Privacy Policy

Our privacy policy and how we use your data

About This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to ArchiQMS, a software-as-a-service quality management system operated by JUDD.OS Pty Ltd(ABN 698 313 423) of O’Connor, Australian Capital Territory, Australia (“we”, “us”, “JUDD.OS”).

It describes how we collect, hold, use, and disclose personal information in connection with the ArchiQMS platform (“the Platform”) and our website at archiqms.com.au (“the Site”).

We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in Schedule 1 of that Act. For subscribers and users located in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, or the European Economic Area, additional obligations apply as set out in Section 12 of this Policy.

This Policy operates alongside our Subscriber Terms of Service, Data Processing Agreement, and Acceptable Use Policy. Where those instruments address the same matter, they should be read together.

1. Who This Policy Covers

Subscribers— firms (typically architecture, engineering, or other design practices) that subscribe to the Platform. The subscriber is the firm entity, represented by its Director.

Users— individual staff members of a subscriber firm who access the Platform (Directors, Quality Managers, Project Architects, and Auditors).

Visitors— people who visit archiqms.com.au or submit an interest registration form on the Site without becoming subscribers.

Where a subscriber firm is established in a jurisdiction other than Australia, JUDD.OS processes personal information about that firm’s users in its capacity as a data processor acting on the firm’s instructions. The subscriber firm is the data controller in those circumstances. See Section 12 for jurisdiction-specific obligations.

2. What Personal Information We Collect

2.1 Subscriber and User Information

When a firm subscribes to ArchiQMS and its staff use the Platform, we collect:

  • Full name and professional role of each user
  • Work email address
  • Practice name and ABN
  • Jurisdiction(s) of practice
  • Professional discipline and registration details (where provided)
  • Billing information (name, email, and payment card details processed by Stripe — we do not store card numbers)
  • Usage logs (login times, feature interactions, AQIL confirmations, stage gate approvals), each timestamped and attributed to the individual user who took the action

2.2 Project and Quality Management Records

The Platform stores quality management records created by users in the course of their professional work. These records contain:

  • Project names, numbers, addresses, and descriptions
  • Names and email addresses of consultants engaged on projects
  • Names of clients (typically company or practice names, not individual clients)
  • Structured quality evidence: stage gate approval records, AQIL confirmation and suppression records, peer review records, corrective action records, and lessons learned entries
  • WHS and CPD certificate metadata for staff (certificate type, expiry date, issuing body)
  • Client satisfaction survey responses

These records constitute quality evidence held on behalf of the subscriber firm. They are not used by JUDD.OS for any purpose other than operating the Platform and the purposes described in Section 5 of this Policy.

2.3 Email Intelligence Metadata

Where a subscriber firm activates the Email Intelligence feature, project emails are routed to a firm-specific BCC address at inbound.archiqms.com.au. The email body is processed by the Anthropic Claude API in working memory and is immediately and permanently discarded. We do not store email body text under any circumstances.

What we do retain is structured classification metadata extracted during processing: the signal type, the associated project reference, and a sender domain identifier. This metadata constitutes personal information under the APPs where it can be linked to an identifiable individual and is held accordingly.

The AI Disclosure presented to the Director during onboarding explains this process. The firm Director must explicitly acknowledge the disclosure before the BCC route is activated. The Director may disable this feature at any time in Settings.

2.4 Visitor and Interest Registration Information

Visitors to archiqms.com.au who submit an interest registration form provide their name, practice name, work email address, discipline, approximate staff count, and current certification status. This information is used to contact them about ArchiQMS. It is stored separately from subscriber data, is not subject to multi-tenant data isolation, and is retained for 24 months or until the visitor requests deletion, whichever is earlier.

3. How We Collect Personal Information

We collect personal information:

  • Directly from the subscriber Director during account setup and the onboarding wizard
  • Directly from users when they create, update, or confirm records in the Platform
  • Automatically via the Email Intelligence BCC route (metadata only — see Section 2.3)
  • From Stripe when a subscription is created, updated, or cancelled
  • From web server logs when visitors interact with the Site

We do not collect personal information by scraping third-party websites, purchasing data lists, or obtaining it from sources other than those described above.

