Privacy Policy

Overview

Pole to Paddock (“the Site”, “Service”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is a fan-built Formula 1 information site operated from California, United States. We believe in keeping things simple: we collect as little data as possible and we do not sell any information about our visitors. This Privacy Policy explains what data is collected when you use the Site, how it is used, and your choices regarding that data. This policy applies only to information collected through this Site.

Information We Collect Automatically

When you visit Pole to Paddock, certain information is collected automatically to operate and improve the Site:

• Pages viewed, actions taken, and time of access
• Browser type and operating system
• Referring URL (the page that linked you here)
• Country-level location derived from your IP address
• Device type and screen resolution

This data is collected through our hosting provider (Vercel) and Vercel Analytics. It is aggregated and used to understand site usage patterns. We do not store raw IP addresses in our own databases or use this information to identify individual visitors.

Information You Provide

You do not need an account to browse the Site. However, certain interactive features collect limited information, and the Paddock Exchange requires account registration:

• Prediction Game (Pick'em): When you participate in the prediction game, a random device identifier (UUID) is generated and stored on your device. You also create a display name (up to 20 characters). Both are stored in our database to track your predictions and display them on leaderboards. No email, real name, or other personal information is required.
• Push Notifications: If you opt in to push notifications, your browser generates a push subscription endpoint (provided by your browser vendor). This endpoint is stored in our database so we can send you race reminders and session alerts. No personal information beyond the subscription endpoint is collected.
• Paddock Exchange (Account-Based Features): To use the Driver Exchange game, you may create an account using either:
  • Email & Password: You provide your name (up to 20 characters), email address, and a password. Your password is hashed using industry-standard algorithms before storage; we never store your plain-text password.
  • Google Sign-In: You may sign in with your Google account. We receive your name, email address, and profile image from Google. We do not receive or store your Google password.

  When you use the Exchange, the following data is stored linked to your account:

  • Portfolio data (holdings, cash balance, transaction history)
  • Short and leveraged long positions
  • Watchlist and price alert preferences
  • Limit orders and trade history
  • Season awards
  • League memberships
  • Daily portfolio value snapshots (for performance charts)
  • Notification preferences (email and push, per category)
• User Preferences (Logged-In Users): If you are signed in, your site preferences are synced to our database. This includes unit preferences (speed, temperature, distance, etc.), favorite team and drivers, time format, and a visit history of up to 200 pages you have viewed (stored as page paths and visit counts, with no browsing data from other sites).
• F1 Wrapped: We track engagement events (such as pages viewed, games played, and features used) during the season to generate your personalized F1 Wrapped summary at the end of the year. This data is linked to your device identifier or account.

Cookies and Local Storage

The Site uses local storage in your browser to save your preferences, such as:

• Temperature and speed unit preferences (Celsius/Fahrenheit, kph/mph)
• Favorite team and driver selections
• Prediction game device identifier and display name
• Theme and display preferences

These preferences stay on your device and are not sent to our servers unless required for a feature (such as submitting predictions).

We also use cookies set by Google Analytics and, if you consent, by advertising partners to measure site performance and deliver relevant ads. You can manage these through the cookie preferences banner at the bottom of the page.

Cookie Details

How Your Information Is Used

We use the information we collect to:

• Operate and maintain the Site
• Display prediction game leaderboards and results
• Send push notifications you have opted into (race reminders, session alerts)
• Operate the Paddock Exchange game (execute trades, calculate portfolio values)
• Send Exchange-related notifications you have configured (price alerts, dividends)
• Generate your personalized F1 Wrapped season recap
• Sync your preferences across devices when you are signed in
• Understand aggregate site usage to improve the experience
• Protect against unauthorized or illegal activity

If you consent to advertising cookies, aggregated usage data may be shared with our advertising partners to serve relevant ads. We do not sell your personal information for marketing purposes.

