Privacy Policy

Last updated October 3, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what information Travel Cheer & Dance Alliance ("we", "us") collects when you use the TCDA Courses website (the "Site"), including our online courses, exams and certificates. It covers what we do with that information, who we share it with, and the choices you have.

If you have a question about your privacy, contact us at support@travelcheer.com.

Information you give us

Account details: your first name, last name, email address and a password. We don't store your password itself. We store only a scrambled, one-way version of it that can't be turned back into the password, so our staff can't see it.
Profile changes: any updates you make to your name in your account settings.
Messages: emails you send to our support address, including your name, email address and what you wrote.
Account deletion requests: the request, and any reason you choose to give.
About you: whether you are taking a course as a judge, a coach or something else (and, for something else, the few words you give us), your ZIP code and state, or your country if you live outside the US, and your city if you choose to give it. From your ZIP code we look up a map point for the middle of that ZIP code area, so our staff can find people near a place. We don't ask for your street address.
The National PLS Judge Directory, for judges who choose to join: the phone number you give us for it, if any, and when you joined or left.
Your agreements: when you joined the National PLS Judge Directory or, for coaches and others, agreed to sharing with TCDA-verified event producers, together with the exact words you agreed to.

Information created when you use the courses

Course progress: which screens and lessons you have finished, your answers to practice questions, entries you make in the course's practice tools, where you are in the course, and when you started, last used and finished it.
Exam attempts: your answers to the certification exam, your score, whether you passed, and the date. We keep every attempt so a certificate can always be traced to the attempt that earned it.
Certificates: the name on the certificate, the course, the date it was issued and its certificate number.
Purchases: the course you bought, the price, the date, the payment status (for example paid, refunded or disputed), your receipt, and the date and time you ticked the box confirming you understood the purchase is non-refundable, together with the exact words you agreed to.
Course access: when access to a course was given, paused or removed, and why.
Support notes: notes our staff add to your account when helping you (for example, "reset password at the customer's request").
Activity: when you were last active on the Site.

Payment information

Payments are processed by Stripe and its Link service. You enter your card details on Stripe's own secure payment page, not on our Site. We never receive or store your full card number or security code.

When you pay, Stripe sends us a record of the payment. That record includes the name and email address you entered, your billing country and ZIP or postal code (where Stripe collects them), the amount, and limited card details such as the card brand, the last four digits and the expiry date. We keep these records to deliver your purchase, keep accurate accounts and respond to payment questions and disputes.

Stripe uses the information it collects under its own privacy policy: https://stripe.com/privacy

Information collected automatically

Sign-in cookie: when you sign in, we set one cookie named "pls_session". It keeps you signed in for up to 7 days, or until you sign out. The cookie can't be read by scripts on the page, and it is sent only over secure (HTTPS) connections. The Site doesn't work without it, so there is no option to turn it off.
Browser storage: while you take a course, the course keeps a copy of your progress in your browser's local storage. That way a dropped internet connection doesn't lose your work. The main copy is saved to your account. The Site clears the browser copy when someone signs in or out on that browser.
IP address: we record the internet (IP) address used for certain actions. These are signing in, creating an account, and actions our staff take in the admin area. We use it to protect accounts and prevent abuse, for example to limit repeated wrong-password attempts.
Hosting records: Cloudflare, Inc., which hosts the Site and its database, processes your IP address to deliver pages and protect the Site from attacks. It keeps short-term technical logs of requests for troubleshooting. If Cloudflare's bot protection is switched on, Cloudflare may set its own security cookies. Cloudflare describes these as strictly necessary.

We do not use advertising cookies, analytics tools or tracking pixels, and we do not track you across other websites.

Content from other websites

Our pages load the Inter font from Google Fonts. When a page loads, your browser asks Google for the font file, so Google receives your IP address, the same as for any web request. Google's privacy policy is at https://policies.google.com/privacy
One lesson shows a copy of TCDA's public Scoring Resources page. When that screen opens, your browser loads pictures from TCDA's website host (Squarespace) and from YouTube. Those companies receive your IP address the same way as when you visit any website.
The course and the Site link to other websites, such as travelcheer.com, documents stored on Google Drive, YouTube videos and plscalculator.com. When you open those links, the other site's own privacy policy applies.

How we use your information

To create and run your account, and to let you sign in.
To give you access to the courses you bought, save your progress, and let you continue on any device.
To grade your exam on our server and to issue and show certificates.
To process purchases, show your receipts and keep business and tax records.
To send you service emails, such as purchase confirmations, password-reset links, notices when your password or email address changes, and certificate emails. These are part of the service, so you can't opt out of them while you have an account.
To answer your questions and help when something goes wrong.
To keep the Site and your account secure, prevent fraud and abuse, and check our own staff's work.
To respond to card disputes. If you dispute a charge with your bank, we may share your purchase record, your non-refundable acknowledgement and records of your use of the course with Stripe and your card issuer, to show that the purchase was authorized and delivered.
To find judges and customers by area (for example, judges within 50 miles of an event, or coaches in one state), and to run the National PLS Judge Directory.
To follow the law, and to protect our rights and the rights of others.

