Privacy Policy

Last updated: 5 July 2026

Draft: pending legal review. This document reflects how Fairgo actually works today, but it has not yet been reviewed by a lawyer. Treat it as a working draft, not final legal advice.

1. About this policy

This policy explains how Fairgo (“Fairgo”, “we”, “us”) collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal information in connection with the Fairgo platform, a payment escrow and job-coordination service for Australian residential trades. It is written to comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

Fairgo is currently operated as a trading name [ACN pending registration; corporate structure not yet finalised]. This policy will be updated with the registered entity's details once incorporation is complete.

2. Personal information we collect

We collect different information depending on your role on the platform:

  • Account details (all users): name, email address, phone number, password (stored as a salted hash, so we never see or store your plaintext password), and your role (homeowner, tradie, inspector, or admin).
  • Payment details: your PayPal email address (for receiving payouts, if you're a tradie), and records of payments, captures, refunds, and payouts processed through PayPal.
  • Tradie accreditation: trade category, licence number and class, licence expiry, ABN, public liability insurance expiry, workers compensation expiry, and Home Building Compensation (HBC) eligibility. These are required for accreditation before you can create jobs above certain thresholds.
  • Inspector accreditation: professional indemnity insurance expiry, professional body membership, and a per-inspection independence declaration.
  • Job information: job title and description, site address, suburb, state, and postcode, expected timeline, itemised completion criteria, and any completion notes.
  • Dispute and inspection records: the reason for a dispute, independent inspection reports and per-criterion findings, and the recommendation an inspector submits.
  • Communications: any correspondence with our support team.
  • Technical data: session cookies (used only to keep you logged in; see Section 7), IP address and request logs for security purposes (e.g. login rate-limiting), and error/diagnostic data captured automatically if the platform encounters a fault.

3. How we collect personal information

We collect personal information directly from you when you register an account, create or fund a job, submit accreditation documents, raise a dispute, or otherwise use the platform. We do not currently source personal information from third-party data brokers.

4. How we use personal information

  • To create and administer your account, and verify your identity and accreditation.
  • To facilitate escrow payments between homeowners and tradies: creating PayPal orders, processing captures, releasing payouts, and processing refunds.
  • To assign and support independent inspections when a dispute is raised.
  • To send transactional notifications about your jobs (funding, milestones, disputes, payouts).
  • To detect and prevent fraud, and to enforce our Terms of Service.
  • To comply with legal and regulatory obligations, including tax and financial record-keeping.

5. Disclosure to third parties

We disclose personal information to the following categories of third party, and no others:

  • PayPal Australia Pty Ltd (AFSL 354514), to process escrow payments, captures, payouts, and refunds. PayPal holds and processes funds under its own financial services licence; Fairgo does not hold customer funds in a trust account.
  • Email delivery provider: if configured, to send transactional emails (job updates, dispute notifications). No marketing emails are sent.
  • Error-monitoring service (GlitchTip): to capture technical error diagnostics if the platform malfunctions, so we can fix it.
  • Regulators, law enforcement, or courts, where required by law.

We do not sell personal information to anyone.

6. Admin access to your account

Fairgo administrators can access job, payment, and dispute records to resolve disputes, verify accreditation, and provide support. Admin access is logged.

7. Cookies and tracking technologies

Fairgo uses a single session cookie to keep you logged in. It is rotated on login as a security measure and expires when you log out or after a period of inactivity. We do not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies.

8. International transfers of personal information

Payment processing occurs through PayPal, which may process data outside Australia as part of its global infrastructure. Error-monitoring data may also be processed on infrastructure located outside Australia. Where this occurs, we rely on the third party's own compliance obligations and, where applicable, contractual safeguards.

9. Data retention

We retain job, payment, and dispute records for at least seven years to meet Australian financial record-keeping and taxation obligations. Account information is retained for as long as your account is active. If you close your account, we will delete or de-identify personal information that we are not legally required to retain, generally within 30 days.

10. Your privacy rights

Under the Australian Privacy Principles, you have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, and to request correction of any information that is inaccurate, out of date, or incomplete. Contact us using the details in Section 15 to make a request.

11. Data security

Passwords are stored as salted hashes, never in plaintext. All traffic to the platform is encrypted in transit (TLS). Database access is restricted at the application level using row-level security, and the application database account has no permission to alter the database schema.

12. Data breach notification

If we experience a data breach likely to result in serious harm, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

13. Children

Fairgo is not intended for use by anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the “Last updated” date at the top of this page.

15. Contact and complaints

For privacy questions, access/correction requests, or complaints, contact us at admin@fairgo.edos.com.au. If you're not satisfied with our response, you can lodge a complaint with the OAIC at oaic.gov.au.

See also our Terms of Service and Refunds Policy.