Fencing should be a place where young athletes can learn, develop and compete with confidence. iFency is designed to support fencing equipment management, athlete records, competition operations and learning while treating children's personal information with care.
This page explains the additional safeguards intended for young fencers, what parents and guardians should know, and how to raise a privacy concern.
For full details about personal data processing, please read our Privacy Notice.
1. How iFency protects young fencers
iFency is designed to support privacy and appropriate access to personal information through measures such as:
- Private identification: QR codes and short codes should use non-predictable identifiers and must not expose a child's name, date of birth or other personal details directly.
- Restricted access: Athlete and competition information should be accessible only to people who have appropriate permissions for their role and organisation.
- No behavioural advertising: iFency does not sell personal data or use it for behavioural advertising.
- Human responsibility for inspections: Equipment inspection and clearance decisions are made by authorised personnel, not automated AI decisions.
- Careful equipment identification: Information displayed through an “If Found” tag should be limited to the information the owner has chosen to make available, subject to the feature's actual configuration.
- Appropriate data collection: Users and organisers should provide only information reasonably necessary for the relevant service or competition.
- Security and accountability: Access restrictions and audit records are intended to help protect information and establish responsibility for recorded actions.
These safeguards reduce risk but cannot eliminate every risk. Their effectiveness depends on the platform's implementation, configuration and ongoing operation.
2. What information may iFency hold about a young fencer?
Depending on the services used, information may include:
- Name, email address and account identifier.
- Country, club and Athlete Passport details.
- Equipment descriptions and photographs.
- Competition entries and accreditation identifiers.
- Equipment declarations, inspection results, defects and clearance records.
- Equipment reception, custody and collection records.
- Academy lesson progress, assessment results and certificates.
- Necessary technical and security records.
Some information is managed by TMVIC Group Ltd to provide the iFency account and individual services. Competition information is generally controlled by the relevant organiser or federation, with TMVIC processing it on that organisation's instructions.
We do not intentionally request children's home addresses, government identification numbers or health records as standard Athlete Passport information. Please do not upload unnecessary personal or sensitive information.
3. Parents, guardians and consent
A child's use of iFency must follow the age requirements and safeguards applicable to the service and the country concerned.
Parental consent is not automatically required for every type of data processing. Depending on the circumstances, processing may rely on contractual necessity, legitimate interests, legal obligations, consent or another lawful basis.
Where applicable law requires parental or guardian consent for a service offered directly to a child and consent is the relevant lawful basis, that consent must be obtained and verified as required before the relevant processing begins.
Where consent is used, it must be specific, informed and freely given. It must also be possible to withdraw it.
A club, coach, federation, organiser or delegation manager is not automatically a child's parent or legal guardian. Their authority to register a child or provide information must be assessed separately from any parental-consent requirement.
Competition organisers remain responsible for establishing an appropriate lawful basis for their own processing and obtaining any additional permissions required for participation, photography, medical arrangements or other competition activities.
4. Age requirements across different countries
Privacy requirements differ by jurisdiction and service. The following is general guidance, not a determination that a particular child may use every iFency feature without further checks.
| Jurisdiction | Important consideration |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | The age of 13 applies to certain consent-based information society services offered directly to children. Other child-protection and data-protection obligations may apply at any age. |
| European Union / EEA | Under the GDPR, the default age for certain consent-based services offered directly to children is 16, but Member States may lower it to no less than 13. The applicable national threshold must be checked. |
| United States | COPPA generally concerns online collection of personal information from children under 13 by covered services. It includes specific parental notice, consent and other requirements. |
| Brazil | The LGPD contains specific safeguards for children's and adolescents' personal data. Children's processing is subject to particular legal requirements, including parental or guardian consent in the circumstances specified by law. |
| Other countries | Local rules may impose different age thresholds, parental-authorisation requirements or additional safeguards. |
These thresholds do not replace a broader assessment of whether processing is lawful, fair and appropriate for the child's age.
Before making iFency available directly to young users in a jurisdiction, the applicable requirements should be assessed and the necessary registration, consent and verification controls implemented.
5. Athlete Passports and equipment records
An Athlete Passport helps a fencer maintain relevant athlete and equipment information. It does not automatically make every field public.
Young fencers should avoid including unnecessary identifying details in equipment descriptions, photographs, return instructions or other optional information.
Parents and guardians should help younger athletes understand what information they are entering and who may be able to access it.
An equipment record does not establish that an item has passed an official inspection. Competition inspection outcomes are recorded through the relevant authorised workflow.
6. Competition records and officials
When a young fencer participates in an event using iFency, the organiser or federation generally determines why competition information is collected and who needs access to it.
Authorised armourers and officials may need access to inspection results, equipment identifiers and relevant operational records to perform their duties.
These records should be limited to the purpose of running the competition, maintaining appropriate sporting records and addressing legitimate disputes or compliance requirements.
Parents and young athletes should direct competition-specific questions to the organiser or federation. TMVIC can help identify the appropriate contact.
7. Academy learning and AI
Fency Academy may record learning progress, assessment attempts, scores and certificates.
Where the Vera AI assistant is available, it may provide educational explanations. Its answers can be incomplete or incorrect and must not replace official rules, qualified instruction or professional judgement.
Young users should not enter their home address, personal contact details, private information about other people or confidential competition information into AI prompts.
The information sent to an AI provider, and any applicable retention or model-training arrangements, must be explained in the relevant privacy disclosures.
8. Photographs, signatures and sharing
Photographs and electronic signatures can identify a young person and therefore require appropriate care.
Only upload photographs or other personal information that is necessary and authorised for the relevant purpose. Competition organisers should explain when photographs, signatures or other records are required and who can access them.
Permission to use a photograph for equipment management or competition administration does not automatically grant permission to use it for publicity, advertising or unrelated purposes.
Additional permission may be required for photography, promotional use or other activities under applicable law and the relevant event's policies.
9. Parents' and young fencers' privacy rights
Depending on applicable law and the circumstances, a young fencer or their authorised parent or guardian may request access to personal data, correction of inaccurate information, deletion, restriction of processing or other available rights.
The appropriate person to handle the request depends on who controls the information.
- For an iFency account, Athlete Passport or Academy record controlled by TMVIC, contact us directly.
- For competition registration, accreditation and equipment-control records, contact the responsible organiser or federation.
- If you are unsure who is responsible, TMVIC can help direct the request.
Requests made on behalf of a child may require verification of parental or legal authority. We will seek only information reasonably necessary to handle the request securely.
Some records may need to be retained for legal obligations, legitimate sporting purposes or dispute resolution. If a request cannot be fully granted, the responsible controller should explain why, subject to applicable law.
10. If you have a concern
If you believe a young fencer's personal information has been exposed, accessed without authorisation or used inappropriately, please contact us promptly.
Privacy contact: [email protected]
Parents, guardians and young fencers may contact us about access, correction, deletion, consent or other privacy concerns. Please do not include passwords or unnecessary sensitive information in your initial message.
You may also complain to the relevant data protection authority. In the United Kingdom, this is the Information Commissioner's Office: https://ico.org.uk/. In the European Economic Area, you may generally contact the competent data protection authority in your country, subject to applicable law.
11. Changes to this page
We may update this page when iFency's features, safeguards or applicable legal requirements change.
Material changes will be communicated appropriately, and consent will be obtained where legally required.
The latest version will be published on the iFency website with its revision date.