Privacy Policy

Blackwater RC is operated by AND ASSOCIATES STUDIO, LLC ("Blackwater RC," "we," "us," or "our").

We collect and use personal information to operate our website, manage membership accounts, organize activities, process purchases, and communicate with our community.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, how long we retain it, and the choices available to you.

"You" refers to anyone who visits our website, creates a membership account, registers for an activity, purchases a product, or otherwise interacts with Blackwater RC.

This policy applies to blackwaterrc.com (the "Website") and to personal information we collect through our activities and related services.

By using our services, you acknowledge this Privacy Policy. Where consent is required by law, we will request it separately.

Contact

AND ASSOCIATES STUDIO, LLC
Doing business as Blackwater RC
447 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10013
United States

Email: team@blackwaterrc.com

1. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our services, operations, or legal obligations.

The latest version will be published on our Website with an updated revision date.

Where required by law, we will notify you of material changes or request additional consent.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information directly from you, automatically through the Website, and from third-party services used to operate Blackwater RC.

A. Information You Provide

Membership accounts

When you create a membership account, we collect your email address to identify your account and send sign-in verification codes.

You may also choose to provide:

• First and last name
• Telephone number
• Country or region, postal address (street address, apartment or floor, city, postal code, and country or region)
• Date of birth
• Emergency contact name and telephone number
• Preferred email language
• Newsletter subscription preferences

Except for your email address, these profile fields are optional.

Your profile information is not publicly displayed to other members.

If you provide an emergency contact, you confirm that you have informed that person and obtained their permission to share their information with us.

We use emergency contact information only when reasonably necessary in connection with an emergency involving you at a Blackwater RC activity.

Purchases

When you place an order, we may collect:

• Name
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Billing and shipping addresses
• Products purchased
• Order amounts and transaction history
• Shipping and fulfillment information
• Return, exchange, and refund information

Payment information is processed by Shopify and its supported payment providers.

We do not receive or store your full payment card number or security code.

Event registration

When you register for a Blackwater RC activity, we may collect or receive:

• Name
• Email address
• Event registration details
• Registration date and time
• Attendance and check-in status

Additional information may be collected where necessary for a particular activity and disclosed during registration.

Communications

If you contact us, we may retain your name, contact information, and the contents of your message to respond to your inquiry.

B. Information Collected Automatically

When you access the Website or sign in to your account, we may collect limited technical information, including:

• IP address
• Browser type and user-agent information
• Device and session information
• Sign-in activity
• Account creation and update dates
• Website usage and security logs

We use this information to maintain account security, prevent unauthorized access, investigate technical issues, and operate the Website.

Our membership system uses temporary verification codes sent by email.

Verification codes are stored in hashed form, expire after 10 minutes, and become invalid after three incorrect attempts.

We also maintain temporary security records to limit repeated or suspicious sign-in attempts.

C. Information from Third Parties

Shopify

If you create a membership account using an email address associated with a previous Shopify purchase, we may retrieve your name, telephone number, and country or region from your Shopify customer record.

This information is used to complete empty profile fields when your account is first created.

When you access your order history, we retrieve eligible order information from Shopify.

Order history is displayed through your account and is not separately stored in our membership database.

If you update your name in your membership profile, we may also update the corresponding Shopify customer record. If no customer record exists for that email address, this may create one.

Luma

We use Luma to manage registrations for certain Blackwater RC activities.

We may import registration and attendance records from Luma, including email addresses, registration times, and check-in information.

These records may be collected for confirmed participants regardless of whether they have created a Blackwater RC membership account.

We do not import declined, canceled, or waitlisted registrations into our club attendance history.

Club records

Blackwater RC administrators may maintain information relating to designated club members, including assigned titles and participation badges.

This information is used to manage membership features and recognize participation within the club.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use personal information for the following purposes.

A. Membership Management

• Create and maintain membership accounts
• Verify your identity during sign-in
• Manage profile information and account settings
• Display eligible order and club activity history
• Maintain participation statistics and badges
• Provide account-related communications
• Respond to account support requests

B. Event Management

• Manage registrations and attendance
• Maintain event participation records
• Identify and correct attendance discrepancies
• Manage event capacity and waitlists
• Apply published attendance and no-show policies
• Improve event planning and operations

We may calculate attendance statistics, including participation counts, attendance rates, no-show history, and estimated turnout.

