Privacy Policy

Plain-English summary

What we collect: the answers you type into our calculator and eligibility checker (state, target price, savings, income), saved property comparisons, anonymous usage analytics, and — only if you ask for it — your email address when you download a free guide or subscribe to scheme-update emails.

Where it lives: your calculator and eligibility answers stay almost entirely in your browser's localStorage. We have no user accounts and no logins. If you subscribe to the free guide or update emails, your email address is the one piece of personal information we hold on our side.

What we do with it: we use anonymous analytics to understand which pages and schemes are most popular, so we can prioritise our editorial coverage. If you subscribe, we email you when an Australian first home buyer scheme actually changes — a few times a year at most. We do not sell, rent, or share your email address with anyone for marketing.

How to delete it: clear your browser's site data to remove anything stored locally. To delete an email subscription, use the unsubscribe link in any message or email us and we will remove it within 30 days.

Who we are

LoDeposit.com.au is operated by the entity carrying ABN 14 127 573 219 ("we", "us", "our").

You can contact us about privacy at privacy@lodeposit.com.au or at the postal address listed in the Contact section below.

This policy applies to lodeposit.com.au and any subdomain we operate. It does not apply to third-party sites we link to (e.g. Housing Australia, state revenue offices). Those sites have their own privacy practices.

What we collect

Because LoDeposit.com.au is an editorial comparison site (not a lender, broker, or scheme administrator), we collect only what is needed to run the calculator and improve the site. Specifically:

1. Information you enter into our tools

• Calculator inputs: the state you select, target property price, current savings, deposit amount, buyer type (first home buyer / single parent / investor / downsizer), and whether the property is a new build or established.
• Eligibility check answers: the answers you give to the 7 questions on the eligibility check page (buyer type, state, property type, target price, deposit, super balance, income, citizenship).
• Saved property comparisons: if you click the "save" or "compare" button on the properties page, we store the property ID in your browser so it appears in your saved list.

2. Information collected automatically

• Anonymous usage analytics: page views, referrer, country (derived from IP, not stored long-term), device type, and rough screen size.
• Standard server logs: IP address, user agent, and the URL requested, kept for up to 30 days for security and abuse prevention.

What we do not collect

• No name, email, phone number, or postal address (unless you email us first).
• No date of birth, government ID, Medicare number, or financial account details.
• No biometric data.
• No advertising identifiers, cross-site tracking pixels, or social media retargeting tags.

Why we collect it

We collect the minimum needed for the following purposes, all tied to operating or improving the site:

• To run the calculator and eligibility engine (the inputs you enter).
• To remember your saved properties and previous calculator values between visits (localStorage).
• To count anonymous visits and see which schemes or states are most-read, so we can prioritise our editorial coverage.
• To detect abuse (bots, scraping) and keep the site fast and available.
• To comply with Australian law.

We do not use your data for automated decision-making, profiling, or targeted advertising.

Email address and scheme-update subscriptions

We collect an email address in one place only: when you download a free guide on our site (such as the Scheme Stacking Cheat Sheet) or subscribe to scheme change notifications. In both cases the form requires your explicit consent before anything is submitted.

What we use it for

We use your email address to send the material you asked for, and — if you ticked the box — to tell you when an Australian first home buyer scheme changes in a way that affects your deposit, duty or grant. We send these emails only when something has genuinely changed. There is no drip campaign, no third-party marketing and no advertising list.

Who we share it with

Nobody. We do not sell, rent, trade or share your email address with brokers, lenders, developers or advertising networks. Our email records are held by the email provider who processes our sending; they act on our instructions under a confidentiality agreement and are not permitted to use the list for their own purposes.

How long we keep it

Until you unsubscribe, or until three years after your last interaction with us, whichever comes first. You can unsubscribe from any message using the link in the footer, or by emailing us.

