1. Who we are

The Sober Awkward app, podcast and community are operated by THESILVERTREE.COM.AU PTY LTD (ABN 86 144 496 926), trading as Sober Awkward ("we", "us", "our"). We are based in Australia and handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

Contact: support@soberawkward.com

Queensland's Information Privacy Act 2009 regulates state government agencies, not private businesses, so it does not apply to us — we are regulated federally under the Commonwealth Privacy Act.

2. Information we collect

Account info: name, email, password (hashed), avatar.
Sensitive (health) info: sobriety start date, mood check-ins, diary entries, reasons for being sober — you choose what to share.
Community content: posts, replies, photos, reactions, chat messages.
Device info: push notification tokens, app platform.
Location: city/postcode you provide for finding local events & help.
Subscription & payment status: we never see card numbers — handled by Apple, Google and RevenueCat.

3. Express consent for sensitive information (APP 3.3)

Health information is "sensitive information" under the Privacy Act and requires your express consent. By entering health information (such as mood, sobriety date or diary entries) into the app, you expressly consent to us collecting and handling that information for the purposes described in this policy. You may withdraw consent at any time by deleting the information or your account.

4. Why we collect it

To run your account and the sobriety tracker.
To show your contributions in the community.
To send you reminders, milestone celebrations and supportive messages (you can opt out).
To moderate content and keep the community safe (AI moderation).
To respond to support requests.

5. Who we share it with

Hosting & database: Supabase.
AI moderation & assistant: Lovable AI Gateway, which routes short content checks to providers including Google and OpenAI. We never send your email or password.
Push notifications: Apple (APNs) and Google (FCM).
Subscription billing: Apple, Google, RevenueCat.
Website hosting & analytics: Squarespace (for soberawkward.com).
Law enforcement: only where required by Australian law.

We do not sell your personal information and we do not share it with data brokers.

6. Overseas disclosure (APP 8)

Some of our service providers store or process data outside Australia. Personal information is likely to be disclosed to recipients in the following countries:

United States — Supabase, RevenueCat, Apple, Google, OpenAI, Squarespace.
European Union (Ireland, Germany) — Supabase regional replicas, Google Cloud.

By using the app you consent to your information being transferred to and stored on servers located outside Australia. Where reasonable, we take steps to ensure overseas recipients handle your information consistently with the APPs.

7. How we keep it safe

All traffic is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS).
Passwords are hashed and checked against the Have I Been Pwned database.
Email verification is required before sign-in.
Database access is restricted by row-level security so users can only read their own private data.
Diary photos are stored in a private bucket only you can access.

8. How long we keep it (retention)

Account and content data is kept for as long as your account is active.
When you delete your account, your profile, diary, check-ins, posts, photos and chat messages are erased from our live database immediately.
Encrypted backups are purged on a rolling cycle and fully deleted within 30 days.
Anonymised, aggregated data (e.g. total number of users) may be retained indefinitely for research and reporting.
Records we are legally required to keep (e.g. tax records for subscription payments) are retained for the period required by Australian law (generally 5 years).

9. Direct marketing (APP 7)

We may occasionally send you supportive or promotional messages via push notification or email. Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link. You can turn push notifications off at any time in your device settings. We do not use your sensitive health information for marketing.

10. Your rights

Under the Australian Privacy Principles you may:

Access a copy of your data — use the Download my data button on your profile.
Correct your information — edit it on your profile or email us.
Delete your account and all linked data — use the Delete my account button on your profile. This is permanent.
Request deletion if you no longer have the app — email support@soberawkward.com with the subject "Delete my account" and we will erase your data within 30 days.
Withdraw consent for marketing/push messages — unsubscribe or turn them off in device settings.
Complain — first to us at support@soberawkward.com, then to the OAIC (oaic.gov.au) if unresolved.

11. Tracking & advertising

We do not track you across other companies' apps or websites. We do not share your data with advertising networks or data brokers. The app does not display third-party advertising.

12. Cookies (this website)

Our website (soberawkward.com) is hosted on Squarespace, which sets essential cookies to keep the site working and may set analytics cookies to measure page views. You can block cookies in your browser settings. The app itself does not use web cookies.

13. Data breaches

If a data breach is likely to cause serious harm we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in line with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

14. Children

Sober Awkward is intended for adults (18+). It is not directed to children and is not part of Google Play's Designed for Families program. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 16. If you believe a child has signed up, contact us and we will delete the account.

15. Not medical advice

Sober Awkward is a peer-support community, not a clinical service. Tea Bag, the daily tips and other content are not a substitute for professional medical, psychological or legal advice. In a crisis call 000 or contact Lifeline 13 11 14.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified in-app or by email. The "Last updated" date at the top shows the current version.

17. Contact

Privacy questions or requests? Email support@soberawkward.com.

THESILVERTREE.COM.AU PTY LTD (ABN 86 144 496 926), trading as Sober Awkward, Queensland, Australia.

Privacy Policy