AussieValues.org is committed to handling information responsibly and transparently. This policy explains what is collected, why, and how it is protected.
Last updated: 1 January 2025 | Effective: 1 January 2025
This Privacy Policy applies to the website AussieValues.org (the “Site”) and is prepared in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”) and the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”) contained in Schedule 1 of that Act.
The Site is operated as an independent, non-commercial project. It does not collect “personal information” as defined in the Privacy Act — that is, information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. Nevertheless, because survey responses are transmitted to an external service (Google Sheets) when you submit, this policy is provided to ensure complete transparency about what is sent, how it is used, and who can see it.
Under the Privacy Act, “personal information” means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information is true or not and whether in material form or not.
The data handled by this Site — a numeric score and broad demographic category selections — does not meet this definition. No name, email, phone number, IP address, precise location, device identifier, or any other direct or indirect identifier is collected. The demographic categories used (e.g. “NSW”, “capital city”, “Labor voter”) are too broad to identify any individual, whether alone or in combination.
When you submit the survey, your total score (a single number between 0 and 100) is transmitted to a Google Sheet operated by this site. This is used solely to update a running aggregate total. The score is not stored as an individual data point — it is added to a cumulative sum and the record of that specific submission is discarded immediately.
Your 20 individual question ratings (0–5 for each question) are transmitted to the server solely to update per-category running averages (the sum and count for each of the 20 questions). The individual answers are not stored. Only the updated running totals are retained. It is not possible to reconstruct your individual answers from what is stored.
Four optional demographic questions appear at the end of the survey:
These questions are clearly labelled as optional. If you answer them, your selections are transmitted alongside your score. As with the score, they are used only to increment running aggregate totals — for example, the counter for “NSW respondents” increases by one. The individual selections are not stored as a record of your submission.
The categories used are deliberately broad. The combination of all four demographic selections (state + location + birthplace + vote) cannot reliably identify an individual. Even in small states like Tasmania, hundreds of thousands of people share each combination.
The only data stored on the server (a Google Sheet) is a single JSON object containing running aggregate totals — counts and sums for the entire survey population. For example: total responses: 842, NSW respondents: 247, Labor voters: 198. No individual submission record exists anywhere after the aggregate has been updated.
Your browser stores the following data locally, on your device only:
This local data never leaves your device except as described in sections 3.1–3.3 above. It is stored using the browser Web Storage API (localStorage), which is not accessible to other websites. You can delete it at any time by clearing your browser’s local storage.
This Site does not set any cookies — first-party or third-party. No tracking, analytics, session, or advertising cookies are used.
This Site does not log, collect, or store your IP address. However, when your browser makes a network request to Google’s servers (to submit or retrieve aggregate data), Google’s infrastructure may log the IP address of the request as a standard server access log. This logging is outside the control of this Site and is governed by Google’s own Privacy Policy. The IP address data is not shared with this Site and is not used to identify individual survey respondents.
This Site does not currently use any web analytics platform such as Google Analytics. If analytics are introduced in future, this policy will be updated and a notice displayed on the homepage at least 30 days in advance.
The aggregate data collected is used for one purpose only: to power the Community Results page at AussieValues.org/results.html, which shows how survey respondents as a group have scored across categories, states, demographics, and voting intentions. The data is not used for advertising, profiling, marketing, research publication, or any commercial purpose.
Aggregate survey data is transmitted to and stored on Google Sheets, a service operated by Google LLC, whose servers may be located in the United States or other jurisdictions outside Australia. Google acts as a data processor for this Site.
Because the data transmitted is not personal information (it contains no identifiers), the cross-border disclosure provisions of APP 8 do not strictly apply. However, in the interest of full transparency: Google LLC participates in data protection frameworks that provide protections substantially equivalent to Australian privacy law, and its processing of data on behalf of third-party developers is governed by the Google Workspace Data Processing Amendment.
Beyond the Google Sheets integration described above, no survey data is disclosed to any other third party — no advertisers, data brokers, researchers, government agencies, or other organisations. No data is sold, rented, or traded.
The architecture of this Site was designed from the outset to minimise data collection and privacy risk:
Data transmitted between your browser and Google’s servers is encrypted in transit using TLS (HTTPS). The Google Sheet storing aggregate data is accessible only to the site operator’s Google account, protected by Google’s standard authentication security (including two-factor authentication). Data at rest in Google Sheets is encrypted by Google by default.
Because no personal information is collected, the consequences of any security incident would be limited to exposure of the aggregate totals — public information already displayed on the results page.
The Australian Privacy Principles give individuals rights in relation to personal information held about them, including rights to access (APP 12) and correct (APP 13) that information. Because AussieValues.org holds no personal information about you — no individual submission records exist after the aggregate is updated — there is nothing to access or correct through us.
You have full control over the data stored on your own device. You can delete your local survey data at any time by clearing your browser’s local storage:
This Site is intended for adults. The survey deals with political and civic values and is not specifically directed at children under 15. Because no personal information is collected, there is no additional privacy risk to younger users; however, parental guidance is encouraged for users under 15.
This Site contains links to external websites including government sources and news articles. AussieValues.org is not responsible for the privacy practices of external sites. Each external site’s own privacy policy applies when you visit it.
This policy may be updated where the Site’s data handling practices change. Any material changes will be reflected in an updated “Last updated” date at the top of this page, and notified via a prominent homepage notice for at least 30 days before taking effect.
The most significant potential change would be the introduction of any form of user accounts, session tracking, analytics, or individual record storage. Each of these would require a substantive policy update and, depending on the nature of the data, may introduce genuine personal information handling obligations under the Privacy Act.
If you believe your privacy has been interfered with in connection with this Site, you are welcome to raise a concern. As an independent, non-commercial project, responses may not be immediate but all reasonable concerns will be addressed in good faith.
If you are not satisfied with the response, you have the right to complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):
This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of Australia. Any disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of Australian courts.