Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Tennis AI LLC ("we", "us") publishes the Axel Sports AI mobile app and the website axelai.net (together, "Axel"). We decide how your personal data is used: we are the "controller" of your data. You can contact us at support@axelai.net or support@axelai.net.

This policy explains what data we collect, why, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and your rights. It applies to the app and the website. When the player is a child, "you" also means the parent, guardian or coach who manages the child's account (section 11).

2. The data we collect

2.1 Your account

• Email address, first name, last name and, if you sign in with Google or Apple, the name, email and photo that Google or Apple share with us.
• A login identifier (user ID) created by Firebase Authentication (Google).
• If you use a guest (anonymous) account, only a random identifier.

2.2 Your player profile

Information you choose to give us: age, height, weight, dominant hand, level, experience, goal, club, phone number, favourite teams or players, sport, profile photo. Axel may also ask you some of these questions during your first conversation. These fields are optional, but the age matters for children: it is how Axel knows that the special rules for children apply (section 11). A parent or coach who manages a child's account should enter the child's age.

2.3 Videos and analyses

• Recording and analysis: when you film or import a stroke, the movement analysis (body points, ball, racket) runs on your phone.
• Saved in your account: the video of a finished Mirror, the result (the star you are compared with, your score, your errors) and, if it is recorded, the screen video of the analysis with Axel's voice are saved in your account (Firebase Storage and Firestore) so you can find them in "Videos" and "Analyses".
• A few frames for stroke recognition: to recognise which stroke you played and the moment of contact, the app may send a few still frames of your video, or a grid of small frames (never the full video), to Google's Gemini AI through our servers.
• Analysis check: see section 5 ("Help improve Axel").

2.4 Talking with Axel

• Voice: when you talk with Axel live, your microphone audio is streamed through our server to Google (Gemini Live) to understand you and answer by voice. We do not record or store your voice. The text transcript of the conversation is shown in the app.
• Written chat and context: your messages, Axel's replies and a short context (first name, sport, level, goal, favourite teams, your recent Mirror results) are sent to the AI provider that writes Axel's replies: Google Gemini, or Anthropic Claude for subscribers.
• What we keep: the last 20 exchanges with Claude, your last 15 Mirror summaries (so Axel remembers your progress) and Axel's coaching notes linked to your account.
• Web search: when Axel needs current information (for example a match result), the question is sent to a search service (Serper) and to Google Gemini. It does not include your name.
• Corrections you give Axel: if you or your coach tell Axel that something is wrong, the sentence, your user ID and your email address are saved so our team can fix it.

2.5 Friends, coach and messages

• Friends: friend requests (your name and photo, the other person's name and photo) and the videos you choose to share with your friends, with their comments.
• Messages and calls: messages, voice messages, videos and files you send in conversations, and the technical data needed for video calls (calls are connected peer-to-peer; Google STUN servers help to establish the connection).
• Coach: if you link your account to a coach, the coach can see your videos and analyses.
• Coaches who analyse players: a coach can film and analyse the players they train, including children, on their own account or on the player's account. The rules for children in section 11 then apply to the coach.

2.6 Subscriptions

Purchases are made through the App Store (Apple) or Google Play. We never see your bank card. RevenueCat, our subscription provider, tells us whether your subscription is active, its store and its expiry date, linked to your user ID.

2.7 Device and technical data

• Push notifications: a notification token (Firebase Cloud Messaging), if you allow notifications.
• Free trial: a random device identifier stored on your phone, used only to prevent the free trial from being used again and again on the same device.
• Usage limits and costs: counters of analyses and of voice minutes per day.
• Technical logs: our servers keep technical logs (date, errors, short excerpts of requests) to keep the service running and secure.

2.8 Website

On axelai.net, if you sign in, the same account data applies. The site stores small technical items in your browser (language, number of free Mirror tries) and uses no advertising or analytics cookies. The YouTube player may set its own cookies (see section 6).

2.9 What we do not collect

No precise location, no contacts, no health data (no HealthKit), no advertising identifier, no tracking across other apps or websites.

3. Why we use your data, and on what legal basis

We do not use your data for advertising and we do not make decisions with legal or similarly significant effects about you based only on automated processing.

