Privacy Policy
Independent Means ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
1. What Information We Collect
We collect:
- Account information: your name and email address provided via Google or Apple Sign-In, processed by our authentication provider Clerk (clerk.com).
- Financial data inputs: the data you enter into the modelling tool (income, assets, super balances, property values, spending targets, etc.).
- Usage data: basic information about how you interact with the Service (e.g. which stages you have completed).
We do not collect payment card details, tax file numbers, or government-issued identity documents.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use your information to:
- Provide and maintain the Service and save your data across sessions.
- Improve the Service based on how it is used.
- Communicate with you about the Service (e.g. important updates).
We do not use your financial data inputs to provide personalised financial advice.
3. How We Store Your Information
Your data is stored securely using Supabase (supabase.com), which uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure. Data is encrypted at rest and in transit. Row-level security ensures that only you can access your data.
4. Disclosure to Third Parties
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties. We may disclose information:
- To service providers who assist in operating the Service, under confidentiality obligations: Clerk (authentication), Supabase (data storage), Vercel (hosting), Stripe (payment processing for Premium subscriptions), and Google or Apple (sign-in).
- If required by law or to protect our legal rights.
5. Access and Correction
You may request access to, or correction of, your personal information at any time by contacting us.
“Clear data” in the app header deletes your saved plan and every earlier version of it. This is immediate and cannot be undone. It does not close your account, and two records are deliberately kept: your subscription record, because Stripe is the source of truth for billing and removing it would strand an active subscription; and a log of which features were used, from which financial values are stripped before storage. Signing out does not delete anything.
“Close account” in the app header removes everything: your plan, every earlier version, your subscription record, your activity log and your sign-in itself. It is immediate and cannot be undone. If you have a paid subscription, cancel it first using Manage billing — the app will ask you to. That order is deliberate: cancelling on your behalf and having it fail silently would keep charging you after you had gone. If anything goes wrong, contact us at hello@independentmeans.com.au.
6. Cookies and Tracking
The Service uses session tokens (via Clerk, our authentication provider) to keep you signed in. We do not use third-party advertising cookies or tracking pixels.
We collect product analytics events (such as which features you access) to understand how the Service is used and improve it. These events record feature names and interaction counts only — no financial values or plan data are included in analytics payloads.
7. Children's Privacy
The Service is not directed at persons under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from minors.
8. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy in the Service.
9. Complaints
If you have a privacy concern, contact us at hello@independentmeans.com.au. If your concern is not resolved, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.
10. Contact
Independent Means
Email: hello@independentmeans.com.au