GRID Esports Player Privacy Notice

Official Event data may support Event operations, broadcasts, statistics, licensed data services, integrity work and limited rights protection. Depending on the Event arrangements, GRID may process data for its own purposes or on behalf of an organiser, publisher, rightsholder or other partner.

1. Who this Notice is for

This Notice explains how GRID eSports GmbH, registered in the commercial register of the Amtsgericht Charlottenburg under HRB 198264 B, with its registered office at Gleimstraße 50, 10437 Berlin, Germany, and its subsidiaries (GRID, we, us or our) use personal data about esports players and athletes and other people involved in esports, including coaches, managers, team representatives, owners, directors, broadcasters and streamers.

It applies to official Events and related data services, including services GRID provides for CCT and for event organisers, publishers, rightsholders and other partners. This Notice describes processing GRID carries out for its own purposes and, where applicable, on behalf of those partners. Read it with the general GRID Privacy Policy and any event-specific information shown during registration or participation.

2. Who decides how data is used

GRID acts as controller where it decides the purposes and means of processing. Depending on the Event and the applicable arrangements, an organiser, publisher, rightsholder or other partner may be a separate controller, a joint controller with GRID, or a controller for whom GRID acts as processor.

Where GRID acts as processor, it processes personal data only on the controller’s documented instructions and under the applicable agreement. Event-specific information will identify the relevant controller and contact point, and any materially different allocation of roles, where required. Where GRID is a processor, this Notice supplements rather than replaces the relevant controller’s privacy information. GRID separately acts as controller for its own account, security, compliance, service-usage and support records.

3. What information we may collect

• Identity and eligibility: nickname, full name, contact details, residence, gender where relevant, nationality or citizenship, date of birth or age, social accounts and evidence used to verify identity, age, region or eligibility.
• Player profile and professional information: photographs, biography, game, Team and roster, role, previous Teams, ranking, seeding and professional images. GRID does not use player portraits or headshots for biometric identification. This may include professional profile material identified by the player or Team.
• Accounts and event administration: game, FACEIT or competition-platform identifiers; registrations, schedules, attendance, credentials and messages; withdrawal, forfeit, walkover, default, missed-veto, draft-action and eligibility information; and travel, payment, prize, tax, know-your-customer (KYC) or sanctions information where relevant.
• Team, ownership and conflict information: legal entity, owners, controllers, management, funding, material financial interests or influence, and relevant relationships with GRID, an administrator, sponsor or official data or betting partner.
• Gameplay and performance: appearances, history, official game-server data and telemetry, statistics, derived metrics, results, demos and replays.
• Audio-visual and communications: event and gameplay feeds, interviews, photographs, media content, broadcast-designated player cameras, integrity-only setup cameras, voice communications and recordings, and other event-area footage identified before collection.
• Technical and anti-cheat: platform and game logs, anti-cheat status and alerts, account and client identifiers, IP and network information, server location, device and peripheral data, configurations, point-of-view (POV) demos and setup images.
• Integrity and compliance: reports, alerts, indicators, allegations, case material, representations, decisions, restrictions and reassessment records. An alert or assessment is not proof of wrongdoing.
• Integrity checks: integrity-only cameras and proportionate checks of a participant’s playing environment, equipment, connected devices or Match screen where reasonably necessary for an Event.
• Rights protection: contact and rights information, relevant ownership or licensing records, and evidence of suspected unauthorised commercial use, where needed to protect CCT, Event, Team or approved player materials.

Where a participant is a minor, GRID may process a parent or guardian’s contact details and evidence of their authority where required. Event-specific information will explain any additional arrangements. GRID processes special-category or offence-related data only where necessary, where an additional applicable legal condition or authorisation has been identified, and with appropriate access, confidentiality and security safeguards.

4. Where the information comes from

We collect information directly from official game servers at tournaments we operate or support, and through our interactions with players and Teams. We also receive information from tournament and event partners, including organisers, publishers and rightsholders.

We may also receive information from FACEIT and other registration, competition, communications, anti-cheat and platform providers; production and broadcast partners; betting operators, integrity-monitoring and data suppliers; recognised integrity bodies; service providers; relevant public sources, including professional player profiles identified by the player or Team; and people who submit reports.

We may derive statistics, performance metrics, alerts and risk indicators from this information.

If we obtain information indirectly, we provide this Notice and any required Event information within the applicable period, normally within one month and, where earlier, at first communication or disclosure, unless a lawful exception applies.

5. When information is required

Certain information about players and Teams is required for GRID to operate its business and provide its services, including where GRID operates a tournament or acts as an official data, commercial, technology or integrity partner for an event.

