Our Privacy Policy.
This is the privacy policy of TheFootnotes Pty Ltd T/A The Careers Department ("we," "us," or "our"). We respect and protect the privacy of all users, including students, educators, parents, and institutional partners. This policy explains how we collect, use, store, and disclose personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
By using our platform, app.thecareersdepartment.com, placing an order with us, or providing personal information, you consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy.
What Personal Information
Do We Hold.
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 1 – OPEN AND TRANSPARENT MANAGEMENT OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We adopt the principle of data minimisation and only collect information reasonably necessary for our operations and provision of services. The types of personal information we may collect include:
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Name, email address, gender
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School name, state, year level, and subjects
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Activities completed on our platform (e.g. modules, tagged content, interests)
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Parent email (if applicable)
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Teacher contact details (if applicable)
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Any other information provided by users directly
We do not collect sensitive information unless explicitly required and authorised by law or consent.
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 2 – ANONIMITY AND PSEUDONYMITY
You have the option of not identifying yourself or of using a pseudonym when you create an account with us. However, if you do not identify yourself or you use a pseudonym, then we will be unable to communicate with you via email and certain functionalities of the platform (e.g. self-serve password resets) will not be possible. You accept that if you deal with us anonymously or using a pseudonym, that we may not be able to respond to an enquiry for you or provide any other functions or services.
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 3 – COLLECTION OF SOLICITED PERSONAL INFORMATION
We will only collect Personal Information if it is reasonably necessary for one or more of our functions or activities. The Personal Information we collect about you will be limited to the information that we need to undertake necessary business operations and/or to provide you with our service and/or associated products. We will not collect or require you to provide any sensitive information as that term is defined in the Privacy Act 1988 Cth.
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 4 – DEALING WITH UNSOLICITED PERSONAL INFORMATION
We request that you do not provide us with any Personal Information which we do not request from you. If you do provide us with Personal Information we have not requested, we will, within a reasonable time, determine whether that information is reasonably necessary for one or more of our functions or activities.
If we determine that we could not have collected the unsolicited information for the purposes of providing goods and services to you, then we will destroy the information as soon as possible or ensure that the information is de-identified.
If the unsolicited information you provide to us is information we could have collected for the purpose of our functions or activities, then we will deal with the information as outlined in the remainder of this privacy policy.
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 5 – NOTIFICATION OF THE COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
If we collect Personal Information about you and you have not provided that information to us, then we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are notified that we hold that Personal Information.
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 9 – ADOPTION, USE OR DISCLOSURE OF GOVERNMENT RELATED IDENTIFIERS
We do not collect or adopt Government-related identifiers of individuals.
How We Collect
Personal Information.
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 1 – OPEN AND TRANSPARENT MANAGEMENT OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We collect personal information through:
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User account creation
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Participation in modules, surveys, or enquiries
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Our website or mobile interface
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Face-to-face workshops and in-school events
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Institutional uploads (e.g. student lists provided by schools)
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 10 – QUALITY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We only collect Personal Information which is provided to us by you. You should ensure that all information you provide is accurate, up-to-date and complete.
You must advise us if the information becomes inaccurate, up-to-date or incomplete.
Making Career
Advice Accessible.
Our platform reaches over 1 Million high school students across Australia with a focus on youth engagement, diversity initiatives, skill development, and work readiness.
Privacy Policy.
How We Use Personal Information
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 1 – OPEN AND TRANSPARENT MANAGEMENT OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We collect and use personal information to:
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Provide tailored digital learning experiences
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Enable account login and content access
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Deliver targeted career and education suggestions
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Facilitate communications between students, parents, and schools
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Respond to enquiries and provide support
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Improve our content, services, and platform performance
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Comply with legal obligations
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 6 – USE OR DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We only use or disclose personal information for the purpose for which it was collected, unless:
(i) the individual has provided consent; or
(ii) the individual would reasonably expect us to use or disclose the information for a secondary purpose that is related to the original purpose.
Do We Share Your Information With Third Parties.
