What we collect, and what we do not

What we collect and what we do not

You can read every page here without registering, logging in or handing over a name, an email address or a date of birth. The site does not run a newsletter, a member area or a comments section, so there is no profile attached to you and no password stored anywhere on our side. If a page links you onward to our partner, that link is the end of our involvement; anything you choose to do after the click happens on the partner's site under the partner's own privacy terms, which are worth reading before you open an account there.

Because there are no forms, there is nothing for you to fill in and nothing to submit. We do not ask for identity documents, bank details or proof of address, and we would have no reason to hold them. If you ever see a page claiming to be part of this site and asking for that kind of information, treat it as suspect and do not enter anything.

How analytics works on this site

The site uses analytics software to count visits and see which pages are read, which helps decide what to write about next. That tool records technical information such as the pages requested, the referring link, an approximate location derived from the network address and the type of device or browser in use. It is aggregate information about traffic, not a file about a person, and it is not used to identify you or to build a profile for advertising.

None of that information is joined to a name, because no name is ever collected. The analytics provider processes the data under its own terms, and the reports we see are summaries rather than individual records. You can limit this collection yourself by blocking scripts or using your browser's private mode, and the site will still read normally.

Cookies and the Privacy Act

Cookies are small files a site stores in your browser. This site uses them only where they are needed for the analytics described above; there is no advertising network placing tracking cookies here. You can clear or block cookies in your browser settings at any time, and nothing on the site will stop working as a result. If you follow a link to our partner, that site sets its own cookies and answers for them.

The Australian Privacy Act 1988, including the Australian Privacy Principles, is the framework we work to. In practice that means we collect as little as possible, we do not collect sensitive information, and we keep what little exists only for the purpose it was gathered for. We do not sell information, and there is no list of readers to sell.

Requesting deletion of stored information

If you believe the site holds information about you, you can write to the editorial desk using the contact route published on this site and ask what is held and ask for it to be corrected or deleted. Set out what you are asking about and how we might locate it, since the only records that could exist are ordinary server and analytics entries. Requests are answered within a reasonable period, and we will tell you plainly if we hold nothing, which is the usual answer.

Where a request concerns records held by our partner rather than by this site, the partner's own privacy process applies and we cannot act on your behalf. The same is true of any provider whose link you followed before arriving here. If you are unhappy with how a request was handled, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner explains the options available under the Act.

Do I need to give my email address to read the guides?

No. There is no sign-up, no newsletter and no member area, so no email address is requested or stored. You can read everything here without giving any personal details at all.

Can you delete data a partner collected about me?

No. Once you follow a link and use the partner's site, that information sits with the partner and is handled under the partner's privacy terms. Use the partner's own privacy contact for that request; we can only deal with records held on this site.