Privacy, in plain terms.

About this policy

paulthinks.com is the personal website of Paul Hewett. This policy explains what personal information I collect when you visit the site or interact with me, how I use it, who I share it with, and your rights under Australian law.

This is a personal site. There is no business entity behind it. The "I" in this policy refers to me, Paul Hewett, personally.

If you have questions about this policy or how I handle your information, email hello@paulthinks.com.

Who this policy covers

This policy applies to:

• visitors to paulthinks.com
• people who contact me through the site

What personal information I collect

I collect personal information you give me directly:

• Email correspondence: your name, email address and any information you choose to share when you email me.

The contact page prepares an email draft in your browser. It does not submit your name, email address or message to this website or Mailchimp. I receive your message only if you send the draft from your email app. The copy button copies the draft to your device's clipboard. Contacting me does not subscribe you to marketing communications.

Newsletter and SMS subscriptions are not currently open. No subscription information is collected through the site while email updates are in preparation.

I also collect some technical information automatically through analytics tools (see Analytics and cookies below).

I do not collect payment information through this site. There are no paid products or services for sale here.

How I use your information

I use the personal information I collect for these purposes:

• Reply to you when you contact me.
• Analyse aggregated traffic patterns to improve the site.
• Comply with legal obligations.

I do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. I do not use it for any purpose other than those stated above without your consent.

Marketing consent and Spam Act compliance

Newsletter and SMS subscriptions are not currently open. Any future marketing communications will require explicit subscription. The Spam Act 2003 (Cth) requires:

• Consent: you must have actively opted in.
• Identification: every message must clearly identify me as the sender.
• Unsubscribe: every message must include a working unsubscribe option.

For any existing subscription, you can unsubscribe at any time:

• Email: click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any newsletter.
• SMS: reply STOP to any message.
• Either: email hello@paulthinks.com.

Who I share your information with

I use the following third-party service providers to operate this site:

Service	Used for	Data location
Mailchimp	Account prepared for future email updates; website signup is inactive	United States
Cloudflare	Website hosting and edge delivery	Global edge network
Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager	Optional website traffic measurement	Global, controlled by Google
OpenSEO	Search performance reporting and audits of public pages	See OpenSEO's privacy policy

These providers process your information on my behalf, under their respective privacy policies. They are not authorised to use your information for any other purpose.

I will share your information without your consent only when required by law (court order, regulatory investigation) or to protect the rights, property, or safety of others.

Cross-border data transfers

The website currently sends no contact or subscription form data to Mailchimp. If email subscriptions open, this policy and the signup information will explain the service provider and any overseas processing before you subscribe.

Cloudflare may serve content from servers globally, including outside Australia, and process request information such as IP addresses for delivery and security.

Analytics and cookies

Google Analytics 4 measures page visits and interactions only after you choose Allow analytics. Google Tag Manager loads the analytics tags. Rejecting analytics does not affect reading the site or contacting me. The site honours supported browser Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control signals.

Analytics can record the page visited, device and browser information, approximate location, referral source, scrolling, outbound links and downloads. The email draft composer does not send form contents or a successful-submission event to analytics.

Your analytics choice is saved in this browser for up to 180 days. When you allow analytics, Google may set first-party cookies beginning with _ga. Use Analytics preferences at the bottom of any public page to change your choice. Rejecting analytics stops collection and clears the site's Google Analytics cookies; it does not erase reports already collected.

Cloudflare processes requests to host and secure the site, including bot and crawler activity. These operational services are separate from optional Google Analytics. I use Search Console to understand how public pages appear in Google Search. OpenSEO reads the connected Search Console reports and audits public pages to help me improve the site. It does not add a tracking script to your browser.

I do not enable advertising personalisation or Google Signals on this site.

Your rights under Australian law

Under the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), you have the right to:

• Access the personal information I hold about you.
• Correct any information that's inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date.
• Request deletion of your personal information.
• Withdraw consent for marketing at any time.
• Complain if you believe your privacy has been breached.

To exercise any of these rights, email hello@paulthinks.com. I'll respond within 30 days.

Notifiable Data Breaches scheme

If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm to you, I am required to notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. I take data security seriously and use reputable service providers (Mailchimp, Cloudflare) that maintain industry-standard security controls.

How long I keep your information

Information	Retention period
Newsletter and SMS subscriber data	While subscribed, plus 12 months after unsubscribe
Email correspondence	Up to 7 years for record-keeping
Anonymised analytics	Per provider's default (typically 14 months)

I will delete or de-identify your information sooner if you request it, unless I'm required to retain it by law.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about how I've handled your personal information:

1. Contact me first at hello@paulthinks.com. I'll investigate and respond within 30 days.
2. If you're not satisfied, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au or 1300 363 992.

Children

This site is not directed at children under 18. I do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided me with personal information, contact me and I'll delete it.

Changes to this policy

I may update this policy from time to time. The "Effective" date at the top will reflect when the latest version came into force. If I make significant changes, I'll notify newsletter subscribers by email.

Contact

For any questions, requests, or complaints related to this policy:

Paul Hewett
Email: hello@paulthinks.com
Postal address: provided on request.