These calculations are used internally by authorized Blackwater RC administrators.

Participation badges may be assigned automatically based on recorded activity.

Attendance statistics and turnout estimates support operational decisions. We do not use these calculations to make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects on individuals.

C. Orders and Fulfillment

• Fill in your delivery details at checkout when you are signed in
• Process and manage purchases
• Arrange shipping and delivery
• Provide order confirmations and updates
• Manage returns, exchanges, and refunds
• Maintain transaction records
• Respond to purchase-related inquiries

When you are signed in and go to checkout, we send the name, telephone number, and postal address in your membership profile to Shopify so the delivery form is filled in for you. You can change any of it at checkout. We do this only when the address is in the shipping region of your cart (currently Taiwan), and we ask Shopify not to save it to a customer record. If you go to checkout without being signed in, we remove any delivery details previously added to the cart in that browser.

D. Communications

We use your contact information to send necessary communications relating to your account, purchases, registrations, and our services.

If you choose to subscribe, we may also send newsletters, announcements, and promotional communications.

You can withdraw your marketing consent at any time through your account settings or the unsubscribe link in our emails.

Unsubscribing from Blackwater RC newsletters may apply to all club newsletters associated with your email address.

E. Security and Legal Compliance

We may use personal information to:

• Prevent fraud and unauthorized access
• Protect the security of the Website
• Investigate misuse of our services
• Enforce applicable Terms & Conditions
• Maintain records required by law
• Respond to lawful requests from authorities
• Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims

We process personal information only for purposes permitted by applicable law, including where necessary to provide requested services, fulfill legal obligations, protect legitimate interests where permitted, or act with your consent.

4. Cookies

Our Website uses cookies and similar technologies to support essential functions, account security, and, where applicable, analytics and marketing.

Essential membership cookies

Our membership system uses the following first-party cookies:

bw.session_token

Maintains your authenticated membership session.

The cookie contains a session identifier rather than your personal profile information.

Sessions generally remain valid for 30 days and may be extended when you continue using your account.

bw_member

Allows the Website to recognize that you are signed in and display the appropriate account navigation.

This cookie does not contain your authentication token.

These cookies are necessary for membership functionality.

You can end active sessions through your account settings.

blackwater_cart

Keeps the contents of your shopping cart between visits. It contains an identifier for your cart at Shopify, cannot be read by scripts on the page, and lasts up to 14 days.

Other cookies

Shopify and other services integrated into the Website may use cookies or similar technologies for checkout, security, analytics, or other functions.

Where consent is required for non-essential cookies, we will provide the relevant choices through our cookie consent controls.

Disabling essential cookies may prevent certain Website features from functioning properly.

5. How We Disclose Information

We share personal information only where necessary to operate our services, fulfill requested activities, comply with legal obligations, or for other purposes permitted by applicable law.

Our service providers include:

Shopify

Processes purchases, maintains customer and order records, supports order history within membership accounts, and receives the name, telephone number, and postal address in your profile when you go to checkout while signed in.

Luma

Manages event registrations and provides registration and attendance information.

Klaviyo

Manages newsletter subscriptions, marketing consent, and email communications.

Resend and Google Gmail SMTP

Deliver account verification codes and related transactional emails.

Neon

Hosts our membership database, including member profiles, account sessions, and attendance records.

Vercel

Hosts the Website and processes technical requests required for its operation.

Sanity

Provides content management services, including certain club member records and account-related content.

Shipping and fulfillment partners

Receive the information necessary to prepare, ship, and deliver orders.

Authorized Blackwater RC administrators

May access membership information, event attendance records, and related statistics where necessary to operate the club.

Authorized administrators may export relevant membership and attendance records for legitimate operational purposes.

We may also disclose information when required by law, to respond to lawful requests, or to protect the rights and safety of Blackwater RC and others.

We do not sell personal information to data brokers.

