Who we are
We’re Buddez – a community built for small business owners who want to grow without going it alone. Our website address is: https://www.buddez.com.
What personal data we collect and why
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site (like on blog posts or community threads), we collect the data shown in the comments form, along with the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection.
An anonymised string (hash) from your email address may be shared with the Gravatar service to display your profile picture. You can check out Gravatar’s privacy policy here: https://automattic.com/privacy.
Media
If you upload images to the site (like profile pics or content contributions), we recommend avoiding uploads that contain embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to the site may be able to download and extract this information.
Cookies
We use cookies to make your experience smoother. If you leave a comment, you may opt to save your name, email, and website in cookies for convenience. These last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we’ll set a temporary cookie to check if your browser accepts cookies – no personal info in there, and it disappears when you close your browser.
When you log in, we’ll set cookies to remember your login and display preferences. Login cookies last for two days; screen options cookies last for a year. Select “Remember Me” and your login will stick around for two weeks. Logging out clears those cookies.
If you edit or publish a post (like in a member forum), a cookie will be saved in your browser to note the post ID – it expires after one day.
Embedded content
Some pages may include content from other websites (like YouTube videos, Instagram posts, etc). Embedded content behaves exactly like it would if you visited that external site directly – which means those sites might collect data, use cookies, or track your activity, especially if you’re logged in to their platform.
Account and Subscription Info
If you sign up as a Buddez member, we collect your name, email, and billing details via our secure payment processor. We also keep a record of your subscription status, workshop bookings, tool access, and community activity (like posts, likes, and replies) to make the platform work as intended.
We don’t store your payment details ourselves – they’re handled securely by our payment partner (e.g., Stripe or PayPal).
Who we share your data with
We don’t sell or rent your personal info. If you request a password reset, your IP address may be included in the email. Some data (like email addresses) may also be shared with third-party services we use for email marketing or analytics – but only as needed, and only with trusted providers.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, it and its metadata are kept indefinitely so we can recognise and approve follow-up comments automatically.
For registered users, we store the personal information provided in your profile. You can view, update, or delete your personal info at any time – except your username. Admins can also see and edit this info to help manage the platform.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account or have left comments, you can request an exported file of your personal data. You can also ask us to delete it, except for anything we’re required to keep for legal, security, or administrative reasons.
To make a data request, contact us at [email protected].
Where your data is sent
Visitor comments may be checked via an automated spam detection service. Other services we use (like our payment processor or email platform) may store your data outside Australia in accordance with their own data handling policies.
For any questions about our privacy policy, please email [email protected].
