Official Privacy Protocol
Version 1.0
Framework: NDPA 2023 (Nigeria)

Privacy Policy

At The Gamers Lodge, we prioritize the protection and responsible handling of user account, gamer profile, team, tournament, and payment information. This Privacy Policy details how personal data is collected, processed, and safeguarded across our platform, user dashboards, administrative tools, and Paystack payment integrations.

Effective Date: August 21, 2026
Last Updated: August 21, 2026
Protocol Ref: TGL-PRIV-2026.2
13+ PARTICIPATION MODEL

Tournament entry is open to ages 13 or older. Minors (13–17) require guardian consent & adult payment.

ZERO CARD STORAGE

Fees processed externally (e.g. Paystack). Card numbers & CVVs are never stored on TGL servers.

NO DATA SELLING

We do not sell, rent, or trade competitor data to third-party ad networks or brokers.

ZERO TRACKING COOKIES

No advertising pixels or tracking cookies are currently deployed on our public website.

SECTION 01

Overview & Operating Scope

This Privacy Policy describes how The Gamers Lodge ("we," "us," or "our"), accessible via https://www.thegamerslodge.games/, collects, uses, and safeguards personal information across our website, authenticated user platform, gamer profiles, team management systems, tournament registration architecture, administrative tools, and Paystack payment processing integrations.

The Gamers Lodge operates competitive gaming initiatives and esports events, including featured tournaments such as the Battle Fury Championship. The platform features authenticated user accounts, squad administration, payment processing, and tournament bracket management. The Gamers Lodge is strictly a competitive gaming platform and esports event hub; it is not a commercial marketplace, course sales platform, or digital-product store.

SECTION 02

Who We Are & Operating Status

OPERATING STATUS & JURISDICTION

The Gamers Lodge is an active competitive gaming organization operating in Nigeria. The organization operates under The Gamers Lodge operating brand name and is not currently incorporated as a Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registered corporate entity. All data processing activities are conducted under The Gamers Lodge operating identity in alignment with applicable Nigerian data protection laws.

SECTION 03 — AGE REQUIREMENT

Age Requirement (13+ Participation Model)

MINIMUM PARTICIPATION AGE: 13 YEARS OR OLDER

Account registration and tournament participation are available to individuals aged 13 years and older. Participants under 13 years of age are strictly prohibited from creating accounts, registering for tournaments, or providing personal data.

Conditions for Minor Participants (Ages 13–17):

Participants between the ages of 13 and 17 may create accounts and participate in tournaments subject to the following mandatory conditions:

  • Guardian Awareness & Consent:The minor's parent or legal guardian must be aware of their participation and have provided appropriate consent where required.
  • No Independent Minor Financial Decisions: Participants aged 13–17 must not independently make financial decisions to register or pay entry fees. Tournament payments involving a minor must be handled by an adult (aged 18 or older).

Acceptable Adult Payment Arrangements for Minors:

1. Parent or Legal Guardian

The minor's parent or legal guardian may complete the tournament entry fee payment on behalf of the minor.

2. Adult Team Representative

An adult team leader or squad representative (aged 18+) may register and pay for the team, including any minor squad members.

Legal Distinction: An adult team representative paying tournament entry fees for a squad does not automatically become the legal guardian of minor team members. The parent or legal guardian remains responsible for providing necessary parental consent.

SECTION 04

Information We Collect

To operate our authenticated platform, provide user dashboards, manage esports teams, administer tournaments, process payments, and ensure security, we collect specific categories of personal information:

01. AUTHENTICATION & ACCOUNT DATA

Email address, encrypted password credentials, system role (USER or ADMIN), account creation/update timestamps, and account suspension status.

02. GAMER PROFILE DETAILS

Display name, avatar URL, bio, date of birth, Call of Duty: Mobile ID (CODM ID), Discord handle, and contact phone number.

03. TEAM & MEMBERSHIP DATA

Team name, tag, description, logo URL, team captain ID, join codes, team disbandment status, and roster membership roles (CAPTAIN, MEMBER, SUBSTITUTE).

04. REGISTRATION RECORDS

Tournament selection, squad roster snapshots, registration status, reserved slot timestamps, and parental/guardian consent verification flags.

