These Terms of Service govern your access to and use of iFency, a digital platform for fencing equipment management, competition armoury operations, athlete equipment records and education.
By creating an account or using iFency, you agree to the Terms applicable to your use of the service. If you do not agree, you must not use the relevant service.
If you use iFency on behalf of a federation, club, competition organiser or other organisation, you confirm that you are authorised to act on its behalf. The organisation may also be required to accept separate organisational terms and a Data Processing Agreement.
1. Who we are and what iFency provides
iFency is operated by TMVIC Group Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 15039121.
iFency provides digital tools that may include:
- Athlete Passports and personal equipment records.
- Competition registration and accreditation integrations where enabled.
- Equipment reception, inspection, defect recording, repair, reinspection and collection workflows.
- Competition station management and authorised remote operations.
- Digital equipment records, QR identifiers, audit trails and electronic signatures.
- Fency Academy learning materials, assessments and certificates.
- Professional profiles, appointments and equipment identification features.
Available functionality depends on the service, the organisation's configuration and the permissions assigned to your account.
iFency is a software service. TMVIC does not automatically become the organiser, governing body, technical delegate or decision-making authority for a competition simply because the competition uses iFency.
2. Eligibility and accounts
You must provide accurate information when creating or using an account and update it when necessary.
Each account must be used by the individual to whom it is assigned. Staff, armourers, officials and administrators must use their own authorised credentials. Account sharing, impersonation and unauthorised access to another person's account are prohibited.
You are responsible for:
- Keeping your sign-in credentials secure.
- Protecting devices through which you access iFency.
- Notifying us promptly if you suspect unauthorised account access.
- Ensuring that information you submit is accurate and that you have permission to submit it.
You must not attempt to access information, organisations, competitions or administrative functions beyond your assigned permissions.
TMVIC may apply additional identity or authorisation checks to professional, organiser or administrative accounts where appropriate.
3. Children and young athletes
Young athletes may use eligible iFency services subject to applicable age requirements, parental or guardian authorisation where required, and any additional safeguards specified for the relevant service.
Where a parent or legal guardian must authorise a child's use, the required process must be completed before the relevant processing or service begins.
A coach, club, organiser or federation representative is not automatically a child's legal guardian. Users acting on behalf of a child must have appropriate authority.
Further information is available in the Young Fencers and Children's Privacy Policy.
4. Athlete Passports and personal equipment
The Athlete Passport and personal equipment cabinet are designed to help users maintain relevant athlete and equipment information.
You are responsible for ensuring that information you enter is accurate, appropriate and submitted with the necessary authority.
Recording an item in an equipment cabinet does not certify that it complies with competition requirements, has passed inspection or is authorised for use.
Equipment records, photographs and return instructions must not be used to impersonate another person, misrepresent equipment ownership or interfere with another person's property.
Where an organiser or federation receives access to Passport or equipment information for a competition, that access is subject to the applicable permissions, privacy notices and data-processing arrangements.
5. Competition management and organisational authority
The organiser or federation operating a competition is responsible for its event, competition rules, appointments, staffing, operational decisions and compliance with applicable sporting requirements.
Organisers must ensure that the people they appoint have the appropriate qualifications, authority and access for their assigned duties.
Organisers are responsible for configuring their competitions correctly, including relevant categories, stations, staff permissions, operational procedures and escalation arrangements.
TMVIC provides the software and associated technical support. Unless separately agreed in writing, TMVIC does not undertake to run a competition, supervise inspections or act as a competition official.
6. Equipment inspection and technical decisions
Equipment inspection and clearance decisions must be made by authorised personnel under the authority of the responsible organiser or governing body and in accordance with the rules applicable to the competition.
iFency records and communicates inspection results, defects, readings, repair actions, reinspection outcomes and other authorised operational records. It does not independently certify equipment or replace the judgement of qualified officials.
An organiser must not use administrative permissions to falsify, conceal or improperly alter a technical result.
Where a result needs to be corrected, reviewed or challenged, the responsible organisation must follow the applicable competition rules and authorised review procedure. Any change to an existing record should preserve the appropriate audit history where the system supports it.
A recorded PASS does not guarantee that equipment will remain compliant indefinitely or that another inspection will produce the same result. Equipment condition, applicable rules and circumstances may change.
7. FIE rules and independence
iFency may refer to published FIE Material Rules, Technical Rules and other relevant sporting documents as technical references.
iFency is an independent service operated by TMVIC Group Ltd. Unless expressly confirmed in a separate written agreement, it is not owned, operated, certified, approved or endorsed by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE), any national federation or any other governing body.
References to sporting rules do not guarantee that every feature reflects every current rule, local interpretation or competition-specific requirement.