We do not share personal information with third parties for their independent marketing purposes without an appropriate legal basis or required consent.

6. User-Generated Content

If the Website allows you to submit reviews, comments, photographs, or other content, information you choose to publish may be visible to other users.

Please avoid including sensitive personal information in publicly accessible content.

We may remove content that violates our Terms & Conditions or applicable law.

Personal information contained in user-generated content will be handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

7. Children's Data

Blackwater RC membership accounts are intended for individuals aged 18 or older.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children in connection with membership accounts without any consent or authorization required by applicable law.

If we become aware that personal information has been collected from a child without the necessary authorization, we will take appropriate steps to address the matter.

Parents or guardians may contact team@blackwaterrc.com with questions or concerns.

8. Security and Retention

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, and disclosure.

These measures include email-based verification, limited verification-code validity, session controls, access restrictions, and security checks.

No method of electronic storage or transmission can guarantee complete security.

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, subject to applicable legal requirements.

Membership information

Member profiles are generally retained while the account remains active.

When you delete your membership account, your profile, active sessions, and associated sign-in records are deleted from the membership system.

Sign-in and session information

Verification codes expire after 10 minutes.

Temporary sign-in security records are generally removed after their applicable monitoring period, which does not exceed 24 hours.

Membership sessions generally remain valid for 30 days, subject to renewal or earlier termination.

Event attendance records

Event attendance records may be retained separately from membership accounts for club history, event management, and operational analysis.

Deleting your membership account does not automatically delete these records.

You may request deletion of your attendance history by contacting us.

Where attendance history is erased, we may retain a one-way identifier derived from your email address to prevent previously imported records from being restored.

New event registrations after an erasure request may generate new attendance records.

Order and transaction records

Purchase records are maintained through Shopify and may be retained for accounting, customer service, legal compliance, and other legitimate business purposes.

Newsletter information

Newsletter preferences and related records are maintained through Klaviyo.

Unsubscribing stops marketing communications but does not necessarily delete your contact record.

You may contact us to request further deletion or correction.

9. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on applicable law, you may have the right to:

• Request access to your personal information
• Request a copy of your personal information
• Request corrections or updates
• Request deletion of personal information
• Request that certain processing stop
• Withdraw consent where processing relies on consent
• Request information about how your personal information is used
• Exercise other rights provided by applicable privacy laws

Managing your membership account

You can update most profile information through your account settings.

To change the email address associated with your account, please contact us.

You can manage newsletter preferences and sign out of other devices through your account settings.

Deleting your account

You can delete your membership account through the Website.

Account deletion removes your member profile and associated membership sessions.

It does not automatically delete:

• Luma event registration or attendance records
• Shopify customer and transaction records
• Klaviyo contact records
• Information retained to comply with legal obligations

Requesting deletion of attendance history

You may request deletion of your Blackwater RC attendance history even if you do not have a membership account.

We will review the request, verify your identity where necessary, and process it in accordance with applicable law.

Other privacy requests

To exercise your rights or request assistance with information maintained through our service providers, contact:

team@blackwaterrc.com

We may request information necessary to verify your identity before processing a request.

We will respond within the time required by applicable law.

We will not unlawfully discriminate against individuals for exercising their privacy rights.

10. International Users

Blackwater RC operates in Taiwan, and our legal operator, AND ASSOCIATES STUDIO, LLC, is registered in the United States.

Your personal information may be stored, accessed, or processed in Taiwan, the United States, or other countries where our service providers operate.

Privacy and data protection laws may differ between these locations.

Where required by applicable law, we will take appropriate measures to protect personal information transferred internationally.

These measures may include contractual safeguards and other legally recognized transfer arrangements.

By using our services, you acknowledge that international processing may occur as described in this policy.

11. Complaints

If you have questions or concerns about how we collect, use, store, or disclose your personal information, please contact us.

We will review your concern and make reasonable efforts to resolve it.

You may also have the right to submit a complaint to the relevant data protection authority under applicable law.

Contact

AND ASSOCIATES STUDIO, LLC
Doing business as Blackwater RC
447 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10013
United States

Email: team@blackwaterrc.com