Privacy & Data Practices
Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how The Wildcard Kitchen collects, uses, stores, and safeguards your personal information when you interact with our Melbourne restaurant, offline poker lounge, dedicated card room, and web platform.
Privacy Policy Overview
The Wildcard Kitchen operates as a modern Melbourne hospitality venue that blends gastro-pub dining with an immersive offline poker lounge and a dedicated card room fitted with custom poker tables and collectible poker chips. This Privacy Policy describes how we manage personal information when you interact with our restaurant, our offline poker lounge, our dedicated card room, our card room events, and our online platform at thewildcardkitchen.com.
We are committed to handling your personal information in a way that supports trust, transparency, and a seamless hospitality experience. This includes information you share when browsing our website, reviewing the Loft Kitchen Menu, reserving restaurant tables, reserving seats in the offline poker lounge or dedicated card room, or contacting us about private events and team experiences.
By visiting our website, dining at our venue, participating in card room experiences, or submitting your details through our forms, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
Information We Collect
We collect only the information necessary to operate our restaurant, manage the offline poker lounge and dedicated card room schedules, and provide you with a reliable and safe guest experience. Depending on how you interact with us, the information we collect may include:
- Reservation details: your name, preferred contact details, booking date and time, party size, seating preferences (for example, main restaurant, loft seating, or proximity to the offline poker lounge), and any accessibility or dietary notes you choose to provide.
- Card room and lounge registrations: your name, contact information, preferred session time, and relevant notes to help us allocate seats at our custom poker tables and manage collectible poker chips for your experience.
- Event and experience registrations: information submitted for private functions, corporate bookings, team nights in the dedicated card room, or special themed evenings at the offline poker lounge.
- Contact and enquiry information: details you send through our contact forms, such as your name, email address, phone number, and the content of your message, including questions about our Loft Kitchen Menu, card room events, or reservation policies.
- Preference and feedback information: ratings, comments, testimonials, or feedback you provide about our restaurant service, menu items, offline poker lounge, pro dealers, or card room atmosphere.
- Technical and usage data: limited information collected automatically when you visit our website, such as browser type, device type, general location based on IP address, pages visited, and time spent on sections like Menu, Events, or Reservation, which helps us understand how guests use the platform.
- Newsletter and marketing preferences: your name, email address, and content preferences when you subscribe to receive updates about seasonal menus, card room events, and special offline poker lounge experiences.
Where practical, you may interact with certain parts of our website without directly identifying yourself; however, reservation and card room booking functionality typically require sufficient contact details to confirm and manage your visit.
Use of Personal Information
We process your personal information to deliver a consistent, safe, and curated experience across our restaurant and offline poker lounge. Specifically, The Wildcard Kitchen may use your information to:
- Manage and confirm bookings: process restaurant reservations, loft seating allocations, and dedicated card room seatings so you can move easily between the dining space, the offline poker lounge, and nearby custom poker tables.
- Coordinate card room experiences: schedule sessions in the dedicated card room, arrange seating at custom poker tables, coordinate table chip allocations, and ensure pro dealers are ready to host your group.
- Deliver a seamless hospitality journey: personalise your visit by respecting your stated preferences, such as dietary needs, accessibility requirements, or whether you would like to dine adjacent to the offline poker lounge or in a quieter corner of the restaurant.
- Communicate with you: send confirmations, reminders, and updates regarding your restaurant reservation, card room bookings, event registrations, and any relevant operational changes affecting your visit.
- Support safety and venue management: manage guest flow through the restaurant and card room, uphold capacity limits, and maintain a safe environment for all guests, staff, and pro dealers.
- Improve services and experiences: analyse aggregated and de-identified information about how guests use our website and facilities to refine menu offerings, card room layouts, and overall offline poker lounge experiences.
- Comply with legal and regulatory obligations: meet any applicable hospitality, safety, and record-keeping requirements imposed under Australian law.
We do not use your personal information for purposes that are unrelated to our restaurant, menu, card room, or event services without first obtaining your consent where required by law.
Data Collection Methods
The Wildcard Kitchen collects personal information through a combination of in-person and digital touchpoints designed to support your restaurant and card room experiences. These include:
- In-person at our Melbourne venue: when you visit our restaurant, book a table at the host stand, check in for an offline poker lounge session, or request a seat in the dedicated card room, our team may record booking details and necessary contact information.
- Online reservation forms: when you request a restaurant table or reserve a seat in the card room via our Reservation or Contact Us pages, we collect the details you submit so we can confirm and manage your booking.
- Event and experience forms: when you complete an online form to enquire about private events, team nights, or themed card room experiences, we collect the information you provide to respond to your enquiry and draft a proposal.
- Newsletter and update sign-ups: when you opt in to receive marketing communications, we collect your name, email address, and your indicated interests (such as menu updates or card room event announcements).
- General website interactions: as you browse through sections like Menu, Poker Room, Events, and Reservation, limited technical data may be collected via cookies and similar technologies to help us understand usage patterns and improve navigation.
Where required, we will clearly identify forms and interactions that collect personal information and will explain how that information will be used at the point of collection.
Information Sharing and Disclosure
The Wildcard Kitchen does not sell or rent your personal information. We only share information where it is necessary to support the operation of our restaurant, offline poker lounge, and dedicated card room, or as required by law.
Your information may be disclosed in the following circumstances:
- Service providers: trusted third-party providers that support our operations, such as reservation platforms, email and communication tools, website hosting providers, or event management systems used to coordinate restaurant bookings and card room seatings. These providers are engaged under agreements that require them to use your information only for the services they deliver to us.
