Privacy Policy

Buddy Collective Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 26 May 2026

Buddy Collective (“we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information when you visit buddycollective.com.au or make a purchase from us.

By using our website or placing an order, you consent to the practices described in this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use our website.

This policy complies with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and applicable Australian spam and electronic marketing laws.

1. Information We Collect

Information You Provide to Us

When you place an order, create an account, contact us, or sign up to our mailing list or SMS updates, we may collect:

  • Full name
  • Email address
  • Delivery address
  • Phone number
  • Payment information (processed securely via Shopify Payments — we do not store your full card details)
  • Communications you send us (e.g. enquiries, feedback)

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we automatically collect certain information about your device and browsing behaviour, including:

  • IP address and approximate location
  • Browser type and version
  • Pages viewed and time spent on the site
  • Referring website or search term
  • Device type (desktop, mobile, tablet)

This information is collected via cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 6).

Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from third-party platforms such as Meta (Facebook/Instagram) or Google if you interact with our ads or connect via social login.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

  • Process and fulfil your orders
  • Send order confirmations, shipping updates, and receipts
  • Respond to your enquiries and provide customer support
  • Send marketing emails, SMS/text messages, promotions, and Buddy Crew updates (only with your consent — you can unsubscribe at any time)
  • Improve our website, products, and customer experience
  • Prevent fraud and ensure the security of our platform
  • Comply with our legal obligations

We will not use your personal information for any purpose that is incompatible with the reason it was collected without first obtaining your consent.

3. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your information with trusted third parties only where necessary to operate our business:

  • Shopify — our e-commerce platform, which hosts our store and processes payments
  • Australia Post and courier partners — to deliver your orders
  • Email and SMS marketing platforms (such as Klaviyo or Mailchimp) — to send newsletters, promotions, and SMS communications
  • Meta and Google — for advertising and analytics (via pixels and tags, subject to their own privacy policies)
  • Legal or regulatory authorities — where required by law

All third-party service providers are required to handle your information securely and only for the purposes we specify.

4. Data Storage & Security

Your personal information is stored on secure servers operated by Shopify, which is PCI-DSS compliant. We take reasonable steps to protect your data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, or disclosure.

While we take security seriously, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we will notify affected individuals in the event of a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm, as required under the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy, including to comply with legal, accounting, and reporting obligations.

Order records are generally retained for 7 years in line with Australian tax law. You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time (subject to legal retention requirements) by contacting us.

6. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience and collect analytics data. Cookies are small text files stored on your device.

We use the following types of cookies:

  • Essential cookies — required for the website to function (e.g. shopping cart, checkout)
  • Analytics cookies — to understand how visitors use our site (e.g. Google Analytics)
  • Marketing cookies — to personalise ads and measure their effectiveness (e.g. Meta Pixel, Google Ads)

You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

You can also opt out of interest-based advertising through Your Online Choices Australia.

7. Marketing Communications

We may send you promotional emails about new products, offers, and Buddy Crew updates — but only if you have opted in to receive them.

You can unsubscribe from email marketing at any time by:

  • Clicking the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any marketing email
  • Emailing us at belinda@buddycollective.com.au

Please allow up to 5 business days for your unsubscribe request to take effect.

Even if you opt out of marketing communications, we may still send you transactional emails related to your orders or account.

7A. SMS/Text Message Marketing

If you opt in to receive SMS/text marketing from Buddy Collective, we may send you promotional messages, exclusive offers, cart reminders, shipping updates, and other marketing communications to the mobile number you provide.

SMS consent is not a condition of purchase.

By opting in, you consent to receive recurring automated marketing messages from Buddy Collective. Message frequency may vary. Standard message and data rates may apply depending on your mobile carrier and plan.

You can opt out of SMS marketing at any time by:

After opting out, you may still receive transactional or service-related SMS messages relating to your orders or account.

We may use third-party SMS service providers to deliver messages securely on our behalf.

8. Your Rights

Under the Australian Privacy Act, you have the right to:

  • Access the personal information we hold about you
  • Request correction of inaccurate or outdated information
  • Request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal obligations)
  • Withdraw consent for marketing at any time
  • Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) if you believe your privacy rights have been breached

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@buddycollective.com.au. We will respond to all requests within 30 days.

9. Children’s Privacy

Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

10. Links to Third-Party Websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites (such as social media platforms or payment processors). This Privacy Policy does not apply to those sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party websites you visit.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal obligations. The updated policy will be posted on our website with a revised effective date.

We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Continued use of our website after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us:

Buddy Collective
Email: belinda@buddycollective.com.au
Website: buddycollective.com.au
Location: Warracknabeal, Victoria, Australia

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):

Website: OAIC
Phone: 1300 363 992