Privacy policy.

Who we are

Tidewire (ABN 33 701 759 112) provides IT support, Microsoft 365 management, web development and hosting, and digital marketing and SEO to Australian small businesses. We are bound by the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles. Questions about this policy go to hello@tidewire.com.au.

What we collect

• Contact details you give us when you email, call, or fill in the contact form on this website: name, business name, email address, phone number, and what you tell us about your situation.
• Client records for businesses we work with: contacts, support requests, work notes, invoices and payment status. These live in Tidedesk, our customer portal at tidedesk.tidewire.com.au.
• Website usage on tidewire.com.au: pages viewed, approximate location, device and browser type, and page performance or error events. This is collected by Google Analytics and Amazon CloudWatch RUM, both of which set cookies. We do not use this data to identify you.
• Account data from your Google or Microsoft services, only when you have asked us to manage or report on them. See the next section.

Access to your Google and Microsoft accounts

Some of our services need access to accounts you own, such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Ads, Google Tag Manager, or a Microsoft 365 tenant. You grant that access yourself, either by adding a Tidewire user or service account to your account, or by signing in with Google and approving the permissions shown. You can withdraw it at any time by removing the user from your account, or for Google sign-in at myaccount.google.com/permissions.

We use that access only to deliver the work you have engaged us for: reporting on traffic and search performance, managing campaigns and budgets, verifying and configuring your website, and administering your tenant. Specifically, we:

• do not sell your data, and do not use it for advertising of our own;
• do not share it with anyone except as needed to provide the service to you, or where the law requires;
• do not use it to build profiles of the people who visit your website or contact your business;
• let humans read it only with your consent, for security or support, or to comply with the law.

Our use of information received from Google APIs follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.

Why we use your information

• To respond to enquiries and deliver the services you have agreed to.
• To run support cases, invoice you, and keep a record of work done.
• To understand how this website is used so we can improve it.
• To meet legal and accounting obligations.

We do not send marketing email to anyone who has not asked for it.

Where it is stored

This website and Tidedesk run on Amazon Web Services in Sydney, Australia. Transactional email from Tidedesk is sent through Amazon Simple Email Service. Enquiries sent through the contact form are stored on Amazon Web Services in Sydney and emailed to us the same way. Google Analytics data is held by Google and may be processed outside Australia. Client documents we work on for you stay in your own Microsoft 365 or Google account wherever possible.

How we protect it

Access to client data is limited to the people doing the work, protected by multi-factor authentication, and encrypted in transit and at rest. Passwords and access keys are kept in a password manager, never in email or documents. If we become aware of a data breach that is likely to cause you serious harm, we will tell you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as the law requires.

How long we keep it

Client records are kept for the length of our engagement and for seven years afterwards where tax and accounting law requires it. Enquiries that do not become work are deleted within twelve months. Access to your Google or Microsoft accounts ends when you remove it or when our engagement ends, whichever comes first.

Your rights

You can ask us what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it where we are not required to keep it. Email hello@tidewire.com.au and we will respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Cookies

tidewire.com.au sets cookies for Google Analytics and Amazon CloudWatch RUM. They measure traffic and site performance and are not used to identify you. You can block them in your browser without affecting the site. Tidedesk sets a session cookie so you stay signed in. The enquiry form keeps your answers in your browser's session storage until you send it or close the tab, so a refresh doesn't lose them, and for the length of a visit the site remembers which page or ad you arrived from. Neither leaves your browser unless you send an enquiry, and then only with it.

Changes

When this policy changes, the new version is published here with a new date at the top. Material changes for existing clients are also sent by email.

Contact

Tidewire · hello@tidewire.com.au · 0439 649 099 · Remote-first, Australia-wide.