Privacy Policy

Last updated: November 5, 2026

The official MockScores-hosted service is operated by the San Luis Obispo County Mock Trial Committee (the “Committee,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). MockScores is the name of the software and service; it is not identified in this policy as a separate legal entity. This Privacy Policy explains how the Committee collects, uses, discloses, retains, and protects personal information when you use the official MockScores websites, applications, and related services operated under the Committee’s direction that link to this policy, including the service available at mockscores.org (collectively, the “Service”).

MockScores helps organizers, coaches, and scorers administer mock trial tournaments. The Service may be used for middle-school competitions, so some tournament information may relate to children under 13. Please read the section titled Children’s and Student Privacy carefully.

The Committee determines the purposes for which the official hosted Service processes personal information and controls the Service’s hosting, database, user accounts, and data-use decisions.

Open-Source Software and Independent Installations

The MockScores source code is free and open-source software licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3 (“GPL-3.0”) and is available at https://github.com/curtisjbradley/Mock-Scores. Curtis Bradley retains copyright in his software contributions while licensing them for public use under GPL-3.0; other contributors retain copyright in their respective contributions unless they agree otherwise. Publishing the source code does not make account, tournament, ballot, score, or participant information public. The public source-code repository is intended to contain application code and documentation—not production databases or private tournament records.

Third parties may download, modify, and operate independent installations of MockScores under GPL-3.0. This Privacy Policy does not apply to an installation operated by someone other than us, even if that installation uses the MockScores software or links to the public source-code repository. The operator of an independent installation determines that installation’s privacy practices and is responsible for providing an appropriate privacy notice and complying with applicable law.

We are not responsible for the privacy, security, availability, or data practices of independent installations. Before using a third-party installation, users should identify its operator and review that operator’s privacy policy. If an independent operator elects to send information to us—for example, by requesting support or deliberately configuring an integration with a service we operate—we will handle the information we actually receive as described in this Privacy Policy.

The public source-code repository may be hosted by a third-party development platform. Information submitted to that platform—such as profile information, commit authorship, issues, and pull requests—may be publicly visible and is also governed by the platform’s privacy policy. Do not include student information, tournament credentials, private ballots, or other confidential information in a public issue, pull request, commit, or discussion.

1. Information We Collect

Account and contact information

When you create or use an account, we may collect your name, email address, account credentials, organization or school affiliation, and role in a tournament. We also collect information you send when you request support or otherwise communicate with us.

Tournament and participant information

Organizers, coaches, and other authorized users may enter or generate information needed to operate a mock trial tournament, including:

• Tournament, school, and team information;

• Student or participant names and pronouns;

• Organizer-defined participant fields, which may include grade level, number of years participating in mock trial, shirt size, or similar tournament-related information;

• Associations between a participant and a school, team, or mock trial role;

• Round, room, team, judge, scorer, and ballot assignments;

• Scores, ballots, rankings, and tournament results; and

• Other non-profile information needed to administer the tournament.

The tournament organizer chooses which custom fields to request and whether they are optional or required. MockScores does not determine the contents of organizer-defined custom fields. Organizers must not use them to request information that is unnecessary for the competition.

Participant profile information, including names, pronouns, custom-field responses, school associations, and role assignments, is not intended to be publicly available through the Service. Access is limited according to a user’s tournament role, such as tournament organizer, coach, or assigned scorer. Tournament organizers are responsible for assigning and managing those roles appropriately.

Information collected automatically

When you use the Service, our systems may automatically receive limited technical information needed to operate and secure it, such as your IP address, browser and device type, request timestamps, pages or features accessed, and security or error logs.

The Service may use cookies, local storage, or similar technologies that are necessary for authentication, security, and core functionality. We do not use this information for targeted advertising.

Sources of information

We may receive personal information:

• Directly from you;

• From tournament organizers, coaches, schools, teams, or other authorized users; and

• Through your use of the Service.

2. How We Use Information

We use personal information to:

• Create, authenticate, maintain, and secure accounts;

• Set up and administer tournaments, rounds, teams, participant profiles, custom fields, roles, assignments, ballots, scores, rankings, and results;

• Display information to authorized coaches, organizers, and scorers as needed for their tournament responsibilities;

• Send account-related and transactional emails, such as confirmations, assignments, password resets, and tournament notices;

• Provide support and respond to questions;

• Diagnose errors, protect against fraud or misuse, and maintain the safety and integrity of the Service;

• Improve the Service’s reliability and functionality;

• Enforce our Terms of Service; and

• Comply with legal obligations and protect legal rights.

We do not use student information, including pronouns or custom-field responses, to infer personal characteristics, for targeted advertising, for behavioral profiling, or for unrelated marketing.

3. How We Disclose Information

We may disclose personal information in the following circumstances.

Within a tournament

We make tournament information available to authorized users according to their roles and legitimate tournament needs. For example, a coach can view and modify the contact information of coaches on their team, organizers may be able to view scorers’ ballots and names, and scorers can view the names of students actively competing in a round the scorer is assigned to judge.

Service providers

We use service providers and authorized technical personnel to operate the Service. These include Amazon Web Services for hosting and storage, Plunk for Service-related transactional email messages, and Curtis Bradley in his role as developer and technical maintainer. They may process or access information only as reasonably necessary to provide, secure, maintain, or support the Service under the Committee’s direction and are expected to protect it appropriately.

Legal, safety, and security purposes

We may disclose information if we reasonably believe disclosure is required by law, legal process, or a valid government request, or is necessary to protect the rights, safety, or security of MockScores, our users, students, or others; investigate fraud or misuse; or enforce our agreements.

Business transfers

If operation or control of the Service is transferred through a reorganization, organizational transition, financing, or sale of assets, information may be disclosed or transferred as part of that transaction, subject to applicable law and appropriate confidentiality protections.

