Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how VanGolf collects, uses, stores, discloses and protects personal information when you use the VanGolf mobile application, VanGolf websites and related services.

VanGolf is operated by VanGolf Pty Ltd, trading as VanGolf, in Australia.

For privacy questions, requests or complaints, contact us at info@vangolf.app.

1. Information we collect

The information we collect depends on how you use VanGolf and which features you choose to use.

Account information

When you create or use a VanGolf account, we may collect:

• your email address;
• your display name or username;
• account and authentication identifiers;
• profile information you choose to provide; and
• information provided by a supported sign-in provider, such as Google Sign-In.

If you sign in using a third-party authentication provider, VanGolf does not receive your password for that service.

Location information

If you grant location permission, VanGolf may access your precise or approximate location for features such as:

• showing your current position on a map;
• locating nearby golf courses, stays and other places;
• planning trips and routes;
• calculating travel distances and times;
• recording or verifying visits to locations; and
• detecting arrival at or departure from locations where a feature you are using requires this.

Location access depends on the permissions you provide through your device.

If a VanGolf feature requires location access while the app is not actively on screen, we will provide any additional disclosure and request any permission required before using that feature.

You can change location permissions at any time through your device settings, although some VanGolf features may then be unavailable.

Trip, golf and Passport information

We may store information you choose to save in VanGolf, including:

• planned or completed trips;
• routes and stops;
• favourite places;
• golf courses visited;
• Passport records or stamps;
• scores and scorecards;
• notes and tips;
• challenges and activity records;
• discounts or savings recorded in the app;
• trip preferences; and
• photos you choose to save or upload.

Community and user-generated content

If you use VanGolf Community or another interactive feature, we may collect:

• posts and replies;
• your username and public profile information;
• photos or other content you upload;
• reports you make about users or content;
• moderation records; and
• information relating to users or content you block.

Content you publish publicly may be visible to other VanGolf users.

You should not publish personal, confidential or sensitive information that you do not want other users to see.

Place contributions

If you contribute information about a golf course, accommodation location or other place, we may collect:

• photos;
• corrections or edits;
• reviews, notes or tips;
• verification information; and
• other information you choose to contribute.

Purchases and subscriptions

If VanGolf offers subscriptions, purchases or other paid features through Google Play or Apple’s App Store, we may receive information required to verify and manage your purchase, such as:

• the product or subscription purchased;
• subscription status;
• expiry or renewal information;
• transaction or purchase identifiers; and
• information required to restore purchases or determine your VanGolf entitlements.

Payments are processed by the relevant app store or payment provider.

VanGolf does not receive your full credit or debit card details from Google or Apple.

Device, technical and diagnostic information

When you use VanGolf or our websites, we may collect limited technical information required to operate, secure and troubleshoot our services, including:

• device type;
• operating system;
• app version;
• IP address;
• browser type;
• request and security logs;
• crash, error or diagnostic information; and
• information you provide when contacting support or submitting feedback.

VanGolf does not require microphone access and does not use the microphone to record audio.

Website and waitlist information

If you use a VanGolf website, join our waitlist or submit a form, we may collect:

• your name;
• email address;
• preferred app store;
• information you enter into the form; and
• limited technical and security information associated with your website visit.

2. How we collect information

We may collect information:

• directly from you when you create an account, enter information, upload content, complete a form or contact us;
• automatically as part of operating and securing the app or website;
• from your device when you grant a permission such as location or photo access;
• from authentication providers when you choose to use a third-party sign-in service; and
• from Google Play or Apple in connection with purchases and subscriptions.

We aim to collect only information reasonably required to provide, secure and improve VanGolf and its features.

3. How we use information

We may use information to:

• provide and operate VanGolf;
• create, authenticate and secure accounts;
• provide maps, routing and trip-planning features;
• provide location-based features you choose to use;
• save and synchronise trips, Passport information and other account data;
• personalise trip and course suggestions based on information you provide;
• provide Community features;
• display information that you intentionally make public;
• review place contributions;
• verify and manage subscriptions and purchases;
• respond to support requests and feedback;
• investigate reports and moderate users or content;
• detect, prevent and investigate fraud, abuse or misuse;
• maintain the security, integrity and reliability of VanGolf;
• communicate with you about VanGolf and your account;
• comply with applicable legal obligations; and
• understand and improve our services.

