Privacy Policy
This is the privacy policy for BluePadel, a padel scoring application for Wear OS smartwatches and Android phones, owned and operated by Ward & Partners (the "Responsible Party" under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 — POPIA). This document explains what information BluePadel processes, why, where it goes, and the rights you have over it.
1. Who we are
The Responsible Party is Ward & Partners, a South African business operating BluePadel under the package identifier co.za.bluepadel. You can reach us at hello@bluepadel.co.za. The Information Officer for the purposes of POPIA is reachable at the same address.
2. What personal information we process
BluePadel processes the following categories of information, all of which remain on your own devices:
- Match information. The scores, durations, and per-point timestamps of padel matches you record with the app. Stored in a local Room database on your phone (the BluePadel Companion app) and a transient state on your watch during play.
- Match preferences. Your chosen scoring rules (best-of, golden point, super tiebreak), watch skin, handedness, and first-server choice. Stored in Android
SharedPreferences/ DataStore on your device. - Health and activity data (watch only). Heart rate and accelerometer readings captured during a match via Android Health Services for live readouts and swing detection. These are processed on-device in real time and are not persisted beyond the active match unless you explicitly save them with the match.
We do not collect names, email addresses, phone numbers, contact lists, photos, precise location, IP address, advertising identifiers, or any other personal identifier. BluePadel has no user accounts.
3. How we collect it
All information is generated locally on your watch and phone as you use the app. There is no sign-up flow, no remote import, and no integration with third-party services that share data with BluePadel.
4. Why we process it (purpose and lawful basis)
We process the limited information listed above to provide the core functionality you've subscribed to: scoring a padel match, syncing the result to your phone, and showing you your history and statistics. The lawful basis under POPIA section 11(1)(b) is performance of the contract with you (i.e., delivering the subscription service you've paid for via Google Play).
5. Where your data goes
Match results sync from your Wear OS watch to your paired Android phone using Google's Wearable Data Layer API, which is a direct peer-to-peer channel between the two devices (typically over Bluetooth Low Energy). The traffic does not pass through BluePadel servers — we don't operate any. It does not pass through Google's servers in plain-text form; the Data Layer relays it as an encrypted on-device payload.
We do not send your data to any third party. We don't use any analytics SDK, crash-reporting service, advertising network, or cloud database. You can verify this by inspecting the open dependency list in the project's libs.versions.toml file.
6. Retention
Match data remains on your phone in the BluePadel Companion app's local database until you delete individual matches or uninstall the app. Uninstalling the app removes the local database and all stored matches. Health-sensor readings recorded during a match are kept with the match record on your phone; readings that aren't saved with a match are discarded when the match ends or the app is closed.
7. Security
Your data is protected by the security mechanisms of your own devices. Android encrypts internal storage by default on all supported devices (API 26+). The watch–phone sync uses the Wearable Data Layer, which performs encrypted transport between paired devices. We do not transmit your data over the public internet.
8. Your rights under POPIA
POPIA gives you the right to:
- Know what personal information we hold about you (section 23).
- Request correction or deletion of that information (section 24).
- Object to processing (section 11(3)).
- Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa at inforegulator.org.za.
Because BluePadel stores everything on your own device and we don't hold any of it ourselves, exercising the access, correction, and deletion rights is largely a matter of using the in-app controls or uninstalling the app. If you'd like written confirmation of what we hold (we don't hold anything), email the Information Officer at hello@bluepadel.co.za and we'll confirm in writing within 30 days.
9. Children
BluePadel is not directed at children under the age of 18 and we don't knowingly process the personal information of children. If you believe a child has used the app and you'd like us to take any action, contact us at the address above.
10. International transfers
We don't transfer any of your personal information outside South Africa, because we don't transfer it anywhere — it stays on your devices.
11. Payments
BluePadel is sold by subscription through Google Play. Your payment details are handled entirely by Google under the Google Play terms and Google's privacy policy. We do not receive or store your payment information. We do receive aggregated payout data from Google (number of subscribers, payout totals) that is not associated with individual users.
12. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy in a way that affects you materially, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top and post the new version at this same URL before the change takes effect. The previous version remains available on request.
13. Contact
Privacy questions, POPIA requests, or anything else: hello@bluepadel.co.za.