Privacy Policy

Only Goals is operated by Only Goals Ltd ('we', 'us', 'our'), a company registered in England and Wales, number 17316966, whose registered office is at The Loft, Old Foundry, Victoria Street, Leicester, United Kingdom, LE7 2LF. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office, registration number ZC268916. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.

This policy covers:

• players who use the Only Goals app;
• anyone recorded by our cameras at a partner venue, whether or not they use the app;
• visitors to onlygoals.co.uk, and anyone who contacts us through it; and
• people we deal with at venues, sponsors and suppliers.

The venue portal used by venue staff is a separate website with its own privacy notice.

If you have any questions, or want to exercise your rights, contact our Data Protection Lead at [email protected] or by post at the address above.

In plain terms

We put cameras at football venues and use AI to blur everyone by default. If you played, you can claim your match to get your footage and statistics, and you stay blurred. Showing your face is a separate choice: you only become visible if you turn it on, and even then everyone else stays blurred. Once your face has been shown in a match, that footage can't be blurred again.

We don't use facial recognition to identify anyone, and we don't record sound. Blurring happens at the venue, before any footage leaves it, so your unblurred face never travels over the internet unless you choose to show it.

We show advertising in the app. During our pilot it is never personalised: it's chosen by where you play, not by anything about you. Footage may carry sponsor advertising. We give venues anonymous totals, such as how many players are new to that venue or returning. Venues never see who you are or where else you play.

Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time in the app or by contacting us. Withdrawing won't affect anything done beforehand. For showing your face, withdrawing means your face isn't shown in matches you claim from then on; footage in which it has already been shown can't be blurred again (see §5). Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have balanced our interests against your rights and written that balance down. Contact us to see it, or to object.

Privacy is built into how the product works, not added on top of it.

• Everyone is blurred by default, before footage can be viewed. No configuration is needed to be protected.
• Blurring happens at the venue, before any footage leaves it. Your unblurred face is never sent over the internet or stored in the cloud unless you choose to show it.
• Blurring is irreversible. We don't hide your face behind a filter that could be lifted. The underlying image data is removed.
• Claiming your match and showing your face are separate choices. To claim a match, you complete a two-step confirmation: you select your own blurred silhouette from your session, then confirm a second image of the same person from a different moment in the match. This makes sure you are matched to the right person. Once you have claimed, you get your footage and statistics, and you stay blurred.
• Showing your face is optional and off unless you turn it on. You can turn it off at any time, and your statistics carry on working either way. Turning it off means your face isn't shown in matches you claim from then on.
• If you choose to show your face, other players in your match who have access to that footage will be able to see it. They may also download clips and share them on social media or messaging apps. We cannot recall footage that has already been shared. Once your face has been shown in a match, that footage can't be blurred again, because the other players in that match keep it too. It stays as it is until the end of its retention period (see §10). We only remove it earlier in special circumstances: where the law requires it, where we uphold an erasure request, or where the footage is being misused or puts someone at risk. We tell you all of this clearly before you turn it on.
• Footage may carry sponsor advertising. If you show your face, your image may appear alongside a sponsor's brand. This does not mean you endorse that sponsor, and our sponsor agreements say so. See §8.
• If our system cannot be confident it has blurred footage correctly, it withholds that footage rather than risk showing anyone unblurred.
• If you think you selected the wrong silhouette, you can flag it in the app to reset and re-select. If you see footage or data in your account that isn't yours, tell us and we will correct it within 72 hours.

Our app is for people aged 18 and over and isn't directed at children. Our website isn't aimed at children either. We don't knowingly create accounts for under-18s.

We keep under-18s out of recordings in several ways:

• Recording only starts when a player with an Only Goals account books it in the app, so junior sessions are not recorded unless someone books them by mistake.
• Signs at the pitch say that recording is for adult games.
• Venue staff can stop a recording at any time.
• If anyone under 18 is recorded, they stay blurred and are never identified, and we delete that footage as a priority once we are told.

If you believe a minor has provided us with personal data, or appears in footage, contact [email protected] and we will deal with it as a priority.

