1. Who we are
Bargain Bites is a community-powered website for finding and sharing lunch specials in Sydney, Australia. In this policy, “Bargain Bites”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to the operator of bargainbites.com.au.
Privacy questions and requests can be sent to hello@bargainbites.com.au.
2. Information we collect
Depending on how you use Bargain Bites, we may collect:
- Account information: your username, email address, account identifier and authentication information.
- Community contributions: deals you submit, confirmations you make, points earned and the dates and times of those actions.
- Communications: information you include when contacting us, reporting a listing or making a privacy request.
- Technical information: IP address, browser and device information, timestamps, request logs, security events and information stored by essential authentication technology.
Please do not submit sensitive personal information or personal information about another person in a deal listing.
3. How we collect information
We collect information directly from you when you sign in, submit or confirm a deal, or contact us. Technical information may be collected automatically when you use the site. Our service providers may also provide us with account, hosting, security and diagnostic information needed to operate Bargain Bites.
4. Why we use information
We use information to:
- create and secure accounts and send requested account confirmation or password reset messages;
- publish and manage community-submitted deals;
- record confirmations, calculate points and operate the leaderboard;
- respond to questions, reports, access or correction requests and complaints;
- detect spam, fraud, misuse and security incidents;
- maintain, troubleshoot and improve the service; and
- comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Use.
5. What is public
Deal listings are public. Your username and points may appear on the public leaderboard. Your email address and internal account identifier are not intended to be displayed publicly. Do not use your full legal name as your username if you do not want it shown publicly.
6. Service providers and disclosure
We use service providers to run Bargain Bites, including Supabase for authentication and database services and Vercel for website hosting and delivery. We disclose information to these providers only as reasonably needed for them to provide their services. We may also disclose information:
- when required or authorised by law;
- to investigate fraud, abuse, security threats or harm;
- in connection with a business restructure or transfer, subject to appropriate safeguards; or
- with your consent.
When you choose a location link, you leave Bargain Bites and use Google Maps under Google’s own terms and privacy practices.
7. Overseas processing
Our technology providers operate global infrastructure. As a result, personal information may be stored in or accessible from countries outside Australia. The locations can vary depending on provider infrastructure and configuration. Contact us if you would like current information about likely overseas locations relevant to your information.
8. Storage, security and retention
We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. No online service can guarantee absolute security.
We retain account information while your account is active and for as long as reasonably needed to operate the service, resolve disputes, prevent abuse and comply with legal obligations. Public deal information may remain after an account is deleted, but it will no longer be associated with the deleted account. We delete or de-identify personal information when it is no longer reasonably required, unless we must retain it.
9. Essential storage and analytics
Bargain Bites uses essential browser storage or similar technology to keep you signed in and protect account sessions. We do not currently use advertising cookies or sell personal information. If we introduce non-essential analytics or advertising technology, we will update this policy and provide any choices required by applicable law.
10. Access, correction and deletion
You may ask to access or correct personal information we hold about you, or request deletion of your account, by emailing hello@bargainbites.com.au. We may need to verify your identity. In some circumstances, the law may permit or require us to refuse part of a request; if so, we will explain why where reasonably possible.
11. Marketing messages
Sign-in and essential service emails are used to provide the service you request. We will not send commercial marketing messages without the consent required by law. Any commercial message we send will identify us and include a functional way to unsubscribe.
12. Children
People may browse public deals without an account. Accounts and community contribution features are not intended for children under 16. If you believe a child has provided personal information without appropriate permission, contact us so we can investigate.
13. Complaints and policy changes
If you have a privacy concern, email us with enough detail for us to investigate. We will acknowledge and respond within a reasonable time. If the Australian Privacy Act applies to our handling of your information and you are dissatisfied with our response, you may be able to complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.
We may update this policy when our practices or legal obligations change. The effective date at the top shows when it was last materially updated.