Your APP rights over this information

This is personal information under the Privacy Act 1988. You can ask us at any time to confirm what we hold, correct it, or delete it. You can also withdraw your consent — if you do, we stop emailing you, and we delete the record after a short confirmation window. If you're unhappy with how we've handled it, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

localStorage and cookies

The site stores a small amount of data in your browser's localStorage so the calculator and saved-property list work between visits. The keys we set include:

• ld_profile — your last calculator state (state, price, deposit, buyer type).
• ld_elig — your last eligibility check answers.
• ld_saved, ld_compare — the property IDs you've saved or compared.

None of this leaves your browser. We have no server-side database of these values. You can delete all of it at any time by clearing your browser's site data for lodeposit.com.au, or by using the in-app "reset" link where offered.

We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking cookies. The only cookies we set are those strictly necessary for the site to function (such as your theme preference).

Analytics

We use privacy-respecting analytics (such as Plausible or a self-hosted equivalent) that do not set tracking cookies, do not build user profiles, and do not collect personal data. Analytics data is aggregated and used only to understand which content is most useful.

If we ever switch to a provider that uses cookies (such as Google Analytics), we will update this policy and ask for consent where required by the Privacy Act.

Who we share with

We do not sell, rent, lease, or otherwise commercially share your personal information with third parties.

We may share aggregated, non-identifying statistics (e.g. "this page was viewed 1,200 times in March") with our hosting provider, our analytics provider, and — if you explicitly ask us to — with a scheme administrator or licensed adviser who can help you.

We will disclose information where required by Australian law, court order, or to protect the safety, rights, or property of our users or the public.

If you choose to book a conveyancer or broker

Some pages on this site allow you to request a document review from a conveyancer or mortgage broker, and — if you do — we pass the name and email address you enter to that provider so they can contact you. This is a separate, explicit choice you make on their booking form, not something we do automatically.

Those providers are independent of us. They do not pay us a fee or commission for the referral, and we do not receive anything if you proceed with them. The partner's own privacy policy then applies to the information you give them.

Overseas data

Some of our service providers (analytics, hosting CDN, fonts) may process data on servers located outside Australia. Specifically:

• Our website may be served via global content delivery networks (e.g. Cloudflare, Fastly) with edge nodes in multiple countries.
• Our fonts may be served by Google Fonts (US/EU servers).
• Our analytics provider may be based in the EU or US.

We rely on providers that maintain adequate data-handling standards. Under APP 8, we take reasonable steps to ensure overseas recipients do not breach the Australian Privacy Principles.

How long we keep data

• localStorage data (calculator, eligibility, saved properties) — kept on your device until you clear your browser storage. We never receive a copy.
• Server logs — kept for up to 30 days for security and abuse prevention, then deleted.
• Analytics data — kept for 24 months in aggregated form, then deleted or fully anonymised.
• Email correspondence — kept for up to 24 months, then deleted, unless required to be retained for legal or accounting reasons.

Your rights under the Privacy Act 1988

The Australian Privacy Principles give you the right to:

• Know what personal information we hold about you (if any).
• Access that information.
• Correct information that is wrong.
• Have your information deleted, where reasonable.
• Opt out of scheme-update emails at any time (unsubscribe link, or email us).
• Make a complaint.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@lodeposit.com.au. We will respond within 30 days.

Children's privacy

LoDeposit.com.au is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. The site is an editorial resource for adults researching home buying in Australia.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will:

• Update the "Effective" date at the top of this page.
• For material changes, post a notice on the home page for at least 30 days.
• Where required by law, seek your consent before the change takes effect.

Previous versions of this policy are available on request.

Complaints

If you believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, please contact us first at privacy@lodeposit.com.au so we can try to resolve it directly.

If you're not satisfied with our response, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):

• Website: oaic.gov.au
• Phone: 1300 363 992
• Online complaint form is available on the OAIC website.

Contact us

For privacy questions, data access requests, or to opt out of anything:

Email: privacy@lodeposit.com.au
ABN: 14 127 573 219
Response time: within 30 days

For general site questions, see our eligibility check or our editorial guides.