Privacy Policy

The Rat Line is an independent online community where golfers can discuss private golf clubs, share experiences, submit complaints, report member conduct, ask questions, suggest improvements, and recognize positive experiences.

The Rat Line is independent and is not affiliated with or operated by any golf club, ClubLink, or other golf organization unless explicitly stated.

We collect information you choose to provide as well as certain technical information required to operate the platform.

Account Information: When you create an account we may collect your username, email address, password (stored securely in encrypted form by our authentication provider), and the date your account was created.

Profile Information: You may choose to provide a display name, profile image, biography, golf club affiliation, and verification information. Providing optional information is entirely your choice.

Posts and Comments: When you participate in the community we collect posts, comments, replies, reactions, reports, uploaded images or supporting documents, and course follows.

Verification Information: If you request a verification badge we may collect information reasonably necessary to verify your relationship with a golf club, such as membership confirmation, guest confirmation, former membership confirmation, or other supporting documentation. Verification documents are reviewed only for verification purposes.

Technical Information: When you use the platform we may automatically collect your IP address, browser type, device information, operating system, log data, cookies, session identifiers, and general usage analytics. This information helps us secure and improve the platform.

Anonymous posting is one of the core features of The Rat Line.

When you choose to post anonymously, your username is hidden from the public community.

However, The Rat Line continues to associate anonymous posts with your account internally for platform security, fraud prevention, abuse investigations, moderation, and compliance with applicable law.

Anonymous posting means anonymous to other users—not anonymous to the platform.

We use your information to create and manage your account, display community content, operate the platform, moderate discussions, verify membership status, respond to support requests, detect spam and abuse, improve website performance, analyze platform usage, protect users and the community, and comply with legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal information.

The Rat Line uses cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember preferences, improve performance, measure traffic, and maintain security.

You may disable cookies through your browser, although certain features may no longer function properly.

We may share information with trusted service providers who help operate The Rat Line, such as authentication providers, cloud hosting providers, database providers, analytics providers, and email delivery providers.

These providers receive only the information necessary to perform their services on our behalf.

We do not sell your personal information to advertisers or data brokers.

We may disclose information when required to comply with applicable law, respond to valid court orders or legal process, protect the safety of users, investigate fraud, enforce our Terms of Service, or protect the rights of The Rat Line.

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, or disclosure.

No online service can guarantee absolute security, but we continually work to protect your information.

We retain personal information only as long as reasonably necessary to operate the platform, maintain account history, resolve disputes, enforce our policies, and comply with legal obligations.

Verification documents should be retained only as long as needed to complete or maintain verification, unless a longer retention period is required by law or for a specific legitimate purpose.

You may request deletion of your account.

After deletion, your profile information will be removed or anonymized where practical. Some public posts or comments may remain if they are needed to preserve the integrity of community discussions, but they will no longer identify you.

Certain information may be retained where required by law or for security, fraud prevention, or dispute resolution.

You may update your account information, change your username (subject to platform rules), control profile visibility, choose whether to post anonymously or publicly, request account deletion, and contact us regarding your personal information.

The Rat Line is intended for adults. Users must be at least 18 years of age, or the age of majority in their jurisdiction, to create an account.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

The Rat Line is based in Canada. If you access the platform from another country, your information may be processed and stored in Canada or other jurisdictions where our service providers operate, subject to applicable legal safeguards.

The Rat Line may contain links to external websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites. We encourage users to review the privacy policies of any external services they visit.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When material changes are made, we will update the 'Last Updated' date and provide notice through the platform or by other reasonable means.

Continued use of The Rat Line after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how your personal information is handled, please contact us through our Contact Us page or by using the support email address published on the website.