Last updated: 9 November 2026
The Gaffer is operated by Ethicco Pty Ltd, ABN 64 687 815 210. This policy covers our website, launch waitlist and the app features you use. Contact support@thegaffer.net about your personal information.
Joining the waitlist is optional. It does not create an account or start a paid plan. We collect your email address, and the referral code if you came from a referral link. We also keep the time you confirmed, the wording you agreed to, and whether you have unsubscribed. We use this to confirm your email and to send you launch news and the occasional product update, and for nothing else. Every email has an unsubscribe link that works without signing in. The waitlist is for adults. If you are under 16, please ask a parent or guardian to join instead.
We keep a small amount of information in your browser: whether you have watched the story, and your referral code if you came from a referral link (a cookie that lasts up to 90 days). When you join the waitlist, your browser also holds your email for that visit so the next page can show where we sent the confirmation. We see your IP address when you visit, and we use it to block abuse such as repeated form submissions. We use Sentry to find errors on this website. We do not use advertising or analytics trackers.
When you create an account, we collect your email address and a display name. If you sign in with Google, we receive your name and email from Google. When you use The Gaffer, we store the data you enter: your squad, match events, coaching notes, and season history. For each player that can include first name, surname, shirt number, preferred positions, an optional nickname, and an optional date of birth, which helps coaches celebrate birthdays. If you invite a parent, we store the contact details and relationship they give us. This data is necessary for the app to work.
We collect data to provide the coaching features you use — squad management, team selection, match tracking, season stats, and sharing with parents. We don't collect data for advertising or profiling purposes, and we don't sell it.
The coach is the owner of their team. The coach decides who can access the team by inviting assistant coaches and choosing what each can do. Parents see only what the coach shares with them. Team access is limited to the people explicitly invited or sent a link.
Coaches may keep personal notes such as player ratings, Dally-M points, coaching notes and the coach's match report. These are private to the coach's login — they are not shared with assistants or parents. When you share a team sheet or match report, only the information you chose to include is visible — never your ratings, notes or per-player feedback.
Team sheets, match line-ups and match reports are shared by the coach from Publish. The coach controls what is shared and when, including whether game time is shared with parents and which sections of the match report are included. Each match has two parent links, one with full names and one with nicknames; we recommend the nicknames link whenever a team sheet goes beyond the parent group, for example on social media. A shared page stays available while it is the current one for that match; older versions expire after 30 days.
The Gaffer is for adult coaches. A coach may enter details of young players, such as names, shirt numbers, dates of birth and match time. Only the coach, the assistants they invite and the parents they share with can see this. We do not collect information directly from children. A parent confirms their relationship to a player the first time they open a link.
We hold our database in Google Cloud in Sydney, Australia. Some of the services we use work outside Australia. Firebase sign-in runs in the United States. Resend sends our emails and keeps the email content and delivery records in the United States. Sentry (error reports) and Upstash (abuse limits) may store or process information outside Australia. If we add payments, Airwallex will process them and we will update this policy first.
You can manage your account and team details in Settings. If you unsubscribe from the waitlist, we stop emailing you but keep your address on a do-not-email list so a later form entry cannot add you back. Email us if you want that address deleted too, and we will delete it.
To ask for access, correction or deletion, or to make a privacy complaint, email support@thegaffer.net. We may need to confirm who you are first, so please do not send identity documents unless we ask. We will reply in writing and explain the outcome. If you are not happy with our reply, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.