Privacy policy

Content you save: our role

1.1 This Privacy Policy covers two different situations, and it is important to understand which one applies to you.

1.2 Information we handle in our own right. When you register for an account, pay for a subscription, contact us, or browse the Site, we decide how and why that information is handled. We are responsible for it under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), and the rest of this Privacy Policy describes what we do with it.

1.3 Content you save. When you save a link, follow a feed or share a post to the Service, we fetch that content from its source on your instructions and store a copy for you to read. You decide what to save, how long to keep it and whether to delete it. We do not use it for our own purposes.

1.4 If you appear in content someone saved. Articles, posts and feeds saved by our users may have been written by you or mention you. That content was published by its source, and we hold a copy only for the user who saved it. If you want content removed at its source, please contact the publisher. You can also contact us, and we will consider your request.

Personal information we collect

2.1 Information you provide to us. Personal information you may provide to us through the Service or otherwise includes:

(a) Contact data, such as your first and last name, salutation, email address, billing and mailing addresses, professional title and company name, and phone number.

(b) Demographic data, such as your city, state, country of residence, postal code, and age.

(c) Profile data, such as the username and password that you may set to establish an online account on the Service, date of birth, redemption code, biographical details, photograph or picture, links to your profiles on social networks, interests, preferences, information about your participation in our contests, promotions, or surveys, and any other information that you add to your account profile.

(d) Communications data based on our exchanges with you, including when you contact us for support or otherwise, and any diagnostic report you choose to send us from the app.

(e) Transactional data, such as information relating to or needed to complete your orders on or through the Service, including order numbers and transaction history.

(f) Marketing data, such as your preferences for receiving our marketing communications and details about your engagement with them.

(g) Saved content data, being the links you save, the articles, posts, threads, images and feed items we fetch for you, and the feeds you follow. This content may contain the personal information of other people, such as the authors of what you save. We handle this content on your behalf, as described in the Content you save: our role section above.

(h) Library and device data, such as your reading progress, the folder each item is in, whether you have archived or deleted it, and, for each device you sign in on, the device name (shown in your session list), when you signed in and when the device last used the Service.

(i) Payment data, being the billing details needed to process your subscription. We use Stripe to process payments and we do not store your full card details. Your payment is subject to Stripe’s own terms and privacy policy.

(j) Other data not specifically listed here, which we will use as described in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise disclosed at the time of collection.

2.2 Third-party sources. We may combine personal information we receive from you with personal information falling within one of the categories identified above that we obtain from other sources, such as:

(a) Public sources, such as government agencies, public records, social media platforms, and other publicly available sources.

(b) Sources you save from. When you save a link or follow a feed, we fetch the page, post or feed from its source, such as a website, a feed publisher or X. What we receive is the content you asked for. The source sees a request from our server, not from your device.

(c) Service providers that provide services on our behalf or help us operate the Service or our business.

(d) Business transaction partners. We may receive personal information in connection with an actual or prospective business transaction. For example, we may receive your personal information from an entity we acquire or are acquired by, a successor, or assignee or any party involved in a business transaction such as a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or similar transaction, and/or in the context of an insolvency, bankruptcy, or receivership.

2.3 Automatic data collection. We, our service providers, and our business partners may automatically log information about you, your computer or mobile device, and your interaction over time with the Service, our communications and other online services, such as:

(a) Device data, such as your computer or mobile device’s operating system type and version, manufacturer and model, browser type, screen resolution, RAM and disk size, CPU usage, device type (e.g., phone, tablet), IP address, unique identifiers (including identifiers used for advertising purposes), language settings, mobile device carrier, radio/network information (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE, 3G), and general location information such as city, state or geographic area.

(b) Online activity data, such as pages or screens you viewed, how long you spent on a page or screen, the website you visited before browsing to the Service, navigation paths between pages or screens, information about your activity on a page or screen, access times and duration of access, and whether you have opened our emails or clicked links within them.

(c) Communication interaction data such as your interactions with our email, text or other communications (e.g., whether you open and/or forward emails) - we may do this through use of pixel tags (which are also known as clear GIFs), which may be embedded invisibly in our emails.

2.4 For more information concerning our automatic collection of data, please see the Tracking & Other Technologies section below.

Tracking & Other Technologies

3.1 Cookies and other technologies. Some of our automatic data collection is facilitated by cookies and other technologies. For more information, see our Cookie Notice. We will also store a record of your preferences in respect of the use of these technologies in connection with the Service.

3.2 The Readstow app. The Readstow app contains no advertising, no tracking and no third-party analytics. It does not track you across other companies’ apps or websites. The only analytics we use is Cloudflare Web Analytics on the Site, which runs only if you accept it in the cookie banner.

