Privacy Policy | O'Connor Digital Marketing

1. Who I am and what this policy covers

O'Connor Digital Marketing (ABN 11 784 527 097) is a sole-trader business run by me, Nate O'Connor, from Brisbane, Queensland. I build and look after websites, run digital marketing and set up AI tools for small businesses and clubs in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.

I handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This policy covers this website (oconnordigitalmarketing.com.au) and the personal information I collect while doing work for you. It does not cover the websites I build or manage for other people, as each of those has its own privacy policy and its owner decides how their visitors' information is handled.

By using this website or working with me, you agree to the way I handle information as set out here. If anything is unclear, email me at nate@oconnordm.com.au and I will answer within 24 business hours.

2. What I collect

I only collect what I need to reply to you, do the work you have asked for and run the business. That comes down to four kinds of information.

Contact details. Your name, business name, email address, phone number if you give it, and your website address. This is what the forms on this site ask for.
Enquiry and project information. What you tell me about your business and what you want done, whether that is in a form, an email, a phone call or a document you send me. During a build this includes the content for your website, such as your logo, photos, page text and staff names, and during marketing work it includes your business accounts and the results from them.
Business and billing information. Your business address, ABN and the details I need to invoice you and record payment. I do not collect or store your credit card or bank account details, as payments come to me by bank transfer and are recorded in my accounting software.
Website usage information. How this website is used, such as the pages visited, how long people stay, roughly where they are and what device and browser they use. This is collected by Google Analytics and is not tied to your name unless you fill in a form.

I do not collect sensitive information (such as health, religion or political views) and I do not need it for any of the work I do. If you send it to me by accident, I will delete it.

3. How I collect it

Most of what I hold comes straight from you: the four forms on this site (the short Let's Talk form, the booking form, the message form and the free audit form), email, phone calls and the files you share with me.

The free audit form asks for your website address because that is what the audit is run on. I use it to crawl your site with automated tools and to read the result myself, and I use your email address to send you the summary. Nothing else is done with it.

The booking form checks my calendars for free times and, when you book, creates the call in my Google Calendar and sends the invite to both of us. I phone you on the number you give me. Many pages also have a short Let's Talk form that asks for your name, email and topic before you pick a time. When you send it, those details come to me straight away, so I still have them if the booking is not finished, and they are held in your browser for that visit only, to carry them to the booking form. Everything you send through these forms is handled as section 7 explains.

When you engage me to build or manage a website, run your marketing or set up AI tools, I will usually need access to accounts you own, such as your website, your hosting, your Google Business Profile, your social media pages or your advertising accounts. I only access what the work needs and only for as long as it needs it, and you can remove that access at any time.

Some information is collected automatically through cookies and analytics when you visit this site, which section 5 explains.

I do not collect personal information about you from anyone else without telling you, and I do not use hidden or misleading ways to collect it.

4. How I use it

I use the information I hold to:

reply to your enquiry and book, hold and follow up the call you asked for
run and send your free audit
quote for, deliver and support the work you have asked for, which can include building and hosting your website, writing your content, managing your search and social presence, and setting up AI tools on your accounts
invoice you, record payment and keep the records the ATO requires
send you updates about work in progress, your care plan or your renewals
understand how this website is used so I can improve it

I do not use your information for anything you would not expect from that list. I do not send marketing emails unless you have asked for them, and every one includes an unsubscribe link. I do not sell or rent personal information to anyone, and I never will.

5. Cookies and website analytics

This site uses Google Analytics 4 to measure how the site is used, so I can see which pages are read and where enquiries come from. Google Analytics sets cookies and collects usage data such as pages visited, time on page, device type and approximate location. IP addresses are not stored by Google Analytics 4. You can stop Google Analytics collecting data in any browser with Google's opt-out add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout (opens in a new tab).

The site also uses your browser's temporary storage to carry your details from the Let's Talk form to the booking form, and your browser's storage to remember whether you chose light or dark mode. The hosting network may set a security cookie to tell people from bots.

There is no advertising tracking on this site. I do not run the Facebook Pixel, Google Ads conversion tags or any tool that tracks you across other websites. If that changes I will update this page first.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings at any time, and the site will still work.

6. Who else sees your information

I use a small set of platforms to run the business, and each one holds some of your information because the work runs through it. I have listed each one below by what it does, and where I name a provider I have linked its privacy policy, so you can see how they handle data too.

