Privacy Policy

Who we are

Backbone Automation is a sole trader business based in Devonport, Tasmania, ABN 27 692 195 145. We design and build automated workflows for Australian small businesses. In this policy, "we" and "us" means Backbone Automation, and "you" means whoever is reading it.

We're small enough that the Privacy Act 1988 currently exempts us from parts of the Australian Privacy Principles. We follow them anyway. If you're trusting us with the systems your business runs on, an exemption is a poor answer.

What we collect

If you fill in the contact form

Your name, business name, email address, phone number, industry, and whatever you write in the message box. That's it. All of it is optional except the parts marked required — if you'd rather just email or call, that works the same.

If you become a client

Our onboarding form asks for what we need to build your system and nothing beyond it:

• Business name, ABN, your name, mobile and email
• The job types you take and the areas you service
• Your business hours and how you want after-hours enquiries handled
• How you want to sound to your customers, and anything you never want said
• What software you already use — Gmail, Xero, ServiceM8 and so on
• The admin task that annoys you most

We deliberately don't ask for bank details, tax file numbers, or anything about your health. If a form ever seems to be asking for more than a job needs, don't fill it in — tell us instead.

If you're a customer of one of our clients

This is the part most privacy policies skip, so read it if it applies to you.

When you call, text or email a business that uses a system we built, your message passes through that system so it can be answered. That may mean your phone number, your name, your email address and what you asked about are recorded in that business's own records and used to send you a reply.

We are the plumbing, not the owner. That information belongs to the business you contacted, it's stored in their accounts, and they decide what happens to it. If you want it deleted, ask them — they can do it without us. If they need a hand, we'll help them do it the same day.

What we never collect

Passwords. Ever. If you start reading one out on a call, we'll interrupt you. We connect to your accounts by approval requests you click, or by access you grant us as a user — and you can revoke either in one click, from a screen we'll show you before we go live.

Why we have it

• To reply to you. The obvious one.
• To build and run your system. Your hours, your service area and your tone are what the workflows read to do their job. This isn't paperwork we file — it's the configuration.
• To keep your system honest. We keep logs of what the automations did so that when something looks wrong, we can show you exactly what happened instead of guessing.
• To invoice you. And to keep the records the ATO requires us to keep.

We don't use your information to train AI models, build advertising profiles, or enrich anyone's database.

Who else touches it

We're a one-person business using other people's infrastructure. Being specific about which is the only honest way to write this section:

• Cloudflare — hosts this website and sits in front of our automation server.
• Zoho Mail (Australian data centre) — our email.
• Google Workspace — spreadsheets holding client configuration and workflow logs.
• Anthropic (Claude) — drafts message templates and enquiry replies. Anthropic's API terms state that business inputs aren't used to train their models.
• Twilio — sends and receives SMS where a system uses text messaging.
• n8n — the automation engine. We run this on our own server, not a shared service.

Some of these store data outside Australia. If that's a problem for your business, say so before we start — it changes what we build, and it's a reasonable thing to ask about.

Beyond that list: we don't sell your information, we don't trade it, and we don't hand it to anyone else unless you ask us to or the law requires it.

How long we keep it

• Enquiries that go nowhere — deleted within 12 months.
• Client configuration — kept while you're a client, and for 30 days after you leave in case you want it back. Then deleted.
• Workflow logs — kept in your own spreadsheet, under your control. Delete them whenever you like; the systems keep working.
• Invoices and tax records — five years, because the ATO requires it.

Keeping it safe

Everything is behind multi-factor authentication. Our server runs on encrypted connections. Access to client accounts is granted by the client, limited to what the job needs, and revocable by them at any time without asking us.

We won't claim to be unbreachable — nobody honest does. What we will say is that the thing most likely to hurt you in a breach, your passwords, is something we never hold in the first place. If something does go wrong and your information is involved, we'll tell you directly and quickly, and we'll tell you what we're doing about it.

Your rights

You can ask us to show you what we hold about you, correct it, or delete it. Email deepak@backboneautomation.com.au. We'll respond within 30 days and usually a lot sooner — there's one of us and we're not hiding behind a ticket queue.

There's no charge and you don't need a reason.

If we handle a request badly, you can take it to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au. We'd rather you gave us a chance to fix it first.

Cookies and tracking

This website sets no cookies. There is no Google Analytics, no Meta pixel, no session recording, no heat mapping, no advertising tags. Nothing follows you here and nothing follows you away.

Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs — IP addresses and page requests — for security and to stop attacks. We don't use them to identify you and we don't build anything from them.

Changes to this policy

If we change what we collect or who touches it, we'll update this page and change the date at the top. If the change is significant and you're a client, you'll get an email about it rather than being expected to re-read a webpage.

Contact

Deepak Bawa, Founder
Backbone Automation · ABN 27 692 195 145
Devonport, Tasmania
deepak@backboneautomation.com.au