Privacy Policy

This policy explains what personal data matched.ie collects, why, who we share it with, and the rights you have over it. We’ve written it to be read, not to hide behind. It’s governed by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.

Who we are

matched.ie is operated by SproutMedia Limited (registered in Ireland, company number 525040), of 26 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin, D02 X361, Ireland. For the purposes of data-protection law, we are the data controller for the personal data described here.

You can reach us about anything in this policy — including to exercise your rights — through our contact page.

What we collect — and when

We only hold data in a handful of situations. Here is the full list.

• If you subscribe to our newsletter: your first name and email address, so we can send you the monthly email. That’s it — you give this to us willingly, and you can leave at any time.
• If you contact us: your name, email address and whatever you choose to put in your message, so we can reply and deal with your query.
• When you simply browse: like almost every website, our host records standard technical server logs — your IP address, browser type and the pages requested — to keep the site secure and running. We don’t use these to identify you.

Why we use it — and our legal basis

Under GDPR we have to have a lawful basis for using your data. Ours are simple:

• Newsletter — your consent. We only email you because you asked us to, and you can withdraw that consent in one click at any time.
• Replying to you — legitimate interests, or taking steps at your request. If you write to us, we use your details to write back.
• Security and running the site — legitimate interests. Keeping the site up, safe and free from abuse is a legitimate interest that server logs support.

Who we share it with

We don’t sell your data and we don’t share it for anyone else’s marketing. We do rely on a few trusted service providers who process data strictly on our instructions:

• Netlify — our hosting provider, which serves the site and keeps the technical server logs described above.
• Google Fonts — the site’s typefaces are served from Google’s font network, so your browser’s IP address is shared with Google purely to deliver the fonts. No cookies are set for this.
• An email delivery provider — if you subscribe, a specialist email platform stores your subscription and sends the newsletter on our behalf, under a data-processing agreement. You can ask us who this is at any time.

We may also disclose data if the law genuinely requires it — for example, in response to a valid court order.

Cookies & tracking

matched.ie sets no first-party tracking cookies and runs no analytics. The only cookies you might encounter come from a provider’s own website after you click one of our outbound affiliate links — and those are governed by that company’s policy, not ours. There’s the full picture in our cookie policy.

How long we keep it

• Newsletter data — until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove you, after which we delete it.
• Contact messages — for as long as needed to resolve your query and a reasonable period after, then we clear them out.
• Server logs — kept only for a short period by our host for security and troubleshooting, then rotated out.

Where your data goes

Some of our providers (such as Netlify and Google) are based in the United States, so limited data may be processed outside the European Economic Area. Where that happens, the transfer is covered by appropriate safeguards — such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses or an equivalent adequacy mechanism — so your data keeps its GDPR-level protection.

Your rights

Under GDPR you have the right to:

• Access — get a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification — have inaccurate data corrected.
• Erasure — have your data deleted (“the right to be forgotten”).
• Restriction & objection — limit or object to how we use it.
• Portability — receive your data in a portable format.
• Withdraw consent — at any time, for example by unsubscribing.

To exercise any of these, just contact us. We’ll respond within one month, free of charge for a normal request. You also have the right to complain to the Data Protection Commission, Ireland’s supervisory authority, at dataprotection.ie — though we’d appreciate the chance to sort things out first.

Children

matched.ie is a comparison site for adult consumers and isn’t directed at children. We don’t knowingly collect data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has sent us personal data, contact us and we’ll delete it.

Changes & contact

If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top and, for significant changes, flag it clearly. Any question, request or correction is welcome through our contact page.