Third-Party Services

The Site uses the following third-party services:

• Vercel — Hosting and deployment. Handles request routing and collects standard server logs. Vercel's privacy policy
• Vercel Analytics — Privacy-focused, cookieless web analytics that collects aggregate page view and visitor data. No personally identifiable information is tracked.
• Google Analytics — Web analytics service that uses cookies to measure traffic and usage patterns. Only activated if you consent to analytics cookies. Data is processed in accordance with Google's privacy policy.
• Google OAuth — If you choose to sign in with Google, the authentication flow is handled by Google's OAuth 2.0 service. We receive your name, email, and profile image. No Google password is shared with us. Google's privacy policy
• Advertising Partners — We may display ads served by third-party advertising networks (such as Google AdSense). If you consent to advertising cookies, these partners may use cookies to serve ads based on your browsing activity. You can opt out at any time through the cookie preferences banner. How Google uses data from partner sites

Race data is fetched from publicly available community APIs. These requests are made server-side, meaning your browser does not communicate with those services directly.

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for their marketing purposes. We may disclose information if required by law or if we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, or investigate fraud.

Data Retention

We retain different types of data for different periods:

• Exchange accounts: Retained until you delete your account. You can delete your account at any time from the Exchange Settings page, which permanently removes all associated data (portfolio, transactions, leagues, preferences, and notifications).
• Prediction game data: Device identifiers, display names, and predictions are retained for the duration of the current season and may be kept for historical leaderboard purposes.
• Push notification subscriptions: Retained until you unsubscribe or your subscription expires.
• F1 Wrapped data: Engagement events are retained for the season in which they were recorded and may be kept to allow you to revisit past Wrapped summaries.
• Visit history: Up to 200 page visit records, retained as long as your account exists.
• Server logs: Automatically rotated and deleted according to our hosting provider's standard retention schedule (typically 30 days).

You may request deletion of your data at any time (see “Your Rights” below).

Do Not Track & Global Privacy Control

Some browsers offer a “Do Not Track” (DNT) signal. Because there is no accepted standard for how to respond to DNT signals, the Site does not currently respond to DNT signals. You can control analytics and advertising cookies through the cookie preferences banner. If you reject non-essential cookies, no third-party tracking will occur on this Site.

We recognize the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal as a valid opt-out request under applicable laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act. If your browser sends a GPC signal, we treat it as a request to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information. Because we do not sell personal information, this has no practical effect beyond our existing practices, but we honor the signal in principle.

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and similar state laws, you have the right to opt out of the “sale” of your personal information. Because we do not sell personal information, there is no need to opt out. However, if you have questions or concerns, please contact us at hello@poletopaddock.com.

Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction: You may request that we correct any inaccurate information (such as your display name).
• Deletion: You may request that we delete your prediction game data, display name, device identifier, and (if applicable) your Exchange account and all associated data from our database.
• Account Deletion: If you have a Paddock Exchange account, you can delete it directly from the Exchange Settings page. This permanently removes your account and all associated data. No email to us is required.
• Portability: You may request a machine-readable export of the personal data we hold about you. We will provide this in JSON format within 30 days of your request.
• Opt-Out: You may opt out of push notifications at any time through your browser settings or by revoking notification permissions for this Site.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the information in the Contact section below. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

If you are located in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or California, you may have additional rights under applicable data protection laws (such as the GDPR or CalOPPA). We are committed to honoring those rights to the extent they apply.

Children

The general informational content of the Site is available to users of all ages. However, interactive features that collect information (such as the prediction game) are intended for users who are at least 13 years old. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. If a parent or guardian believes that we have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately and we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

Security

We take reasonable measures to protect the information we collect:

• Passwords are hashed with an industry-standard algorithm (bcrypt) before storage; we never store plain-text passwords
• Authentication sessions use signed JSON Web Tokens (JWT)
• Tokens are automatically invalidated when you change your password
• Database connections are encrypted in transit
• API endpoints are rate-limited to prevent brute-force attacks
• Device identifiers are randomly generated UUIDs with no connection to your real identity

However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, the “Effective date” at the top of this page will be updated. Continued use of the Site after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data rights, you can reach us at hello@poletopaddock.com.