Privacy Policy

1. Overview

Sopal Australia ABN 41 911 346 923 ("we," "our,", "us" or "Sopal") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard information when you use our adjudication decision search platform.

Sopal provides access to publicly available adjudication decisions under the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld). Our service is designed to be a valuable resource for legal professionals, construction industry participants, and researchers.

2. Information We Collect

Information You Provide

• Search Queries: The terms and filters you use when searching for adjudication decisions
• AI Queries: Questions you submit to SopalAI for analysis of decisions
• Feedback: When you submit feedback, we may collect your name, email address, and comments (all optional)
• Contact Information: If you contact us directly, we collect the information you provide

Information Automatically Collected

• Usage Data: Pages visited, time spent, features used, and interaction patterns
• Technical Data: IP address, browser type, device information, and operating system
• Performance Data: Page load times, search response times, and error reports

Information We Do Not Collect

We do not collect:

• Personal identification documents
• Financial information
• Biometric data
• Location data (beyond general geographic region from IP)

3. How We Use Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide and improve our service: Process searches, display results, and enhance user experience
• Power AI features: Process SopalAI queries to provide intelligent responses about decisions
• Understand usage patterns: Analyze how the platform is used to guide improvements
• Maintain security: Detect and prevent abuse, spam, and unauthorized access
• Respond to inquiries: Address feedback, support requests, and communications
• Legal compliance: Comply with applicable laws and regulations

4. Information Sharing

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information. We may share information in these limited circumstances:

Service Providers

We work with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating the platform. These providers:

• Are contractually bound to protect your information
• Can only use information to provide services to us
• Include hosting providers, analytics services, and security monitoring

Legal Requirements

We may disclose information if required by law or court order, or to:

• Protect our rights and property
• Ensure user safety and security
• Investigate potential violations of our terms

Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, user information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

5. AI Queries and Third-Party Services

SopalAI Processing

When you use SopalAI features to ask questions about adjudication decisions:

• Third-Party APIs: Your queries may be sent to third-party AI service providers (such as OpenAI, Anthropic, or other AI platforms) to generate responses
• Data Processing: These third parties may process your questions according to their own privacy policies and terms of service
• No Control: We cannot control how third-party AI services handle your queries once transmitted
• Logging: Some third-party AI services may log queries for their own improvement purposes

Important Recommendations

Safe Usage Examples

Appropriate SopalAI queries focus on general legal principles from published decisions:

• "What factors do adjudicators consider when assessing variations?"
• "How do adjudicators typically approach extension of time claims?"
• "What evidence is usually required for defect claims?"

Queries to Avoid

Do not include in SopalAI queries:

• Client names, project details, or case-specific information
• Confidential commercial information
• Personal details or contact information
• Privileged or sensitive legal strategy

6. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information:

• Encryption: Data is encrypted in transit using HTTPS/TLS
• Access Controls: Strict access controls limit who can view personal information
• Regular Security Reviews: We regularly assess and update our security practices
• Incident Response: We have procedures to respond to potential security incidents

While we strive to protect your information, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but are committed to maintaining strong protective measures.

7. Cookies and Tracking

Sopal uses minimal tracking technologies:

Essential Cookies

• Theme preferences (light/dark mode)
• Basic session management

Analytics

We use basic analytics to understand how the platform is used. This helps us improve functionality and user experience. All analytics data is aggregated and anonymized.

Your Choices

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling certain cookies may affect platform functionality.

8. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: Request information about data we collect about you
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate information
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information
• Portability: Request a copy of your data in a machine-readable format
• Objection: Object to certain processing of your information

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the information provided below.

Note: We cannot control or delete information you have shared with third-party AI services through SopalAI queries.

9. Data Retention

We retain information only as long as necessary to provide our services and comply with legal obligations:

• Search queries: Anonymized and aggregated for analytics (indefinitely)
• AI queries: May be retained by third-party AI services according to their policies
• Feedback submissions: Retained for as long as necessary to address your inquiry
• Usage logs: Typically retained for 12 months for security and performance analysis
• Technical data: Anonymized after 30 days, aggregated data retained indefinitely

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal, operational, or regulatory reasons.

When we make changes:

• We will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this policy
• For material changes, we may provide additional notice on our platform
• Your continued use of Sopal after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy

11. Contact Information

12. Australian Privacy Considerations

As Sopal focuses on Queensland adjudication decisions, we comply with Australian privacy laws including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) where applicable.

The adjudication decisions we provide access to are public documents that have been published by the relevant authorities. We do not create or modify this content - we simply provide a search interface to help users find relevant decisions.

If you believe your personal information appears inappropriately in an adjudication decision, you should contact the relevant adjudication authority, not Sopal, as we do not control the content of these decisions.