05. PAYMENT & TRANSACTION RECORDS

Paystack transaction reference IDs, payment status (INITIALIZED, PENDING, SUCCESSFUL, FAILED, ABANDONED, REFUNDED, RECONCILIATION_REQUIRED), entry fee amount, currency, payer user ID, associated registration ID, authorization URLs, access codes, and Paystack response metadata.

SECTION 05

How We Use Personal Information

Personal information collected by The Gamers Lodge is processed strictly for operational, administrative, and security purposes, including:

ACCOUNT & DASHBOARD ADMINISTRATION

Authenticating users, maintaining gamer profiles, managing team rosters, and powering user dashboards.

TOURNAMENT OPERATIONS & RESULTS

Processing tournament registrations, verifying CODM IDs and squad rosters, organizing match lobbies, and publishing leaderboard results (team rank, kills, placement/kill points, total points, prize awards).

PAYMENT VERIFICATION & RECONCILIATION

Verifying entry fee payments via Paystack webhooks and endpoints, reconciling failed registrations, and managing approved refunds.

SECURITY, ANTI-CHEAT & INTEGRITY

Enforcing tournament anti-cheat rules, logging administrative actions, investigating match disputes, preventing fraud, and securing site infrastructure.

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal data to third-party ad networks, nor do we perform automated ad-profiling or automated decision-making.

SECTION 06

Tournament Registration & Roster Data

For competitive events such as the Battle Fury Championship (Call of Duty: Mobile Battle Royale, 4-Player Squad format), tournament registration records store squad roster snapshots, CODM IDs, captain details, and registration status flags.

Team captains or squad representatives registering teams must ensure that all teammate details are accurate and that teammates (or their parent/legal guardian in the case of minors aged 13–17) are aware of and have consented to squad submission for tournament administration.

SECTION 07

Paystack Payment Processing Safeguards

Tournament entry fees are collected by The Gamers Lodge to fund event administration and prize pools. Payment transactions are executed externally through integrated payment gateway provider Paystack.

CARD CREDENTIAL ISOLATION (ZERO CARD STORAGE)

The Gamers Lodge does notdirectly collect, process, or store credit/debit card numbers, CVVs, PINs, or bank passwords on our servers. Payment credentials are submitted directly to Paystack under Paystack's security standards and PCI-DSS compliance framework.

We process payment transaction metadata (reference IDs, payment status, entry fee amount, currency, payer user ID, and Paystack response data) to verify payments, confirm tournament slots, reconcile technical payment failures, and prevent transaction fraud.

SECTION 08

User Dashboards & Administrative Access

Authenticated users access a personal dashboard to manage profiles, view team memberships, inspect registration statuses, and review payment history.

AUTHORIZED ADMINISTRATIVE ACCESS:

The Gamers Lodge maintains an administrative environment. Authorized administrators (ADMIN role) may access personal data when reasonably necessary to:

  • Administer tournaments, verify registrations, and manage match lobbies.
  • Verify Paystack transaction status and reconcile payment discrepancies.
  • Process approved refunds under the Refund Policy.
  • Enforce tournament rules and investigate competitive misconduct or anti-cheat violations.
  • Suspend or restrict accounts for severe terms violations.
  • Inspect audit logs and provide user support.
SECTION 09

Audit Logging Practices

To protect platform security, prevent transaction fraud, maintain operational accountability, and troubleshoot technical errors, administrative and security-sensitive actions are recorded in system audit logs (AuditLog model).

Audit log entries record actor user IDs, performed actions, affected entity types/IDs, metadata snippets, and timestamps. Audit records are accessible only to authorized system administrators and infrastructure engineers.

SECTION 10

Authentication Tokens, Sessions & Cookies

SESSION AUTHENTICATION IMPLEMENTATION

User sessions are managed using JWT Access Tokens (tgl_access_token) and Refresh Tokens (tgl_refresh_token) stored in browser localStorage and transmitted via HTTP Authorization Bearer headers. Session expiration triggers custom client-side auth events to securely clear stored credentials.