4. Who we share your data with

We do not sell or rent your personal data, and we do not "share" it for cross-context behavioural advertising (as defined by US state laws). We only share it with the following service providers, who process it on our behalf and under contract:

• Google (Firebase and Google Cloud): login, database, file storage, servers, notifications. Location: United States.
• Google (Vertex AI / Gemini, including Gemini Live): Axel's voice conversation, written replies, voice synthesis, stroke recognition from a few frames, search. Under Google's terms for paid services (Google Cloud and the paid Gemini API), Google may not use this data to train its models.
• Anthropic, PBC (Claude): Axel's coaching replies for subscribers and the analysis check described in section 5. Under Anthropic's commercial terms, Anthropic may not use this data to train its models. Anthropic deletes it from its systems within 30 days, unless it is flagged for a breach of Anthropic's usage policy, in which case it may be kept longer.
• RevenueCat: subscription status.
• Apple and Google: sign-in, in-app purchases, and app distribution, under their own privacy policies.
• Serper: web search questions (without your name).
• YouTube (Google): video display, see section 6.

We may also disclose data if required by law, to protect the safety of users, or as part of a merger or sale of our business (you would be informed).

Other users see only what is needed for the social features: your name, profile photo and level so that they can find you (by name or email) and send you a friend request; the videos you choose to share; the messages you send them. For a child, the adult who manages the account decides whether to use these features (section 11).

5. "Help improve Axel" (switch in Settings)

The Settings › Help improve Axel switch is on by default. You can turn it off at any time. When it is off, none of the two transfers below takes place. Your analyses work exactly the same.

For minors, extra rules apply (details in section 11.4): the measurements in 5.2 need the agreement of the adult who manages the account (the Settings › An adult manages this account switch, shown when the age entered is under 18 or empty), and for a child under 13 neither transfer takes place without that agreement and a verified parental consent.

5.1 Checking Mirror analyses with Anthropic's AI

After a Mirror analysis of a tennis stroke, the app may send a few still frames of your video (up to 13 images, cropped around the player and reduced in size) to our servers, which forward them to Anthropic (Claude) to check that the stroke and the moment of ball contact were correctly identified. This happens in the background after your results are shown.

• Sent: only these frames, the stroke type and the frame numbers. No sound, no full video. Your name, email and user ID are not sent to Anthropic.
• Kept: we do not keep the frames. We keep only the result of the check (for example "stroke confirmed"), linked to your account, to measure and improve our accuracy. If the check shows that the wrong stroke was analysed, Axel tells you.
• Anthropic: see section 4 (no training, deletion within 30 days).
• Children under 13: only with the agreement of the adult who manages the account and a verified parental consent (section 11).

5.2 Movement measurements (not active yet)

We may, in a future version, collect movement measurements after a forehand or backhand Mirror: numbers only (positions of the wrist, nose, racket and ball, frame by frame) and technical details of the analysis. This collection is switched off today. When it is switched on, these rules will apply:

• No image, no video, no sound, no name, no email. Your user ID is replaced by an irreversible code (a salted hash). This data is pseudonymised, not anonymous, and we protect it as personal data.
• Who: players who entered an age of 18 or more; for a younger player or an account without an age, only if the adult who manages the account has agreed ("An adult manages this account"); for a child under 13, in addition, only with a verified parental consent.
• Purpose: only to train and test our own models that find the moment of contact and the phases of the stroke. Never sold, never used for advertising, never shared.
• Kept 12 months, then deleted. Models trained with it contain no individual measurement.
• Turning off either switch stops it. Deleting your account deletes them.

6. YouTube API Services

Axel uses YouTube API Services to find and show YouTube videos (match highlights, coaching videos) in the app and on the website. By using these features, you agree to the YouTube Terms of Service, and your use is also subject to the Google Privacy Policy.

• What we access: public video information only (video ID, title, channel, date, duration, thumbnail). We do not access your YouTube or Google account and we do not ask you to sign in to YouTube.
• How we use it: to show a video card that opens the video on YouTube or in the official YouTube player. We never download or re-host YouTube videos.
• What we store: the public video information above, refreshed regularly (highlights are removed after 30 days). When Axel suggests a video to you, its ID may be saved in your history.
• Search: to find a video for you, a short search phrase (for example the stroke or the player you want to watch, or your favourite team) is sent to YouTube. It does not include your name.
• Sharing: we do not sell or share YouTube data with third parties.
• Deletion: you can delete your account and all related data, including saved video suggestions, from the app (Settings › Delete Account), at axelai.net/delete-account or by writing to support@axelai.net. We delete stored YouTube data within 30 days of your request.
• Revoking access: if you ever connect a Google account to Axel, you can revoke its access at any time from the Google security settings page.
• Cookies: the YouTube player may set cookies on your device, as described in the Google Privacy Policy.

