1. About
This Policy
ZoneScout (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates the website
zonescout.au and the free account app at app.zonescout.au. This Privacy
Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose and protect
personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy
Principles (APPs).
We pass consultation enquiries to a town planner and may receive a fee for doing so. Because of that,
we follow the Australian Privacy Principles regardless of our annual turnover.
2.
Information We Collect
We may collect the following types of personal information:
- Enquiry details: Your name, email address and phone number, the property address,
the type of project, when you hope to start and anything you write in the form, provided when you submit
our consultation enquiry form.
- Property addresses: Addresses you search for using our planning tool. These are sent to
government planning APIs to retrieve zoning data.
- Server logs: Like any website, our hosts (Netlify for zonescout.au, Cloudflare for
app.zonescout.au) record each request, including your IP address and browser type, to run the service and
keep it secure. Netlify also uses its logs to count page views for us (Netlify Analytics): it shows us
totals, such as which pages are popular, and works without cookies or tracking scripts.
- Your account, if you create one: your email address, the properties you save (their
address, lot, outline and the project you choose), your notes, measurements and combined sites, any share
links you make, and the alerts we find for your properties. Section 6 covers how long we keep each.
- Signing in: for each device you’re signed in on, its IP address and browser type,
so you can see your devices in Settings and sign out of them.
- How the app is used: a count of the outside lookups each account makes each day (to
keep the service fair for everyone), and a record of when you sign in, save, share, download a report or
open a map tool (for example Measure or Street View). These record what you did and when, never what you
were looking at.
- Locally stored preferences: We use your browser’s localStorage to remember form
prefill data (name, email, phone) for your convenience. This data stays on your device and is not
transmitted to our servers.
3. How
We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Provide you with property planning search results by querying state government planning databases.
- Forward your consultation enquiry to a qualified town planner so they can contact you.
- Run your account: keep your saved properties, check them overnight for changes, and show you what
changed.
- Help you when you contact us, and keep the service secure.
- Improve our website, features and user experience.
- Respond to your questions or feedback.
We do not use your personal information for direct marketing unless you have consented.
4. How
We Share Your Information
We may share your personal information with:
- Town planning partners: If you submit a consultation enquiry, your enquiry details are
forwarded to an independent town planner we work with, together with the ZoneScout results for that
property (such as its zone, lot size and overlays) so they can prepare for your conversation. The planner
uses them only to respond to your enquiry. ZoneScout may receive a referral fee from the planner.
- Third-party service providers: We use Netlify for hosting and for processing form
submissions, Google Maps for address autocomplete, and Anthropic for the optional AI interpretation. For
accounts, Cloudflare hosts the app and stores your account data (in its Oceania region), Resend delivers
our sign-in emails, and Cloudflare Turnstile checks that a sign-in request comes from a person. In the app,
Google provides address suggestions as you type and Street View: when you open Street View, Google sees
the place you’re looking at and your IP address. These providers process data in accordance with
their own privacy policies.
- Government planning APIs: Property addresses you search are sent to state government
planning databases (NSW Planning Portal, VicPlan, PlanSA, PlanWA and others) to retrieve publicly available
zoning information.
Apart from forwarding your enquiry as described above, we do not sell, rent or trade your personal information, and we never pass it to anyone for marketing.
5.
Cookies and Analytics
zonescout.au doesn’t set cookies; the page counts in section 2 come from Netlify’s server
logs. The app uses one cookie, which keeps you signed
in: it lasts 60 days from your last visit and is removed when you sign out. Turning cookies off doesn’t
affect the free search or map; you’ll need the cookie to stay signed in to the app.
When you’re signed in, pages on zonescout.au ask the app whether you are, so the site can show your
properties link and save a property in one click. The app answers yes or no and how many alerts you
haven’t read, and nothing else.
6. Data
Storage and Security
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification
or disclosure. Our website is served over HTTPS and hosted on Netlify’s secure infrastructure. However,
no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Form submissions are processed and stored by Netlify Forms, and may be held on servers located outside
Australia. By submitting your information, you consent to this transfer.
Your account. We keep your account and everything you save for as long as you have the
account. Some records are kept for a set time and then removed automatically:
- daily lookup counts: 7 days;
- the record of sign-ins, saves, shares, reports and map tools opened: 90 days;
- nightly backups of the account database: 7 days. Backups are kept in the same region as the database
and are only for recovering from a fault.
Resend keeps a log of the emails it delivers for us under its own policy.
Deleting your account. You can delete your account in Settings at any time. If you signed
in within the last day, it’s deleted straight away; otherwise we email you a link to confirm. Your
saved properties, notes, measurements, share links and alerts are deleted with it, and they leave our
backups within 7 days.
Support access. So we can help when something goes wrong, the people who run ZoneScout
can see an account’s email address, when it was created and last used, and which properties it has
saved. They can view the app as you see it, read-only, to look into a problem; your notes are always left
out. Each time they do, and each time they sign an account out or delete one, it is recorded.
7. Your
Rights
You have the right to:
- Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
- Request correction of any inaccurate or outdated information.
- Request deletion of your personal information where it is no longer required, or delete your account
yourself in Settings.
- Withdraw consent for any processing based on consent.
- Clear locally stored data by clearing your browser’s localStorage.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below.
8.
Third-Party Links
Our website contains links to external sites including state government planning portals. We are not
responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites and encourage you to review their privacy
policies.
9.
Children’s Privacy
ZoneScout is not directed at children under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information
from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will
delete it.
10.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated
“last updated” date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
11.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to make a complaint, please contact us:
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).