We may use aggregated or de-identified information for analytics, product development and service improvement where that information no longer reasonably identifies an individual.

We do not sell personal information.

4. Automated recommendations

Some VanGolf features may automatically generate recommendations or suggestions using information such as your selected route, travel preferences, location or golf preferences.

For example, VanGolf may automatically suggest golf courses, stops or itinerary options that may suit a planned trip.

These are recommendations only. VanGolf does not use these systems to make decisions about legal rights, employment, credit, insurance, government benefits or access to essential services.

5. Device permissions and your consent

VanGolf may request access to device features such as location or photos where this is required for a feature you choose to use.

We only request device permissions relevant to VanGolf functionality.

Where we rely on your permission or consent for a particular activity, you can withdraw it for future use.

Depending on the feature, you can do this by:

• changing permissions in your device settings;
• turning off the relevant VanGolf feature;
• changing your account preferences;
• unsubscribing from marketing communications;
• deleting content you have provided; or
• requesting deletion of your account.

Withdrawing permission may prevent some features from operating.

6. Public information and Community

Information you intentionally publish through Community or another public VanGolf feature may be visible to other users.

Depending on the feature, this may include your:

• username;
• profile information;
• posts and replies;
• photos; and
• place contributions.

Your account email address is not made public merely because you participate in Community.

Public content is subject to the VanGolf Terms of Use and Community Guidelines.

Users may be able to report content or other users that breach those rules.

7. Communications and marketing

We may send you service-related communications where reasonably necessary to operate VanGolf, such as:

• account or security messages;
• password or sign-in communications;
• changes affecting your account or subscription;
• responses to support requests; and
• important service or legal notices.

If you join the VanGolf waitlist, subscribe to updates or otherwise agree to receive promotional communications, we may also send information about VanGolf launches, features, promotions or offers.

You may unsubscribe from promotional emails using the unsubscribe option provided in those messages or by contacting us.

Unsubscribing from marketing does not prevent us from sending necessary service or account communications.

We do not sell or provide our mailing lists to third parties for their own independent marketing.

8. Service providers

We use third-party providers to operate VanGolf.

Depending on the services enabled at the relevant time, these may include:

• Google Firebase, including services such as Authentication, Cloud Firestore and Cloud Storage, for account, application and user-content data;
• Google Sign-In, where you choose to sign in using your Google account;
• Google Maps Platform, including mapping, Places and routing services;
• Cloudflare, for website delivery, availability, performance and security;
• Formspree, where used to process website forms;
• Google Play, for Android application distribution, purchases and subscriptions; and
• Apple, for App Store distribution, purchases and subscriptions.

These providers process information as necessary to provide their services to VanGolf and may also process certain information under their own applicable terms and privacy policies.

We periodically review the third-party services used by VanGolf and will update this Privacy Policy if our handling of personal information materially changes.

9. When we disclose information

We may disclose personal information:

• to service providers that assist us in operating VanGolf;
• to other users when you intentionally publish or share information;
• where reasonably necessary to investigate fraud, abuse, security incidents or breaches of our Terms of Use;
• where required or authorised by law;
• where reasonably necessary to protect the safety, security or rights of VanGolf, our users or others; or
• as part of a sale, merger, restructure or transfer of all or part of the VanGolf business, subject to appropriate protections.

We do not sell personal information to advertisers or data brokers.

10. Overseas processing and disclosure

VanGolf stores its primary application data using Google Firebase infrastructure located in Australia.

However, some third-party service providers used by VanGolf operate internationally. As a result, some personal information may be disclosed to or processed outside Australia.

In particular:

• website form information processed through Formspree may be processed in the United States; and
• Cloudflare operates a global network, and website traffic, security information and related technical data may be processed through infrastructure outside Australia.

Other Google services used by VanGolf, such as Google Maps Platform and Google Sign-In, may also process information using Google’s international infrastructure.

