Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how Open Black Belt Inc. ("Open Black Belt," "we," "our," or "us") collects, uses, and shares information about you when you use our website at openblackbelt.com and our software products, including Lotus ("Services"). By using our Services, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly

When you create an account, start a free trial, or contact us, we may collect:

• Your name and email address
• Business name and contact information
• Billing information (processed securely through Stripe — we never store raw card numbers)
• Messages you send to us via email or contact forms

Information about your students (school operator data)

As a Lotus user, you may enter data about your students, including names, contact information, attendance records, belt rank history, and payment records. This data belongs to you and your school. We process it on your behalf as a data processor and do not use it for any purpose other than operating the Services for you.

Automatically collected information

When you use our Services, we automatically collect certain technical information:

• IP address and general geographic location (country/region)
• Browser type and operating system
• Pages visited and features used within Lotus
• Date and time of access
• Referring URL

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, operate, and improve our Services
• Process payments and manage your subscription
• Send transactional emails (account confirmations, billing receipts, password resets)
• Respond to your support requests and inquiries
• Send product updates and announcements (you can opt out at any time)
• Monitor and analyze usage to improve performance and user experience
• Detect and prevent fraud or abuse
• Comply with legal obligations

We do not use your student data for advertising, analytics products, or any purpose beyond providing the Services you signed up for.

3. Sharing & Disclosure

We do not sell your personal information or your students' data. We share information only in the following limited circumstances:

Service providers

We work with trusted third-party providers who process data on our behalf under strict confidentiality agreements, including:

• Stripe — payment processing. Subject to Stripe's Privacy Policy.
• Mailjet — transactional email delivery.
• Web hosting and infrastructure providers for server operations.

Legal requirements

We may disclose information if we are required to do so by law, regulation, or valid legal process (such as a court order or subpoena), or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Open Black Belt, our users, or the public.

Business transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or part of our assets, user information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you via email and/or prominent notice on our website if such a transfer occurs.

4. Data Retention

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. If you cancel your subscription, we retain your data for 90 days to allow for reactivation, after which it is permanently deleted from our systems. You may request immediate deletion at any time by contacting help@openblackbelt.com.

Billing records and invoices are retained for up to 7 years as required by applicable tax and accounting laws.

5. Security

We take reasonable and appropriate measures to protect your information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, or alteration. These measures include:

• SSL/TLS encryption for all data in transit
• Passwords stored as salted hashes — never in plain text
• Session-based authentication with automatic timeout after 2 hours of inactivity
• Bearer token authentication for API access with 30-day expiry
• Regular security reviews of our application codebase

No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. If you believe your account has been compromised, please contact us immediately at help@openblackbelt.com.

6. Cookies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to operate and improve our Services. The types of cookies we use:

• Essential cookies — required for the Services to function (session management, authentication). You cannot opt out of these without discontinuing use of the Services.
• Analytics cookies — help us understand how users interact with our Services so we can improve them. We use privacy-friendly analytics and do not share this data with advertising networks.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of certain features.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights regarding your personal data. These may include:

• Access — the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction — the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Deletion — the right to request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal retention requirements).
• Portability — the right to receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection — the right to object to processing of your data in certain circumstances.
• Opt-out of marketing — you can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time using the unsubscribe link in the email or by contacting us.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at help@openblackbelt.com. We will respond within 30 days.

8. Children's Privacy

Our Services are intended for use by business operators (dojo owners, school administrators) who are adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 directly through our account registration. However, school operators may enter information about student members who are minors. This data is entered and controlled by the school operator and is subject to their own privacy practices and obligations under applicable law (such as COPPA in the United States). We process such data solely as instructed by the operator.

9. Policy Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will notify you by email and by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of our Services after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

10. Contact Us

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

Open Black Belt Inc.
Email: help@openblackbelt.com
Twitter: @openblackbelt

We are committed to resolving any privacy concerns promptly and transparently.