Schedule

1. No Purchase Necessary

No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win the Competition. Creating a free Privy account is required to participate; account creation is available at no cost. A purchase will not increase your chances of winning.

2. Introduction and Agreement

These Official Rules and Terms & Conditions ("Rules") govern The Deep End Capture the Flag Competition. By registering for and participating in the Competition, you ("Participant") agree to be bound by these Rules and the final decisions of the Sponsor, which are binding in all matters relating to the Competition to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. The Schedule above forms part of these Rules. If the body of these Rules conflicts with the Schedule, the Schedule takes precedence.

3. Eligibility

The Competition is open to individuals who, at the time of entry:

• are at least 18 years of age, or the age of majority in their jurisdiction, whichever is greater;
• are legal residents of the United States, excluding the state of Florida, which is an excluded jurisdiction for this Competition;
• have created a valid, free Privy account on the Competition platform; and
• comply fully with these Rules and the Sponsor's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

The following individuals are not eligible to receive prizes:

• Current and former (within 6 months prior to the Contest Period) employees, contractors, officers, and directors of Privy, Stripe, LLC., and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, and parent companies;
• Immediate family members (spouse, parent, sibling, child, regardless of where they reside) and household members of any ineligible person described above;
• Any advertising, promotional, technology, or fulfillment agencies engaged in connection with the Competition; and
• Any individual in a jurisdiction subject to applicable export controls, trade sanctions, or laws that would prohibit participation or receipt of a prize, including without limitation OFAC-sanctioned territories.

The Competition is void in Florida, and wherever else prohibited or restricted by applicable law. Residents of Florida are not eligible to enter or receive prizes regardless of any other eligibility criteria met. Participants are responsible for ensuring that participation is lawful in their jurisdiction.

4. How to Enter

To participate, each Participant must, during the Contest Period:

Step 1. Visit thedeepend.games.

Note: Residents of Florida are not eligible to participate and should not register.

Step 2. Create a free Privy account (or log in to an existing Privy account). Account creation requires a valid email address and acceptance of Privy's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Step 3. Complete one or more eligible challenges within the Competition platform. Points are awarded automatically upon successful completion of each challenge, as confirmed by the platform.

Participants may attempt challenges multiple times where permitted by the platform. Scores are tracked automatically on the public leaderboard. No other method of entry is available.

5. Scoring and Winner Determination

Points are awarded for successful completion of challenges within the Competition platform.

The leaderboard will be publicly visible throughout the Contest Period and will reflect real-time cumulative scores.

The Competition is a skill contest. Winners are determined solely by demonstrated technical skill as measured by cumulative challenge scores. Winners are determined at the close of the Contest Period by final leaderboard ranking. The Participant with the highest cumulative score will be the first-place winner, with subsequent places determined in descending score order.

Tiebreaker: In the event of a tie in cumulative score, tied Participants will be ranked by the timestamp of their last successful challenge submission (earlier timestamp = higher rank). If a tie remains unresolved after applying the timestamp method, Sponsor may apply additional published tiebreaking criteria or, at its sole reasonable discretion, award equivalent prizes to all tied Participants.

Sponsor reserves the right to review, adjust, or nullify scores where it determines, in its sole discretion, that a Participant has engaged in conduct inconsistent with these Rules (see Section 12).

6. AI-Assisted Challenge Disclaimer

One or more challenges within the Competition incorporate AI or large language model (LLM) components powered by third-party services. By participating in those challenges, Participants acknowledge and agree that:

• AI-generated outputs may be inconsistent, incomplete, or variable across sessions;
• Sponsor makes no warranty regarding the accuracy, reliability, or consistency of any AI component within the Competition;
• A challenge score will not be invalidated solely due to inherent AI output variability, provided the Sponsor determines the submission otherwise meets the challenge criteria; and
• The use of external AI tools or LLM services to assist in solving challenges is permitted, except where individual challenge instructions specify otherwise.

7. Prizes

Prize values are stated in US dollars unless otherwise specified. ARVs are accurate as of the date these Rules are published; Sponsor is not responsible for fluctuations in value between publication and prize delivery.

Prizes are non-transferable and may not be exchanged or redeemed for cash, except at Sponsor's sole discretion or as required by applicable law.

If a specified prize becomes unavailable for any reason, Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater ARV, subject to any applicable regulatory requirements.

Prize winners are solely responsible for all costs associated with prize acceptance and use, including without limitation applicable taxes, duties, shipping costs (for physical prizes), and any associated fees.

8. Winner Notification and Prize Claim

Sponsor will contact potential winners by email to the address associated with their registered Privy account within 7 calendar days of the close of the Contest Period.

Prize claim deadline: Potential winners must respond to notification and accept the prize within 7 calendar days of the date the notification is sent. Failure to respond within this period constitutes forfeiture of the prize.

Required documentation: Prior to receiving a prize, potential winners may be required to provide proof of eligibility to Sponsor within 7 calendar days of notification. Failure to provide proof of eligibility when requested within the specified period constitutes forfeiture of the prize.

Alternate winner: If a potential winner forfeits the prize (by failure to respond, failure to provide proof of eligibility when requested, failure to satisfy eligibility requirements, or otherwise), Sponsor will select the next-ranked eligible Participant as an alternate winner, subject to the same notification and claim requirements. This process will continue until a winner claims the prize or the prize pool is exhausted.