• Venues that host our cameras, for the purposes set out in our agreement with them. They don't receive identifiable footage or any information that identifies you. They receive anonymous totals only. See §7b.
• Service providers acting on our instructions: cloud hosting and storage, website hosting, form handling and email, app analytics, crash reporting, support tools and, if we take payments in future, payment processing. They work under contracts that protect your data. We keep a record of who they are and you can ask us for it.
• Our advertising network. See §8. The network is a separate data controller for its own purposes, which means it decides some things about your data that we do not control.
• Contracted specialists who work on our AI, some of whom are based outside the UK. They only ever see blurred footage. See §9.
• Sponsors: aggregated, non-identifying information only. No sponsor receives data about you as an individual.
• Authorities or others where we're legally required to, or to protect rights, safety or the service.

We do not sell your personal data.

This section covers footage from our cameras at partner venues. If we run separate test sessions, the people taking part get their own notice and agreement before anything is recorded.

We use footage from sessions, in blurred form only, to train and improve the AI that detects players, finds highlights and generates statistics. Better detection means better blurring, which protects everyone, including you.

• Only blurred footage is used. Faces are removed before any footage enters the training pipeline.
• Only players on the pitch are included. Spectators, passers-by and venue staff are excluded.
• Session metadata linking footage to individuals is stripped before training use.
• Venue signage mentions this specifically, with a QR code to our recording page and a way to object. We name it separately rather than hiding it inside a general notice about recording.

You can object at any time: use 'Object to this' in the app, our recording request form at onlygoals.co.uk/recorded, the QR code on the venue signs, or email [email protected]. We will exclude your footage from future training and delete it from our training set within 72 hours. We'll be straight with you about one limit: a model that has already been trained cannot be un-trained.

Training footage is kept for 24 months from capture, then permanently deleted. We review that period every year. Full details: onlygoals.co.uk/training.

We do not use footage to make decisions about individual players. Objecting doesn't affect your ability to use the app or claim your match footage.

Venues want to know how their pitches are used. We use match records from our app to give each venue anonymous totals, such as how many players at that venue are new and how many are returning.

• How we count. Players book their pitch with the venue, then create or join the match in our app. Everyone who joins that match in the app is linked to it. You count as new the first time you play at that venue through Only Goals, even if you have played at other venues, and as returning after that.
• Totals only. Venues never receive your name, contact details, photos, account details or any list of players.
• Nothing about other venues. We never tell a venue where else you play, or anything about what you do at other venues.
• No small numbers. We don't report any figure below 5, and we report over monthly periods, so a total can't point to one person.

Venues are bound by contract not to try to identify anyone from these figures, and not to ask us for player-level data.

You can object at any time by emailing [email protected] or in the app settings. We leave you out of venue statistics from then on. Totals already given to a venue can't be changed, but they never identified you. Objecting doesn't affect your ability to book, play or use the app.

Advertising helps fund a service that venues get at no cost and players get free during our pilot. It comes from two places: sponsors we deal with directly, and a third-party advertising network. Here is exactly how it works.

During our pilot, the advertising you see in the app is never personalised. It is chosen by where you are playing, not by anything about you. No advertising profile is built about you, and we do not use your match statistics, your performance, or anything derived from tracking you in footage for advertising.

We may offer personalised advertising in future. If we do, it will be off unless you choose to turn it on, we will update this policy, and we will tell you in the app and ask for your permission before it starts.

Some advertising is delivered through a third-party advertising network: Google. That network is a separate data controller, not simply a supplier acting for us. It processes data for its own purposes, such as fraud prevention and its own measurement, and we cannot contract that away.

What that means for you:

• The network's own privacy notice applies alongside ours: policies.google.com/privacy, and how Google uses information from apps that use its services: policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
• If you want to exercise a right over data the network holds, we cannot do that for you. We will tell you how to contact them and help you do it.
• We configure the network to serve non-personalised advertising only, and we check that in the app build rather than taking it on trust.

Match footage and highlights may carry sponsor advertising: in the background, as an overlay, or at the start or end of a clip.

• The advertising is the same for everyone watching that match. It is chosen by venue, never by who is watching.
• If you have chosen to show your face, your image may appear alongside a sponsor's brand. That does not mean you endorse the sponsor, and our agreements with sponsors say they must not suggest you do.
• Everyone else in the footage stays blurred.
• If you share footage externally, the sponsor advertising goes with it and cannot be removed or updated afterwards.

