Privacy Policy

At novalitharo, we collect information to provide better services to our users. When you create an account with our household budgeting platform, we gather personal details including your name, email address, and financial preferences to customize your budgeting experience.

We collect data through several methods:

• Account Registration: Name, email, phone number, and location details
• Financial Data: Budget categories, spending patterns, and goal-setting preferences
• Usage Analytics: How you interact with our platform, feature usage, and time spent
• Device Information: IP address, browser type, operating system, and device identifiers
• Communication Records: Support tickets, feedback submissions, and correspondence

This information helps us personalize your budgeting dashboard, send relevant notifications about spending patterns, and improve our service based on user behavior trends. We process this data lawfully under the Australian Privacy Principles, ensuring compliance with the Privacy Act 1988.

Your personal information is stored securely using industry-standard encryption protocols. We implement multiple layers of security to protect your data from unauthorized access, alteration, or disclosure.

Our servers are located in Australia and hosted by certified data centers that comply with ISO 27001 standards. We maintain backup systems and disaster recovery protocols to ensure your data remains available and protected. Regular penetration testing and security audits are conducted by third-party specialists to identify and address potential vulnerabilities.

All novalitharo employees with access to personal information undergo background checks and sign confidentiality agreements. We limit data access to those who require it for their job functions and provide regular privacy training to our staff.

Under Australian privacy law, you have several rights regarding your personal information. We're committed to helping you exercise these rights effectively and without unnecessary barriers.

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Privacy Officer using the details provided at the end of this policy. We may need to verify your identity before processing requests that involve accessing or modifying your personal information. Most requests are handled free of charge, though we may apply reasonable fees for excessive or repetitive requests.

We don't sell your personal information to third parties. However, we may share your data in specific circumstances to provide our services effectively and comply with legal obligations.

Service Providers: We work with trusted partners who help us operate our platform, including cloud hosting providers, payment processors, and customer support tools. These companies are contractually bound to protect your information and can only use it for the specific services they provide to us.

Legal Requirements: We may disclose personal information if required by law, court order, or government regulation. This includes responding to subpoenas, regulatory investigations, or requests from law enforcement agencies when legally compelled to do so.

Business Transfers: If novalitharo is acquired, merged, or sells assets, your personal information may be transferred as part of the transaction. We'll notify users before any such transfer and ensure the receiving party maintains the same privacy protections.

Anonymous Analytics: We may share aggregated, anonymized data about user behavior and platform usage with researchers or industry partners. This data cannot be used to identify individual users and helps improve financial wellness resources for the broader community.

Our platform uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your browsing experience and provide personalized features. These small data files help us remember your preferences and improve site functionality.

Essential Cookies: Required for basic platform functionality, including user authentication, security features, and maintaining your session while using novalitharo.

Performance Cookies: Help us understand how you interact with our platform by collecting anonymous usage statistics. This data helps us identify popular features and areas for improvement.

Preference Cookies: Remember your settings like dashboard layout, notification preferences, and display options to provide a more personalized experience.

You can control cookie settings through your browser preferences. However, disabling certain cookies may affect platform functionality and limit your ability to use some features effectively. We don't use tracking cookies for advertising purposes or share cookie data with external marketing networks.

Our platform also uses local storage and session storage to temporarily save your progress while creating budgets or setting financial goals. This information stays on your device and isn't transmitted to our servers unless you choose to save your work.

We retain personal information only as long as necessary to provide our services and comply with legal obligations. Different types of data have varying retention periods based on their purpose and legal requirements.

Account Data: Maintained while your account remains active and for 7 years after closure for tax and financial record-keeping purposes as required by Australian law.

Transaction History: Financial data and budgeting records are kept for 7 years to comply with financial services regulations and help with tax reporting if requested.

Communication Records: Support conversations and correspondence are retained for 3 years to help resolve ongoing issues and improve our services.

Marketing Data: Information used for promotional communications is deleted within 60 days of unsubscribing from marketing messages.

When you delete your account, we begin the data removal process immediately. Some information may take up to 90 days to completely remove from backup systems and cached storage. However, we may retain certain records if required by law or to resolve disputes and enforce our terms of service.

We regularly review stored data and automatically delete information that has exceeded its retention period. Our automated systems flag and remove unnecessary personal information to minimize data storage and reduce privacy risks.

While novalitharo operates primarily within Australia, some of our service providers may process your information overseas. We ensure all international data transfers meet Australian privacy standards and provide adequate protection for your personal information.

Our cloud hosting infrastructure includes servers in Australia and New Zealand, both of which have privacy laws comparable to Australian standards. Any data processing in these locations maintains the same security and privacy protections as domestic processing.

When we work with service providers in other countries, we require contractual guarantees that your information will be protected according to Australian privacy principles. These agreements include specific clauses about data security, access controls, and breach notification procedures.

Currently, limited support and development functions may involve providers in the United States and United Kingdom, both of which have established privacy frameworks. We conduct due diligence on all international partners and regularly audit their data handling practices.

novalitharo's household budgeting platform is designed for adults and we don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 18 years of age. Our terms of service require users to be at least 18 years old to create accounts.

If we discover that we've inadvertently collected information from someone under 18, we'll delete that data promptly and close any associated account. Parents or guardians who believe their child has provided personal information to novalitharo should contact us immediately.

For families wanting to teach budgeting skills to teenagers, we recommend parents create accounts and supervise their children's use of the platform rather than allowing minors to register independently.

We design our services with adult financial responsibilities in mind, including features like loan tracking, investment planning, and employment income management that aren't suitable for children's use without parental guidance.

We may update this privacy policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. When we make significant changes that affect how we collect, use, or share your personal information, we'll notify you through multiple channels.

For major changes, we'll send email notifications to all active users at least 30 days before the new policy takes effect. We'll also display prominent notices on our platform and may require acknowledgment of changes before you can continue using certain features.

Minor updates, such as clarifications or formatting changes that don't affect your rights or our data practices, may be made without advance notice. However, we'll always update the "Last Modified" date at the top of this policy.

We encourage users to review this privacy policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information. Continued use of novalitharo after policy changes indicates acceptance of the updated terms.

Previous versions of our privacy policy are available upon request if you need to reference earlier terms or track changes over time.