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 1 – OPEN AND TRANSPARENT MANAGEMENT OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We only disclose personal information where necessary for service delivery or lawful requirements:
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With schools and teachers (for school-linked accounts)
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With parents/carers (for linked child accounts)
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With trusted service providers and contractors (under strict confidentiality obligations)
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To comply with legal obligations or protect rights/safety
We do not sell your personal information. Any de-identified usage statistics may be shared with partners and sponsors for research and program improvement purposes.
We may engage third-party service providers to support delivery. These include:
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Amazon Web Services - Cloud hosting - Australian data storage
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Intercom - Customer support & communications - Australian data storage
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Stripe - Payment processing (if applicable)
All sub-processors are subject to contractual safeguards and regular review.
Data Storage and Security
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 1 – OPEN AND TRANSPARENT MANAGEMENT OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 11 – SECURITY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Your data is securely stored on AWS infrastructure in Australian data centres.
Protections include:
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Encryption
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Role-based access control
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Logging and monitoring
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Regular backups
We retain personal data only as long as required to fulfil our purposes and legal obligations. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements.
In some circumstances we will anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes, in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.
While we take reasonable steps to try and keep your personal information secure, unfortunately over the Internet there is not a 100% secure way of transferring data and information. We do not warrant the security of information you to us online. We will not be responsible for any liability, loss or damage arising from unauthorised access to your information.
Marketing and Communications
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 7 – DIRECT MARKETING
When signing up, you consent to receiving communications from us. We may use your Personal Information for direct marketing purposes.
You can easily request that we stop direct marketing to you by requesting the cessation of direct marketing material by emailing hello@thecareersdepartment.com or by simply clicking the relevant “unsubscribe” link in any email we send to you for direct marketing purposes. We will comply with such request within a reasonable time.
Your Rights And Access
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 12 – ACCESS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION
If you're a student/individual, parent/carer, or school staff member using The Careers Department, you can ask us at any time to access the personal information we hold about you.
In very limited situations, we may not be able to give you access — for example, if doing so would:
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Put someone else’s privacy or safety at risk, or
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Be unlawful or breach a legal obligation;
If we can’t give you access, we’ll let you know why and explain what you can do next.
To request access to your information, please email us at hello@thecareersdepartment.com. We aim to respond within 30 days.
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 13 – CORRECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
You can access personal information that we hold about you and we will correct that information upon your advice that it is inaccurate, incomplete, misleading or not-up-date. You may also request deletion of your account/data (subject to legal retention requirements). You can contact hello@thecareersdepartment.com for these above purposes. We aim to respond within 30 days.
Cookies, Analytics & Third Party Links
AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLE 8 – CROSS-BORDER DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
When you use our website we may use “cookies” which is a small text file that our site may place on your computer as a tool to remember your preferences. You can refuse to use “cookies” by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however if you do this you may not have the full functionality of our website.
Our site uses Google Analytics to help us understand how the people use and access its information, providing important insights that help us to customise and improve our services for you. Google Analytics collects data including the details of the links clicked, search terms, navigation details, browser type and other use details as listed above. While these identifiers provide information about user behaviour, Google prohibits customers from sending Personally Identifiable Information to Google Analytics. You can opt out of Google Analytics if you disable or refuse the cookie, disable Java script, or use the opt-out service provided by Google.
This website may contain links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites and we encourage you to be aware of this when you leave our site. This privacy policy applies solely to information collected by us.
The Careers Department platform and resources may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our websites, applications and/or resources of the The Careers Department Platform, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.
Privacy Policy Changes.
We may amend this Privacy Policy, in whole or part, in our sole discretion as needed without notice. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will be effective immediately on the posting of the revised Privacy Policy on the website. Therefore, you should review the terms of this policy periodically to make sure that you are aware of how we collect, hold, store and use personal information. However, in any event, by continuing to access our services following any changes, you will be deemed to have agreed to the changes. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, as amended, in whole or part, you must not access our services.
For any questions or complaints please contact us at hello@thecareersdepartment.com
