Privacy Policy

1. Our Commitment

Ask ECE Pty Ltd (“Ask ECE”, “we”, “us”) is committed to handling your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the thirteen Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose and protect your information when you use the Ask ECE platform.

2. Information We Collect

You provide: account details (name, email, password stored in hashed form, role, state, service name), a record of your acceptance of our Terms and this Policy (date, version, IP), and the content you submit to our tools (observation notes, practice descriptions, programming).

Collected automatically: usage and credit-activity data, device/browser information, and essential cookies for session management. No advertising or third-party tracking cookies.

Payment information: card details are collected and processed directly by a third-party payment provider. We do not see or store your full card number.

We deliberately do NOT collect: any information that identifies a child, such as full names, photos, dates of birth, addresses, or health or developmental records. Our tools are designed to work with a child's initials only.

3. How We Use It

To create and manage your account, provide and improve the Platform, process payments and credits, send transactional emails, respond to support, meet legal obligations, and protect the security of the Platform. Authorised Ask ECE personnel may access the information and content you submit where needed to operate, support, secure and improve the Platform. Where we share or publish information externally, or use it for general analysis and reporting, we use de-identified and aggregated information only.

4. Artificial Intelligence & Automated Decisions

Some tools use AI to generate draft content (such as a learning story or QIP goals) for you to review, verify and edit. This is general information to support your professional judgement. Ask ECE does not use automated decision-making to make decisions that significantly affect you. The AI generates content for you; it does not decide anything about your account or rights. Content you submit is processed by our secure third-party AI provider under confidentiality and security obligations. We do not use your individual submissions to train AI models without your explicit consent.

5. Children's Information

Ask ECE is built for early childhood professionals and is intended for adults aged 18 and over. It is not directed at children, and children are not its users. Because our tools support work that concerns children, we have designed the Platform so no information identifying a child is collected or stored. We use initials only. We treat acting in the best interests of children as a core design principle. The Children's Online Privacy Code (to be registered by 10 December 2026) is directed at services accessed by children, which Ask ECE is not; we nonetheless align with its principle of minimising children's data and will review this Policy as it is finalised.

6. Disclosure

We do not sell or rent your personal information. We disclose it only to the service providers needed to operate the Platform: providers of payment processing, database hosting and authentication, AI processing, transactional email, opt-in newsletter delivery, and application hosting. Each is bound by its own privacy and security obligations, and some are located overseas (see below). We will provide the identity of a specific provider on request, and may also disclose where required or authorised by law.

7. Overseas Disclosure

Some providers store or process information outside Australia, including in the United States. Where we disclose to an overseas recipient, we take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled consistently with the APPs. By using the Platform you acknowledge your information may be stored or processed overseas.

8. Storage & Security

We apply technical and organisational measures under APP 11, including encryption in transit and at rest, access controls and authentication, and regular security review, to protect your information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access. No online service can guarantee absolute security.

9. Data Breaches

We maintain procedures to detect, assess and respond to data breaches. If a breach is likely to result in serious harm and the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme applies, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as soon as practicable. If you believe your information has been involved in a breach, contact hello@askece.com.au.

10. Cookies & Retention

We use only essential cookies for authentication. We keep your information while your account is active and delete or de-identify it within 90 days of account closure, unless legally required to retain it.

11. Your Rights

You may access, correct, or request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal retention), and opt out of marketing. Email hello@askece.com.au. We respond within a reasonable time, generally within 30 days.

12. Marketing

We send marketing communications only where you have opted in, and every marketing email includes an unsubscribe. Opting out does not stop essential account messages.

13. Complaints

If you have a concern, please contact us first at hello@askece.com.au. If you are not satisfied, you may complain to the OAIC at oaic.gov.au or 1300 363 992.

14. Changes

We may update this Policy to reflect changes to the Platform or the law, including as the Children's Online Privacy Code and further privacy reforms are finalised. Material changes will update the version and date above.

15. Contact

Ask ECE Pty Ltd · ACN 698 425 240 · ABN 26 698 425 240 · hello@askece.com.au · askece.com.au