Google Workspace (Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive) is where my email, calendar and working files live. Your enquiry, our call booking and the files you send me are all held here. https://policies.google.com/privacy (opens in a new tab)
Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console measure how this website is used and how it appears in search. https://policies.google.com/privacy (opens in a new tab)
Google Business Profile is where my reviews are left. The reviews quoted on this site are public on Google and show the reviewer's name as Google does. I quote them as written, apart from small spelling and grammar fixes, and where I have shortened one, "..." marks the cut. If you left a review and would like it taken off this site, email me and I will remove it. https://policies.google.com/privacy (opens in a new tab)
Website hosting. This website, and the static sites I build, run on a global cloud hosting network, which also receives the forms you send through this site (section 7) and processes your IP address to deliver pages and protect the site from attacks. The WordPress websites I manage are hosted with Brella Tech on servers in Australia. If I host your WordPress site, Brella Tech invoices you directly for the hosting and holds your billing details for that purpose. https://www.brellatech.com.au/ (opens in a new tab)
Xero is my accounting software and holds your business name, address, ABN and invoice history. https://www.xero.com/au/legal/privacy/ (opens in a new tab)
ManageWP is the tool I use to update, back up and monitor the WordPress websites I look after. https://www.godaddy.com/legal/agreements/privacy-policy (opens in a new tab)
A social media scheduling tool publishes posts on your behalf when you are on a social plan. It connects to your pages only with your permission, and you can remove that access at any time.
AI assistants from providers based in the United States help me with my own work, such as drafting, research and building. I use them on accounts with model training switched off, so the providers do not train their models on what I put in. When I set AI up for you, it runs on a subscription in your name, so your data sits under your own account.

Some of these providers store data outside Australia, mainly in the United States, and each one handles that under its own policy linked above.

Beyond these platforms, I share your information only when the work needs it (for example, giving your domain registrar your contact details), when the law requires it, or when you have asked me to. I do not share it with advertisers, data brokers or anyone who would use it for their own marketing.

7. How I store and protect it

Your information is stored in the cloud platforms above, each protected by a strong unique password and two-factor authentication, and on a computer that is encrypted and locked when I am not at it. Form submissions from this website are emailed to me, and a copy is kept in a database on the hosting network so nothing is lost if an email goes astray. Along with what you typed, the copy records the time, the page you sent it from and your browser and device type, plus a scrambled code made from your IP address with a secret key, which does not show the address itself. I use that code only to stop one connection sending more than a few forms in a short time, which keeps spam out, and your actual IP address is not stored. That database is set to prefer servers in the Oceania region, but the network may store or process it in other countries. I do not keep paper records.

Access to the accounts you give me is used only by me, as there is no one else in the business.

I keep your information for as long as I need it for the purpose I collected it, and then I delete it. I do a clear-out once a year, and I will delete your information sooner if you ask me to (section 8 explains how). In practice that means:

Enquiries that do not go ahead are kept for at least 12 months from the last contact, in case you come back to me.
Free audit submissions, including your website address and the audit result, are kept for at least 12 months so I can refer back to them if you engage me.
Project files and correspondence are kept for as long as you are a client and for at least two years after, so I can support the site and answer questions about the work.
Invoices and business records are kept for at least five years, which is what the ATO requires of an Australian business.
Website analytics data in Google Analytics 4 is kept for 14 months, which is the longest retention setting Google offers for the property.

If a data breach happens that is likely to cause you serious harm, I will tell you what happened and what you can do about it as soon as I can, and I will notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, in line with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

8. Seeing and correcting your information

You can ask me at any time for a copy of the personal information I hold about you, or ask me to correct or delete it. Email nate@oconnordm.com.au and I will reply within 24 business hours and complete the request within 30 days. There is no charge.

The only times I would not delete something are where the law requires me to keep it (an invoice within the five-year period, for example) or where deleting it would affect someone else's privacy, and in either case I will tell you why.

9. Complaints

If you think I have mishandled your personal information, email me at nate@oconnordm.com.au with what happened and I will reply within 24 business hours and work through it with you. I aim to resolve any complaint within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with my response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), which is the independent regulator for privacy in Australia. The OAIC asks that you raise it with the business first, so please come to me before going to them.

Website: https://www.oaic.gov.au (opens in a new tab)
Phone: 1300 363 992

10. Changes to this policy

I will update this policy when the way I work changes or when the law does. The "Last updated" date at the top of the page tells you when that last happened. If a change affects what I collect or who I share it with, I will email you before it takes effect if I am doing work for you at the time. Please check this page from time to time, as continuing to use the site or work with me after a change means you accept the updated policy.