Privacy policy

This policy explains how AusBabysitters handles personal information, and is written to follow the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). We handle information about people who are looking after children, so we collect as little as we can and keep it for as short a time as we can.

1. Who we are

AusBabysitters operates ausbabysitters.com, an introduction service for families and babysitters in Sydney. Our ABN is pending and will be published here once registered. We are the entity responsible for the personal information described below.

2. What we collect

Account information

Your email address, your name, and the role you chose (parent or sitter). Sign-in is by emailed link, so we do not store passwords. We record when you signed in and the device and IP address the request came from, for security purposes.

Profile information

What you choose to put on your profile. For sitters that is a first name and last initial, suburb, headline, biography, photograph, rates, availability, languages, years of experience, and self-declared claims such as holding a first aid certificate. For parents it is a first name and last initial, suburb, and an optional note about your children.

Public sitter profiles show a first name and last initial and a suburb, never a full name and never an address. Public pages are indexed by search engines. Sitters can switch off search engine indexing of their own profile in settings.

Verification information (sitters who opt in)

Your legal name as it appears on your Working With Children Check, your date of birth, your WWC number, and its expiry date.

• We never receive or store identity documents. The photograph of your ID and your selfie go directly to our identity provider, who holds them under their own privacy terms. What comes back to us is a pass or fail and whether the name and date of birth matched what you told us.
• Your WWC number, date of birth, and legal name are encrypted before they are stored and are readable only by the person carrying out the verification. They are never sent to any other user, never written to logs, and never used for anything except the check.
• We record the result of the check with the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian, the date it was run, and the expiry date of the clearance.

Messages and reviews

The content of messages you send through the site, and reviews you write. Messages are private between the two people in a conversation; we access them only to investigate a report or where the law requires it. Reviews are public.

Usage information

Searches run on the site (the suburb and filters used, and how many results came back), pages requested, and basic device information. We use this to work out which suburbs need more sitters. We do not use advertising trackers or sell any of it.

3. Why we collect it

• To let you create a profile and be found by, or find, other users.
• To let you message people and be messaged.
• To run verification and display an accurate badge, and to remove a badge when a clearance expires or a status changes.
• To respond to reports, investigate misuse, and remove people who put others at risk.
• To send you the emails you have asked for — sign-in links, message notifications, and job alerts. You control notification preferences in settings.
• To understand which suburbs need more supply, and to improve the service.

We do not use your information for automated decisions with legal effect, and we do not sell personal information to anyone.

4. Who we disclose it to

• Our identity provider, for sitters who opt in to verification. They receive the identity document and selfie you submit and return an outcome to us. They may be located overseas.
• The NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian, when we verify a Working With Children Check. We submit the family name, date of birth, and WWC number you gave us. Because we ran the verification, the Office notifies us if that person’s status changes.
• Our email provider, to deliver sign-in links and notifications.
• Our hosting and database providers, who store the data on our behalf. Our primary database is hosted in Australia.
• Other users, but only what is on your public profile and what you choose to send in a message.
• Law enforcement or a child protection authority, where we are required to disclose or where we reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent a serious threat to someone’s life, health, or safety.

Some of these providers store data outside Australia. Where that happens we take reasonable steps to ensure the recipient handles the information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.

5. How long we keep it

• Account and profile data: while your account is open. When you delete your account, your profile and messages are deleted.
• Verification data: for the life of the clearance and no more than two years after it expires or your account closes, whichever comes first. The encrypted WWC number and date of birth are deleted at that point; we keep the fact that a check occurred and its date.
• Reports and moderation records: up to seven years, because we may need them to demonstrate we acted on a safety concern.
• Search and usage data: up to two years, in a form not linked to your account after 90 days.

6. Security

Data is transmitted over TLS and stored on managed infrastructure with access limited to those who need it. Verification details are encrypted at the application layer with a key held separately from the database, so a copy of the database alone does not reveal them. No system is perfectly secure; if a data breach is likely to cause you serious harm we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires.

7. Access and correction

You can view and correct most of your information from your settings at any time. For anything you cannot reach yourself — including a copy of what we hold — email hello@ausbabysitters.com and we will respond within 30 days. We will not charge you to make a request, and if we refuse access we will tell you why in writing.

8. Cookies

We set one cookie, to keep you signed in. There are no advertising cookies and no third-party analytics trackers on this site.

9. Children

Accounts are for people aged 16 and over. We do not knowingly collect information about children, and profiles must not include children’s names, photographs, or any detail that identifies them. Parents describing their children should keep it general — “two kids, 3 and 6” is the level of detail the product is built for.

10. Complaints

If you think we have mishandled your personal information, email hello@ausbabysitters.com and we will investigate and respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.

11. Changes

We will update this page when our practices change, and will email account holders before a material change takes effect.

12. Contact

hello@ausbabysitters.com. See also our terms of use and what verification involves.