Privacy Policy

How we handle your personal information

Last updated 27 September 2026

Private Insights Pty Ltd (ABN 84 699 859 713) (“Private Insights”, “we”, “us”) builds privacy-first software. This policy explains what personal information we collect through this website (https://privateinsights.au), why we collect it, and how we handle it. We aim to handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

This policy covers this website, the Solid Pod servers we operate, and the privacy-first principles common to the apps developed and distributed by Private Insights Pty Ltd. An app that also runs its own online service, beyond storing your data in your Pod, has its own privacy policy describing that service; for that app, its own policy takes precedence (see App-specific privacy policies).

We believe that privacy is a human right that should be available for everyone.

Each of the software app developed by Private Insights implements the Solid specification, an open standard for decentralised data storage, which separates access and control of the software app code from access and control of user data. Using the Solid specification, we make apps that provide users with ownership, access and control of their data. There is more information about Solid specification at https://solidproject.org and the UK Open Data Institute which recently became the global steward for Solid.

Our apps provide people with ownership of their data using Solid Personal Online Datastores (Pods). As a user of our apps, you choose the server that hosts your data Pod. Using our Solid based consent management system developed by Australian National University Software Innovation Institute, you own and share your data and have full control who can read or use your data.

Private Insights Pty Ltd minimises the collection of any data about you by implementing the Solid specification to provide you with ownership and control of your data. At Private Insights, we are working towards compliance with 7012-2025 - IEEE Standard for Machine Readable Personal Privacy Terms

What we collect

When you contact us. If you use the contact form or email us, we receive your name, email address, and whatever you include in your message. We use this only to respond to you and to keep a record of our correspondence.

When you visit the website. Our web server does not keep a log of the pages you visit. If a request fails because of a server error, the server’s error log may record details of that request, such as your IP address, browser type, the page requested, and the date and time. We use this only to fix problems with the site.

We do not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies, and we do not build profiles of visitors.

When you register for a Pod on our Solid servers. If you choose to host your Pod with us, you create an account on one of the Solid servers that Private Insights Pty Ltd runs: pods.privateinsights.au and pods.podmail.me. This policy also covers our development and test Pod server, pods.dev.privateinsights.au, which handles data in the same way. We run the open-source Community Solid Server, hosted by Akamai Cloud (Linode) in Sydney, Australia. To create and run your account and Pod, the server stores:

  • Your email address, which you use to log in. It is stored securely in readable form so the Solid server can look up your account.
  • Your password, stored only as a salted one-way hash (bcrypt). We cannot read or recover your password.
  • Your Pod name and web addresses. The Pod name you choose becomes part of your Pod’s web address and your WebID (your Solid identity), for example https://pods.example.au/yourname/profile/card#me. The server stores links between your account, your Pod and your WebID, along with login settings such as “remember me”.
  • Your public WebID profile. Registration creates a public profile document containing your WebID and the server that verifies your logins. Under the Solid specification this profile is publicly readable by anyone. Choose a Pod name that does not reveal more about you than you want to share.
  • Login sessions and app authorisations, used to keep you logged in and to record which apps you have allowed to access your Pod.
  • Access control files, which record your WebID as the owner of your Pod and list anyone you later share data with.

Account details are kept in an internal area of the server that cannot be reached over the web. The Solid server also keeps a log of each request to your Pod, recording the date and time, the type of request and the address of the resource requested. This address includes your Pod name and the names of your files and folders. We use this log only to operate, secure and troubleshoot the server.

The data in your Pod. Our apps encrypt the contents of your data files on your own device, before they are sent to your Pod. We never see the encryption key, so we cannot read the content of your data files. For Solid to work, some information must stay readable by the server: the names and folder structure of your files, file sizes and dates, access control files, your public profile, and the public keys used for sharing. The account details listed above are also not covered by this app encryption.

We use this information only to provide, secure and support you to manage, share and use data in your Pod. Using apps integrating the Solid specification, you can read, use and share the contents of data files in your Pod. We do not read, analyse, sell or share the contents of data files in your Pod.

App-specific privacy policies

Most of our apps work entirely between your device and your Pod, and this policy covers them. An app that also runs its own online service has its own privacy policy, which explains exactly what that service collects and for how long, and takes precedence for that app:

Third-party services

  • Google Fonts. Pages load fonts from Google’s servers, so your browser sends your IP address to Google when you visit. See Google’s Privacy Policy.
  • Email. Contact form messages are delivered to us by email through our email provider, Fastmail. See Fastmail’s Privacy Policy.
  • External links. This site links to other websites, such as the Solid Community and ANU Software Innovation Institute. We are not responsible for their privacy practices.

How we use and share your information

We use your personal information only for the purpose you provided it for, or as otherwise permitted or required by law. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information, and we do not use it for marketing without your consent.

Some of our service providers may store data outside Australia. Where that happens, we choose providers that take reasonable steps to protect it.

Storage and security

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We keep it only as long as we need it for the purposes above, or as required by law, and then delete it.

Access and correction

You can ask to access or correct the personal information we hold about you, or ask us to delete it, by contacting us using the details below. We will respond within a reasonable time.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be available on this page, with the date it was last updated.

Contact us

Private Insights Pty Ltd
108 North Road, Australian National University,
Acton ACT 2601,
Australia
Email: