Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Thank you for choosing TCGrader. The Services are operated by TCGrader Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 16804394, with its registered office at 203 West Street, Fareham, Hampshire, PO16 0EN, United Kingdom (referred to in this Privacy Policy as "TCGrader," "we," "our," or "us"). TCGrader Ltd is the data controller for personal data processed in connection with the Services. We are committed to protecting your privacy and personal data, and to processing your data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and (where applicable) the EU GDPR. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our website, mobile application, and services (collectively, the "Services").

By using our Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and agree to its terms. If you do not agree with the policies and practices described in this document, please do not use our Services.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

• Account Information: Name, email address, username, password, and profile information
• Trading Card Information: Photos, descriptions, and details of cards you upload for grading
• Payment Information: Billing address and payment method details (processed securely through third-party providers)
• Communications: Messages, support tickets, and feedback you send us
• Marketplace Activity: Listings, purchases, sales, and transaction history

2.2 Automatically Collected Information

• Device Information: IP address, browser type, operating system, and device identifiers (collected via server logs as a necessary part of operating the Services)
• Usage Data: Pages viewed, features used, search queries, and interaction patterns — analytics-based usage data is only collected if you accept Analytics cookies (see section 11)
• Location Data: General geographic location based on IP address
• Cookies and Tracking: Information collected through cookies and similar technologies. Non-essential cookies (Analytics, Performance) are loaded only after you give consent via the cookie banner — see section 11 for full detail and how to change your choice.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve our AI grading services
• Process transactions and facilitate marketplace activities
• Communicate with you about your account, orders, and updates
• Personalize your experience and provide recommendations
• Detect, prevent, and address fraud, security issues, and technical problems
• Enforce our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines
• Analyze usage patterns and improve our Services
• Comply with legal obligations and protect our rights
• Send marketing communications (with your consent)

4. How We Share Your Information

We may share your information with:

• Service Providers: Third-party vendors who help us operate our Services (payment processors, hosting providers, analytics services)
• Business Transfers: In connection with mergers, acquisitions, or asset sales
• Legal Requirements: When required by law, court order, or government request
• Protection of Rights: To protect the rights, property, or safety of TCGrader, our users, or the public
• With Your Consent: When you explicitly agree to share information
• Public Information: Information you choose to make public (marketplace listings, community posts, profile information)

We do not sell your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide our Services and fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your information to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

You may request deletion of your account and personal data at any time. However, we may retain certain information as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.

6. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights:

• Access: Request access to your personal information
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate data
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information
• Portability: Request a copy of your data in a portable format
• Objection: Object to certain processing activities
• Restriction: Request restriction of processing
• Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent for data processing
• Opt-Out: Opt-out of marketing communications

To exercise these rights, please contact us at privacy@tcgrader.com

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

• Encryption of data in transit and at rest
• Regular security audits and testing
• Access controls and authentication mechanisms
• Employee training on data protection
• Incident response procedures

However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Children's Privacy

Our Services are not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately, and we will take steps to delete such information.

9. International Data Transfers

TCGrader Ltd is established in the United Kingdom and primarily processes personal data within the UK and European Economic Area (EEA). Some of our service providers (including hosting, analytics, and payment processors) may process data in other jurisdictions, including the United States. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK or EEA, we rely on appropriate safeguards recognised under the UK GDPR and EU GDPR — such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or transfers to jurisdictions that have received an adequacy decision — to ensure your data remains protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

10. Third-Party Links and Services

Our Services may contain links to third-party websites or integrate with third-party services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third parties. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

11. Cookie Policy

We use cookies and similar technologies on our website. When you first visit TCGrader, we show a cookie-consent banner asking you to accept all, reject all (non-essential), or customise your preferences. Until you make a choice, only Essential cookies are set; Analytics and Performance cookies are not loaded until you give consent. Your choice is stored on your device and can be changed at any time using the "Cookie settings" link in our footer.

11.1 Categories you can control

• Essential cookies (always on): required for the Services to function — including authentication / session (session-token, NextAuth session and CSRF cookies), shopping cart identifier (cartId), and your cookie-consent preferences themselves. These cannot be turned off because the site doesn't work without them. They do not require consent under UK PECR.
• Analytics cookies (optional): help us understand how visitors interact with the site so we can improve it. Includes Google Analytics and Vercel Analytics. Loaded only after you consent.
• Performance cookies (optional): let us measure real-world page-load times and Web Vitals (Vercel Speed Insights). Loaded only after you consent.

11.2 Changing or withdrawing consent

• Click "Cookie settings" in our footer at any time to re-open the preferences panel.
• You can also clear the tcgrader-cookie-consent cookie in your browser to reset and be re-prompted.
• You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling Essential cookies may break login or the marketplace.

11.3 Other tracking

Some third-party services we integrate with (for example Stripe and our payment processor) may set their own cookies on payment pages they host. Those cookies are governed by the relevant provider's privacy policy and are subject to the same consent rules where applicable.

11a. Monthly Grading Competition data

If you participate in the TCGrader Monthly Grading Competition (governed by separate Competition Terms & Conditions), we process some additional personal data specifically for that feature:

• Competition entries: for each unique card you grade during a competition window we store a record of the entry — your user ID, username, the card identifier, the country code you have set on your profile, and the timestamp. This is what powers the leaderboard.
• Country of residence: required to participate (so we know where to ship a prize and to comply with international sanctions law). Stored as a 2-letter ISO 3166-1 country code on your profile.
• Public publication: if you appear on the leaderboard or win a prize, your username, final unique-card count and (if you win) your placing are published on the public competition page and may appear in TCGrader marketing (see Competition Terms §11b). Your full name, postal address, contact details and any uploaded W-9 are never published.
• Prize shipping address: if you win, you provide a recipient name and postal address via your dashboard. We retain these only for as long as needed to ship the prize and to meet accounting / dispute-resolution obligations, then minimise them.
• Tax documentation (conditional, not routine). As a UK company without a US trade or business, we do not routinely collect tax documentation from competition winners. If, in respect of a particular winner, applicable law requires us to obtain documentation before paying out a prize (for example an IRS Form W-9 from a US winner if our US tax position were to change), we would request the document directly from the winner, store it in a private, access-controlled location on AWS S3, use it solely for the relevant tax-filing purpose, and retain it for as long as the applicable tax record-keeping rules require (typically at least 4 years for US records). It is never used for marketing or analytics, and is deleted after the retention period expires. Until and unless we trigger this conditional process, no tax documentation is collected from winners.
• Optional testimonials / photos: if you voluntarily provide a quote or photo for us to feature, we process it on the basis of your consent and you may withdraw that consent at any time by emailing support@tcgrader.com.

The lawful basis for processing your entries, leaderboard data and shipping address is performance of the Competition Terms (Article 6(1)(b) UK GDPR); for US tax records it is compliance with a legal obligation we are subject to (Article 6(1)(c)); and for optional testimonials it is your consent (Article 6(1)(a)).

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on our website and updating the "Last Updated" date. Your continued use of our Services after such changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

14. Data Protection Officer

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), you may contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@tcgrader.com

15. Complaints

If you believe we have not complied with this Privacy Policy or applicable data protection laws, please contact us first at privacy@tcgrader.com so we can try to resolve your concern.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority. In the United Kingdom, this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk. Users in the EEA may contact their national Data Protection Authority.