Child Safeguarding Statement

A meaningful share of the football players whose information appears in the VeriScout database are 15, 16 or 17 years old. Handling that data responsibly is a serious obligation, and one we treat as a first-class operational concern — not as a compliance afterthought.

This Statement explains the practical steps we take to protect under-18 Players. It supplements the legal protections in our Privacy Policy and the plain-language summary in our Notice to Players.

Our principles

1. Lower age limit. We do not include Players younger than U17 squads in the database. The youngest profiles in our system are around 15 years old. We do not knowingly hold profiles for any Player below that age.

2. Data minimisation for under-18s. For Players under 18, we hold only information that is directly relevant to college recruiting — team and competition records, match statistics and position. We do not collect or store private contact details, family information, health data, government identifiers, or any data about a minor that is not necessary for that purpose.

3. Publicly accessible information only. All Player data in the database comes from sources that are already published online and accessible without a login or paywall. We do not access information that is behind a login or paywall, and we do not buy data from data brokers.

4. No public exposure. The VeriScout database is not publicly searchable. There is no public profile page, no SEO indexing of Player profiles, and no way for the general public to look up a Player.

5. Verified recruiters only. Every Customer User account is manually verified by VeriScout before activation. We check that the work email belongs to a recognised college program and confirm directly with the head coach or athletics administrator at that program before granting access. We do not allow self-service signup.

6. No in-platform contact channel between coaches and Players. Players do not have accounts on the Service, do not log in, and cannot be messaged through the platform. VeriScout is an evaluation tool, not a messaging or recruiting-outreach platform. Any subsequent contact between a college and a recruit happens outside VeriScout, through the coach's own channels and under the rules of the relevant governing body.

7. Cold-recruiting prohibited in the Terms. Our Terms of Service explicitly forbid Customer Users from using the Service to harass, intimidate, contact or "cold-recruit" minors in violation of NCAA, NAIA or NJCAA rules or applicable child-protection laws. A serious breach is grounds for immediate suspension of the account.

8. Removal on request, no justification needed. A Player under 18, or any parent or legal guardian, can request removal of the Player's profile at any time. We honour the request promptly, without requiring a reason, and confirm the deletion by email. The procedure is described in our Notice to Players.

9. Awareness across the team. Every person at VeriScout who can access Player data is briefed on these principles and on their personal responsibility to flag and escalate any safeguarding concern they encounter.

Designated safeguarding contact

For any safeguarding question, concern or report — whether you are a Player, a parent, a guardian, a coach, a journalist, or anyone else — write to:

Hello@veri-scout.com with the subject line "Safeguarding".

A founder of VeriScout reads this inbox personally. We aim to acknowledge messages within 2 working days.

Reporting a concern

If you have reason to believe that:

• a profile in the database is inaccurate, inappropriate, or should not be there;
• a Customer User has misused the Service in any way involving a minor;
• a Player has been contacted by someone using information from VeriScout in a way that breaches our Terms or applicable law; or
• there is any other safeguarding issue,

please contact us using the email above. You can report anonymously. We will not retaliate against any individual who raises a good-faith concern.

For situations that we judge to involve a credible risk of harm to a child, we will cooperate with the relevant child-protection authorities and competent law-enforcement agencies as required.

What this Statement is, and is not

This Statement describes how VeriScout itself handles data about under-18 Players. It is not a substitute for the recruiting rules of NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA or other governing bodies, which govern how college coaches may engage with prospective student-athletes once they have begun their own outreach. We expect every Customer User to follow those rules, and to follow the child-protection laws that apply in their jurisdiction.

If you believe a college recruiter has contacted you, or a Player in your care, in violation of those rules, you should raise the matter with the relevant governing body and, where appropriate, the relevant child-protection authority. Please tell us as well, so that we can take appropriate action against the Customer User involved.

Review

We review this Statement at least once a year, and after any material change to how the Service works that affects under-18 Players.