Privacy Policy

Information We Collect

WaterScore is designed to be a largely passive, informational website. We do not require you to create an account or provide personal information to use our services. The information we collect falls into the following categories:

Automatically Collected Information

When you visit WaterScore, certain technical information is collected automatically through our hosting and analytics infrastructure:

• Server logs — Our hosting provider (Cloudflare) collects standard web server logs, including your IP address, browser type, referring URL, pages visited, and timestamps. These logs are used for security, performance monitoring, and abuse prevention.
• Analytics data — We use privacy-respecting analytics to understand how visitors use our site, including page views, popular suburbs, and general geographic regions. This data is aggregated and not used to identify individual visitors.

Database Queries

When you search for a suburb or view water quality data, your request is processed through our database hosted on Supabase. These queries retrieve publicly available water quality information and do not store or log your personal details. Query parameters (such as suburb names) are not linked to any personally identifiable information.

Cookies and Tracking

WaterScore uses a minimal number of cookies to ensure the site functions correctly:

• Essential cookies — Set by Cloudflare for security purposes, including bot detection and DDoS protection. These cookies are strictly necessary and cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies — If used, these are limited to aggregated, anonymised data collection and do not track you across other websites.

We do not use third-party advertising cookies or cross-site tracking pixels. We do not participate in ad networks or behavioural advertising.

Third-Party Services

WaterScore relies on the following third-party services to operate. Each service may process limited data as described below:

• Cloudflare — Provides hosting, CDN, and security services. Cloudflare processes visitor IP addresses and request metadata to deliver content and protect against threats. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.
• Supabase — Hosts our water quality database. Supabase processes database queries on our behalf but does not receive personally identifiable visitor information. See Supabase's Privacy Policy.

We select third-party providers that maintain appropriate data protection standards. We do not sell or share your data with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

Affiliate Links Disclosure

WaterScore may include affiliate links to water filters and related products. When you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, the retailer may share limited transaction information with us (such as confirmation that a purchase was made) to facilitate commission payments. This information does not include your personal details.

Affiliate partnerships do not influence our water quality scores, rankings, or editorial content. Links are clearly identified where they appear. For more detail, see our editorial independence policy.

Data Storage and Security

Water quality data displayed on WaterScore is sourced from publicly available Australian water utility reports and stored in our Supabase database. This is public information and does not contain personal data.

Any automatically collected technical data (such as server logs) is retained only as long as necessary for security and operational purposes, and is then deleted or anonymised.

We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect information from unauthorised access, loss, or misuse, including encrypted connections (HTTPS) for all site traffic.

Your Rights Under the Australian Privacy Act

Under the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), you have the following rights:

• Access — You have the right to request access to any personal information we hold about you.
• Correction — You may request correction of any personal information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, or misleading.
• Complaints — If you believe we have handled your personal information in a way that breaches the Privacy Act, you may lodge a complaint with us. If you are unsatisfied with our response, you may escalate your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

As WaterScore does not collect personal information beyond basic server logs, these rights will typically have limited practical application. However, we are committed to responding to any valid request within 30 days.

Children's Privacy

WaterScore does not knowingly collect personal information from children. Our website is an informational resource about water quality and does not target or market to children.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or wish to exercise your rights under the Australian Privacy Act, please contact us via our About page.