Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how SOCii PTY LTD (“SOCii”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal information in connection with the website located at https://www.socii.au (“the Site”).

SOCii is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly. SOCii PTY LTD is a socialist-modelled private civics and humanity research and development company operating as an independent public-benefit institute in Australia and the United States. This policy is written in compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and with reference to applicable United States privacy requirements and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where relevant to our operations. While SOCii may not be legally required to comply with the APPs in all circumstances (based on annual turnover thresholds), we voluntarily adopt these standards as a matter of principle.

2. Scope of this policy

This Privacy Policy applies only to the Site at https://www.socii.au. SOCii also operates the following sub-applications and platforms, each of which has its own privacy policy:

• Research — published research articles and datasets at /research
• SOCii Account — the central identity service at persona.socii.au, used by this Site and by Social Services platforms
• SOCii Social Services — Account, Messages, EMMI, Antify, ANTIX, Comorbid, and future platforms, described at /social
• AMI — Accessible Private AI Assistant (iOS), with its own account at ami.socii.au
• sitepaper.app — website-to-report analysis, with its own account at sitepaper.app
• AGLC4ME — legal citation lists (web app and Chrome extension), with its own account
• EMMI — Ethical Merchant & Maker Index at emmi.socii.au. EMMI is a live discovery platform with its own terms and privacy notice. Searching or claiming a listing on EMMI is governed by that platform, not by this Site.
• ANTIX — a planned social platform at antix.social. ANTIX has its own terms and privacy notices. SOCii Account does not automatically reserve an ANTIX persona, and this Site does not collect ANTIX registration information.
• ASON — planned Australian community cloud infrastructure under SOCii Systems

When you navigate from the Site to the research platform, to Social Services, to EMMI, to ANTIX, to AMI, sitepaper.app, AGLC4ME, or to ASON, you leave the Site and become subject to the privacy policy of the respective platform. We encourage you to review those policies independently.

3. Information we collect

You can browse most of the Site without creating an account. Full-length research articles (other than specifically public reports) require a free SOCii Account so we can publish responsibly. Identity is created and managed at persona.socii.au.

However, the following types of information may be collected automatically when you visit the Site:

3.1 Technical and usage data

• IP address (which may be anonymised or truncated before storage)
• Browser type and version
• Operating system
• Referring URL (the page you visited before arriving at the Site)
• Pages viewed on the Site and time spent on each page
• Date and time of visit
• Screen resolution and device type

This data is collected for the purpose of understanding how visitors use the Site, improving its design and performance, and ensuring the security and availability of the Site.

Audience analytics on the Site is provided by Vercel Web Analytics when the Site is deployed on Vercel. This service collects aggregate usage data such as pages viewed, referrers, device type, browser, and approximate location (country/region). IP addresses are not stored in a form that identifies individuals. Vercel Web Analytics does not use advertising cookies or cross-site tracking.

3.2 Contact information

If you contact SOCii through any contact mechanism provided on the Site (including mailto links and the support, media, and major-supporter forms), we will collect the personal information you voluntarily provide, including your name, email address, and the content of your message. Form submissions are emailed to chat@socii.au so we can reply. Reply-to is set to the address you provide.

3.3 Server and hosting logs

Our hosting provider may collect standard server access logs (such as requested URLs, response codes, and timestamps) for security and reliability. These logs are used to operate and protect the Site and are not used for advertising or profiling.

3.4 SOCii Account

Sign-in, account creation, profile, personas, verification, security and preferences are provided by SOCii Account at persona.socii.au — not by a separate membership database on this Site. When you sign in, this Site uses the shared Clerk session to recognise you for member-gated research. We may receive identity claims from SOCii Account (such as a user identifier, display name, and email address) solely to operate that access and related notifications. Passwords are not stored on this Site. Research CMS credentials remain a separate staff login.

4. Cookies and local storage

The Site may use the following technologies:

4.1 Essential cookies

These are cookies that are strictly necessary for the operation of the Site, such as session management and security tokens. They do not track you across other websites and cannot be opted out of.

4.2 Analytics

We use Vercel Web Analytics to understand how visitors use the Site. This privacy-focused tool is configured to:

• Collect aggregate page views and navigation patterns
• Not track users across other websites
• Not use persistent advertising or profiling cookies
• Not collect personally identifiable information

Custom events (such as donation modal interactions) may also be recorded in aggregate to help us improve public-interest features on the Site. SOCii does not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or any advertising tracking technology on the Site.

4.3 Local storage

The Site may use browser local storage and essential cookies to remember preferences and to keep a Clerk session (signed-in authentication tokens) so this Site can recognise your SOCii Account. Session data is used only to operate access on this Site; profile management remains at persona.socii.au.

5. How we use your information

Information collected through the Site is used solely for the following purposes:

• Operating, maintaining, and improving the Site
• Understanding how visitors interact with the Site (aggregate analytics)
• Responding to enquiries you send to us
• Recognising a SOCii Account session so you can read member-gated research and receive updates you have chosen
• Ensuring the security and integrity of the Site
• Complying with applicable legal obligations

We do not use your information for advertising, profiling, automated decision-making, or any purpose unrelated to the operation of the Site and SOCii’s mission as a civics and humanity research and development company.

6. Interaction with SOCii sub-applications

This Site does not operate a separate public membership. Sign-in and profile data live in SOCii Account at persona.socii.au. Authentication state is shared via Clerk so you can sign in once and use this Site together with Social Services platforms (Messages, EMMI, Antify, ANTIX, Comorbid) without creating a second identity. Research CMS credentials are a separate staff login and are not the same as SOCii Account.

Profile, personas, grants and preferences are managed in SOCii Account. This Site may receive identity claims needed to recognise your session. When you open another SOCii app from Account, that app’s own privacy notice applies to data it holds.

7. Data retention

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected:

• Analytics data: Aggregate audience analytics collected by Vercel Web Analytics is retained according to Vercel’s data retention policy for Web Analytics (typically up to 24 months). IP addresses are not stored in an identifiable form.
• Contact enquiries: Information provided through contact messages is retained for as long as necessary to respond to and resolve your enquiry, and for a reasonable period afterward for record-keeping purposes.
• SOCii Account: Identity, profile, personas and preferences are retained by SOCii Account at persona.socii.au for as long as the account remains active. You can manage or request deletion from Account, or by contacting chat@socii.au.
• Local storage: Data stored in your browser (such as theme preferences and session tokens) is retained until you sign out or clear your browser data.

8. Disclosure of information

SOCii PTY LTD does not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may disclose personal information only in the following circumstances:

• Where required or authorised by Australian law (including in response to a lawful subpoena, court order, or regulatory request)
• To trusted service providers who assist in operating the Site (such as hosting and analytics provider Vercel Inc.), subject to appropriate confidentiality and data processing agreements
• To protect the rights, property, or safety of SOCii PTY LTD, its users, or the public

We do not transfer personal information outside of Australia or the United States unless necessary for the operation of the Site or our sub-applications (for example, if our hosting infrastructure is located in a jurisdiction outside those countries). Where we use overseas providers for any personal information, we take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient handles it in accordance with the APPs, applicable United States privacy law, and GDPR requirements where relevant.

9. Your rights

Under Australian privacy law, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of any inaccurate or outdated personal information
• Request deletion of your personal information, where it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected
• Complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) if you believe your privacy has been breached

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided at the end of this policy. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

10. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. These measures include:

• HTTPS encryption for all Site traffic
• Secure server infrastructure with access controls
• Regular security reviews and updates
• Minimisation of data collection

No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Children’s privacy

The Site is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us, please contact us and we will take steps to delete that information.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, or legal requirements. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

13. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your privacy rights, or want to make a complaint, please contact us via email or our support page:

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):