Privacy Policy

Connect (connectact.org.au) is a directory of services for young people published by the Youth Coalition of the ACT ("YC", "we", "us"). This policy explains what personal information we collect through this site, why, and how we look after it. We've tried to write it in plain language rather than dense legal text. If anything is unclear, contact us and we'll explain it properly.

What we collect

Browsing the directory itself doesn't require an account and doesn't collect personal information beyond basic analytics (below). We only collect personal information when you actively give it to us:

• Adding or correcting a listing. The "Add a listing" and "Suggest a change" forms ask for your name, email address and your connection to the service (e.g. staff member or member of the public). This is so our moderation team can follow up if we need to check something. It is never published on the site and is only visible to YC staff reviewing submissions.
• Contacting us. The contact form asks for your name, email address and your message. We only use these to read and reply to what you've sent. Please remember Connect is a directory, not a service: if you need support, contact a service directly, or use one of the crisis lines on our Need help now page.
• Updates for youth workers. If you sign up for sector updates, your email address is sent to MailerLite, the mailing-list provider we use to send them. You can unsubscribe from any email we send, which removes you from that list.
• Address search. On the listing forms, the address field suggests real addresses as you type. What you type in that one field is sent to OpenStreetMap's Nominatim search service to fetch those suggestions. Nothing else on the form is sent, and this only happens on the two listing forms.
• Website analytics. We use Google Analytics to understand how the directory is used (e.g. which categories or regions people search for) so we can improve it. This is aggregated, cookie-based usage data; it isn't linked to your name or contact details.
• Spam protection. Forms are protected by Cloudflare Turnstile, a privacy-friendly alternative to traditional CAPTCHAs. It processes some technical information (like your browser and IP address) to confirm you're a real person; see Cloudflare's privacy policy for details.

We do not require young people (or anyone else) to create an account, log in, or identify themselves in order to search or browse the directory.

How we use it

• To review, verify and (if appropriate) publish submitted listings and corrections.
• To contact you if we have a question about something you submitted.
• To understand overall usage of the site and improve it over time.
• To keep the directory accurate, safe and free of spam or malicious submissions.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not use it for advertising. The only marketing-style email we send is the sector update list described above, which you have to opt into and can leave at any time.

Who we share it with

A small number of services help us run Connect. Each only receives what it needs to do its job:

• Sanity: the content platform that stores listings and submissions.
• Cloudflare: hosting, content delivery, and Turnstile spam protection.
• Resend: sends our team a notification email when a form is submitted, so submissions don't sit unnoticed. That email includes what you put in the form, including your name, email address and message.
• MailerLite: stores the sector-update mailing list and sends those emails. Only applies if you signed up for updates.
• Google Analytics: aggregated site-usage statistics.
• OpenStreetMap (Nominatim): powers the address suggestions on the listing forms. It receives only what you type into the address field.
• DeepL and Microsoft (Azure Translator): machine-translate listing descriptions into other languages. Contact details, addresses and phone numbers are never sent to a translation service.

We don't share submitter contact details with any of these beyond what's needed to store the submission itself (Sanity) and notify our team about it (Resend). We never share it with the organisations listed on Connect without your consent.

Information sent overseas

Most of the services above are based outside Australia, so some of your information is stored or processed overseas. In practice this means the United States (Sanity, MailerLite), Japan (Resend, which handles our notification emails from a Tokyo-based service), the European Union (DeepL) and a global network of data centres (Cloudflare, Google, Microsoft). We choose established providers with their own privacy commitments, and we only send them what they need. If you would rather not have your details handled this way, you can contact us by phone or post instead of using the forms; get in touch using the details below.

How long we keep it

Approved listings stay on the directory until they're removed or archived. Submissions we don't end up publishing (including rejected ones) are kept internally for a reasonable period for record-keeping, rather than deleted immediately; this helps us track patterns like repeat spam. You can ask us to delete your submitter details at any time (see below).

Your rights

You can ask us what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, by emailing us using the details below. We'll respond within a reasonable time. If you're not satisfied with how we've handled your information, you can also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

A note for young people

Connect is built for young people aged roughly 12–25, so we've deliberately kept what we ask for to a minimum. You never need to give us your details to find a service. If you're contacting us about a listing (rather than browsing), we only use your details to follow up on that specific thing.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time, for example as we add new features to the site. The date at the top shows when it was last changed.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your personal information can be sent to office@youthcoalition.net, or via our contact form.