This may include identity, age, eligibility, account, roster, game, technical and integrity information. GRID may require this information each time a player participates in a relevant event, including to administer the event, collect and distribute official event data, provide related commercial services, monitor integrity, operate or broadcast the event, verify eligibility and administer prizes.

Where GRID receives this information from an organiser, Team or other partner, that partner must provide the information required for GRID to perform those activities. If required information is not provided, GRID or the relevant organiser may be unable to provide the relevant services or permit participation in the event.

6. How official event data is used

• To register and administer participation, verify age, region, roster, eligibility and accounts, communicate, schedule, manage attendance and withdrawals, assess conflicts, and arrange travel, expenses, KYC, sanctions, tax, banking or prizes where relevant.
• To provide official gameplay data, schedules, results, statistics and approved profile information to authorised media, entertainment, fantasy, gaming and regulated betting customers under applicable agreements.
• To provide approved official event data to authorised users of GRID Platform and Open Access services.
• To produce, broadcast and promote events using approved gameplay footage, interviews, photographs, media-day material and broadcast-designated player cameras.
• To operate security and integrity processes, including reviewing official game and platform information, anti-cheat status, relevant match communications, integrity-only setup-camera material or demos, investigating alerts and providing assessments to the authorised decision-maker. For CCT eligibility, relevant Match data and reports may concern CCT or another tournament or competition permitted by the applicable Rulebook.

Official profile information and approved images may appear with Event data in widgets, player cards, match centres and customer-embedded displays within the applicable rights and purposes.

Event voice communications and, where stated in Event-specific information, integrity-only camera feeds may be recorded for Event integrity and security. An authorised Tournament Official may request a proportionate check of a participant’s playing environment, equipment, connected devices or Match screen where reasonably necessary. Access is limited to authorised personnel; material is not used for broadcast or marketing and is retained only for the period notified for that Event.

7. Private GRID Scrim data

Private GRID Scrim practice data is separate from official Event data. It is handled under the general GRID Privacy Policy, applicable service information and the Organisation’s agreement with GRID. It is not used for the distribution, broadcast, betting, integrity or public-decision purposes described in this Notice.

8. Our legal bases

Where GRID acts as controller, we primarily rely on our legitimate interests where processing is necessary and proportionate for GRID to operate its business and provide its esports services. These interests include operating and securing tournaments and events; collecting, producing, commercialising and distributing authorised official event data, content and statistics; providing services to event organisers, publishers, rightsholders and other commercial partners; maintaining event integrity and preventing cheating or manipulation; complying with game-publisher requirements for tournaments operated by GRID; protecting participants and customers; protecting official event and team branding and approved player imagery against unauthorised commercial use; and establishing, exercising or defending legal claims. We consider the impact of this processing on players’ rights and interests.

We rely on contractual necessity only where you personally ask GRID to take steps before entering into a contract with GRID, or where you are personally party to a contract with GRID and the processing is necessary to perform it. A contract entered into only by your Team does not by itself make contractual necessity the legal basis for processing your data.

We rely on legal obligation where processing is required by law, and on consent only for genuinely optional processing for which we specifically ask for your consent. Participation in an event, a Team agreement, a media licence or acknowledgement of this Notice is not treated as consent to core event, data or integrity processing.

Where special-category data or offence-related data is processed, GRID also identifies and documents any additional condition or legal authorisation required by applicable data protection law and applies appropriate safeguards.

Where GRID acts as processor for an organiser, publisher, rightsholder or other partner, that partner determines the applicable legal basis and GRID processes the data on its documented instructions.

The commercialisation, publication, broadcast and event-integrity purposes described in this Notice apply only to data designated or collected for those purposes. They do not apply to private Scrim Data.

9. Who receives official event data

Depending on the service and applicable arrangements, we may disclose appropriate identity, profile, roster, gameplay, performance and approved audio-visual information to event organisers, publishers, rightsholders and their authorised providers; production, media and streaming partners; approved sponsors; fantasy and prediction providers; regulated betting operators; and authorised users of GRID services.

For integrity purposes, we may share the minimum needed with the relevant organiser, publisher or rightsholder; GRID Integrity or another recognised integrity body; a registration, competition, communications, anti-cheat or platform provider; a betting or integrity-monitoring supplier; an adviser; a regulator; a law-enforcement authority; or a service provider under appropriate controls. We do not routinely publish confidential sources or underlying alerts.

We may share information within GRID’s group and with providers supporting production, broadcast, streaming, venues, security, travel, accommodation, payments and other operations. We may disclose information where law requires it and may transfer it in a corporate transaction under appropriate safeguards.