- Venue and operations support: internal teams at The Wildcard Kitchen, including management, host staff, and pro dealers, who require access to reservation details to manage seating, custom poker tables, and table chip preparation for scheduled experiences.
- Legal and regulatory obligations: where required or permitted by law, we may disclose information to regulatory bodies, law enforcement agencies, or advisors to comply with legal obligations, respond to requests, or protect our rights, guests, and staff.
- Business continuity: if there is a reorganisation or change in ownership structure relating specifically to The Wildcard Kitchen venue, personal information may be transferred to ensure continuity of restaurant and card room services. In such cases, we will seek to ensure that your information continues to be protected in line with this Privacy Policy.
Any third parties that receive your information are required to handle it securely and only for the purposes for which it was provided.
Data Retention Policy
We retain personal information only for as long as it is reasonably necessary to operate The Wildcard Kitchen, fulfil your reservations, support our card room experiences, and comply with legal, regulatory, and business record-keeping requirements.
In general:
- Reservation records: booking history for restaurant tables, offline poker lounge sessions, and dedicated card room seatings may be retained for a period that allows us to confirm past visits, understand returning guest patterns, manage disputes, and meet hospitality compliance obligations.
- Event and group bookings: details associated with private events or team nights in the card room may be retained for a longer period to support repeat events, venue planning, and accounting requirements.
- Table chip allocation history: records connected to session planning, table chip allocations, and seating arrangements at custom poker tables may be maintained for operational reference and safety, but are not kept longer than necessary for these purposes.
- Marketing and newsletter information: your contact details for communications about menus and events will be retained until you unsubscribe or request that we delete your information, or until we determine that it is no longer needed.
- Technical and analytics data: de-identified or aggregated analytics information may be held for trend analysis and website improvement over longer periods, but it does not personally identify you.
When we no longer require personal information, and legal obligations to retain it have expired, we will take reasonable steps to securely delete or de-identify it.
Security of Your Information
The Wildcard Kitchen takes the security of your information seriously and uses a mix of physical, administrative, and technical measures to help protect it from unauthorised access, misuse, interference, loss, or disclosure.
Measures we may use include:
- Secure IT infrastructure: operation of our restaurant and card room booking systems on secure networks with access controls and monitoring appropriate for a hospitality venue.
- Access controls: limiting access to personal information to staff members, managers, and pro dealers who need it to manage restaurant reservations, offline poker lounge sessions, and dedicated card room schedules.
- Regular access reviews: periodic audits of staff and system access to ensure that permissions remain appropriate and are removed when no longer needed.
- Data minimisation: collecting only the information that is reasonably needed to coordinate restaurant dining, card room seatings, and venue events, and securely disposing of information that is no longer required.
- Physical safeguards: maintaining reasonable controls over areas where reservation logs or operational devices are stored within the restaurant and card room spaces.
While we take steps to protect your information, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. For this reason, we encourage you to contact us promptly if you believe your interaction with The Wildcard Kitchen may no longer be secure.
Your Rights and Choices
We respect your rights in relation to the personal information you share with The Wildcard Kitchen. Depending on applicable Australian privacy laws, your rights may include:
- Access: the right to request access to personal information we hold about you in connection with restaurant reservations, menu enquiries, card room bookings, or event registrations.
- Correction: the right to ask us to correct any information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, or misleading, such as contact details or preferences for future visits.
- Deletion: the right to request that we delete certain personal information when it is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected, subject to any legal obligations we may have to retain specific records.
- Marketing preferences: the ability to opt out of marketing communications at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions in our emails or contacting us directly.
- Restriction or objection: in certain circumstances, the right to request that we limit how we use your information for specific purposes.
To exercise these rights, please contact us using the details in the Contacting Us section below. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request to help protect your information and the privacy of other guests.
Children's Privacy
The Wildcard Kitchen welcomes families and group bookings that may include guests under the age of 18. Our approach to children's privacy is designed to ensure that data collected from minors is limited and handled with care.
In particular:
- Guardian-led interactions: we expect all reservations and direct communications with us to be made by adults or legal guardians, including bookings that involve minors for family dining or supervised junior event attendance.
- Limited data collection: when minors participate in restaurant experiences, family events, or supervised activities that may touch our offline poker lounge or card room spaces, we collect only the minimum necessary information, typically through the responsible adult managing the booking.
- Supervised access: any exposure of minors to the dedicated card room environment is managed under venue guidelines and in accordance with local requirements, with oversight by a responsible adult.
If you believe that a minor has provided personal information to us directly without guardian involvement, please contact us so we can review and, where appropriate, remove or de-identify that information.
Changes to This Policy
From time to time, The Wildcard Kitchen may review and update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our restaurant operations, offline poker lounge or card room services, legal requirements, or technology.
When we make changes, we will post the updated Privacy Policy on this page and revise the effective date where appropriate. We encourage you to check this page periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.
Your continued use of our website, restaurant, offline poker lounge, or dedicated card room experiences after any updates to this Privacy Policy will be taken as your acknowledgement of the revised terms.
Contacting Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or the way The Wildcard Kitchen handles your personal information, please contact our team.
You can reach us by using the details provided on our Contact Us page, where you may submit a privacy-related enquiry regarding:
- Accessing or correcting information linked to your restaurant reservations or card room bookings
- Updating your marketing and communication preferences
- Questions about data retention, security practices, or children's privacy
- Any other concerns about how we handle information connected to our menu, events, offline poker lounge, or dedicated card room services
When contacting us, please provide enough detail for us to identify you and understand your request so we can respond as efficiently as possible.