Privacy Policy

Last updated: 25 September 2026

SportsMatchMaker.com.au Pty Ltd ("we", "us", or "our") operates the website SportsMatchMaker.com.au (the "Service"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our Service. Please read this policy carefully. By registering for or using the Service, you consent to the practices described in this policy.

We are committed to complying with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained therein.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Account & Identity Information

When you register an account we collect:

First name and last name
Username and email address
Password (stored in hashed form — we never store your plain-text password)
Contact / mobile phone number
Date of birth and gender
State / territory and suburb of residence

1.2 Sports Profile Information

When you create one or more sporting profiles you may provide additional details including:

Sport(s) of interest and skill level
Availability and preferred location for play
Profile comments and any other information you voluntarily include

1.3 Physical & Lifestyle Information (Optional)

Certain optional fields allow you to provide height, weight, body type, and lifestyle preferences (e.g. whether you smoke or drink). Providing this information is entirely voluntary.

1.4 Communication Data

When you send or receive messages through our internal mailbox system, we store those messages in order to facilitate communication between members.

1.5 Favourites

We record which profiles you have saved as favourites so you can quickly access them in future sessions.

1.6 Location Data

We cache suburb and location information to improve search performance and to match you with players and clubs near you. We use the Google Maps / Geocoding API to resolve location data; please refer to Google's Privacy Policy for information on how Google handles this data.

1.7 Device & Usage Information

We may collect your mobile device ID and record whether you have enabled push notifications. We also collect standard server log information such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited for security and analytical purposes. We also use cookies, Google Analytics, and Google AdSense, which collect information about how you use the Service — see Sections 4, 5, and 6 below.

1.8 Photos

You may choose to upload a profile photo and additional photos to your photo album. These photos are stored with our cloud storage provider (Microsoft Azure) and are displayed on your profile. You can remove them at any time.

1.9 Signing In with Another Service

If you choose to register or sign in using an external account (such as Facebook, Google, or Microsoft), we receive the information you authorise that provider to share with us, such as your name and email address.

1.10 Profile Views

When a profile is viewed, we record that view (including which signed-in member viewed it) so we can show members statistics about views of their own profile.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

Create and manage your account and sports profiles
Enable other registered members to find and contact you based on shared sporting interests, location, and availability
Facilitate the internal messaging (mailbox) system between members
Send transactional emails such as account confirmation, password reset, and new-message notifications
Send optional email newsletters and platform updates (you may unsubscribe at any time)
Deliver push notifications to your mobile device (if you have enabled this feature)
Maintain and improve our database of sports clubs and facilities across Australia
Understand how the Service is used so we can improve it (see Section 5 — Google Analytics)
Display advertising, which helps keep the Service free (see Section 6 — Advertising)
Monitor and protect the security and integrity of the Service
Comply with our legal obligations

3. Disclosure of Your Information

3.1 Public Profile Visibility

Your sporting profiles — including your first name, sport, skill level, location, and availability — are visible to other registered members when they perform a search. You control the information included in your profile and may update or remove it at any time.

3.2 Service Providers

We may share data with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating the Service, including email delivery and photo storage (Microsoft Azure), location services (Google), website analytics (Google Analytics), and advertising (Google AdSense). If you sign in with Facebook, Google, or Microsoft, that provider also processes your sign-in. These providers use your data only for the purposes described in this policy and in their own privacy policies.

3.3 Overseas Disclosure

Some of these providers, including Google, may store or process information on servers located outside Australia, including in the United States.

3.4 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or government agency).

3.5 No Sale of Personal Data

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

4. Cookies & Similar Technologies

Cookies are small text files that a website stores in your browser. They let the site remember things between page visits — for example, that you are signed in. The Service uses the following types of cookies:

4.1 Essential Cookies

These are needed for the Service to work and cannot be switched off within the Service:

Sign-in cookies — keep you signed in to your account and support signing in with an external account (Facebook, Google, or Microsoft)
Security cookies — help protect forms on the Service against cross-site request forgery
Status message cookies — temporarily hold a short confirmation or error message (for example, after you update your account) and are deleted once the message is shown

4.2 Analytics Cookies

Google Analytics sets cookies (such as _ga and _ga_*) to distinguish visitors and measure how the Service is used. See Section 5.

4.3 Advertising Cookies

Google and its advertising partners may set cookies (such as __gads and __gpi, and cookies on Google's own domains) to serve, personalise, and measure ads and to limit how often you see the same ad. See Section 6.

4.4 Managing & Deleting Cookies

Most web browsers let you view, block, and delete cookies through their settings (usually under "Privacy" or "Cookies and site data"). You can delete cookies that have already been set and choose to block some or all cookies in future. If you block essential cookies, you will not be able to sign in or use some parts of the Service. You can also opt out of Google Analytics and personalised advertising as described in Sections 5 and 6.

5. Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, to understand how visitors use the Service so we can improve it. Google Analytics uses cookies and collects information such as:

The pages you visit, how long you stay, and how you arrived at the Service (e.g. from a search engine or link)
Your device type, operating system, browser, and screen size
Your approximate location (such as city or country), which Google derives from your IP address

Your IP address is processed by Google as part of providing this service. We do not send your name, email address, or other account details to Google Analytics. We use this information in aggregate to see how the Service is performing.

To learn how Google uses information from sites that use its services, see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. You can prevent your data from being used by Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

6. Advertising (Google AdSense)

We display ads on the Service using Google AdSense. Advertising helps us keep the Service free to use.

Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website and other websites.
Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this site and/or other sites on the internet.
You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings (also available via My Ad Center).
You can opt out of some third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalised advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info/choices or, if you are in the European Union, www.youronlinechoices.eu.

If you opt out of personalised advertising, you will still see ads, but they will be less relevant to you. For more information about how Google uses cookies in advertising, see How Google uses cookies in advertising.

7. Data Retention & Account Deletion

We retain your personal information for as long as your account remains active, or as long as necessary to provide you with the Service.

7.1 Deleting Your Account

You may delete your own account at any time from within your account settings. When you delete your account:

Your profile(s), sporting preferences, favourites, and associated personal data will be permanently removed from the Service.
Messages sent or received through the internal mailbox system will also be deleted.
Account deletion is irreversible — once deleted, your data cannot be recovered.

We will process the deletion promptly. We may retain certain information where required for legal, auditing, or fraud-prevention purposes, in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

8. Security

We implement industry-standard technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include hashed password storage, encrypted data transmission (HTTPS), and access controls. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, consistent with the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Children under 13 should not register for or use the Service.

Because the Service lets members find and contact one another, anyone under 18 should only use it with the permission and supervision of a parent or guardian.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us using the details in Section 12 and we will delete it.

10. Your Rights & Choices

You have the right to:

Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
Correction — request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete information
Deletion — delete your own account at any time via your account settings, or request that we delete your account and associated personal data on your behalf
Opt-out of marketing emails — unsubscribe via the link in any email or by updating your account settings
Disable push notifications — update the notification preference in your account settings or via your device settings
Manage cookies — block or delete cookies in your browser settings (see Section 4)
Opt out of analytics and personalised ads — use the Google Analytics opt-out add-on and Google Ads Settings (see Sections 5 and 6)

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 12 below.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information. Continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us:

Website: SportsMatchMaker.com.au — Contact Us
Email: privacy@sportsmatchmaker.com.au