Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

The operator of ReturnMate is ReturnMate (ABN 21 684 101 139). You can reach us about privacy at support@returnmate.au or 0400 000 000. We are an APP entity under the Privacy Act.

2. The personal information we collect

We collect only what we reasonably need to run the service:

• Homeowners: your name, phone number and/or email address, the properties you save (address, suburb, dwelling type and an optional photo) and the jobs and tradies associated with them.
• Tradies: your name, business name, ABN, licence number, contact details, logo and banner images, trade categories and service-area postcodes.
• Customers of tradies: when a tradie records a job, they may enter their customer's name, phone, email and the property address so we can send that customer an invite (see section 4).
• Job content & photos: job descriptions, materials, prices and before/during/after photos. Photos are stripped of embedded location (EXIF/GPS) metadata before they are stored.
• Messaging & consent records: a log of the messages we send on your behalf and a record of the consents you give, including the date, source, IP address and a hash of the wording you agreed to.
• Device & technical information: if you use the mobile app, a push-notification token and device/OS details; and standard technical data such as IP address for security and the session cookie that keeps you signed in.

We do not seek to collect “sensitive information” (such as health, racial or biometric information). Please do not include sensitive information in free-text notes or photos.

3. Why we collect and use it

We use personal information to:

• set up and run your account and the properties, tradies and jobs you save;
• send the reminders and messages you have opted into, and account/transactional messages;
• generate QR invites and the public job-share pages;
• operate tradie billing; and
• run the discovery showcase where you have opted in (see section 8).

We only use your information for the purpose we collected it for, a directly related purpose you would reasonably expect, or where you have consented or the law requires it.

4. When a tradie enters your details

ReturnMate lets a tradie record a job and the customer it was for. That means a tradie may enter your name and contact details before you have a ReturnMate account. When that happens we contact you once with an invite that clearly identifies the tradie, and we ask you to choose which (if any) reminders or messages you want to receive. You are never automatically signed up to marketing — every commercial message needs your consent, and you can decline the invite or ask us to remove your details at any time by emailing support@returnmate.au.

5. Reminders and direct marketing

Service reminders and promotional messages are consent-led and comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). Every commercial message identifies the sending business, includes our ABN, and offers a one-click unsubscribe (email) or “Reply STOP” (SMS). We keep a suppression list and check it before every commercial send, so an opt-out is honoured immediately and across the platform. Account and transactional messages (for example, a verification code or a billing receipt) are not marketing and are sent without separate consent, but still respect the suppression list.

6. Who we share it with

We share personal information only as needed to run ReturnMate, with the homeowner or tradie you are connected to, and with the service providers below who process data on our behalf under contract. We do not sell your personal information, and we never resell a tradie's customers to other tradies.

• Resend — sending email.
• ClickSend / MobileMessage — sending SMS.
• Cloudflare R2 — storing photos and files.
• Stripe — tradie subscription billing and payments.
• Google (Firebase Cloud Messaging) and Apple (APNs) — delivering mobile push notifications.
• Google Maps Platform (Places) — address autocomplete. When you use the address search, the text you type is sent to Google to suggest matching addresses. This feature is optional; you can always type the address manually.

We may also disclose personal information where required or authorised by law (for example, to a regulator or in response to a lawful request).

7. Overseas disclosure (APP 8)

Some of our service providers store or process data outside Australia. In particular, Stripe, Resend, Google (Firebase/Maps) and Cloudflare are likely to handle data in the United States and other countries via global infrastructure. Our SMS provider ClickSend is Australian-based. Before disclosing your information overseas we take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled consistently with the APPs.

8. The public discovery showcase

Your saved jobs are private by default. A completed job only appears in our public discovery showcase (on our homepage and in homeowners' dashboards) when all of the following are true: the tradie is verified and has marked the job public; you have approved that specific job; and you (the homeowner) have switched showcase sharing on. The showcase never shows your name or street address — suburb only. You can turn showcase sharing off at any time from Your account, and your jobs will stop appearing.

9. How we keep it safe

We protect personal information with technical and organisational measures appropriate to the risk, including encryption of stored secrets, hashing of passwords, access controls, stripping of location metadata from photos, and an audit log of changes. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information and to destroy or de-identify it when it is no longer needed.

10. How long we keep it

We keep your account information for as long as your account is active. Some records are kept longer where we are required to or have a legitimate need: message and consent logs are retained as a compliance record; push-notification tokens are removed after a long period of inactivity; and one-time codes expire within minutes. When you delete your account (section 11) we permanently remove your data after a 30-day window, except for records we must retain — for example, platform-wide suppression entries (so an opt-out or block cannot be bypassed by re-registering) and a tradie's own job and tax records on their side of a shared job.

11. Access, correction and deletion

You can ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, or delete your account, from Your account inside the app (APP 12 access; APP 11.2 destruction). You can correct much of your information yourself — your phone number, properties, tradie profile and reminder preferences are all editable in the app (APP 13). Account deletion takes effect immediately and permanently removes your data after a 30-day cooling-off period during which you can change your mind. If you need help, email support@returnmate.au.

12. Cookies and analytics

We use a single sign-in cookie to keep you logged in. We do not use third-party advertising or analytics trackers. Anonymous view counts on public job-share pages use a one-way hash of the visitor's IP address so we cannot identify individuals from them.

13. Children

ReturnMate is intended for people aged 18 and over and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will post the new version here and update the “last updated” date above, and we will take reasonable steps to notify you of material changes.

15. Complaints and contact

If you have a question or want to make a privacy complaint, email us at support@returnmate.au or call 0400 000 000. We will acknowledge your complaint and respond within a reasonable time. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) on 1300 363 992 or at oaic.gov.au.