Privacy Policy

1. What We Collect

Matchcast collects only what is necessary to provide and improve the service. When you create an account, we collect:

• Email address -- used for account identification and service communications. If you subscribe to the match-day newsletter, the same email is used only for sending those emails -- we do not sell, share, or use it for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
• Password -- hashed using bcrypt with 12 rounds. We never store or have access to your plaintext password.
• Country -- your selected country, used to show relevant broadcast information.
• Sport preferences -- which sports you follow and your preferred ordering.
• Starred matches -- matches you bookmark for quick access.
• Community verifications -- broadcast data corrections or confirmations you submit.
• Analytics events -- anonymous usage data such as page views, search queries, and feature interactions.

2. Country Detection

On your first visit, we detect your approximate country using request headers or your IP address to display relevant broadcaster information. We do not store your IP address. You can change your country at any time using the country selector, and that preference is stored locally on your device.

3. Cookies and Local Storage

We use a minimal set of cookies and browser storage:

• Session cookie (NextAuth) -- maintains your logged-in session. Essential for account functionality. Expires when your session ends or after 30 days.
• localStorage -- stores your country preference, sport ordering, and UI settings. This data never leaves your device.

We do not use tracking cookies for our own analytics. However, third-party services described below may set their own cookies.

4. Third-Party Services

Matchcast integrates with the following third-party services:

• Google OAuth -- if you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email, and profile picture from Google. We do not receive or store your Google password. Google's privacy policy governs their handling of your data.
• Google Analytics 4 -- we use GA4 to measure aggregate usage and improve the service. GA4 may set cookies to count unique sessions. Personally identifying data is not collected via GA4 in our configuration. EU/UK/CH visitors are served denied consent defaults until they grant analytics consent.
• Advertising -- Matchcast currently displays first-party (house) advertising only. No third-party advertising network or ad exchange is active on the site, and none currently sets advertising cookies or collects data for ad targeting. If we add a third-party advertising partner in the future, that partner and its data practices will be disclosed in Section 6 below before it goes live.
• Affiliate networks (incidental) -- some broadcaster Watch buttons pass through affiliate tracking links before redirecting. These are incidental to our display advertising revenue model, FTC-disclosed at point of click, and do not influence which broadcasters we display or in what order. See Section 5.
• Web Push Notifications -- if you opt in, we store a browser-provided push subscription identifier (a per-device endpoint URL plus two cryptographic keys) and may send you notifications about matches starting soon. We do not send marketing pushes. The subscription identifier does not contain your email address, name, or any other personally identifying information. You can revoke at any time in your browser's site settings.

5. Affiliate Links (Incidental)

Display advertising is Matchcast's primary revenue model (see Section 6). In addition, some “Watch” buttons may pass through affiliate tracking links before redirecting to the broadcaster. When you click such a link, the affiliate network may set a cookie on your device to track whether you sign up for or purchase a service. This cookie is set by the affiliate network, not by Matchcast, and is subject to that network's privacy policy. Affiliate relationships do not influence which broadcasters we display or in what order. Any sponsored placement, were it to appear, would be explicitly marked “Sponsored.”

6. Advertising

Matchcast displays sports-relevant advertising to support the free service. At present these are first-party (house) ads served directly by Matchcast. No third-party advertising network or ad exchange currently serves ads on the site, and no third-party advertising cookies are set for ad targeting. We do not provide personally identifiable information to any ad network.

Third-party advertising partners

We are not currently working with any third-party advertising partner. If we add one in the future, we will name that partner here and disclose its data practices -- including any use of cookies or similar technologies and the relevant opt-out options -- in this section before it begins serving ads on Matchcast. We restrict ad categories to sports-relevant content (broadcasters, sports news, and -- where legally permitted -- licensed sports betting).

Managing ad preferences

Because Matchcast does not currently run a third-party advertising network, there are no third-party advertising cookies to manage on this site today. Should that change, you will be able to manage ad preferences through your browser settings, through the opt-out mechanisms of any advertising partner we disclose above, through the EU/UK consent banner where applicable, and through the industry-wide opt-out tools at optout.networkadvertising.org and youradchoices.com.

As Matchcast adds advertising partners (for example a third-party ad network such as Mediavine or Raptive in future), they will be disclosed in this section before activation.

Sister-product promotion

matchcast.tv occasionally displays in-product promotion for gpunt.ai, a sister analytics product from gfund.ai. When you click a gpunt.ai promotional unit, the destination URL carries UTM parameters (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content, utm_term) that allow gpunt.ai to attribute your visit to its source. No personal data is shared between matchcast.tv and gpunt.ai. No cross-product tracking pixels are deployed. UTM parameters are visible in the destination URL and contain no identifying information about you.

7. What We Do Not Do

Let us be direct about this:

• We do not sell your personal data. Not now. Not ever.
• We do not share personally identifiable information with third parties for their marketing purposes.
• We do not create advertising profiles from your usage data.
• We do not use your email for marketing without your explicit consent.

8. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored in PostgreSQL databases hosted on Google Cloud Platform (Sydney region). Passwords are hashed using bcrypt. All connections use HTTPS. Redis is used as a cache layer for performance and does not store personal data persistently. We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data, but no system is completely secure. If we become aware of a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and relevant authorities as required by law.

9. Data Retention

Account data is retained for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law. Anonymous analytics data is retained for 12 months and then deleted. Community contributions (broadcast verifications and corrections) may be retained after account deletion as they form part of the public broadcast database.

10. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you have specific rights regarding your personal data:

• European Union (GDPR) -- right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing, data portability, and object to processing of your personal data.
• Australia (Privacy Act 1988) -- right to access and correct your personal information held by us, and to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
• United States (CCPA / CPRA) -- right to know what personal information we collect, to request deletion, and to opt out of the sale of personal information. We do not sell personal information.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. You can also view, edit, or delete your account data directly from your profile page.

11. Children

Matchcast is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information promptly. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal data, please contact us at [email protected].

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Your continued use of Matchcast after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact

For privacy questions, data requests, or concerns, contact us at [email protected].