Privacy Policy

The Digital Compass is an Australian management consultancy, operated by The Digital Compass Pty. Ltd. ACN (to be confirmed) ABN (to be confirmed).

This policy explains how we handle personal information: what we collect and why, who we share it with, and how you can see it, correct it or make a complaint. We follow the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.

It covers our clients and the people we work with at client organisations, the consultants and partner firms who deliver our work, people who contact us or visit our website, people who come to our events or subscribe to our updates, and our suppliers.

Sensitive information

Some information, such as health information or criminal record information, is sensitive under the Privacy Act. We only collect it with your consent and where it is reasonably necessary, for example a police check a client requires for an engagement, or accessibility needs for an event.

Staying anonymous

You can make a general enquiry without giving us your name, or using a pseudonym. We can't deliver work for you or engage you as a consultant without knowing who you are.

• From you, when you email or call us, meet with us, fill in a form on our website, sign up to the TDC Platform, sign an agreement with us or register for an event.
• From meetings. We may record or transcribe meetings held on our Microsoft 365 accounts to capture notes and actions. We always tell participants beforehand and ask for their agreement.
• From our consultants and partners, when they introduce us to an organisation.
• From clients, who give us the details of their people we'll work with on an engagement.
• From public sources, such as company websites and professional networking sites like LinkedIn.
• From others with your consent, such as referees, insurers or background check providers.

Cookies are small files your browser stores. We use cookies the site needs to function and, where we use analytics tools, cookies that tell us how visitors use the site in aggregate, such as which pages are popular. We don't use them to identify you personally.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Some parts of the site may not work as well if you do.

• To respond to enquiries and manage our relationships with clients, consultants, partners and suppliers.
• To scope, propose and deliver consulting engagements.
• To put together the right team for each engagement.
• To run our internal systems for contracts, insurance and compliance checks, timesheets, expenses, invoices and payments.
• To send marketing, newsletters and event invitations (section 6).
• To show who works with us, by naming the consultants and partner firms who have agreed to it, with their logo, photo or experience summary, on our website and in proposals.
• To keep our systems and information secure.
• To meet our legal obligations, including tax, accounting and record keeping.
• To record the case studies and references that clients and contacts have agreed to, and to use them when we bid for work.
• To improve our services.

We won't use your information for an unrelated purpose unless you agree or the law allows it.

We send marketing to business contacts, subscribers and the consultants who work with us where the law allows, in line with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). Every marketing email has an unsubscribe link, or you can email enquiries@thedigitalcompass.com.au and we'll take you off the list.

If you register for an event, we use your details to run it. If we take photos or video at an event, we'll say so at the event.

We use AI tools in our internal systems and our day-to-day work to draft documents, summarise notes, answer questions about our policies and help us identify which consultants suit an engagement. We use these tools under business terms that don't allow our data to be used to train the provider's models. Nobody working on our engagements may put a client's personal information into an AI tool unless the client has agreed.

AI may help us identify consultants who suit an engagement, based on their experience, skills and availability, and our systems check that anyone working on an engagement has a signed agreement and current insurance. People make the decisions. We don't make any decision that significantly affects you by automated means alone.

• Clients, when we propose a consultant for an engagement. We share the details of their experience relevant to that work.
• Consultants and partner firms delivering an engagement, who receive the work contact details of client staff they need to deal with. They are bound by our agreements and policies.
• Service providers who run technology for us, such as email and document storage, accounting, electronic signing and AI tools.
• Professional advisers, such as our accountants, lawyers and insurers.
• Government agencies and regulators, where the law requires it, such as the Australian Taxation Office.

We never sell personal information.

Some of our service providers may store or process personal information outside Australia. The country where this is most likely is the United States. Some providers also use data centres in other countries, which can change over time.

We choose established providers and take reasonable steps, including through our contracts with them, to make sure they handle personal information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.

We limit access to the people who need it, secure the devices and accounts used for our work, and keep client information on client systems or our own wherever we can. Everyone who works on our engagements is bound by our confidentiality, privacy and security requirements.

We keep personal information while we need it for the purposes in section 5, and for as long as we must keep records for tax, accounting and legal reasons. Everyone who works on our engagements must delete engagement information held outside our systems within 10 business days of the engagement ending.

If you ask us to close your TDC Platform account, we'll delete your details and keep only the records we are legally required to keep. When we no longer need information, we destroy it or de-identify it securely.

• Email enquiries@thedigitalcompass.com.au with "Privacy" in the subject line. We'll check your identity before we release anything.
• We'll respond within 30 days. There's no charge to ask.
• Consultants can update most of their own details directly in the TDC Platform.
• If we refuse a request, we'll tell you why in writing and how you can complain.

If we suspect a data breach, we contain it and assess it straight away. Where it is likely to cause serious harm, we notify the people affected and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

If you think we've mishandled your personal information, email enquiries@thedigitalcompass.com.au with "Privacy complaint" in the subject line. We'll acknowledge it, look into it and respond within 30 days.

If you're not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992.