Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how matchy.gg collects, uses, and protects your information. We are committed to handling your data responsibly.

1. Information We Collect

From Steam (automatically)

When you log in via Steam, we retrieve and store the following data from the Steam Web API:

• Steam ID (unique identifier), display name, and profile URL
• Profile avatar (image URL)
• Steam level, account creation date, and last online timestamp
• Owned games (titles, playtime in hours)
• Recently played games (past 2 weeks)
• Profile visibility status (public/private)
• VAC ban status

This data is refreshed each time you log in or manually sync your profile.

From You (profile setup)

During onboarding and profile editing, you may provide:

• Date of birth (used to calculate age; stored securely)
• Gender identity
• Country of residence
• Bio (free-text description)
• Discord username
• Preferred languages, playstyle tags, and favorite game genres
• Game ranks (optional)

Platform activity

• Swipe history (who you liked or passed)
• Matches and match timestamps
• Blocks and reports you submit
• Discovery filter preferences

2. How We Use Your Information

• Matching: Steam game data is used to calculate a compatibility score between users and power the discovery feed.
• Profile display: Your name, avatar, bio, age, country, and gaming info are shown to other users in discovery.
• Contact reveal: Your Discord username and Steam URL are shared only with users you have mutually matched with.
• Safety: Swipe history and block/report data are used to ensure users are not shown people they have blocked or reported.
• Platform improvement: Aggregate, anonymised usage data may be used to improve the service.

3. Information Shared With Other Users

The following information is visible to other users during discovery:

• Display name, avatar, age, country, bio
• Game library summary (game count, total hours, favorite game)
• Game genres, playstyle, and language preferences
• VAC ban status (if applicable)

The following information is revealed only upon mutual match:

• Discord username
• Steam profile URL

Your date of birth is never displayed directly — only your calculated age is shown.

4. Cookies and Sessions

We use the following cookies:

• Session cookie (matchy_sess): Keeps you logged in during your browser session. Expires when you close your browser or log out.
• Remember-me token (remember_token): If you choose to stay logged in, a secure token valid for 90 days is stored. This token is hashed in our database and invalidated upon logout or account ban.

We do not use third-party advertising or tracking cookies.

5. Data Retention

• Your account data is retained for as long as your account is active.
• If you delete your account, all personal data — including your profile, matches, swipes, and game data — is permanently deleted within 30 days.
• Aggregate or anonymised analytics data may be retained indefinitely.

6. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access: Request a summary of the data we hold about you
• Correction: Update your profile information at any time
• Deletion: Delete your account and all associated data via profile settings
• Portability: Request an export of your data by contacting us
• Objection: Object to certain types of processing by contacting us

7. Third-Party Services

matchy.gg integrates with the following third-party service:

• Steam (Valve Corporation): Used for authentication (OpenID) and game data retrieval. When you log in, your browser is redirected to Steam's servers. Steam's own Privacy Policy applies to that interaction.

We do not sell or share your personal data with any third parties for marketing purposes.

8. Security

We implement technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed tokens, session security controls, and access controls on administrative systems. However, no system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Children's Privacy

matchy.gg is strictly for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. If we become aware that a minor has registered, the account will be immediately terminated and data deleted.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes. Continued use of the platform after updates constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

11. Contact

For any privacy-related requests or questions, please use the contact form on our website.