Privacy Policy

The Survival Guru (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates thesurvivalguru.com. We handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

The short version

This is a publishing site, not a service you log into. We do not sell your personal information, we do not run advertising or tracking pixels, and you can read the entire site without giving us anything about yourself.

What we collect

Information you give us

We only receive personal information from you if you choose to send it. If you use our contact form, we collect the name, email address and message you enter, so that we can read and respond to your enquiry. We do not require any other detail, and we ask you not to provide more than we need.

Information collected automatically

Like almost every website, our hosting and content infrastructure records technical information when a page is served. This typically includes your IP address, the page requested, the date and time, your browser and operating system (user agent), and the referring page.

These records are generated by our hosting and security providers, are used for delivering the site, diagnosing faults, and protecting the site from abuse and attack, and are retained for a short period. We do not use them to build a profile of you, and we do not try to identify you from them.

Cookies

We do not use advertising, analytics or tracking cookies.

The only cookies this site sets are functional cookies used by our editorial preview feature, which apply only to logged-in staff previewing unpublished drafts. If you are an ordinary visitor reading the site, no cookie of ours is set.

You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings. Doing so will not affect your ability to read the site.

What we do not collect

We do not knowingly collect sensitive information as defined in the Privacy Act — including health information — and we ask you not to send it to us. If you contact us about a health matter, please keep it general: we are not a health service, and we cannot advise on your circumstances.

Why we collect it

We use personal information only to:

• respond to your message or enquiry
• publish, correct and improve our content
• operate, secure and troubleshoot the website
• comply with our legal obligations

We do not use your personal information for any unrelated purpose, we do not use it for direct marketing unless you have asked us to, and we do not use it for automated decision-making.

Who we share it with

We do not sell, rent or trade personal information.

We use third-party service providers to run the site, and they may handle the information described above in the course of providing their services to us:

We may also disclose personal information where we are required or authorised to by law, or where it is reasonably necessary to protect the safety of any person or to deal with unlawful activity or serious misconduct.

Overseas disclosure

Some of our providers store or process data outside Australia, including in the United States. By using this site or contacting us, you acknowledge that your information may be handled overseas, and that overseas recipients may not be subject to the Privacy Act. We take reasonable steps to use reputable providers with their own security and privacy commitments.

Security and retention

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. The site is served over HTTPS, access to our systems is restricted and protected by strong authentication, and we deliberately keep the number of systems holding personal information small.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purpose we collected it, or as long as the law requires, then delete or de-identify it.

If we suffer a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

Accessing and correcting your information

You can ask us what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. Send the request through our contact form and we will respond within a reasonable period — usually 30 days. We may need to verify your identity first. If we refuse a request, we will tell you why in writing.

Third-party links

Our articles link to other websites, including government, emergency service and health resources. Those sites have their own privacy practices, which we do not control and are not responsible for. Check their policies before providing them with personal information.

Children

This site is written for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 15. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

Visitors from the European Union and United Kingdom

If you access this site from the EU or UK, our lawful bases for processing the limited data described above are our legitimate interests in operating and securing the site and in responding to your enquiry, your consent where you have given it, and compliance with legal obligations. You may have rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection and portability, and a right to complain to your local supervisory authority. Contact us to exercise them.

Complaints

If you think we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, contact us with the details and we will investigate and respond, normally within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au, or on 1300 363 992.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the site changes. The version published on this page is the current one, and the “last updated” date above tells you when it changed. Material changes will be noted on the page.