Privacy Policy

1. Who we are and the scope of this policy

LawnBowls.com operates a lawn bowls directory and community platform, including club, tournament and Social Bowls listings, member accounts, reviews, enquiries and the LawnBowls mobile app. This policy applies when you use those services or contact us.

For privacy enquiries, please use our Contact Us page.

2. Information we collect

• Account information: name, display name, email address, profile details, login and account-security records.
• Location information: device location when you grant permission, or a location you enter manually, so we can show nearby clubs and events. You can refuse device location and use manual search instead.
• Activity and preferences: clubs you save, follow or mark as played, preferred search distance, and interactions with listings.
• Notifications: when a signed-in user enables app notifications, we process an app-installation identifier, device platform, push-notification token and notification preferences so we can deliver and manage requested alerts.
• Content and communications: reviews, replies, club and event submissions, images, logos, flyers, claim information, enquiries, reports and support messages.
• Technical and usage information: page or screen, referring host, event type, associated listing, device class, browser and platform. Our native analytics uses one-way hashed network and short-lived session identifiers rather than retaining the raw IP address in the analytics event table. Web hosting, security and spam systems may separately process IP address and user-agent data.
• Transaction information: if paid products or services are offered, order and payment-related details needed to complete and record the transaction. Payment card details are handled by the relevant payment provider rather than stored in full by LawnBowls.com.

3. Why we use information

We use information to provide and personalise the directory and app; locate nearby clubs and activities; authenticate accounts; save preferences and relationships; publish and moderate community content; route club enquiries; verify club claims; respond to support, privacy and copyright requests; measure and improve the service; prevent abuse and fraud; and meet legal, safety, accounting and regulatory obligations.

4. Public content

Club listings, tournament and Social Bowls information, reviews, manager replies, profile names and submitted media may be visible publicly. Do not submit personal information or media that you do not want published. Images may contain embedded metadata; contributors should remove unnecessary location metadata before uploading.

5. Cookies, local storage and mobile permissions

The website uses cookies and similar storage for login, security, preferences, forms and site operation. The app may store a sign-in token and preferences on your device. Location and notification permissions are optional and can be changed in the app or your device settings. Disabling notifications stops the device from receiving followed-club alerts. Embedded services and linked websites may apply their own cookies and privacy practices.

6. Who receives information

Information may be handled by authorised LawnBowls.com administrators and by service providers that support hosting, content delivery, email, spam and security controls, maps or location functions, authentication, analytics, payments and app distribution. A club may receive the information you deliberately include in an enquiry to that club. We may also disclose information where required by law, to protect rights or safety, or during a business transfer.

Some providers may process information outside Australia. Where this occurs, we take reasonable steps appropriate to the service and information involved and rely on the provider's contractual, privacy and security safeguards.

7. Retention

We retain information only for as long as reasonably needed for the purposes described above, including legal, security, dispute and record-keeping needs. Native analytics event records are scheduled for deletion after 395 days. App authentication tokens expire after 30 days unless revoked earlier. Push-registration information is retained while needed to provide or manage requested notifications and may be deactivated when a user turns notifications off or the delivery provider reports that a token is no longer usable. Account and published-content records generally remain while the account or listing is active; a deletion request may result in deletion or anonymisation as described on our Account Deletion page. Hosting, backup, security, financial and legal records may follow different necessary retention periods.

8. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards, including access controls, encrypted connections, hashed authentication tokens and moderation controls. No online system can be guaranteed completely secure. Please contact us promptly if you believe your account or information has been compromised.

9. Access, correction and deletion

You may update available profile information in your account and request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information we hold about you. We may need to verify your identity and may retain information where legally required or reasonably necessary for security, fraud prevention or dispute handling. To start account deletion, use the Account Deletion page.

10. Children

The service is not directed to children under 13. A child should use the service only with the involvement and permission of a parent or guardian where required.

11. Complaints and changes

Send privacy questions or complaints through our Contact Us page. Please provide enough detail for us to investigate. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may be able to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. We may update this policy as the service changes; the effective date above identifies the current version.