Privacy Policy — The AI Directory Australia

Last updated: 12 October 2026

The AI Directory Australia ("we", "us", "our") is an independent editorial publication that reviews and scores AI tools for Australians. We publish this site under ABN 80 471 576 336 and we are responsible for how your personal information is handled. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, where it goes, and the choices you have.

As a small business, we may not be legally bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). We follow the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) anyway, and this policy explains how. If the Act doesn't apply to us, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) may not be able to deal with a complaint about us, so please raise any concern with us first. We'll treat it as if the Act applies.

The short version

We collect very little: your email address (and first name, if you give it) when you join, which of our emails you open and click, aggregate website analytics and, only if you pay us, the details needed to run your membership. Full card numbers go to Stripe, never to us.
We do not sell your personal information. Ever.
We use affiliate links, which we disclose. They don't change our verdicts.
Our providers are mostly overseas, mainly in the Netherlands and the United States.
You can unsubscribe, ask what we hold, ask us to correct or delete it, or make a complaint — details below.

What personal information we collect

We keep collection to a minimum. Depending on how you use the site, we may collect:

Newsletter email address. If you subscribe, we collect the email address you provide (and a first name, if you choose to give one).
Account and sign-up details. When you join, our platform records when you joined, the page you signed up from and the site that referred you, your approximate location, worked out from your IP address at sign-up, when you last signed in, and which of our emails you've received.
Membership and payment details. If you become a paid member or leave a tip, we hold your name (if given), email address, membership tier, billing period, trial and renewal dates, payment history and Stripe customer reference. Our platform also shows us your card type, last four digits and expiry date, so we can help with billing questions. Full card numbers go to Stripe, never to us.
Supporters page. If you're a paid member and you ask us to, we publish the name you choose on our Supporters page. We never add a name unless you ask, and we'll remove it whenever you say.
Usage and analytics data. When you visit, we collect aggregate, non-identifying information such as pages viewed, approximate location (country or region), device and browser type, and the site that referred you. We use this in aggregate to understand what readers find useful.
Newsletter engagement. If you subscribe, our newsletter platform records whether you open our emails and which links you click. Unlike our website analytics, this is linked to your subscription — we use it to see what's useful and to tailor what we send you.
Correspondence. If you email us — for example, replying to the newsletter or contacting the editor — we receive your email address and whatever you choose to tell us.

We don't ask for or collect sensitive information (such as health or government-identifier data). You don't need an account to read any published review. Paid members see some new editions a week early, and everyone can read them after that.

How we collect it

Directly from you: when you subscribe, join as a member, pay us, or email us.
From Stripe: confirmation that a payment succeeded and the status of your subscription.
Automatically: through our platform's analytics, sign-in cookies and the payment script described under Cookies, local storage and analytics.

Why we collect it and how we use it

We only use your personal information for the purpose you'd reasonably expect:

To send you the newsletter you asked for.
To improve and tailor the newsletter — using which emails you open and what you click to make it more relevant, for example leaning into the topics you actually read.
To send you offers, only if you opt in. At sign-up you can tick a separate box for occasional emails about deals on AI tools we've reviewed (some are affiliate offers, which we disclose) and about membership. We send these only to people who ticked that box, you can stop them on their own without losing the newsletter, and every one carries an unsubscribe link. We never sell or rent your details to anyone.
To run your membership: billing through Stripe, managing trials, renewals and cancellations, sending receipts and account emails, and delivering member extras.
To understand and improve what we publish (aggregate website analytics).
To reply to you if you contact us.
To keep the records the law requires, such as tax records of payments.
To meet any legal obligations that apply to us.

We will not use your information for an unrelated purpose without your consent, unless we're required or authorised to by law.

Cookies, local storage and analytics

We use Ghost's built-in analytics to count page views and see which pages are useful. It doesn't use advertising cookies and doesn't follow you to other websites. It keeps a random session identifier in your browser's local storage, and our platform sends page-view data to its analytics provider to produce aggregate reports. We don't run Google Analytics, a Facebook Pixel or any advertising tracker.

When you sign in as a member, our platform sets first-party cookies so the site remembers you. It also notes in local storage which pages you viewed before signing up, so we can see which pages lead people to join.

Because we accept payments, every page loads Stripe's payment script (js.stripe.com). Stripe uses it to prevent fraud. It may set its own cookies and collect device and browser information even if you never pay. Stripe handles that information under its own privacy policy.

Our sign-up window and site search come from a public content-delivery network (jsDelivr), but they aren't part of the page when it first loads. They load the first time you tap, click, press a key or move focus on a page (on a phone, touching the screen to scroll counts), or when you open a sign-up or search link. If you're signed in as a member, or arriving from a sign-in link or a Stripe checkout, they load straight away. Once they've loaded, errors in the sign-up window are reported to our platform's error-monitoring service (Sentry, in the United States). jsDelivr receives your IP address and browser details when it sends these files, and Sentry receives them with any error report.

You can block or clear cookies and local storage in your browser. You'll still be able to read every review, but signing in, signing up and paying may not work.

Affiliate links and third-party sites

Some links to the AI tools we review are affiliate links — if you click through and sign up, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This never affects our scores or verdicts; our reviews are independent and affiliate relationships are disclosed. See our Affiliate Disclosure for the full explanation.