7. How long we keep your data

When you delete your account, your profile, videos, analyses, Axel history, analysis-check results and movement measurements are deleted automatically.

8. International transfers

We are based in the United States and our servers (Google Cloud) are mainly in the United States. If you live in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, your data is transferred to the United States. These transfers rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (and the UK addendum) included in our providers' data processing terms, or on their certification under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where applicable.

9. Security

Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and stored by Google Cloud, which encrypts it at rest. Access to our administration tools is limited to our team. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we will inform you and the authorities as the law requires.

10. Your rights

Wherever you live, you can:

• access your data and get a copy;
• correct it (most of it directly in the app: Edit profile);
• delete it (Settings › Delete Account, or by email);
• object to the analysis check and measurements (Settings › Help improve Axel);
• withdraw your consent (for example notifications) at any time.

For a child, these rights are exercised by the parent or guardian (section 11.5).

Europe and UK (GDPR / UK GDPR): you also have the right to data portability, to restriction of processing, and to object to processing based on our legitimate interests. You can complain to your data protection authority (for example the CNIL in France or the ICO in the UK).

California and other US states: you have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it, to access, correct and delete it, and not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. We do not sell or share your personal information, and we do not use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you.

To exercise a right, write to support@axelai.net from the email address of your account. We answer within 30 days (45 days under US state laws when allowed). We may ask you to confirm your identity.

11. Children

11.1 No minimum age to be analysed

Axel can analyse players of any age, including young children. Children are protected by special rules, set out below. In this section, a child is a player under 13, or under the age at which they can consent alone to online services in their country. In Europe this "age of digital consent" is between 13 and 16: for example 13 in the United Kingdom, 14 in Italy and Spain, 15 in France, 16 in Germany and Ireland.

11.2 Who manages a child's account

A child must not open an account alone. A child's account is created and managed by:

• a parent or legal guardian; or
• a coach (or club) acting with the permission of the child's parent or guardian.

That adult accepts this policy and the Terms on the child's behalf, makes the choices in Settings for the child, and stays responsible for how the child uses Axel. A coach who films or analyses a child, on the coach's own account or on the child's account, confirms that they have the permission of the child's parent or guardian, keeps it, and shows it to us if we ask.

11.3 Parental consent

• Children under 13 (US COPPA): we need the verifiable consent of a parent or guardian before we collect personal information about a child under 13 (videos, voice, profile). To give it, the parent writes to support@axelai.net. We send a notice explaining what we collect and why, and verify the consent with a method recognised by the US Federal Trade Commission, for example a consent form signed by the parent and sent back to us, a short video call with our team, or a check of an identity document that we delete once the check is done. When a coach manages the account, the consent still comes from the parent; the coach can pass on the signed form. Until the consent is verified, the child's account should not be used to film the child or talk with Axel, and the "Help improve Axel" transfers (section 5) do not take place.
• Children in Europe and the UK under the age of digital consent: where we rely on consent (for example notifications or optional profile fields), the consent is given by the parent or guardian, and we make reasonable efforts to check that it was. Using the analysis itself rests on the contract accepted by the parent or guardian.
• Separate choices: a parent can agree to the analysis without agreeing to "Help improve Axel". These are two separate choices.

11.4 "Help improve Axel" for children and teenagers

"An adult manages this account" means: the account holder is 18 or older, or is the player's parent or guardian, or their coach with the parents' permission, and agrees to "Help improve Axel" for this account. Without these agreements, the analyses work exactly the same.

11.5 Parents' rights

A parent or guardian can at any time, for their child:

• see the data we hold and get a copy;
• correct it or have it deleted, in whole or in part;
• stop any further collection, or withdraw consent to "Help improve Axel" while keeping the analysis;
• delete the account (Settings › Delete Account, axelai.net/delete-account).

To do so, write to support@axelai.net. We answer within 30 days and may ask you to confirm that you are the child's parent or guardian.

11.6 What we do with a child's data

We collect only what is needed to run Axel for the child (analysis, coaching, history) and use it only as described in this policy. We never use a child's data for advertising, never sell it, and never ask a child for more information than the activity needs.

11.7 If we learn that a child uses Axel without consent

If we learn that a child under 13 uses Axel without the verified consent of a parent or guardian, or that a child opened an account alone, we stop the collection and delete the child's data, unless a parent or guardian gives the required consent within a short time.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. We will change the date at the top and, for important changes, tell you in the app before they apply. If a change affects how we use a child's data, we will ask the parent for a new consent where the law requires it.

13. Contact

Tennis AI LLC — support@axelai.net — support@axelai.net