Organisers and officials remain responsible for consulting the authoritative rules applicable to their competition and verifying that their procedures comply with them.
8. Fency Academy and certificates
Fency Academy provides educational resources, training exercises and assessment features relating to fencing equipment and armoury operations.
Academy certificates indicate completion or achievement within the relevant iFency learning programme, according to the criteria stated for that programme.
Unless expressly agreed in writing by the relevant authority, an iFency certificate is not an FIE licence, national federation licence, professional accreditation, formal qualification or guarantee of appointment.
Users must not misrepresent an Academy certificate as an official licence or qualification issued by another organisation.
Training content is educational in nature. Users remain responsible for following applicable safety procedures, competition rules and instructions from authorised officials.
9. Artificial intelligence and educational guidance
Where available, the Vera AI assistant may help explain Academy material, training outcomes and technical concepts.
AI-generated responses may be inaccurate, incomplete or out of date. They are not official sporting rulings, professional inspections or a substitute for authoritative documents and qualified human judgement.
You must not rely solely on AI-generated advice to approve equipment, resolve a competition dispute or make a safety-critical decision.
Do not submit unnecessary personal information, confidential competition information or another person's private information into AI prompts.
The processing of prompts and associated information is also governed by the Privacy Notice.
10. Acceptable use
You must not:
- Submit false declarations or deliberately falsify inspection, repair, collection or accreditation records.
- Impersonate another person or use credentials without authorisation.
- Circumvent role-based permissions, security controls or organisation boundaries.
- Interfere with audit records, inspection workflows or the proper operation of competitions.
- Upload unlawful, malicious, infringing or unauthorised content.
- Scrape, harvest or extract personal information without authorisation.
- Probe, disrupt, overload or attempt to compromise the service.
- Use If Found messaging to harass, threaten, impersonate or unlawfully collect information about another person.
- Misrepresent iFency, its certifications or its relationship with the FIE or another sporting authority.
- Use the platform in breach of applicable law or the rights of others.
You must report suspected vulnerabilities, unauthorised access or serious misuse through an appropriate support or security contact rather than exploiting the issue.
11. User content and permissions
You retain any rights you hold in photographs, text, equipment information and other content you submit.
You grant TMVIC a limited, non-exclusive permission to host, store, reproduce, display and process that content as reasonably necessary to provide, secure and support the features you use, in accordance with the applicable privacy and data-processing arrangements.
This permission does not transfer ownership of your content to TMVIC and does not authorise unrelated commercial use.
You confirm that you have the necessary rights and authority to submit the content and permit its intended use. You must not upload material that infringes another person's rights or includes unnecessary personal information about someone else.
You may request the removal of content where the relevant feature permits it or through the applicable support or privacy-request process. Removal may be subject to legal obligations, competition-record requirements, legitimate dispute preservation or other lawful grounds for retention.
12. Electronic records, signatures and QR identifiers
iFency may use electronic records, timestamps, QR codes, short codes and electronic signatures to support equipment reception, inspections, handovers and collection.
You must not forge, misuse, copy for fraudulent purposes or deliberately manipulate these records or identifiers.
Electronic records may provide evidence of recorded actions, but their legal effect depends on the circumstances, applicable law and the requirements of the relevant competition.
A digital signature or timestamp does not automatically establish that every statement is accurate, that every person was properly authorised or that a particular legal standard has been satisfied.
Users must follow the relevant procedures when recording or acknowledging equipment custody, inspection results and collection.
13. Offline operation and service availability
Some iFency features may support offline or limited-connectivity workflows.
Offline availability depends on the feature, device, local configuration and the information available on that device. Data may need to synchronise when connectivity returns. Conflicts, delays or failures may occur.
Users must follow the competition's contingency procedures when the platform or network is unavailable. They must not assume that a locally displayed record has been successfully synchronised or accepted by the central service until the relevant status confirms it.
TMVIC aims to maintain a reliable service but does not guarantee uninterrupted, error-free or continuously available operation. Planned maintenance, service-provider outages, connectivity problems, security incidents and other circumstances may affect availability.
Any separately agreed service-level commitment takes precedence to the extent stated in that agreement.
14. Privacy and data protection
Personal data is handled in accordance with the Privacy Notice and other applicable privacy information.
TMVIC acts as controller for personal data processed for its own account and platform purposes. For competition data processed on behalf of an organiser or federation, the relevant organisation normally acts as controller and TMVIC acts as processor under the applicable Data Processing Agreement.
Organisations using iFency must ensure that they have the necessary authority and lawful basis to provide personal data, give required privacy information and configure access appropriately.
These Terms do not replace the Data Processing Agreement, an organisation's privacy notice or any mandatory rights available under applicable data protection law.
