Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

This privacy policy applies to hecsdebtcalculator.com.au (the "site"), operated by an independent Australian publisher. In this policy, "we" means the site operator.

2. Information we collect

The calculators on this site run entirely in your browser. The numbers you enter (income, balance, etc.) are not sent to our servers and are not stored anywhere we can access.

We collect the following automatically when you visit:

• Server logs — your IP address, requested URL, referrer URL, browser user agent, and timestamp. Retained for up to 30 days for security and traffic analysis.
• Analytics data — aggregate page-view and performance data via Google Analytics 4 (pseudonymised IP, session duration, pages viewed). We do not collect identifiers that could be linked back to you personally.
• Advertising cookies — Google AdSense and Google Ad Manager may set cookies to deliver personalised ads. See the Google ad cookies section below.

3. Cookies

We use first-party cookies for essential site functionality (e.g. remembering accessibility preferences) and third-party cookies from Google Analytics and Google AdSense. You can disable cookies in your browser without losing calculator functionality. Blocking advertising cookies may cause ads to be less relevant but does not affect the calculators.

4. Google AdSense and advertising

This site displays ads served by Google AdSense. Google and its partners use cookies to serve ads based on your visit to this site and other sites on the internet. You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to websites.

For users in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom or Switzerland, we use Google's Funding Choices consent management to collect GDPR-compliant consent for personalised advertising before ads load.

5. How we use data

• To operate and maintain the site (serve pages, prevent abuse).
• To understand which calculators and guides are most useful (aggregate analytics only).
• To earn advertising revenue that supports the site (via Google AdSense).

We do not sell your personal information. We do not build profiles of individual users.

6. Your rights

Under the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) you have the right to:

• Know what personal information we hold (practically nothing identifiable, as calculators run locally).
• Request a copy of data we hold about you (submit via our contact page).
• Request correction or deletion of any identifying data we do hold.
• Complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) if you believe we have mishandled your information.

7. Security

The site is served over HTTPS with HSTS enabled. Calculator state is stored only in your browser and cleared when you close the tab.

8. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent change. Material changes will be announced on the homepage for at least 30 days.

9. Contact

For privacy questions, use our contact page.