BetterBeliefs privacy policy

At BetterBeliefs, we’re committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This Privacy Policy explains when and why we collect personal information about the people who use the BetterBeliefs platform, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep it secure.

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time, so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you’re happy with any changes.

Any questions regarding this Policy and our privacy practices should be sent: 

by email to info@betterbeliefs.com.au by social media LinkedIn or Twitter.

or you can telephone us +61 403 761 076 (Australia)

What is the BetterBeliefs platform? 

BetterBeliefs arose from the understanding that while existing online social platforms make communicating between people easier and faster, there is rarely a mechanism to calculate the evidential weight of posts and comments or a facility to disagree or provide disconfirming evidence as well as agreement. The BetterBeliefs team created our platform to empower diverse–often marginalised–voices, by incorporating their perspectives into an actionable evidence stack. The platform design encourages intuitive, inclusive, transparent, evidence-based and responsive stakeholder engagement for decision making. We believe that individuals that use BetterBeliefs should have their voices heard proportionate to the amount of evidence for or against the ideas they espouse. We believe that organisations using BetterBeliefs will save time and money by investing in ideas that have solid evidence and organisational belief; but also gives data-driven guidance on how to investigate and communicate ideas. 

How do we collect information from you?

We collect information in three ways: 1) when you register on the platform, 2) when you use the platform and 3) when you interact with separately to the platform, such as during face-to-face events or workshops, on the phone, via email or other online interactions such as through social media. 

Registration

We collect information from you when you register for the platform including information you input into our registration page such as your name, email address and role/position. This information is intended to enable organisers of research events to track the diversity of contributors to the platform. For example, to make sure that there is a balance of subject matter expertise and type of organisations suitable for the aims and objectives of the event. 

Platform usage data

We collect information from you when you use and interact with the platform. This includes when you add a hypotheses, vote a hypotheses up or down, when you add evidence supporting or refuting hypotheses, when you rate your own evidence or other people’s evidence, and when you change your vote on any hypothesis or change your ranking of any piece of evidence.

Data collected separate to platform usage

We collect information when you interact with the BetterBeliefs company separately to the platform, such as registering your attendance during face-to-face events or workshops, post-it notes, notes on paper-based materials, online survey or live-polling data. We may collect information about you via phone or video conferencing events, via email or other online interactions such as through social media such as Twitter or LinkedIn interactions. We have no automated way to link information provided within platform usage to information collected outside the platform. However, if you use consistent information (e.g. same email address) across interactions we will be able to connect your data.

How is your information used?

The founders of BetterBeliefs are both business owners and Academic researchers interested in making a successful and ethical business; and to progress knowledge and research in various disciplines such as cognitive science, philosophy, business, design, IT, and statistics. BetterBeliefs was submitted and approved unde project title Strategic Decision Making Platform Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Ethics Approval #1700000929 2017-2023. You can read case studies and link to research articles, reports and book chapters via our website. From a business perspective, BetterBeliefs wants to make a highly engaging platform that resonates with users and makes them feel safe for evidence-based ideation and innovation. BetterBeliefs wants organisations to find the platform effective and efficient for strategic and operational decision making. 

We use your information to:

• Process your registration;
• Carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into by you and us (e.g. send you information about the platform, information about your registration or subscription to the platform);
•  Notify you of changes to our services;
•  Send you email newsletters which include information about content on our website, updates on the platform, and information about events we are hosting;
• Monitor how you use the BetterBeliefs platform, and how you got to the BetterBeliefs websites;
• Seek your views or comments on the services we provide and events we run;
• Communiate about competitions we run.

We review our retention periods for personal information on a regular basis.

We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations.

We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract you hold with us.

Anonymous Data

Your personal profile will be linked to a unique user ID, and your name and email address removed to form anonymised data to be analysed for the purposes of improving business models, exploring user interactions to improve user experience, engagement and user interface design, refining underlying algorithms and guiding the creation and adaption of education and communication resources. Categorical data of users will be used to describe trends and make statistical predictions such as geographic location, occupation will . Your anonymised data will be used to explore theoretical concepts in Academic disciplines such as cognitive science, philosophy, business, design, IT, and statistics in peer and non-peer reviewed communication such as journal articles, book chapters, and blog posts–see our website. We will ensure your identity is anonymous by not revealing re-identifiable components of your interactions with the BetterBeliefs platform, team or events to stakeholders.

Personal data

Your personal data will be used to enable us to communicate with you in alignment with your wishes to be communicated with. We will use aggregate aspects of your personal data in data analysis to improve the business or contribute to Academic research, e.g. comparing user behaviours in different occupations.

Who has access to your information?

We will not sell or rent your information to third parties.

We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes. We may occasionally share anonymised platform usage data with academic institutions for research purposes.

Third Party Service Providers working on our behalf

We may pass your information to our third party service providers, agents subcontractors and other associated organisations for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you on our behalf (for example to process registration for events such as conferences or Hackathons and send you mailings).

However, when we use third party service providers, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the service and we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for their own direct marketing purposes.

BetterBeliefs uses the following Third Party Service Providers: 

Google Analytics

Our website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc.. Google Analytics uses cookies, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the us to  analyse how visitors use the website. It also send 3rd party requests without cookies

The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity to be looked at by BetterBeliefs, and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.

Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.

Social Media

If the BetterBeliefs team interacts with your over social networks, the privacy implications will vary from social network to social network and will be dependent on the privacy settings you have chosen on these networks. If you connect with us via our Twitter account @betterbeliefs then see Twitter’s privacy policy https://twitter.com/en/privacy  If you connect with us via our LinkedIn account, then see LinkedIn’s privacy policy https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy  

Your choices

You can change your marketing preferences at any time by contacting us by email at  info@betterbeliefs.com.au or by telephone on (+61) 403 761 076.

You can also opt out of receiving email newsletters at any time using the ‘unsubscribe’ button at the bottom of any such email.

How to access and update your information

The accuracy of your information is important to us.

If you are registered with the platform you can update your information by emailing us at info@betterbeliefs.com.au or by telephone on (+61) 403 761 076.

Security precautions in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information.

When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that it’s treated securely. Any sensitive information (such as credit or debit card details) is encrypted. When you are on a secure page, a lock icon will appear on your web browser screen.

Non-sensitive details (your email address etc.) are transmitted normally over the Internet, and this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk.

Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems.

Where we have given (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our websites, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential.

We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to websites run by other organisations. This privacy policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website.

In addition, if you linked to our website from a third party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third party site and recommend that you check the policy of that third party site.

16 or Under

We are concerned to protect the privacy of children aged 16 or under. If you are aged 16 or under‚ please get your parent/guardian’s permission beforehand whenever you provide us with personal information.

Your rights

Although based on Australia, BetterBeliefs aims to fulfil the data rights outlined under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) you have a number of rights with regard to your personal data.

You have the right to:

1. Be informed about the collection and use of your personal data
2. Access to your personal data
3. Rectification of your personal data
4. Have the personal data we hold on you erased
5. Restrict the processing of your personal data
6. Object to the processing of your personal data
7. Have your personal data transferred to another controller/processor

 

Identity and contact details of controller and data protection contact

BetterBeliefs Pty. Ltd. is the controller and processor of data for the purposes of the DPA 18 and GDPR.

If you have any concerns as to how your data is processed you can contact:

Kate Devitt (CEO) at kate [at] betterbeliefs.com.au

If you are unhappy with how we are using your information and are unable to resolve the issue with us, you can raise the matter with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner https://www.oaic.gov.au/ 

Review of this Policy

We keep this Policy under regular review. This Policy was last updated in January 2023