3.3 Automated processing. The Service uses automated processing to extract readable text, images and posts from the content you save. It does not use artificial intelligence to process your saved content.

3.4 Training AI models. We do not use your saved content to train artificial intelligence models.

3.5 Accuracy. A saved copy may differ from the original, particularly where a page changes, is removed, or cannot be read in full. You should refer to the original source before relying on it.

3.6 For information concerning your choices with respect to the use of tracking technologies, see the Your choices section of our Cookie Notice.

How we use your personal information

4.1 We may use your personal information for the following purposes or as otherwise described at the time of collection:

4.2 Service delivery and operations. We may use your personal information to:

(a) provide the Service;

(b) enable security features of the Service;

(c) establish and maintain your user profile on the Service;

(d) fetch and store the content you choose to save, and make it available on your devices, including offline;

(e) refresh the feeds you follow;

(f) communicate with you about the Service, including by sending Service-related announcements, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages;

(g) provide support for the Service, and respond to your requests, questions and feedback.

4.3 Service personalisation, which may include using your personal information to:

(a) understand your needs and interests;

(b) personalise your experience with the Service and our Service-related communications; and

(c) remember your selections and preferences as you navigate webpages.

4.4 Service improvement and analytics. We may use your personal information to analyse your usage of the Service, improve the Service, understand how visitors move around the Site, and develop new features. For more information on analytics, see our Cookie Notice.

4.5 Marketing and advertising. We, our service providers and our third-party advertising partners may collect and use your personal information for marketing and advertising purposes. This does not extend to your saved content or your library, which we do not use for marketing or advertising.

4.6 Direct marketing. We may send you direct marketing communications and may personalise these messages based on your needs and interests. You may opt out of our marketing communications as described in the Opt-out of marketing section below.

4.7 Compliance and protection. We may use your personal information to:

(a) comply with applicable laws, lawful requests, and legal process, such as to respond to subpoenas, investigations or requests from government authorities;

(b) protect our, your or others’ rights, privacy, safety or property (including by making and defending legal claims);

(c) audit our internal processes for compliance with legal and contractual requirements or our internal policies;

(d) enforce the terms and conditions that govern the Service; and

(e) prevent, identify, investigate and deter fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical or illegal activity, including cyberattacks and identity theft.

4.8 Data sharing in the context of corporate events, we may share certain personal information in the context of actual or prospective corporate events - for more information, see How we share your personal information, below.

4.9 To create aggregated and de-identified data. We may create aggregated and de-identified data from personal information we collect. We do this by removing information that makes the data identifiable to you. We may use this aggregated and de-identified data for our lawful business purposes, including analysing and improving the Service.

4.10 Further uses. In some cases, we may use your personal information for further uses, in which case we will ask for your consent to use your personal information for those further purposes if they are not compatible with the initial purpose for which information was collected.

Retention

5.1 We generally retain personal information to fulfill the purposes for which we collected it, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements, establishing or defending legal claims, or for fraud prevention purposes. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we may consider factors such as the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

5.2 When we no longer require personal information we have collected about you, we will take reasonable steps to destroy it or ensure it is de-identified, as required by Australian Privacy Principle 11.2.

5.3 Saved content and your library. You control how long your saved items are kept. You can delete them at any time in the app. If you delete your account in the app (Profile, Delete account), we delete your library, including your saved content, reading progress and the feeds you follow, straight away, except where we are required by law to retain it. Content you delete may persist in our backups for up to 14 days after deletion before those backups are overwritten in the ordinary course.

5.4 Account and billing information. We retain account and billing records for seven years after your account closes, to meet our record-keeping obligations under Australian tax and corporations law.

How we share your personal information

6.1 We may share your personal information with the following parties (or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy, in other applicable notices, or at the time of collection).

6.2 Service providers. Third parties that help us operate the Service or our business, such as information technology support, email delivery and website analytics. These include Cloudflare, which delivers the Site and the Service over its network and routes our email. We host the Service on infrastructure located in Australia. Where we engage a service provider, we take reasonable steps to require them to handle personal information only as we direct and to protect it.

6.3 Payment processor. Payment card information you use to purchase a subscription is collected and processed directly by Stripe. We do not store your full card details. Stripe may use your payment data in accordance with its privacy policy at stripe.com/privacy. Stripe operates outside Australia, so your billing information may be handled overseas.

6.4 Third parties designated by you. We may share your personal information with third parties where you have instructed us or provided your consent to do so.

6.5 Sources you save from. When you save content or a feed you follow is refreshed, we request the content from its source. That source’s handling of the request is governed by its own privacy policy. We do not send the source your name, email address or device details.

