1. Who We Are

Admin Substitute ABN 55 618 712 648 (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates the Admin Substitute platform, an administrative automation SaaS for Australian trade businesses. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

2. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly:

Account information: Name, email address, phone number, business name, ABN, trade/industry.
Billing information: Payment card details are processed and stored securely by Stripe. We never store card numbers on our servers.
Business data: Leads, quotes, jobs, customer contacts, invoices, and communications you create within the platform.
Waitlist/onboarding: Name, email, phone, trade type submitted via our forms.

Information collected automatically:

Usage data: Pages visited, features used, API calls, emails/SMS sent via the platform.
Device & browser data: IP address, browser type, operating system, device identifiers.
Analytics: We use Google Analytics (GA4), the Meta Pixel, and our own first-party analytics to understand how visitors interact with our marketing site and which content is useful. These set cookies and are only loaded once you have consented (see section 7). Our first-party analytics records de-identified events such as page views and which tools or guides you use, tied to a random browser identifier rather than your name. We store a one-way hashed version of your IP address, never the raw address.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

Provide, maintain, and improve the Service.
Process payments and manage your subscription.
Send transactional communications (welcome emails, invoices, password resets).
Send platform notifications (lead alerts, job updates, review reminders) that you configure.
Provide customer support and respond to enquiries.
Analyse usage to improve features and fix bugs.
Create de-identified, aggregated insights (for example, typical pricing, response times, and job patterns across a trade or region) to power benchmarking features, improve our AI, and publish industry trends (see section 4A).
Comply with legal obligations.

We will never sell your personal information, or any information that identifies you, your business, or your customers, to third parties.

4. How We Share Your Information

We only share your information with:

Stripe for payment processing.
SendGrid (Twilio) for sending transactional emails on your behalf.
Twilio for sending SMS messages on your behalf.
Google Analytics for anonymised usage data on our marketing site.
Hosting providers. Our infrastructure providers who store data securely.
Legal authorities if required by law, regulation, or legal process.

All third-party processors are bound by data processing agreements and are committed to protecting your data.

4A. De-identified & Aggregated Data

A core part of Admin Substitute is helping tradies benchmark themselves and make smarter decisions. To do that we create de-identified, aggregated insights from the data across our platform — for example, average quote values, win rates, response times, and seasonal demand by trade type and region.

These insights are always aggregated across many businesses and stripped of anything that could identify you, your business, or your customers.
We only ever report a metric when there are enough businesses in a cohort that no individual can be singled out.
You and other members always benefit first — these insights power in-product benchmarking and smarter AI before anything else.
We may share or license aggregated, de-identified insights (such as industry trend reports or benchmarks) with third parties like suppliers, industry bodies, or the public. We never share your raw data, your customer lists, or anything that identifies you.

If you would prefer your account’s data to be excluded from these aggregate insights, email us at [email protected] and we’ll action it.

5. Data Storage & Security

Your data is stored in secure, hosted database infrastructure with encryption at rest and in transit.
We use industry-standard security measures including HTTPS, hashed passwords (bcrypt), and role-based access control.
Access to production systems is restricted to authorised personnel only.
While we take all reasonable precautions, no system is 100% secure. If a data breach occurs, we will notify affected users in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

6. Data Retention

Active accounts: We retain your data for as long as your account is active.
Cancelled accounts: Your data is retained for 30 days after cancellation (grace period) to allow re-activation or data export. After that, it may be permanently deleted.
Waitlist data: Retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion.
Analytics data: Anonymised analytics data may be retained indefinitely for aggregate analysis.

7. Cookies & Your Choices

We use the following cookies and similar technologies:

Essential cookies: Session cookies for authentication and to remember your cookie choice. These are necessary for the Service to function and are always on.
Analytics & marketing cookies: Google Analytics (GA4), the Meta Pixel, and our own first-party analytics, used to understand marketing site traffic and measure our campaigns. These are only set on the public marketing site, not within the app dashboard.

When you first visit our marketing site we show a cookie banner. You can accept or reject non-essential (analytics & marketing) cookies, and change your mind at any time using the “Cookie settings” link in the site footer. Rejecting non-essential cookies stops Google Analytics, the Meta Pixel, and our first-party analytics from loading. Your choice is remembered for 180 days. You can also disable cookies in your browser settings, but this may affect the functionality of the Service.

8. Your Rights

Under Australian privacy law, you have the right to:

Access the personal information we hold about you.
Correct any inaccurate or outdated information.
Request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal retention requirements).
Withdraw consent for marketing communications at any time.
Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) if you believe your privacy has been breached.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected].

9. Communications

Transactional emails/SMS: Required for the Service to function (account activation, payment receipts, lead notifications). These cannot be opted out of while your account is active.
Marketing communications: We may occasionally send product updates or feature announcements. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link in the email.

10. Children

The Service is not intended for individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes via email or in-app notification. The “Last updated” date at the top indicates when this Policy was last revised.

12. Contact

For privacy-related enquiries or to exercise your rights:

Email: [email protected]
ABN: 55 618 712 648