Privacy Policy

Who We Are

Uplift Tri-State Gulf Coast USA ("Uplift," "we," "us," or "our") is a pageant production owned and operated by Gala Glitterati Group, LLC ("GGG"), a Florida limited liability company. This policy explains what we collect, how we use it, and what your choices are.

Information We Collect

Information You Provide

When you apply to compete, register as a voter, contact us, or otherwise interact with our forms, we collect:

• Name and contact information (email, phone, mailing address)
• Date of birth or age range (used to assign your division)
• Residential ZIP code (used to determine your directional and county)
• Parent or guardian information if the contestant is a minor
• Photos, videos, and biographical content you submit for competition
• Payment details processed through our payment provider (we never store full card numbers)
• Any narrative content you share about your platform, community involvement, or personal story

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our site, we may automatically log:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Pages visited and time spent
• Referring website
• Date and time of visit

How We Use Your Information

• To process your application, registration, votes, and competition participation
• To send confirmations, advancement notices, scheduling, and competition updates
• To verify eligibility (age, residency, payment)
• To tabulate votes and scoring
• To publish leaderboards, titleholder pages, and event coverage
• To improve our services and protect against fraud, spam, and abuse
• To comply with legal obligations

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for their independent marketing use.

How We Store and Protect Your Information

Form submissions are stored in our hosting environment, payment processor, and email system. We use reasonable technical and administrative safeguards to protect your information, including HTTPS encryption, access controls, and secure payment processing. No method of internet transmission is 100% secure, but we work continuously to maintain industry-standard protections.

Cookies and Analytics

Our site uses cookies and similar technologies. For full details, see our Cookie Policy.

Third Parties We Work With

We share limited information with trusted service providers who help us operate, including:

• Payment processors (Stripe and similar) to process vote payments, entry fees, and add-ons
• Hosting and email providers who store form submissions and deliver communications
• Analytics services, if used, to understand site usage in aggregate
• Event venues and partners who host live events (limited to registration and arrival information)

These providers are bound by their own privacy obligations and may only use your information to provide services to us.

Children's Privacy (COPPA)

Uplift competition includes age divisions starting at 0–11 months. Any contestant under 18 must apply and participate with verifiable parental or legal guardian consent. Any contestant under 13 has additional protections under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA):

• We collect only the minimum information necessary for competition participation
• We do not share a minor's personal information with third parties for marketing purposes, ever
• Parents and guardians may review, correct, or request deletion of their child's information at any time by emailing us
• Parents and guardians may refuse to permit further collection or use of their child's information
• Photos and videos of minors are published only with explicit written parent or guardian consent via our Photo & Likeness Release

If you believe a child has submitted information to us without proper parental consent, contact us immediately.

Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights. The sections below describe specific rights granted under the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/UK), the California Consumer Privacy Act / California Privacy Rights Act (US), and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (US).

If You Are in the European Union or United Kingdom (GDPR & UK GDPR)

Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access — Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification — Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Erasure ("right to be forgotten") — Ask us to delete your information, subject to legal retention obligations.
• Restriction of processing — Ask us to limit how we use your data while a request is being resolved.
• Data portability — Receive your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Objection — Object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing.
• Withdraw consent — Withdraw any consent you previously gave, at any time.
• Lodge a complaint — File a complaint with your local data protection authority.

Legal basis for processing: We process your personal data on the basis of (a) your consent, when you submit a form or check a marketing opt-in box; (b) contract performance, when you enter our competition; (c) our legitimate interest in responding to your inquiry and operating our business; and (d) where required, to comply with legal obligations.

International transfers: Gala Glitterati Group, LLC is located in the United States. If you submit information from the EU/UK, that information will be transferred to and processed in the US under appropriate safeguards.

If You Are a California Resident (CCPA / CPRA) — Do Not Sell or Share

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, California residents have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and (if applicable) sell or share, and to whom
• Delete personal information we have collected, subject to certain exceptions
• Correct inaccurate personal information
• Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising
• Limit the use of sensitive personal information
• Non-discrimination — We will not deny services, charge different prices, or provide a different level of service because you exercised any of these rights

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Gala Glitterati Group, LLC does not sell personal information for money. We do not currently share personal information with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising. We honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signal as a valid opt-out request for any future sharing. To make an explicit opt-out request, email us with the subject line "Do Not Sell or Share."

Other US State Privacy Laws

If you live in Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Montana, Delaware, Tennessee, Indiana, Iowa, or another US state with a comprehensive privacy law, you have similar rights to access, correct, delete, and opt out of certain processing. Contact us using the email at the bottom of this page to exercise any of these rights.

SMS / Text Messaging Terms (TCPA)

If you provide your phone number and check the SMS consent box, you are providing express written consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act for Gala Glitterati Group, LLC to send you SMS messages relating to your inquiry, application, or Uplift events.

• Message frequency: Up to 6 messages per month during the competition season.
• Message and data rates may apply. Standard rates from your wireless carrier apply.
• Opt out at any time: Reply STOP to any message to unsubscribe.
• Help: Reply HELP to any message for support.
• Consent is not a condition of competition participation, application, or service receipt.
• Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

Mobile information will not be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.

Florida-Specific Disclosures

Florida residents may request information about specific entities to which we have disclosed their personal information by contacting us at the address below. As a Florida-based business, we comply with the Florida Information Protection Act (FIPA) and the Florida Telemarketing Act.

Retention

We retain competition records (applications, vote logs, score sheets) for the duration of the competition cycle plus a minimum of two years for audit, tax, and dispute-resolution purposes. After that period, identifying details are minimized or deleted unless retention is required by law.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy. When we do, we'll update the "Last updated" date. Significant changes will be communicated more visibly via email or a banner on the site.

Questions or Requests

For questions, access requests, deletion requests, or to opt out of communications, contact us:

Email: info@galaglitteratigroup.com
Subject line: Include the request type (Access, Deletion, Correction, Opt-Out, Do Not Sell) so we can route it quickly.

Attorney review notice: This privacy policy is a working document drafted to industry standards but has not yet been reviewed by Florida-licensed counsel. Final review and approval will occur before live operation begins.