Because some global service providers operate across numerous countries and processing locations may change, it may not always be practicable to identify every country in which information may be processed.

Where Australian privacy law applies, VanGolf takes reasonable steps required in the circumstances in relation to overseas disclosures of personal information.

11. Data retention

We do not intend to retain identifiable personal information for longer than reasonably necessary.

Account information and information associated with an active VanGolf account will generally be retained while the account remains active or while required to provide VanGolf.

The retention period for particular information may depend on:

• whether your account remains active;
• the type of information;
• whether you have asked us to delete it;
• security and fraud-prevention requirements;
• dispute or complaint handling;
• applicable legal obligations; and
• backup and disaster-recovery processes.

When personal information is no longer reasonably required, we will delete it or de-identify it where reasonably practicable and required by applicable law.

Deleted information may remain temporarily in secure backups until those backups are replaced or expire through normal backup processes.

Limited information may be retained where reasonably necessary for:

• legal or accounting obligations;
• fraud or abuse prevention;
• investigation of security incidents;
• enforcement of our Terms of Use; or
• establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.

Information retained for these purposes will not be used for unrelated purposes.

12. Deleting your VanGolf account

You can request permanent deletion of your VanGolf account.

You can initiate account deletion:

• from the account settings within the VanGolf app; or
• through the Delete Account page on the VanGolf website.

We may need to verify that you control the account before completing the request.

When an account is deleted, we will delete or de-identify personal information associated with it unless particular information must reasonably be retained for one of the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

This will generally include:

• your VanGolf account and profile;
• saved trips and routes;
• favourites;
• Passport information;
• scores and private notes;
• private photos or other account content;
• Community account information;
• Community posts, replies and associated media where they remain linked to you; and
• other account-specific personal information.

Factual place information or corrections that remain useful independently of your account may be retained only where they can be appropriately de-identified or otherwise retained lawfully.

Deleting your VanGolf account does not necessarily cancel an active Google Play or Apple App Store subscription. Subscriptions should also be cancelled through the store through which they were purchased.

More information is available on our Delete Account page.

13. Access and correction

You may ask us for access to personal information we hold about you or ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date.

Some information can also be viewed or updated directly within VanGolf.

To make a request, contact info@vangolf.app.

We may need to verify your identity before providing access to or changing account information.

Where Australian privacy law gives you particular access or correction rights, we will handle requests in accordance with those requirements.

14. Security and data breaches

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards designed to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

These measures may include:

• authentication and access controls;
• encrypted communications;
• restrictions on administrative access;
• security controls provided by our infrastructure providers; and
• monitoring and investigation of suspected abuse or security incidents.

No internet-connected service or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

If a data breach occurs, we will investigate it and take appropriate steps to contain and address it.

Where required by applicable law, we will notify affected individuals and the relevant regulator of an eligible data breach.

15. Privacy complaints

If you believe VanGolf has mishandled your personal information, contact us at info@vangolf.app.

Please provide enough information for us to understand and investigate your concern.

We will investigate privacy complaints and aim to respond within a reasonable period.

If you are not satisfied with our response and the Australian Privacy Act applies to the matter, you may be entitled to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

16. Children

VanGolf is intended for people aged 18 years and over.

VanGolf is not directed at children and users must be at least 18 years old to create a VanGolf account.

We do not knowingly permit children under 18 to maintain VanGolf accounts.

If we become aware that an account belongs to a person under 18, we may suspend or delete the account and take reasonable steps to delete associated personal information.

If you believe someone under 18 has created a VanGolf account or provided personal information to VanGolf, contact info@vangolf.app.

17. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as VanGolf, our technology or applicable legal requirements change.

When we make changes, we will update the Last updated date at the top of this page.

If a change materially affects how we handle personal information, we will provide additional notice where appropriate.

Where consent is required for a new use of personal information, we will seek that consent rather than relying solely on an update to this Privacy Policy.

18. Contact us

For privacy questions, access or correction requests, complaints or questions about account deletion, contact:

VanGolf
Operated by: VanGolf Pty Ltd
Australia
Email: info@vangolf.app