Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated: May 2026 · FaithMatch, The Netherlands
The short version: FaithMatch collects only the information needed to help you find a church community. We don't sell your data, we don't show ads, and you are always in control. We are committed to your privacy.
📋 Data collected through our forms
Contact form — we collect your name and email to respond to your message. Stored securely via Netlify Forms and deleted after 12 months. Never shared with third parties.
Story submissions — we collect your first name, story and optionally your email. Your first name and story may be published on faithmatch.nl only with your explicit consent. Your email is never published.
Church matching quiz — we do not collect or store any personal data from the quiz. All answers stay in your browser only and are never sent to our servers.
1. Who we are
FaithMatch is a platform based in the Netherlands that helps people find welcoming church communities. When this policy mentions "FaithMatch", "we", "us", or "our", it refers to FaithMatch and its team.
We are committed to protecting your personal data and complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Dutch data protection law.
2. What data we collect
We collect only what is necessary to provide our service. This includes:
- Information you give us — name, email address, and preferences when you complete our matching quiz or contact us.
- Church search preferences — language, location, worship style, and other preferences you provide during the matching process.
- Contact form submissions — messages and contact details you send us via our contact form.
- Donation information — if you donate, we collect your name and email. Payment details are processed securely by our payment provider and never stored by us.
- Usage data — anonymous data about how you use our website (pages visited, time on site) to help us improve FaithMatch.
We do not collect sensitive data such as your religious beliefs, ethnicity, or political views without your explicit consent.
3. How we use your data
We use the data we collect to:
- Match you with church communities that fit your preferences
- Respond to your messages and support requests
- Send you updates or newsletter content (only if you opted in)
- Process donations securely
- Improve our platform and user experience
- Comply with legal obligations
We will never use your data for automated decision-making that significantly affects you, without your explicit consent.
4. Who we share data with
We do not sell your personal data to any third party — ever. We may share data with:
- Payment providers — to process donations securely (e.g., Stripe). They handle payment data under their own privacy policies.
- Hosting providers — our website is hosted on Netlify. They process data on our behalf under data processing agreements.
- Analytics tools — we use privacy-friendly, anonymised analytics to understand how our site is used.
All third parties we work with are required to protect your data and use it only for the purposes we specify.
5. Your rights
Under the GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right to access — request a copy of the data we hold about you.
- Right to rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate data.
- Right to erasure — request that we delete your data ("right to be forgotten").
- Right to restriction — ask us to limit how we use your data.
- Right to portability — receive your data in a portable format.
- Right to object — object to our processing of your data at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@faithmatch.nl. We will respond within 30 days.
6. Cookies
FaithMatch uses minimal cookies. We use:
- Essential cookies — necessary for the website to function (e.g., remembering your quiz answers during a session).
- Analytics cookies — anonymous data to understand how visitors use our site. No personal identifiers are stored.
We do not use advertising cookies or tracking pixels. You can disable cookies in your browser settings at any time, though some features may not work as expected.
7. Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against loss, misuse, or unauthorised access. Our website uses HTTPS encryption. However, no internet transmission is ever completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
We retain your data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law.
8. Contact us
If you have any questions about this privacy policy, want to exercise your rights, or have concerns about how we handle your data, please contact us:
- Email: hello@faithmatch.nl
- Based in: The Netherlands
If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) at autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl.