Privacy Policy
Last updated: 5:24PM - 9th June 2022
Our privacy obligations
We know that you care how your information is used and shared, and we appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully.
Your data belongs to you. It will never be shared or sold to advertisers, it will only used for research and product improvements.
This Privacy Policy applies to aKin Australia Pty Ltd. This includes both aKin Labs which is primarily our research and development arm, and aKin Home which develops customer-facing applications (Apps) and services.
aKin’s holding company is a public benefit corporation, This means we abide by a social mission. we believe that technology should be designed to have a positive impact on the lives of people who use it, and this mission supersedes profit motives
aKin Australia Pty Ltd is governed by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The APPs regulate how personal information is handled by aKin Australia Pty Ltd. ‘Personal information’ means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.
We also will conduct best efforts to to abide by the new CSIRO NDIS guidelines for AI enabled assistive technologies (AT) as these guidelines develop
https://ndis.gov.au/about-us/research-and-evaluation/market-stewardship-and-employment/markets-and-innovations-research
Key principles: AI enabled assistive technologies should:
aKin’s holding company is a public benefit corporation, This means we abide by a social mission. we believe that technology should be designed to have a positive impact on the lives of people who use it, and this mission supersedes profit motives
aKin Australia Pty Ltd is governed by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The APPs regulate how personal information is handled by aKin Australia Pty Ltd. ‘Personal information’ means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.
We also will conduct best efforts to to abide by the new CSIRO NDIS guidelines for AI enabled assistive technologies (AT) as these guidelines develop
https://ndis.gov.au/about-us/research-and-evaluation/market-stewardship-and-employment/markets-and-innovations-research
Key principles: AI enabled assistive technologies should:
- Provide a productive and positive experience to people with disabilities
- Ensure all people’s data is protected.
- Reliably produce desired or intended results. Quality should be sustained.
- Do no harm, minimise negative outcomes and not deceive people.
- Provide better benefit to cost ratio in comparison to alternate options.
- Protect human rights and fundamental freedoms.
As our aKin Home AI Apps and services assist people with disabilities to manage their day-to-day activities and achieve their health and personal goals, as part of our collection and use of ‘personal information’ we hold ‘health information’ which is subject to additional requirements. aKin Australia Pty Ltd is therefore also governed by:
- the Health Records & Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW)
- the Health Records Act 2001 (VIC), and
- the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 (ACT)
We will review this policy regularly, and we may update it from time to time.
The types of personal information we collect and hold
Across both aKin Labs and aKin Home we collect personal information about our staff, affiliates, contractors and suppliers, as well as the contact details of individuals who work for our affiliates, contractors and suppliers, and other types of professional associates and personal contacts. Our affiliates include specialist disability organisations and NDIS advisers.
We collect personal information about our aKin Home AI customers who are known as Participants (or Kin), as part of our routine activities. Our Participants include:
We collect personal information about our aKin Home AI customers who are known as Participants (or Kin), as part of our routine activities. Our Participants include:
- people with disabilities, and
- care-givers of people with disabilities (whether family members or paid carers).
Some of our Participants may also become Product Testers, with their consent.
How we collect personal information
Information that you specifically give us
If you wish to use our aKin Home AI Apps or services, we will ask for each Participant’s personal information during an initial onboarding process. If a Participant needs support to provide their personal information directly to us, we may ask their authorised care-giver to provide the personal information on their behalf. The personal information we collect within the sign up form (found on signup.home.aKin.com) and onboarding process includes:
- name,
- mailing or street address,
- email address,
- phone number,
- NDIS number,
- NDIS plan details,
- billing and / or payment details, and
- help contacts and / or authorised representatives.
If you are using our aKin Home AI apps or Services, we will also be collecting personal information about:
- what you enter directly into the app, such as your calendar appointments, tasks, reminders, checklists, contacts, exercise plans, medications, meal plans and goals, and
- what you say or type when you engage with the chat function.
If you use our aKin Home AI apps or services to make a phone call or video call to someone in your saved Contacts, we do not listen to or record the call.
If you are a Product Tester, we will engage with you directly to ask for your feedback about your experiences using aKin Home AI. We may ask you to participate in discussions or surveys, such as by telephone or email.
You might also provide your personal information to us if you contact us via our website, or engage with us on social media.
If you are a Product Tester, we will engage with you directly to ask for your feedback about your experiences using aKin Home AI. We may ask you to participate in discussions or surveys, such as by telephone or email.
You might also provide your personal information to us if you contact us via our website, or engage with us on social media.
Information that we collect from others
If you apply for a job or contract with us, we will collect personal information about you from your referees. With your consent we may also use a third party service to ensure your employment, educational and identity records are valid. We may also check some details about our contractors and suppliers from publicly available sources, such as the Australian Business Register and ASIC databases.
We may also collect names and contact details about potential Participants from third parties, such as from their NDIS adviser or specialist disability organisation, on the basis of the consent of the potential Participant.
Information that we generate ourselves
If you are using our aKin Home AI apps or services, we will maintain records of the interactions you have with us, including how you are using the app.
We collect limited information about users of our websites, for diagnostic and analytic purposes. We use cookies and gather IP addresses to do so, but we do not trace these back to individual users.
Links to other sites
On our website, or within the aKin Home AI app or assistive device like a tablet computer, we may provide links to third party websites. These linked sites are not under our control, and we cannot accept responsibility for the conduct of companies linked to our website. Before providing your personal information via any other website, we advise you to examine the terms and conditions of using that website and its privacy policy.
How we use and disclose personal information
We may use your personal information for the following purposes:
- to provide the service or product you have requested,
- as part of our continuous product evaluation and improvement,
- to provide technical or other support to you,
- to answer your enquiry about our services, or to respond to a complaint,
- to manage our employment or business relationship with you,
- to promote our other products or services which may be of interest to you (unless you have opted out from such communications),
- to comply with legal and regulatory obligations,
- if otherwise permitted or required by law, or
- for other purposes with your consent, unless you withdraw your consent.
We will not sell your data or personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.
In particular, data about Participants and their use of the aKin Home AI app and services will be used to continuously help the aKin AI engine learn and improve.
We may disclose your personal information for other purposes with your consent. For example, a Participant may use the app to share their data from the app with their allied health service provider.
We may also disclose your personal information to third parties without your consent, if permitted or required by law. For example, we may disclose personal information to a care-giver if we believe a Participant is at imminent risk of serious harm. We will not sell or provide personal information.
We may also use or disclose your personal information for product evaluation or research purposes. Participant data will be de-identified as far as is possible prior to its use or release for product evaluation or research by third parties. Where de-identification is not possible, personal information will only be released to third party researchers as part of an ethically approved research project.
We will not share your data or personal information with any third party AI models.
In particular, data about Participants and their use of the aKin Home AI app and services will be used to continuously help the aKin AI engine learn and improve.
We may disclose your personal information for other purposes with your consent. For example, a Participant may use the app to share their data from the app with their allied health service provider.
We may also disclose your personal information to third parties without your consent, if permitted or required by law. For example, we may disclose personal information to a care-giver if we believe a Participant is at imminent risk of serious harm. We will not sell or provide personal information.
We may also use or disclose your personal information for product evaluation or research purposes. Participant data will be de-identified as far as is possible prior to its use or release for product evaluation or research by third parties. Where de-identification is not possible, personal information will only be released to third party researchers as part of an ethically approved research project.
We will not share your data or personal information with any third party AI models.
Data Security
Data Retention
We will keep personal information about you, to use for the above purposes, for only as long as is necessary. This is typically a period of seven years, though if we identify that unnecessary and unsolicited personal information has been collected via the aKin Home AI app we will delete such information as soon as possible. Participants may also clear the data stored locally on their own device at any time, by resetting their device.
Data Protection
We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information that we hold about you is kept confidential and secure, including by:
- having a robust physical security of our premises and databases / records,
- taking measures to restrict access to only personnel who need that personal information to effectively provide services to you, and
- having technological measures in place (for example, anti-virus software, fire walls).
Data from Google APIs
Hey Pixi's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Our third party service providers
The personal information of Participants, staff, suppliers and other contacts may be held on our behalf, including ‘in the cloud’, by our third party service providers. Our third party service providers are bound by contract to only use your personal information on our behalf, under our instructions. Our third party service providers are:
- Google, which holds Participant data on servers within Australia,
- Amazon Web Services, which holds Participant data on servers within Australia,
- Stripe, which is a payment gateway which holds data in Australia, via Stripe Payments Australia Pty. Ltd., and
- Other services we may add from time to time, but only if necessary to conduct business and service your product.
We may also collect limited information about users of our website and app, for diagnostic and analytic purposes. We use:
- Google Analytics - A web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our Service. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualise and personalise the ads of its own advertising network.You can opt-out of having made your activity on the Service available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visits activity.
- Hubspot - A customer relationship management (CRM) software that enables aKin Australia Pty Ltd to manage all company and customer relationships. Hubspot uses a browser cookie to associate anonymous visitors with identified contacts within their system, and to track the activity of visitors to the aKin Australia Pty Ltd website. You can remove HubSpot’s tracking cookies by following the instructions outlined here.
Accessing or correcting your personal information
You have the right to request access to the personal information aKin Australia Pty Ltd holds about you. Unless an exception applies, we must allow you to see the personal information we hold about you, within a reasonable time period, and without cost to you.
You also have the right to request the correction of the personal information we hold about you. We will take reasonable steps to make appropriate corrections to personal information so that it is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Unless an exception applies, we must update, correct, amend or delete the personal information we hold about you within a reasonable time period. We do not charge for making corrections.
To seek access to, or correction of, your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer with the details below in section ‘For more information’.
You also have the right to request the correction of the personal information we hold about you. We will take reasonable steps to make appropriate corrections to personal information so that it is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Unless an exception applies, we must update, correct, amend or delete the personal information we hold about you within a reasonable time period. We do not charge for making corrections.
To seek access to, or correction of, your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer with the details below in section ‘For more information’.
For more information
If you have an enquiry or a complaint about the way we handle your personal information, or to seek to exercise your privacy rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you, you may contact our Privacy Officer at support@akin.com. Note we may require proof of your identity before we can process your enquiry or complaint.
While we endeavour to resolve complaints quickly and informally, if you wish to proceed to a formal privacy complaint, we request that you make your complaint in writing to our Privacy Officer, by email as above. We will acknowledge your formal complaint within 10 working days and attempt to resolve it within a further 20 working days.
If we do not resolve your privacy complaint to your satisfaction, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) by calling them on 1300 363 992, making a complaint online at www.oaic.gov.au, or writing to them at OAIC, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001.
While we endeavour to resolve complaints quickly and informally, if you wish to proceed to a formal privacy complaint, we request that you make your complaint in writing to our Privacy Officer, by email as above. We will acknowledge your formal complaint within 10 working days and attempt to resolve it within a further 20 working days.
If we do not resolve your privacy complaint to your satisfaction, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) by calling them on 1300 363 992, making a complaint online at www.oaic.gov.au, or writing to them at OAIC, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001.
We know that you care how your information is used and shared, and we appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully.
