accounts pay for access to the platform, and seeing declared profiles there is part of that access (sections 1 and 4b).

Current service providers used to run Declared:

• Supabase — database, authentication, and file storage.
• Vercel — website hosting and delivery.
• Stripe — coach and Other-account subscription payments (Declared never sees full card numbers).
• Email delivery provider — sends account confirmation, password reset, and account notification emails.

4b. "Other" accounts (who else can see athlete profiles)

Alongside athletes and coaches, Declared has a third kind of account called an Other account. It is for people who are neither recruiting nor being recruited but who already work in small-college athletics. When someone applies for one they must pick a category, narrow it down, and name the organization they work for:

Category	Examples of who this covers
Journalist	Beat writer, columnist, broadcaster, podcaster, freelance, student journalist
Media group	An outlet, broadcast or podcast network, newsletter, scouting or ranking service
Association or event staff	Conference office, athletic association, camp or event operator
Other	Anything not covered above. They describe their role in their own words

Declared is not open to the public, and an Other account is not a way in. There is no public browsing of athlete profiles on Declared at all. Applying for an Other account does not create one: every single application is read and approved by hand by Declared before any access is switched on. Applying is free, and payment comes only after approval, so nobody can buy their way past the review and nobody who is declined is ever charged. Being invited does not approve an account either. Applicants who cannot show a real, verifiable connection to small-college athletics are declined. In practice these accounts go to people like a small-college basketball news outlet or a conference office, not to members of the public.

If you are an athlete, here is exactly what that means for you.

An approved Other account can see your profile the same way a coach can: your name, school, position, class year, eligibility, height, hometown, academics, stats, film, photo, bio, and your recruiting answers. Only for the sports that Declared specifically granted that account, not automatically all of them.

An Other account can never:

• see your email address or phone number, even if you have chosen to show your contact info to coaches (that choice applies to coaches only, and Other accounts are excluded from it at the database level, not merely hidden in the interface);
• message you or contact you through Declared in any way;
• read any message between you and a coach;
• express interest in you, add you to a recruiting board, or appear anywhere in your inbox.

The reason for the split is simple: you signed up to be recruited by college coaches, and that is a different thing from being written about. An Other account can look, and that is all it can do.

5. What stays private

Your contact info is private by default and never shown unless you choose to show it. When you do choose to show it, you are showing it to coaches in your sport. It is never shown to Other accounts (see section 4b).

Your messages are private to the two people in the conversation. No one else on Declared can see them. This is enforced at the database level (row-level security), not just in the interface.

Coach notes are private to the coach who wrote them. A coach may keep private notes and a recruiting stage about an athlete on their own board. Only the coach who wrote a note can see it. Notes are never shown to the athlete, to other coaches (including other coaches at the same school), or to Other accounts, and they never appear in any export. Notes are deleted when the athlete deletes or removes their account, and when the coach's account is deleted. If a program's primary coach moves to another school, their board and notes move with them.

Coach notes are private, but they are not legally privileged. Like any business record, they can be required to be produced by a court order, subpoena, or other legal process.

6. Your choices and control

You can edit or hide your details, delete your account, and request correction or removal at any time. Removal requests are honored the same day. To reach us, email garrett@declaredgroup.com.

7. Your information and removal

Athlete information on Declared is entered by the athletes themselves. Any athlete can ask Declared to correct or remove their information at any time, and that request is honored the same day.

You can also ask for a copy of the information Declared holds about you. That copy includes everything on your profile, your account and sign-in details, and your messages.

It does not include private notes a coach has written about you. Those are a third party's own confidential assessment, held on that coach's private recruiting board, and releasing them would affect that coach's rights. This is the one exception, it applies to every athlete equally, and Declared states it here rather than deciding it case by case. Notes are still deleted with your account, exactly like everything else.

8. Data retention

Declared keeps your information only as long as needed to run the service. When an athlete marks themselves committed, the account and everything in it are deleted 30 days after the most recent commit, unless the athlete deletes it sooner or switches back to declared; Declared emails a reminder a week before. A declared profile with no sign-in for 30 days is hidden from coaches until the athlete signs in and confirms they are still transferring; Declared emails a reminder before that happens. Removal requests are honored the same day. An account Declared does not approve at signup is deleted when Declared makes that decision.

When an athlete's account is deleted or removed, everything tied to it goes with it, including their stats, messages, and any private notes coaches had written about them.

When either person's account is deleted, the conversation between them, and the record that a coach saw your contact details, are deleted too.

Declared does not currently keep backup copies of its database. Before it starts to, this policy will be updated to say how long backups are kept and what they are used for.

Records of payments are kept by our payment processor, and by Declared as tax and accounting law requires, after an account is deleted.

Administrative records of account actions are kept after the account itself is gone. They record that an action was taken and when, so that Declared can answer a later question about what happened to an account. They are not used for any other purpose.

9. Security

Declared protects your information with password sign-in (email verification and password reset; passwords are stored only as secure hashes), database-level access rules (row-level security) so users can only see what they are allowed to, encrypted connections (HTTPS), and a limit of 2 active devices per account.

10. Children

Declared is for college athletes and recruiting staff and is limited to users 18 and older. Every account must confirm at signup that the person is at least 18, or the age of majority where they live, and Declared records the date of that confirmation. Declared does not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided information, email garrett@declaredgroup.com and it will be removed.

11. Changes to this policy

Declared may update or change this policy at any time and for any reason. The date at the top reflects the latest version; material changes are noticed where appropriate. Continuing to use Declared after a change means the updated policy is accepted.

12. Contact

Questions or requests about your information: garrett@declaredgroup.com. Declared LLC, Washington, USA.