Privacy Policy

MatchDay ("we", "us", or "our") is a football-focused social platform. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information when you use our website and services. By using MatchDay, you agree to the practices described here.

1. Information We Collect

Account information: When you register, we collect your username, email address, and password (stored as a secure hash). You may optionally provide a bio, profile photo, and favorite club.

Content you create: Posts, replies, match ratings, match reviews, match moment commentary, and any media (images, videos) you upload.

Usage data: We log standard server request data including IP addresses, browser type, pages visited, and timestamps. This is used for security, debugging, and service improvement.

Cookies: We use session cookies to keep you logged in. We do not use third-party advertising cookies.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To provide, operate, and improve the MatchDay platform
• To authenticate your account and keep it secure
• To send transactional emails (email verification, password resets)
• To display your public profile, posts, and activity to other users
• To monitor for abuse, spam, and violations of our Terms of Service

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We do not use your data for advertising profiling.

3. What Is Public

Your username, role, bio, profile photo, posts, replies, match ratings, and match reviews are public by default and can be seen by anyone, including non-registered visitors. Your email address is never shown publicly.

4. Data Retention

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, your profile and posts are permanently deleted within 30 days. Some anonymised usage logs may be retained for longer for security purposes.

5. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate the platform:

• Sportmonks — football data API (match, player, league data)
• Resend — transactional email delivery
• Railway / cloud infrastructure — hosting and database

These services may process your data as necessary to provide their functions. We do not share more data than necessary.

6. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate data via your account settings
• Delete your account and associated data (available in Account Settings)
• Object to or restrict certain processing of your data

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at dev.matchday@gmail.com.

7. Security

We use industry-standard security practices including HTTPS, hashed passwords, and access controls. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Children

MatchDay is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will notify registered users of material changes via email or a notice on the platform. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

10. Contact

Questions about this policy? dev.matchday@gmail.com