Privacy policy

1. Who we are and what this covers

FranchiseScope is operated by Toradigm Pty Ltd. This policy applies to personal information we collect through our website, tools, forms and services. "Personal information" has the meaning given in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

2. What we collect

We collect only what we need to provide and improve the Service. This may include:

• Contact and enquiry details, name, email, phone, and the message or enquiry you submit (for example, a demo request, franchise enquiry, or tool lead form).
• Preferences you provide, investment budget, preferred location or category, and similar inputs to tools and calculators.
• Account information, if you register or claim a profile, your login and profile details.
• Technical and usage data, IP address, device and browser type, pages viewed and interactions, collected via cookies and analytics.

We collect personal information directly from you where practicable. Some technical data is collected automatically as you use the site.

3. How we use it

We use personal information to:

• provide the Service, respond to your enquiries and deliver the tools and reports you request;
• connect you with a franchisor or listing only where you have asked us to, or clearly indicated you want to be contacted;
• operate, secure, analyse and improve the Service;
• send you updates or marketing where you have opted in, you can unsubscribe at any time;
• comply with our legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not auction candidate enquiries to the highest bidder.

4. When we disclose it

We disclose personal information only as reasonably necessary to provide the Service or as required by law, including to:

• a franchisor or listing you have expressly asked us to contact on your behalf;
• service providers who help us operate the Service (for example, hosting, email and analytics) under confidentiality obligations;
• regulators, law enforcement or courts where required or authorised by law.

5. Cookies and analytics

Cookies we set. When you sign in, authentication cookies (named sb-…-auth-token) keep you signed in, and franchisor teams get one more that remembers the workspace they last used. That's all: we don't use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies, and we don't run third-party analytics such as Google Analytics. We count page views and a few anonymous actions (such as an enquiry being sent) with Vercel Web Analytics, which doesn't use cookies and doesn't identify you. On guide pages, Google's optional "preferred source" button loads a Google script once you scroll near it, and Google may set its own cookie; the plain link beside it doesn't. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, but signing in won't work without them.

Listing analytics. To show franchisors how their listings perform, we count when a listing is shown in results, when its page is opened and when an application form is started. Each count uses a random identifier kept in your browser for that session only, not your name, account or IP address. Your browser also remembers, for up to 90 days, which campaign link or website first and last brought you to FranchiseScope (never the full address or your browsing history). If you apply for a listing, that information is recorded with your application and the franchisor can see it. Nothing is counted or remembered when your browser sends a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal.

6. Data storage and overseas disclosure

We store personal information in Australia: our database and sign-in service is Supabase, hosted in Sydney (AWS ap-southeast-2). The website is hosted by Vercel, whose server functions for this site run in Sydney while pages are delivered from its global network. Supabase and Vercel are United States companies, so their staff or systems may access limited information (such as account and server-log data) from the United States. We take reasonable steps to ensure they handle it consistently with the APPs, and we will update this policy before adding any other provider that handles personal information outside Australia.

7. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. This includes encryption of personal information in transit and at rest, access controls, and a data breach response plan consistent with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Retention

We keep personal information only for as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law. When it is no longer needed, we take reasonable steps to de-identify or securely destroy it.

9. Access, correction and deletion

You may request access to the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, subject to legal exceptions. Contact us using the details below and we will respond within a reasonable time. We may need to verify your identity first.

10. Complaints

If you believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, please contact us first so we can investigate and respond. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "last updated" date above shows the current version. Material changes will be reflected on this page.

12. How to contact us

For any privacy request, question or complaint, contact us via our contact page and mark it "Privacy". We aim to respond within 30 days. Toradigm Pty Ltd is the entity responsible for personal information handled through FranchiseScope.