1. Who We Are

Cove is an SMS lead-qualification platform that helps Australian small businesses (including trades, health, and professional services) respond to missed calls and qualify inbound enquiries automatically via SMS.

We are based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. You can contact our Privacy Officer at hello@usecove.app.

2. Personal Information We Collect

2.1 Business customers (subscribers)

When you create a Cove account or use our service, we collect:

• Name, email address, and phone number
• Business name, ABN (if provided), and industry type
• Billing and payment information (processed by our payment provider — we do not store full card details)
• Account credentials and authentication tokens
• Configuration data: SMS flow questions, notification preferences, and integration settings

2.2 End users (your leads and contacts)

When your leads interact with the Cove SMS system (i.e., they call your business number and are sent an automated SMS), we collect on your behalf:

• Mobile phone number
• Responses to qualification questions via SMS
• Timestamp and interaction metadata

You, as the Cove subscriber, are the primary controller of your leads' data. We process it as your data processor.

2.3 Website visitors

• IP address, browser type, and device information
• Pages visited and time spent on site (via analytics)
• Information submitted via contact or demo request forms

3. How We Collect Personal Information

We collect personal information:

• Directly from you when you sign up, fill in a form, or contact us
• Automatically when your leads interact with the SMS system
• From third-party services (e.g., payment processors, telephony providers) where necessary to deliver our service

We only collect personal information by lawful and fair means and will not collect more than is necessary for our purposes.

4. Why We Collect and Use Personal Information

We use personal information to:

• Provide, operate, and improve the Cove platform
• Send and receive SMS messages on your behalf via our telephony provider
• Process subscription payments and manage your account
• Send you service-related communications (e.g., receipts, support responses, onboarding guidance)
• Send marketing communications where you have opted in (you can opt out at any time)
• Comply with legal obligations, including the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) and Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999
• Prevent fraud and abuse of our platform

5. Disclosure of Personal Information

We may share personal information with:

• Telephony providers — to send and receive SMS messages (e.g., Twilio or similar)
• Payment processors — to process subscription payments (e.g., Stripe)
• Hosting and infrastructure providers — our platform runs on cloud infrastructure (e.g., Vercel, Neon)
• AI service providers — we use OpenAI to process completed lead conversation text (e.g., summarising free-text responses for owner notifications). Only anonymised conversation content is sent; no names or phone numbers are included
• Legal and regulatory authorities — where required by Australian law or court order

We do not sell your personal information or your leads' personal information to third parties.

Some of our service providers may be located overseas (including the United States). Before disclosing information to an overseas recipient, we take reasonable steps to ensure they comply with the APPs or are subject to an equivalent privacy regime.

6. Security of Personal Information

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Our security measures include:

• HTTPS encryption for all data in transit
• Encrypted storage of sensitive data at rest
• Access controls limiting staff access to personal information
• Regular security reviews

No data transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we take all reasonable steps, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide our services and meet our legal obligations. Specifically:

• Account data — retained for the duration of your subscription plus 7 years (for tax and legal compliance)
• Lead conversation data — retained for 24 months from the date of interaction, then deleted
• Payment records — retained for 7 years as required by Australian tax law

You may request earlier deletion of your data — see Section 9 below.

8. Spam Act Compliance

All SMS messages sent through the Cove platform must comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). This means:

• SMS messages are only sent to individuals who have a pre-existing relationship with your business (i.e., they called you first)
• Every SMS includes a way for recipients to opt out (e.g., replying STOP)
• Opt-out requests are honoured immediately and the number is suppressed from further messages

You, as the subscriber, are responsible for ensuring your use of the Cove platform complies with the Spam Act. Cove will not knowingly facilitate spam.

9. Your Rights

Under the Australian Privacy Principles, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate, incomplete, or out-of-date information
• Request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal retention requirements)
• Make a complaint if you believe we have breached the APPs

To exercise these rights, contact us at hello@usecove.app. We will respond within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

10. Cookies and Analytics

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to understand how visitors use the site. This may include analytics services (such as Google Analytics or similar). You can disable cookies in your browser settings; however, some features of the site may not function correctly if you do.

We do not use cookies to track individuals across third-party websites for advertising purposes.

11. Children's Privacy

Our services are intended for use by businesses and individuals aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such information, please contact us immediately.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email or by posting a notice on our website. The updated policy will take effect from the date shown at the top of this page.

Continued use of the Cove platform after a policy update constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

13. Contact Us

For any privacy-related questions, access requests, or complaints:

• Email: hello@usecove.app
• Post: Privacy Officer, Cove Platform Pty Ltd (ABN 21 639 191 602), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia