Privacy Policy

1. About This Policy

EZmode Pty Ltd (ABN 55 694 434 921) ("EZmode", "we", "us", "our") operates the ezmode.gg website and associated esports tournament platform (the "Platform").

This policy explains how we handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

By using the Platform, you agree to your personal information being handled as set out in this policy.

2. What Is Personal Information?

Personal information means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information is true or not and whether it is recorded in a material form or not.

3. Information We Collect

We collect the following kinds of personal information directly from you, automatically through your use of the Platform, or from third-party services you connect.

We do not collect sensitive information as defined in the Privacy Act, such as health information, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation, unless you provide it to us voluntarily, for example, in profile content. Please do not share sensitive information with us unless it is necessary.

4. How We Collect Personal Information

We collect personal information:

• Directly from you when you register, complete your profile, enter a tournament, contact us, or use Platform features
• Automatically through your use of the Platform, such as via cookies, log files and server logs
• From third-party services, such as game publishers' APIs, including Riot Games, Ubisoft, Epic Games and others, where you link your account or where match and ranking data is provided to us
• From our payment processor, who confirms transactions

5. Why We Collect, Hold, Use and Disclose Personal Information

We collect and use your personal information for the following purposes:

• To create and administer your account
• To verify your age and identity
• To operate and organise tournaments, including registrations, brackets, match results and leaderboards
• To process entry fees and pay out prizes
• To communicate with you about your account, tournaments, results and other operational matters, including transactional communications sent via Amazon Simple Email Service
• To moderate content, investigate breaches of our terms, prevent cheating and fraud, and maintain the security and integrity of the Platform
• To produce broadcasts and content featuring our events
• To respond to your enquiries, requests and complaints
• To meet our legal obligations
• To analyse Platform usage and improve our services
• To report aggregated and anonymised information to sponsors and partners

Direct marketing. We do not currently send marketing emails or marketing SMS. If we ever introduce direct marketing communications, we will do so only with your express opt-in consent and will provide a clear and simple way to unsubscribe at any time, in accordance with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth).

6. Who We Share Your Personal Information With

We share personal information with the following categories of recipients, only as necessary for the purposes set out above.

7. Overseas Disclosure (APP 8)

Some of our service providers are based, or store and process data, outside Australia. In particular:

• Vercel is based in the United States and routes traffic through US-based infrastructure.
• Supabase primarily stores and processes data in its Sydney region. However, Supabase is a US-headquartered provider and some operational, support and metadata functions may involve access from the United States.
• Amazon Web Services primarily stores and processes data in its Sydney, Australia, region. However, AWS is a US-headquartered provider and some operational, support and metadata functions may involve access from the United States.
• Cloudflare operates a global network and may route or cache content through data centres in many countries.
• PayPal: payments are processed through PayPal. The Australian-facing entity is PayPal Australia Pty Ltd, but PayPal operates globally and personal information may be transferred to PayPal entities and infrastructure located outside Australia, including in the United States and Singapore.
• Game publishers and broadcast platforms are typically based in the United States or other overseas jurisdictions.

As a result, your personal information may be disclosed to, or accessible from, countries outside Australia, including without limitation the United States. We take reasonable steps to ensure overseas recipients handle your personal information in a manner consistent with the APPs, including through contractual protections, but you should be aware that overseas privacy laws may differ from Australian law.

8. Direct Messages and User-Generated Content

Direct messages (DMs) and chat on the Platform are not end-to-end encrypted. This means:

• Messages are transmitted and stored in a form that is accessible to EZmode staff and to certain service providers, such as our hosting and database providers.
• Authorised EZmode staff may access DMs and other user-generated content for purposes including moderation, investigating reports of abuse or rule-breaking, complying with legal obligations, and protecting the safety and security of the Platform and its users.
• DMs and other user-generated content are currently retained indefinitely on our systems unless deleted by you where the Platform allows, or removed by us, for example, for moderation reasons.

Please do not share through DMs or other user-generated content features any information that you would not want EZmode staff or other parties to potentially access. In particular, do not share sensitive personal information, payment card details, government identifiers or passwords through these channels.

9. Photos, Video and Event Footage

When you attend an EZmode event or participate in a tournament that is being broadcast, you may be filmed, photographed or recorded. We will notify you in advance, including through the relevant event or tournament terms and conditions, which set out additional details and any specific consents.

Footage and imagery may be used for broadcast, promotional and editorial purposes, including being made available on streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube, and social media.

10. Cookies and Similar Technologies

The Platform uses cookies and similar technologies, such as local storage and pixels, to operate the site, keep you logged in, remember your preferences, and protect against fraud and abuse.

We currently use essential cookies only and do not use cookies for advertising or third-party marketing. If we introduce non-essential cookies in the future, we will update this policy and provide an in-product consent mechanism.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect your ability to use parts of the Platform.

11. Security of Your Personal Information (APP 11)

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Measures we use include:

• Encrypted connections (HTTPS / TLS)
• Hashed passwords (we do not store plain-text passwords)
• Access controls and authentication for staff
• Use of reputable infrastructure providers, including Vercel, AWS and Cloudflare
• Logging and monitoring of system activity

Despite these measures, no method of transmission or storage over the internet is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your personal information.

Data breach notification. If we become aware of a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm to affected individuals, we will comply with our obligations under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme in Part IIIC of the Privacy Act, including notifying affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) where required.

12. How Long We Keep Your Personal Information

We keep personal information for as long as it is needed for the purposes set out in this policy, or as required or permitted by law. In particular:

• Account information is kept for as long as your account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards to handle disputes, enforce our terms, comply with legal obligations and maintain tournament records.
• Tournament results, match histories and leaderboard information may be kept indefinitely as part of the competitive record of the Platform.
• Direct messages and user-generated content are currently retained indefinitely, subject to deletion at our discretion or where required.
• Payment and transactional records are kept for a minimum of 7 years, in line with Australian taxation and financial recordkeeping obligations.
• Technical logs are kept for shorter periods sufficient for security, fraud prevention and operational purposes.

When personal information is no longer required and we are not legally required to retain it, we take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it.

13. Children and Minors

The Platform is intended for users aged 16 years and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16.

If you are under 16, please do not register for an account or provide personal information to us. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 16, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided personal information to us, please contact us using the details below.

14. Anonymity and Pseudonymity (APP 2)

Where lawful and practicable, you have the option of interacting with us anonymously or using a pseudonym, such as a username. However, for most uses of the Platform, particularly account creation, age verification, tournament participation and prize payouts, we need to know your identity in order to provide our services.

15. Accessing and Correcting Your Personal Information (APPs 12 and 13)

You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, and to request that we correct information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.

You can access and update most account information directly within your account settings. For other requests, please contact us using the details below. We will respond to your request within a reasonable period, usually within 30 days. There is generally no charge for access requests, but we may charge a reasonable cost-recovery fee for more complex requests, and will let you know in advance.

If we refuse access or correction, we will tell you why in writing and explain how you can complain.

16. Deletion and Account Closure

You can request closure of your account by contacting us. On closure we will delete or de-identify your personal information, except where we are required or permitted to retain it, for example, financial records, records needed to defend legal claims, or records of breaches of our terms.

Some content you have contributed to public or shared parts of the Platform, such as match results, leaderboard entries or forum posts, may remain after your account is closed.

17. Complaints

If you have a complaint about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us using the details below. We will acknowledge your complaint and aim to respond within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):

• Website: www.oaic.gov.au
• Phone: 1300 363 992

18. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be available at ezmode.gg. Where changes are material, we will take reasonable steps to notify you, for example, by email or by an in-Platform notice, before the change takes effect.

19. Contact Us