6.6 Professional advisors. Professional advisors, such as lawyers, auditors, bankers and insurers, in the course of the professional services that they render to us.

6.7 Authorities and others. Law enforcement, government authorities, and private parties, as we believe in good faith to be necessary or appropriate for the Compliance and protection purposes described above.

6.8 Business transferees. We may disclose personal information in connection with an actual or prospective business transaction, such as an investment in DexWorks, a financing, or the sale, transfer or merger of all or part of our business, assets or shares. For example, we may need to share certain personal information with prospective counterparties and their advisers. We may also disclose personal information to an acquirer, successor or assignee of DexWorks as part of a merger, acquisition, sale of assets or similar transaction, or in the event of insolvency, administration or receivership.

Your choices

7.1 In this section we describe the rights and choices available to you. See also the How to contact us section for how to access or correct your information, or make a complaint.

7.2 Access or update your information. If you have registered for an account with us through the Service, you may review and update certain account information by logging into the account.

7.3 Opt-out of communications. You may opt out of marketing-related emails by following the opt-out or unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the email, or by contacting us. Please note that if you choose to opt out of marketing-related emails, you may continue to receive service-related and other non-marketing emails.

7.4 Cookies and other technologies. For information about cookies and other technologies employed by the Service and how to control them, see our Cookie Notice.

7.5 Blocking images/clear gifs. Most browsers and devices allow you to configure your device to prevent images from loading. To do this, follow the instructions in your particular browser or device settings.

7.6 Declining to provide information. We need to collect personal information to provide certain services. If you do not provide the information we identify as required or mandatory, we may not be able to provide those services.

7.7 Feeds you follow. You can unfollow a feed at any time in the app. Unfollowing stops us fetching new items from it, but does not remove items already in your library.

7.8 Delete your content or close your account. You can delete saved items at any time in the app. You can delete your account in the app (Profile, Delete account), or by contacting us at contact@readstow.com.

Other sites and services

8.1 The Service may contain links to websites, mobile applications, and other online services operated by third parties. In addition, our content may be integrated into web pages or other online services that are not associated with us. These links and integrations are not an endorsement of, or representation that we are affiliated with, any third party. We do not control websites, mobile applications or online services operated by third parties, and we are not responsible for their actions. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of the other websites, mobile applications and online services you use.

Security

9.1 We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, as required by Australian Privacy Principle 11. These steps include access controls on our systems, encryption of data in transit, and restricting access to your library to those who need it to operate the Service. However, security risk is inherent in all internet and information technologies and we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information.

9.2 Data breaches. If we become aware of unauthorised access to, or disclosure or loss of, personal information that is likely to result in serious harm, we will assess it and, where the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme under Part IIIC of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) applies, notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as soon as practicable.

9.3 Destroying information we no longer need. Where we no longer need personal information for any purpose for which it may be used or disclosed, and we are not required by law to retain it, we will take reasonable steps to destroy it or ensure it is de-identified.

Where your information is stored

10.1 We are based in Australia and we host the Service on infrastructure located in Australia. Your library and account information are stored and processed in Australia. The Site and the Service are delivered over Cloudflare’s global network, and billing information is handled by our payment processor, which operates outside Australia, as described in the How we share your personal information section.

Children

11.1 The Service is not intended for use by anyone under 18 years of age, and our Terms of Use require account holders to be at least 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe we have collected personal information from a child, please contact us at contact@readstow.com and we will delete it.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

12.1 We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If a change is material and adverse to you, we will give you at least 7 days’ notice before it takes effect, by email or by a prominent notice on the Site. Any other change takes effect when we post the updated Privacy Policy on the Site. We will update the "Last updated" date at the top. Your continued use of the Service after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Privacy Policy.

How to contact us

13.1 If you have questions about our practices or if you would like to exercise any privacy related right that may be available to you, please contact us via one of the methods listed below.

Email: contact@readstow.com

13.2 Accessing and correcting your information. You may ask us for access to the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. We will respond within a reasonable period, and in most cases within 30 days. We do not charge for making a request. If we refuse access or correction, we will tell you why in writing and explain how you can complain about that decision.

13.3 Making a complaint. If you think we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles or mishandled your personal information, please contact us at contact@readstow.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:

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
Phone: 1300 363 992
Website: oaic.gov.au

If you are outside Australia

14.1 We are an Australian business and we operate the Service from Australia, so this Privacy Policy is written around the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.

14.2 Where a privacy law of another country applies to us, including the General Data Protection Regulation, the UK GDPR or a privacy law of a United States state, we will comply with it to the extent it applies.

14.3 If you are outside Australia and you want access to your personal information, or want it corrected or deleted, contact us at contact@readstow.com.