9. Prize Delivery

Prizes will be delivered to winners within 4-6 weeks of prize acceptance and receipt of all required documentation. Delivery timelines for physical prizes (merchandise, electronics) may vary based on the winner's location and logistics. Sponsor will confirm delivery details with each winner upon prize acceptance.

10. Tax Disclosure and Compliance

Winners are solely responsible for all federal, state, local, and foreign income taxes, duties, and other charges applicable to prizes received.

US tax reporting: [In the United States, prizes may be subject to IRS Form reporting. Sponsor may require winners to provide a completed IRS Form before delivering a prize. Sponsor may withhold prize delivery until required documentation is received.

11. Privacy and Data Use

By registering and participating in the Competition, you acknowledge that Sponsor will collect and process your personal information (including name, email address, account activity, and Competition performance data) in accordance with the Privy Privacy Policy and applicable privacy laws.

Recruiting use: Leaderboard rankings and individual challenge performance data may be reviewed by Privy's talent acquisition team. You consent that this information may also be shared with Stripe, LLC for the purpose of identifying potential employment candidates. Stripe processes any shared data as an independent data controller under the Stripe Privacy Policy, available at stripe.com/privacy. Consent to recruiting use by Privy or Stripe is entirely optional and has no effect on your eligibility to participate or win. You may provide or withdraw this consent at any time by contacting [email protected].

Marketing communications: If you opt in to marketing communications during registration, Privy may contact you with product updates, industry news, and event invitations via automated messaging systems. Opting in to marketing communications is not required to enter or win. You may unsubscribe at any time via the link in any communication.

Winner announcement: Sponsor may publicly announce the winner's username/display name on the Competition platform and in associated promotional materials. If you do not consent to public disclosure of your name, you must notify Sponsor in writing within 7 calendar days of prize notification. In such cases, Sponsor may announce that a winner has been selected without disclosing identifying information.

Participant data collected through the Competition platform is handled consistently with data collected through other Privy services under the same Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

12. Disqualification

Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Participant who:

• does not comply with these Rules, the Competition platform's Terms of Service, or any posted challenge instructions;
• provides false, inaccurate, or misleading registration information;
• attacks, exploits, or tampers with the Competition infrastructure, scoring system, database, or platform itself in a manner not consistent with authorized challenge-solving (note: exploiting designated challenge targets is part of the Competition; attacking the infrastructure hosting those targets is not);
• uses automated scripts, bots, or other tools to gain an unfair scoring advantage over other Participants, unless such tools are expressly permitted by specific challenge instructions;
• engages in collusion with Participants, shares solutions, or otherwise participates in a manner inconsistent with individual competition;
• harasses, threatens, or engages in abusive conduct toward other Participants, Sponsor personnel, or the broader competition community; or
• engages in any other conduct that Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, to be harmful, fraudulent, or inconsistent with the spirit of the Competition.

Disqualification decisions are at Sponsor's sole discretion and are final. Disqualified Participants forfeit all prizes.

13. Publicity

By accepting a prize, winners agree that Sponsor may use their name, username, general location, and a description of their winning solution for promotional, publicity, and marketing purposes across any media, in perpetuity, without further compensation, except where prohibited by law.

14. Intellectual Property

All Competition content, challenges, platform materials, branding, and associated intellectual property are the proprietary property of Sponsor and/or its licensors. Participation does not grant any ownership rights in Competition materials.

Participants retain ownership of original work product they create in the course of solving challenges, subject to the license below.

By participating, each Participant grants Sponsor a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual license to reproduce, reference, and display submitted solutions for internal security research, educational, and promotional purposes. Sponsor will credit Participants by username where reasonably practicable.

15. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Sponsor and its affiliates, subsidiaries, parent companies, officers, directors, employees, and agents ("Releasees") are not liable for: (i) lost, late, incomplete, corrupted, or misdirected entries; (ii) technical malfunctions, server outages, internet disruptions, or platform unavailability; (iii) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the Competition; (iv) any damage to Participants' computer systems, devices, or data arising from participation; or (v) any injury, loss, or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with participation in the Competition or acceptance, use, or misuse of any prize.

Sponsor is not responsible for any variation in prize value between advertising materials and actual delivery.

16. Waiver of Consequential Damages

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, each Participant waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental, indirect, special, and consequential damages - including without limitation loss of profits, loss of data, or loss of business opportunity - arising out of or in connection with the Competition.

17. Modification and Cancellation

Sponsor reserves the right to modify, suspend, or cancel the Competition at any time, in its sole discretion, including without limitation in the event of fraud, technical failure, force majeure events (including government action, natural disaster, or public health emergency), or any other circumstance beyond Sponsor's reasonable control that prevents fair and proper administration of the Competition. In the event of modification or cancellation, Sponsor will provide notice on the Competition platform. Sponsor's liability in such circumstances is limited to the return of any entry fees paid (if any; noting no entry fee applies here).

18. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Rules are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict of laws principles. Any dispute arising from or relating to the Competition or these Rules will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in the Northern District of California and the state courts located in San Mateo County, California, and each Participant irrevocably consents to personal jurisdiction in such courts.

19. General Provisions

These Rules constitute the entire agreement between Participants and Sponsor with respect to the Competition and supersede all prior representations, understandings, or agreements.

Sponsor's failure to enforce any provision of these Rules does not constitute a waiver of that provision.

If any provision of these Rules is found to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

Sponsor's decisions regarding all aspects of the Competition - including eligibility determinations, score validation, disqualifications, and prize awards - are final and binding on all Participants.

20. Competition Contact

Questions about the Competition or these Rules: [email protected]