At your direction

We may disclose information when you direct us to do so or otherwise provide valid consent.

4. No Sale or Targeted Advertising

The Committee does not sell personal information collected through the Service. The Committee does not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising and does not use student information for targeted advertising.

5. Children’s and Student Privacy

Middle-school participants

MockScores may be used to administer middle-school mock trial competitions. An authorized adult, school, coach, or organizer may enter limited information about a participant under 13, such as the participant’s name, pronouns, school or team association, mock trial role, and responses to tournament-specific custom fields. Typical custom fields may request grade level, number of years participating in mock trial, shirt size, or similar logistical or eligibility information. The submitting party must have the authority required by law and school policy.

Accounts and direct use by children under 13

The Committee does not currently permit children under 13 to create accounts or directly submit personal information through the Service. A parent, school, or organizer must not instruct a child under 13 to create an account or directly use an account intended for an adult or older student.

If we learn that a child under 13 created an account or directly provided personal information without the authorization or verifiable parental consent required by law, we will take reasonable steps to restrict the account and delete the information. A parent or guardian who believes a child under 13 has directly provided information to MockScores may contact us using the information below.

Users ages 13 through 17

A user who is at least 13 but has not reached the age of majority where the user lives may create an account only with permission from a parent or legal guardian and, when applicable, authorization from the user’s school or tournament organizer.

Responsibilities of organizers, coaches, and schools

If you submit information about a student or other participant, you represent that you are authorized to do so and that you have provided any notices and obtained any permissions required by applicable law, school or district policy, and tournament rules. You must collect and submit only information reasonably necessary to administer the tournament. Organizer-

defined custom fields should not request highly sensitive information—such as precise birth dates, home addresses, personal phone numbers, medical information, government identification numbers, financial information, account passwords, or biometric information.

Tournament organizers and schools control the information they enter and the roles they assign. Parents, guardians, and students should ordinarily direct requests to access, correct, or delete tournament records to the relevant organizer or school. We will reasonably assist the organizer or school in responding to a verified request.

FERPA and school-controlled records

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) applies to qualifying educational agencies and institutions, not automatically to every mock trial tournament. When a school or district provides information from education records, that school or district is responsible for determining that its disclosure and use of the Service comply with FERPA and other applicable student-privacy laws.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including to provide the Service, administer the relevant tournament, maintain security and backups, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, and meet legal obligations.

Retention depends on the type of information:

• Account and contact information: generally retained while the account remains active and afterward for the limited period needed to complete deletion, maintain security records, resolve disputes, or comply with law.

• Tournament and participant information: generally retained while needed by the tournament organizer or school and until the organizer deletes the tournament or account or submits a valid deletion request, subject to limited backup, security, and legal-retention needs.

• Transactional email and support records: retained for as long as reasonably necessary to document communications, provide support, and protect legal rights.

• Technical and security logs: retained for the period reasonably necessary for security, fraud prevention, troubleshooting, and reliable operation.

We may retain information longer when required by law or when necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims. When information is no longer required, we take reasonable steps to delete or de-identify it.

7. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information. These safeguards may include access controls, role-based permissions, encrypted network connections, restricted administrative access, and security monitoring.

No service can guarantee absolute security. Users are responsible for protecting account credentials, using a unique password, and promptly notifying us of suspected unauthorized access.

8. Your Choices and Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live and subject to applicable law, you may have the right to request that we:

• Confirm whether we process your personal information;

• Provide access to or a copy of personal information;

• Correct inaccurate personal information;

• Delete personal information; or

• Explain the categories of information we collect, the purposes for which we use it, and the categories of recipients to which we disclose it.

You may update certain account information through the Service. You may also submit a request using the contact information below. We may need to verify your identity and authority before completing a request. An authorized agent may submit a request when permitted by law, but we may require proof of authorization and identity.

When tournament or student information is controlled by a school or tournament organizer, we may refer the request to that organization and act on its verified instructions. Certain information may be retained when an exception applies, including for security, fraud prevention, legal compliance, or the establishment or defense of legal claims.

We will not discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right provided by applicable law.

California residents

To the extent the California Consumer Privacy Act applies to the Committee’s operation of the Service, California residents may have rights to know, access, correct, or delete personal information and to receive information about its collection and disclosure. Because the Committee does not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, it does not offer a sale- or sharing-opt-out mechanism at this time.

In the preceding 12 months, the Committee may have collected through the Service the categories described in Section 1—identifiers and contact information, tournament and participant information, and internet or other electronic activity information—and disclosed them for business purposes to the categories of recipients described in Section 3. The Committee has not knowingly sold or shared for cross-context behavioral advertising the personal information of users or participants, including individuals under 16.

9. Transactional Communications

We may send emails necessary to operate the Service, such as account, security, assignment, scoring, and tournament notices. Because these messages are transactional rather than promotional, you may not be able to opt out while maintaining an account or participating in the applicable tournament.

10. Third-Party Services and Links

The Service may contain links to websites or services that we do not control. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies. This Privacy Policy does not apply to thirdparty services that process information for their own purposes.

11. Processing in the United States

The Service is operated in the United States. If you access the Service from another country, your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those in your location.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the Service, our practices, or applicable law. We will post the updated policy and revise the effective date above. If a change materially affects how we use student information or other personal information, we will provide additional notice when required by law or an applicable school agreement.

13. Contact Us

Questions, privacy requests, and concerns may be directed to:

San Luis Obispo County Mock Trial Committee
Attn: John W. Fricks, Committee Chair
Email: jfricks@ogdenfricks.com
Mailing address: 656 Santa Rosa St #2B, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

For a request involving school-controlled or tournament-controlled student information, please identify the relevant tournament, school, and organizer without including additional sensitive information in your initial email.