15. Third-party services
iFency may depend on external hosting, authentication, communications, AI, security and other service providers.
The availability and processing practices of those services may affect some platform functions. Relevant provider information is made available through the Trust Centre, where applicable.
Links to third-party websites or services do not mean that TMVIC controls or endorses their content. Your use of a third-party service may be subject to its separate terms and privacy information.
16. Fees and paid services
Some iFency services may be free, while others may be offered under a paid subscription, event licence or separate organisational agreement.
Any applicable price, billing arrangements, service scope, renewal conditions, cancellation rights and refund terms will be communicated before you commit to a paid service.
Where an organisation purchases a service for its competition or members, the relevant organisational agreement governs the commercial relationship to the extent stated in that agreement.
Nothing in these Terms removes mandatory consumer rights or statutory cancellation and refund rights that apply to a particular transaction.
17. Suspension, termination and account closure
You may stop using iFency and request account closure through the available account settings or support process.
TMVIC may restrict, suspend or terminate access where reasonably necessary to address a serious or repeated breach of these Terms, suspected fraud, unauthorised access, a security risk, unlawful use or a legal requirement.
Where appropriate and legally permissible, we will provide notice and an opportunity to resolve the issue. Immediate restrictions may be necessary to protect users, competition operations or the security of the service.
An organiser may also revoke access for staff or officials under its authority, subject to applicable agreements and legal requirements.
Account closure does not automatically erase competition records, audit trails or other information that must lawfully be retained. Personal data will be handled in accordance with the Privacy Notice and applicable retention requirements.
18. Intellectual property
The iFency name, branding, software, interface, original platform content and associated intellectual property are owned by TMVIC Group Ltd or its relevant licensors, except where otherwise stated.
You may use the service for its intended purposes in accordance with these Terms. You must not copy, redistribute, commercially exploit or reverse engineer protected elements of the service except where permitted by law or expressly authorised in writing.
Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of TMVIC's intellectual property to a user or organisation.
19. Warranties and responsibility
To the extent permitted by law, iFency is provided on the basis described in these Terms and any separate service agreement.
TMVIC does not warrant that the platform will meet every organisation's individual requirements, that all data entered by users will be accurate, or that every sporting rule or local procedure will be reflected in every configuration.
Organisers remain responsible for their competitions, appointments, technical decisions, safety procedures and compliance with applicable rules. Users remain responsible for the accuracy and lawfulness of the information they submit and for following authorised instructions.
Nothing in this section excludes any warranty or statutory protection that applicable law does not permit us to exclude.
20. Limitation of liability
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where such exclusion or limitation is prohibited by applicable law.
Nothing excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.
Subject to the preceding paragraphs and applicable law, TMVIC is not responsible for losses caused by inaccurate information supplied by users, unauthorised actions by an organiser's personnel, sporting decisions made by competition officials, failures of third-party services outside its reasonable control, or a user's failure to follow applicable procedures.
Where permitted by law, TMVIC is not liable for indirect or consequential loss that was not reasonably foreseeable when the relevant agreement was formed.
Any additional liability cap, exclusion or allocation of risk must be set out in the applicable organisational or commercial agreement and must be legally enforceable in the circumstances.
These Terms do not remove rights that consumers have under mandatory consumer-protection law.
21. Changes to the service or these Terms
We may modify iFency to improve functionality, security, accessibility, compatibility or compliance with applicable requirements.
We may update these Terms when our services, agreements or legal obligations change. The latest version and revision date will be published on the iFency website.
Where a change materially affects your rights or obligations, we will provide appropriate notice and obtain consent where required by law.
If you do not agree to a material change, you may stop using the affected service and, where applicable, close your account or terminate the relevant agreement in accordance with its terms.
22. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, subject to any mandatory legal protections that apply to you.
If you are a consumer residing in another country, this governing-law provision does not deprive you of protections that cannot lawfully be excluded under the law applicable to your circumstances.
We encourage users and organisations to contact us first to attempt to resolve a dispute informally. Nothing in these Terms prevents a person from exercising a statutory right to bring a complaint or legal claim before a competent authority or court.
Separate organisational agreements may contain additional dispute-resolution provisions, subject to applicable law.
23. Marketing communications
Accepting these Terms does not constitute consent to receive marketing communications.
Where marketing consent is required, it will be requested separately. You may withdraw marketing consent or unsubscribe using the method provided in the relevant communication, without affecting essential service-related messages.
24. Contact
For questions about these Terms or the iFency service:
TMVIC Group Ltd Company number: 15039121 United Kingdom
Email: [email protected] for privacy matters, or the designated iFency support contact for general service enquiries.
Website: https://ifency.com