Privacy Policy

Who we are

The Australian Retirement Toolkit ("we", "us", "our") is an Australian website providing retirement planning tools, calculators and workbooks for Australians aged 50 and over. It is owned and operated by Barry Istuk as an individual/sole proprietor. We do not currently hold an Australian Business Number (ABN) and are not registered as a company. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use and protect your personal information when you visit our site, sign up to hear from us, or purchase a digital workbook.

What we collect

We only collect information that you choose to give us or that is generated when you use the site. This may include:

• Email address: when you join our newsletter, a workbook waitlist, or create an account to access purchased workbooks.
• Account information: if you sign in (including via Google), we receive your email address and a unique account identifier so we can grant you access to workbooks you have purchased.
• Order records: when you buy a workbook, we receive a record of the transaction from our payment reseller Paddle (see below) — for example the product purchased, order reference, amount, currency, buyer email and country.
• Calculator inputs: numbers you enter into our calculators are processed in your browser and are not sent to or stored by us.
• Technical information: standard browser data such as your IP address, device type, pages visited and referral source, collected through standard website analytics to help us improve the site.

Payments and Paddle (Merchant of Record)

Purchases on this site are processed by our reseller, Paddle.com Market Ltd and its affiliates ("Paddle"), which acts as the Merchant of Record for all orders. When you buy a workbook:

• Paddle collects and processes the personal and payment information required to complete the sale, including your name, email, billing address, country and payment method details.
• We do not receive or store your full card number, CVV or bank details. Card and payment details are entered directly into Paddle's hosted checkout and remain with Paddle and its payment processors.
• We receive limited order information back from Paddle (such as the product, order reference, buyer email and amount) so we can grant you access to your workbook and provide customer support.
• Paddle and The Australian Retirement Toolkit may each act as independent controllers of the personal information they hold in relation to a transaction, where applicable under data protection law. Paddle's own privacy notice describes how it handles buyer information and is available at paddle.com/legal/privacy.

How we use your information

We use the information we collect to:

• Send you the newsletter or product updates you signed up for;
• Notify you when a workbook you are waiting for becomes available;
• Provide access to workbooks you have purchased and send delivery/receipt emails;
• Improve the website, calculators and user experience;
• Respond to your enquiries; and
• Comply with legal obligations, including tax and record-keeping.

Cookies and analytics

We use small text files (cookies) and common analytics services (such as Google Analytics) to understand how visitors use the site. You can disable cookies in your browser settings if you prefer. We do not use intrusive tracking or advertising cookies.

Third parties and service providers

We use trusted service providers to operate the site. These currently include:

• Paddle — reseller and Merchant of Record for purchases (see above).
• Hosting and backend infrastructure — to run the website, store your account and order records, and deliver your workbook files.
• Email delivery providers — to send newsletters, waitlist updates and transactional purchase/receipt emails.
• Analytics providers — to measure site usage in aggregate.

These providers may process your information only on our behalf, or as independent controllers where the law requires (as is the case for Paddle in relation to payment data). We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information for marketing purposes.

Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect your information from unauthorised access, loss or misuse, including encrypted connections, access controls and using a PCI-compliant payment reseller for card processing. However, no internet transmission is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Data retention

We keep account and order records for as long as necessary to provide access to purchased workbooks, support customers, and comply with our legal, tax and accounting obligations. When information is no longer required we will delete or anonymise it.

Your rights

Under Australian privacy law you have the right to access, correct or request deletion of the personal information we hold about you. You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time using the link in any message. To exercise these rights, contact us at the address below. For payment-specific data held by Paddle, requests can also be made directly to Paddle.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will always be posted on this page with the effective date noted below.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information, please contact us at hello@genxretirementtools.com.