We do not send marketing emails. If we ever start sending news or offers by email, every one will include a simple way to unsubscribe, and we will update this policy first.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for targeted advertising.

We share information only in these cases:

Service providers that run parts of the Site for us, and only for that work: Cloudflare (hosting and database), Stripe (payments) and our email delivery provider (sending the Site's emails and keeping delivery records).
Our professional advisers, such as lawyers and accountants, when they need it to advise us.
When the law requires it, or to protect the rights, safety or property of our customers, our staff, us or others.
If our business is sold or merged, or the Site is transferred to another company, your information may move to the new owner, and it stays protected by this policy.
TCDA-verified event producers, as the next two sections explain.
With your permission, in any other case.

The National PLS Judge Directory

The National PLS Judge Directory is a list of judges who chose to join it. It is not a public web page. Joining is optional. If you join, TCDA, Precision Live Scoring and TCDA-verified event producers may contact you about judging opportunities. For that, our staff and TCDA can see, and may share with TCDA-verified event producers, your name, email address, the phone number you gave for the directory (if any), your city, state, region and ZIP code, your course progress, whether you are certified, and when you joined.

You can leave the directory at any time in Account settings. You leave it straight away: from then on we stop sharing your details for the directory, and we delete the phone number you gave for it. We keep a record of when you joined and when you left. We can't take back details an event producer received before you left; you can ask that event producer to delete them.

If you take a course as a coach, or as anything other than a judge, you agree before you buy that your name, contact details (your email address) and location (your city, state and ZIP code, or your country) may be shared with TCDA-verified event producers. We record when you agreed, and the exact words. Event producers may use these details to contact you about their events, and each one handles them under its own privacy policy.

A TCDA-verified event producer is a company that runs cheer or dance events and that TCDA has checked and approved.

How long we keep information

Account, progress and exam information: for as long as your account is open.
Purchase and receipt records: for as long as tax, accounting and legal rules require, even after an account is deleted.
Certificates: we keep a basic record of each certificate (the number, course and date).
Security records, such as sign-in attempts and staff activity: only as long as we need them for security, fraud prevention and resolving disputes.
Copies of emails we send you: so we can help if one goes missing. Password-reset links are never stored in a readable form.
About you and your agreements: for as long as your account is open. After you leave the National PLS Judge Directory, we keep the record of when you joined and when you left.
Backups: deleted information can remain in our database backups for a limited time before the backups expire.

Your choices and rights

See and correct your details: you can change your name in your account settings. To change your email address, or anything else, contact us.
Get a copy of your information: email us and we will send you a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
Delete your account: you can ask us to delete your account from your account settings or by emailing us. We then remove your name, email address, password, progress and exam answers. We keep only what we must keep, as described above. Deleting your account ends your access to any courses you bought, and it does not come with a refund.
Change what you told us about yourself: you can change whether you are a judge, a coach or something else, and where you are, in your account settings.
Leave the National PLS Judge Directory: at any time, in your account settings.
Reconsideration: if we can't do what you asked, we will explain why. You can ask us to reconsider by replying to our answer.

Before we act on a request, we confirm that it comes from you, usually by asking you to sign in or to reply from the email address on your account. We respond within 45 days. We will not treat you differently for making a privacy request.

Depending on where you live, state privacy laws may give you more rights. You can contact us at support@travelcheer.com to use any of them.

Children and teens

You must be at least 13 years old to use the Site. The Site is not directed to children under 13. Children under 13 may not create an account or buy a course, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete it and close the account. If you believe a child under 13 has given us information, contact us at support@travelcheer.com and we will delete it.

People aged 13 to 17 may use the Site only if a parent or guardian agrees to our Terms of Service for them, as the Terms explain.

How we protect information

The Site uses secure (HTTPS) connections.
Passwords are stored only in scrambled, one-way form.
Card details are handled by Stripe and never reach our systems.
Staff get only the access their role needs, and we keep records of the actions staff take on accounts.

No website can be made perfectly secure. If a security problem affects your personal information, we will tell you as the law requires.

Where information is stored

We are based in the United States. Your information is stored and processed in the United States, and in other countries where our service providers operate.

Changes to this policy

When we update this policy, we will post the new version here with a new effective date. If a change is significant, we will tell you by email or with a notice on the Site before it takes effect.

Contact us

Travel Cheer & Dance Alliance
PO Box 3529, Modesto, CA 95352
Email: support@travelcheer.com

Questions about this page? Email us at support@travelcheer.com.

Also read our Terms of Service and Purchase & Refund Policy.