We store your data in the UK.

Some of the specialists who work on our AI are based outside the UK. They see blurred footage only: never raw footage, never your account data, and never anything that can unblur someone. We allow that access only where all of the following are in place for that country:

• A contract with the safeguards UK law requires (a UK International Data Transfer Agreement, or the UK Addendum to standard contractual clauses).
• A written assessment of whether that country's laws would undermine those safeguards in practice. If we cannot conclude that assessment favourably, we do not allow access from that country.
• Each individual named and authorised, with their own account, multi-factor authentication and full access logging.

Some of the contractors who build and support our app and website, and who help answer support requests, are also based outside the UK. They see only the data they need for that work, never raw or unblurred footage, and the same safeguards apply: a UK transfer contract, a written assessment of that country's laws, and named individual access with multi-factor authentication and logging.

We keep a record of which countries and which people are authorised. You can ask us for it at any time.

Raw, unblurred footage isn't kept beyond the venue at all. It stays briefly on secure equipment at the pitch, for a maximum of 72 hours, then it is deleted automatically.

One honest caveat about deletion. When we delete something, it goes from our live systems straight away, but it can survive in our backups until the backup cycle completes, currently up to 30 days. We keep that window deliberately short, and if we ever restore from a backup we re-apply any deletions that fell due in the meantime, so restoring cannot bring your data back.

Under UK data protection law you can: access your data; have it corrected; have it erased; restrict or object to processing; ask for portability; and withdraw consent. You can also ask us to remove footage of yourself.

To exercise any right, contact [email protected]. We'll respond within one month and tell you if we need longer. There's normally no charge. A summary is at onlygoals.co.uk/data-rights.

Visiting our website. When you visit onlygoals.co.uk, our hosting provider records basic technical data, such as your IP address, browser and the pages you visit, so the site works and stays secure.

Sending us an enquiry. If you contact us as a player, venue or sponsor, we use what you send to reply and to follow up on the conversation you started. We keep it for 24 months after we last hear from you.

Using our recording request form. We use what you tell us to find the footage and deal with your request. We only ask for what we need to find you in blurred footage. If you ask for a copy of footage, we may ask for a little more to confirm it is you before we release it. We keep a record of the request for 3 years.

Venue, sponsor and supplier contacts. If you work for a venue, sponsor or supplier, we use your work contact details to run our relationship with your organisation. We may send you occasional business updates, and you can opt out at any time.

The venue portal is a separate website for venue staff, with its own privacy notice.

Our app and website use a small amount of storage on your device for things that are strictly necessary to make the service work, such as signing you in and remembering your settings. These don't need your permission.

Anything beyond that, including website analytics and anything used for advertising, needs your consent before it is set, under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. That is a separate requirement from everything else in this policy and we treat it separately.

On our website, non-essential cookies are only set if you accept them in our cookie banner. You can change your choice at any time. There is no advertising on our website.

In the app, we don't use an advertising identifier to target you, because we don't offer personalised advertising during our pilot.

Where our advertising network needs to store or read information on your device, for example to prevent fraud or to limit how often you see the same advert, we ask for your permission first where the law requires it. If you say no, you may still see adverts, but they will not use that information.

Your device's own advertising settings, such as App Tracking Transparency on iOS and advertising ID settings on Android, also apply.

Details of exactly what is stored on our website, and how to change your choices, are at onlygoals.co.uk/cookies.

We protect your data with encryption in transit and at rest, strict role-based access controls, multi-factor authentication for anyone who can unblur footage, and tamper-evident audit logging of every access.

Raw footage is processed on a secure computer at the venue, housed in a locked enclosure, and only ever holds raw footage for a maximum of 72 hours. Only blurred footage, statistics and encrypted identification images ever leave the venue.

If something does go wrong, we have a written plan for responding to it, and we will tell you if a breach is likely to put you at high risk.

We may update this policy. We'll post the new version here and, where changes are significant, tell you in the app. The 'last updated' date at the top shows the current version. We keep previous versions, so if you ever want to know what you agreed to at a particular time, we can tell you.

Please contact us first at [email protected] so we can put things right.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk, helpline 0303 123 1113, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.