Where GRID protects CCT, Event or Team materials against suspected unauthorised commercial use, GRID may use and disclose only the information reasonably needed to establish the relevant rights, notify the person concerned, seek a platform or hosting remedy or support proportionate legal enforcement.

10. Public information and Champion of Champions Tour (CCT) decisions

Player nicknames, Team and roster information, rankings, results, performance statistics and approved images or audio-visual content may be made public through event broadcasts, event sites, GRID services, media, streaming and social channels and proportionate archives, consistently with the applicable event rules and GRID’s role.

Where CCT publishes an Invite Exception decision under the applicable Rulebook, the record is limited to what is reasonably necessary to explain participation status. It may include the Team; affected-player nicknames and public profile identifiers; the Invite Exception and a brief neutral explanation of the criterion applied; Event and outcome; decision date; effective period and status; and Rulebook version. For Invite Exception 6, affected players are those identified by the reasoned decision who appeared in the five-player line-up in a Triggering Match relied on by CCT; an unused substitute, reserve or stand-in is excluded. A full name is used only where reasonably necessary to avoid mistaken identity.

CCT does not publish underlying reports, alerts, analysis, evidence, confidential sources, allegations or unrelated personal information. It may publish through GRID Integrity in a versioned public register. Further material information, including from other tournaments or a changed roster, may lead to an extension under the applicable Rulebook; affected persons receive notice and an opportunity to respond, and the current public record is updated.

For a ranked Counter-Strike Event, CCT may also publish the invitation or disqualification information required by Valve’s Counter-Strike Tournament Operation Requirements and the applicable Rulebook.

11. International transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, GRID uses an applicable adequacy decision or appropriate safeguards, including the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses and, for restricted UK transfers where relevant, the UK Addendum or International Data Transfer Agreement, together with supplementary measures where required. Contact privacy@grid.gg for information about the relevant safeguard and, where available, a copy subject to necessary redactions.

12. How long data is kept

Event-administration, eligibility, communication, travel, expense, finance and prize records are kept for event operations and applicable legal, accounting and claims periods. Raw camera, voice, POV-demo, technical and platform material follows the category-specific period in GRID’s retention schedule or event notice and is kept only as long as needed for production, operations, security or integrity review.

Gameplay and performance data may be retained as a proportionate historical, archival or statistical record for as long as needed for the stated purpose. Integrity case records may be retained for the applicable restriction, review and reassessment period and a documented integrity, claims or regulatory period. Material selected for published content, an active case or a legal claim may be kept for the longer applicable purpose.

A minimal public CCT decision record may remain in the versioned publication history where reasonably necessary to demonstrate application of the Rules. The current register will be updated when a restriction expires, is lifted or otherwise changes. Searchable publication will be reviewed periodically and removed or de-indexed where it is no longer necessary and this is reasonably possible. The underlying case file is not public.

13. Your rights

Under the GDPR, you may have rights to information and access, correction, erasure, restriction, notification, portability and to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. For GRID this is the Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit; you may also complain to the supervisory authority where you live or work (in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office). You may object under Article 21 to processing based on legitimate interests. If consent is used for an optional activity, you may withdraw it for the future.

You may ask GRID to correct inaccurate source data, add relevant context and object to integrity processing based on legitimate interests. Data-protection rights and an Event eligibility reassessment are separate routes; using one does not prevent the other.

Before a final Invite Exception 6 restriction or extension, the Team and affected players may make written representations under the CCT Rulebook. An affected player may raise a material error in their inclusion or relevant information about a continuing restriction at any time. The Team’s six-month reassessment route remains separate. No interim or final restriction is imposed solely by automated processing.

14. Automated tools and human decisions

Technical systems may flag a Match or betting market for review. Authorised personnel then assess the relevant information, and the authorised Event decision-maker applies the rules and makes any eligibility or participation decision.

GRID may arrange for integrity monitoring, assessment and related communications to be carried out by a member of the GRID group, including a subsidiary, or by a specialist provider appointed by GRID. For CCT, that function may operate as GRID Integrity and may communicate with Teams or publish notices on CCT’s behalf. Where an appointed entity has a materially different data-protection role, that entity and role will be identified where required.

Neither GRID nor CCT makes an esports-player eligibility, integrity or participation decision solely by automated processing. Contact privacy@grid.gg if you have questions about how a player decision concerning you was made.

15. Contact

Event-specific information will identify another relevant controller or contact point where required. If there is a lawful reason why a requested right cannot be exercised, the responsible controller will explain that response.