When you click a link to a third-party site (an AI vendor, for example), that site has its own privacy policy. We're not responsible for how third parties handle your information — check their policy before you hand anything over.

We don't sell or rent your personal information. We share it only with the service providers we use to run the publication, and only so they can perform that service for us:

Ghost (Ghost Foundation): hosts the site, member accounts and analytics, and sends our emails through its email delivery provider, Mailgun.
Stripe: processes paid memberships and tips.
Microsoft 365: stores email you send us.
Customer relationship management: HubSpot. If you email us or use a form on our site, your name, email address and message may be stored in HubSpot so we can track and reply to it. HubSpot stores data in data centres that include the United States. We use it only to deal with your request, and we never use it to send you marketing from any other business.
Our platform's content-delivery and error-monitoring providers (including jsDelivr and Sentry): deliver the sign-up and search files and report technical errors.

We may also disclose information if we're required or authorised by law to do so.

Overseas disclosure

Most of the services we use store or process information outside Australia. The countries are:

the Netherlands: Ghost's servers, which hold your account, subscription and analytics data;
the United States: Stripe, HubSpot, Ghost's email delivery and error-monitoring providers, and the other services named above;
other countries where these providers run data centres or content-delivery networks.

Our Microsoft 365 mailbox may be stored in Australia or overseas. We use established providers that publish privacy and security commitments, and we take reasonable steps to make sure they handle your information consistently with the APPs. They are also subject to the laws of the countries they operate in, which may let authorities there access it.

We send two kinds of email, and only if you ask for them.

Price Watch, our main newsletter: a short email when an AI tool changes what it charges Australians. We send it only when there's a confirmed change.
Offers, only if you tick the box: occasional deals on tools we've reviewed (some are affiliate offers, always disclosed) and news about membership.

When you join we send a confirmation link and a welcome email. Every email says who it's from and has a one-click unsubscribe link. You can stop Offers and keep Price Watch, or stop both, from any email or from your account. We act on unsubscribes immediately, and always within the five business days the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) allows. Paid members also get account emails, such as receipts and renewal notices. These relate to your membership and stop when it ends.

How we keep your information secure

We take reasonable steps to protect the limited personal information we hold from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access — primarily by relying on reputable providers (Ghost, Stripe, Microsoft) with their own security controls, and by collecting as little as possible in the first place. No online service can be guaranteed perfectly secure, but the less we hold, the lower the risk to you.

How long we keep it

Free members: we keep your email address and sign-up details while you stay subscribed. If you unsubscribe from everything or delete your account, we delete your member record, apart from what we need to keep so we don't email you again.
Paid members and tips: we keep payment and membership records for as long as tax and accounting law requires, generally five years after the payment. Stripe keeps its own records under its policy.
Email to us: kept while it's useful to deal with your question, then deleted in a regular clean-out.
Aggregate analytics: kept on our platform's standard schedule and not tied to your identity.

Accessing and correcting your information

Under the Australian Privacy Principles, you can ask us:

what personal information we hold about you, or
to correct it if it's wrong.

You can also ask us to delete it, and we will where the law lets us.

Email us at adam@theaidirectory.com.au and we'll respond within a reasonable time (we aim for 30 days). There's no charge to ask. We may need to verify your identity before we act, in proportion to the sensitivity of the request.

We'll delete what we can when you ask. We may have to keep payment records that the law requires us to hold.

Data breaches

If we suspect a data breach, we'll assess it quickly and finish that assessment within 30 days. If it's likely to cause serious harm to anyone whose information we hold, we'll tell the people affected and the OAIC, following the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, whether or not the law strictly requires it of a business our size. If the breach happens at one of our providers, we'll pass on what we learn.

Children

This site is intended for adults and isn't directed at children under 16. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has subscribed, contact us and we'll remove it.

Making a complaint

If you think we've mishandled your personal information, please contact us first at adam@theaidirectory.com.au — we'll take it seriously and try to resolve it quickly.

If you're not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) (see the note at the top about whether the OAIC can act): oaic.gov.au · 1300 363 992.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we'll change the "Last updated" date at the top, and material changes will be reflected on this page. Please check back occasionally.

Update history

12 October 2026 — The publisher is now named as the business, The AI Directory Australia (ABN 80 471 576 336); the editor's name no longer sits in the operator line.
9 October 2026 — Named the publisher and ABN. Added paid membership, tips and the Supporters page. Listed every service that receives your information and the countries they're in. Corrected the cookies section: Stripe's fraud-prevention script runs on every page, and the sign-up window and site search load only when you interact with a page or are signed in. Explained the confirmation and welcome emails, Price Watch and Offers. Clarified our status under the Privacy Act and how long we keep payment records.
7 October 2026 — Added the opt-in "offers" emails: what they are, that they go only to people who ticked the box, and how to stop them separately from the newsletter. Added Stripe as the payment processor for tips and memberships.
9 June 2026 — First version.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your information?

Adam, Editor The AI Directory Australia · ABN 80 471 576 336 adam@theaidirectory.com.au (put PRIVACY in the subject line)

This policy is general information about how we handle personal information. The AI Directory Australia is independent — we don't take paid placement, and affiliate links are disclosed.