Privacy Notice

MatesBoat Pty Ltd ("MatesBoat", "we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information in an open and transparent way. This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you use our website located at matesboat.com.au (the "Site") and the services we provide.

We comply with the Privacy Act 1988(Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles ("APPs") contained in that Act.

1. What Information We Collect

We may collect the following types of personal information:

• Identity and contact information: name, email address, phone number, and business name when you register, create a listing, or contact us.
• Profile information: username, password (stored in hashed form), and preferences associated with your account.
• Listing and review content: charter business details, descriptions, photos, pricing, and any reviews or ratings you submit.
• Transaction information: billing details, payment method type (not full card numbers), and subscription or purchase history when you upgrade to a paid plan.
• Usage and technical data: IP address, browser type, device identifiers, pages visited, time spent on the Site, and referring URLs collected automatically through cookies and similar technologies.
• Communications: enquiries, support requests, feedback, or correspondence you send to us.

Where practicable, you may interact with us anonymously or using a pseudonym. However, certain features (such as claiming a listing or submitting a review) require you to be identified.

2. How We Collect Your Information

We collect personal information:

• directly from you when you register, use the Site, or contact us;
• automatically through cookies, pixels, and similar tracking technologies when you browse the Site (see Section 6 — Cookies and Tracking Technologies);
• from third-party sources such as social login providers (e.g., Google) if you choose to authenticate via those services.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

• create and manage your account;
• publish and manage directory listings and reviews;
• process payments and manage billing for paid plans;
• respond to enquiries and provide customer support;
• send transactional emails (e.g., account verification, password reset);
• send marketing communications and our "Log Book" newsletter, where you have consented or where we have a legitimate interest to do so;
• analyse usage patterns and improve the Site, directory quality, and user experience;
• measure the performance of our advertising campaigns;
• comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.

4. Disclosure of Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may disclose it to:

• Service providers: third-party vendors who assist us in operating the Site (e.g., hosting, payment processing, email delivery, analytics), bound by confidentiality obligations;
• Other users: information you include in a public listing or review is visible to Site visitors;
• Legal and regulatory bodies: where required by law, court order, or to protect our rights and the rights of others;
• Business transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, subject to the acquiring party honouring this Notice.

5. Data Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. Our platform uses industry-standard security measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, and row-level security controls on our database. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

6. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

MatesBoat uses cookies and similar tracking technologies (such as pixels and local storage) to operate the Site, understand how you use it, and measure the effectiveness of our advertising.

We categorise cookies into three groups:

Essential

These cookies are strictly necessary for the Site to function and cannot be disabled. They include:

• Supabase — authentication and session management. Supabase sets access and refresh tokens that keep you logged in and secure your account. These are essential to any authenticated feature of the Site.
• Google reCAPTCHA — spam and bot protection. reCAPTCHA analyses interactions with forms to distinguish human users from automated bots, protecting the integrity of listings and reviews.
• MatesBoat consent cookies— store your cookie consent choice and preferences so we don't ask you again on every visit.
• Google Tag Manager — a tag management container that loads and manages third-party scripts on the Site. Google Tag Manager itself does not collect personal data; it is a container that controls when other scripts (such as GA4 and Meta Pixel) are activated. GTM loads on all pages but the tracking tags it manages only fire subject to your consent preferences.

Analytics

These cookies help us understand how visitors use MatesBoat so we can improve the experience. They are only set with your consent.

• Meta Pixel (Facebook)— when you consent to analytics cookies, the Meta Pixel tracks page views and interactions on the Site, including custom events such as listing form submissions. Where you submit a form on the Site, Meta's advanced matching feature may automatically detect and send hashed (non-reversible) versions of personal data you enter — such as your name, email address, and phone number — to Meta to improve the accuracy of ad attribution and audience matching. This data is processed by Meta Platforms Inc, based in the United States, under their Privacy Policy. You can manage your Meta ad preferences at facebook.com/adpreferences.

Personalisation

These cookies are used to tailor the Site experience to you. They are only set with your consent. We do not currently use any personalisation cookies, but this category is reserved for future features.

You can withdraw your consent for analytics and personalisation cookies at any time by using the "Cookie Preferences" link in the footer of any page. Withdrawing consent will not affect any data already collected prior to withdrawal. For full details on the specific cookies we use, their providers, and their expiry, see our Cookie Policy.

7. International Data Transfers

Some of the third-party services we use — including Meta Platforms Inc (Meta Pixel, advanced matching), Google LLC (Google Analytics 4, reCAPTCHA, Google Tag Manager) — process personal data on servers located outside Australia, including in the United States. While Australia does not have an adequacy arrangement with the United States equivalent to the European GDPR framework, MatesBoat takes reasonable steps to ensure that the third-party providers we engage maintain data protection standards consistent with the APPs. Where practicable, we rely on providers that participate in recognised compliance frameworks or publish clear data processing commitments in their privacy policies.

Our core platform infrastructure (Supabase) operates on servers in Australia or regions we have selected to minimise international transfers of sensitive account data.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide our services. If you close your account, we will delete or de-identify your personal information within a reasonable period, unless we are required to retain it by law (for example, financial records required for taxation purposes). Public reviews may be retained in de-identified form to preserve the integrity of the directory.

9. Your Rights and Choices

Under the APPs, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you;
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information;
• Complain about a breach of the APPs by contacting us (see Section 11) or lodging a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 11. We will respond within 30 days.

10. Policy Updates

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or the services we provide. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you by email or via a prominent notice on the Site. We encourage you to review this Notice periodically. Your continued use of the Site after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated Notice.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Notice or our handling of your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer:

• MatesBoat Pty Ltd
• Email: info@matesboat.com.au
• Website: matesboat.com.au

If you are not satisfied with our response to a privacy complaint, you may contact the OAIC at www.oaic.gov.au or call 1300 363 992.