ZERO ADVERTISING & TRACKING COOKIES

The Gamers Lodge platform operates without deploying third-party tracking cookies, advertising pixels, or analytics trackers (such as Google Analytics or Meta Pixels). Hosting infrastructure logs basic technical parameters (IP address, browser user-agent) strictly for server performance, security monitoring, and network protection.

SECTION 11

Data Minimization Principles

We adhere strictly to the principle of data minimization: we collect and process only the information reasonably necessary to operate user accounts, administer teams, process registrations, verify payments, and run esports events.

Browsing public informational pages on our website does not require creating an account or submitting personal identification data.

SECTION 12

Data Sharing & Service Providers

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information to third parties, data brokers, or advertising networks.

Information is shared only with trusted technical service providers necessary to operate our service, including:

  • Payment gateway processor (Paystack) for transaction processing and verification.
  • Cloud hosting, database, and web infrastructure providers (e.g. Vercel).
  • Official tournament marshals and administrators managing match lobbies.
  • Law enforcement or regulatory authorities where strictly required by applicable Nigerian law.
SECTION 13

Third-Party Platforms & External Links

The Gamers Lodge provides links to community platforms, including Instagram, Discord, WhatsApp, X/Twitter, TikTok, Paystack, and Call of Duty: Mobile.

Third-party platforms operate under their own independent privacy policies and terms. The Gamers Lodge does not control how external platforms handle user data once you leave our site. Mention of external platforms does not constitute formal sponsorship or partnership unless explicitly stated.

SECTION 14

Data Retention Standards

Personal information is retained for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill operational, financial, legal, security, and dispute-resolution purposes, including:

  • Maintaining active user accounts and gamer profiles.
  • Retaining payment transaction logs for financial reconciliation and audit compliance.
  • Preserving tournament history and published leaderboard results.
  • Maintaining audit logs for security monitoring and dispute investigation.

When information is no longer required for legitimate operational or legal purposes, it will be securely purged or anonymized.

SECTION 15

Data Security Safeguards

We implement technical and organizational measures designed to protect account and platform information against unauthorized access, loss, or misuse. Safeguards include HTTPS encryption in transit, Bearer token authorization controls, role-based access restrictions, and cloud security architecture.

While we maintain diligent safeguards, no internet transmission or digital storage method is 100% secure. Users provide information with an understanding of inherent internet data transmission risks.

SECTION 16

Data Subject Rights (NDPA Framework)

In accordance with the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (NDPA) framework, users in Nigeria may exercise privacy rights regarding their personal information:

RIGHT TO ACCESSRequest details regarding personal data held in your account or profile.
RIGHT TO RECTIFICATIONUpdate or correct profile details via your dashboard or support request.
RIGHT TO ERASURERequest account deletion subject to financial record retention requirements.
RIGHT TO OBJECTSubmit privacy inquiries or object to specific processing procedures.

To submit a privacy inquiry or exercise your data rights, email our team at contact@thegamerslodge.com. Requests are evaluated subject to identity verification and operational/financial record obligations.

SECTION 17

Children & Minors Protection (Ages 13–17 & Under 13)

The Gamers Lodge minimum participation age is 13 years of age. Children under 13 years of age are strictly prohibited from creating accounts, submitting personal data, or participating in tournaments. If we discover unauthorized data belonging to a child under 13, we will delete that data promptly.

PARENT & GUARDIAN RIGHTS FOR MINORS (13–17)

Parents or legal guardians of minor participants (ages 13–17) may contact us at contact@thegamerslodge.com to inspect submitted registration details, request data corrections, or request information deletion subject to operational requirements.

SECTION 18

International Data Processing

While The Gamers Lodge operates in Nigeria, cloud service infrastructure (such as Vercel servers and Paystack gateway infrastructure) may host data across secure international cloud regions under standard security protections.

SECTION 19

Revisions & Policy Updates

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect additions to our platform, user account features, tournament operations, or legal obligations.

Revisions will be published with an updated "Last Updated" date at the top of this document. Material changes will be highlighted via platform notifications. Updates do not apply retroactively.

SECTION 20

Official Contact Details

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please contact our team:

PRIVACY ENQUIRIES & DATA PROTECTION CONTACT