4. Cookies and Tracking

The Site uses essential session cookies for authentication. No third-party advertising cookies are used. If analytics cookies are deployed, this section will be updated and subscribers will be notified in accordance with Section 14.

5. Why We Use Personal Information

5.1 Providing the Platform

We use personal information to operate and deliver the Platform, including:

  • Authenticating users and enforcing role-based access controls
  • Routing digest emails and notifications to the correct user
  • Attributing quality evidence records to the individual who created or confirmed them (this attribution is required for ISO 9001 evidence integrity)
  • Processing billing and subscription management
  • Responding to support requests

5.2 Product Improvement — Aggregate and Anonymised Data

We use anonymised, aggregated, and de-identified platform usage data to improve the Platform. This includes analysing which AQIL prompt types generate the most quality findings, which project stage transitions are most commonly delayed, and how digest engagement rates vary by firm size and discipline. At no point in this process is any individual firm or person identifiable from the data we analyse.

This is a core part of how ArchiQMS improves over time. By using the Platform, subscribers consent to this use. Enterprise and government-tier subscribers may request an opt-out from aggregate analytics by contacting us at privacy@archiqms.com.au.

5.3 Sector Intelligence and Commercial Data Partnerships

We may make anonymised, aggregated, sector-level datasets available to commercial partners, including professional indemnity insurers, ISO certification bodies, and industry associations such as the Australian Institute of Architects.

This will never involve the disclosure of any individual firm’s data, any identifiable personal information, or any data that could allow a recipient to identify a specific subscriber or user.

The datasets we may make available are limited to the following aggregated, de-identified categories:

  • AQIL prompt completion rates by stage and discipline (anonymised across all firms)
  • Corrective action root cause taxonomy (aggregated across all firms — no firm attribution)
  • Digest engagement benchmarks by firm size and plan tier (anonymised)
  • Stage gate approval latency by stage and discipline (anonymised)
  • NCC non-conformance patterns by building class (anonymised)

We will not enter a commercial data arrangement unless we are satisfied that the recipient cannot, using reasonable means, re-identify any individual or firm from the data provided. All such arrangements will be subject to a data sharing agreement with appropriate confidentiality and use restrictions.

Subscribers who have concerns about sector data use may contact us at privacy@archiqms.com.au.

5.4 Compliance and Legal Obligations

We retain and may disclose personal information where required to comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, court orders, or other applicable law.

6. Who We Disclose Personal Information To

We do not sell individual subscriber or user data. We disclose personal information only in the following circumstances:

6.1 Subprocessors

We engage the following subprocessors to operate the Platform. Each processes personal information only on our instructions and under contractual data protection obligations:

SubprocessorPurposeData location
Supabase (Supabase Inc.)Database and authentication infrastructureSydney, Australia (ap-southeast-2)
Vercel Inc.Application hosting and content deliveryUnited States (with CDN edge nodes globally)
Anthropic PBCAI processing via Claude API for AQIL and email intelligence classificationUnited States
Resend Inc.Transactional email deliveryUnited States
Stripe Inc.Payment processing and subscription managementUnited States
Sentry (Functional Software Inc.)Error monitoringUnited States

For subscribers outside Australia, the cross-border transfer of personal information to Anthropic (for AI processing) and Vercel (for hosting) is conducted under the APP 8 framework and, where applicable, under the model clauses or equivalent safeguards required by the subscriber’s jurisdiction.

6.2 Authorised Auditors

Where a subscriber Director generates an auditor access token and shares it with an external ISO 9001 auditor, that auditor gains read-only access to the subscriber’s quality evidence records through the ArchiQMS Auditor Portal. This access is time-limited, fully logged, and constitutes the subscriber’s own disclosure to their own auditor. JUDD.OS is not a party to that disclosure.

6.3 As Required by Law

We may disclose personal information to regulators, law enforcement, or courts where required by law or where we have a good-faith belief that disclosure is necessary to protect our legal rights or prevent harm.

7. How We Store and Protect Personal Information

7.1 Data Residency

All subscriber and user personal information is stored in Supabase’s Sydney data centre (ap-southeast-2 region) unless otherwise stated in this Policy. All production data remains in Australia. This satisfies Australian data residency requirements for government-sector subscribers.

Claude API calls (for AQIL processing and email intelligence) are processed by Anthropic in the United States. Email body text is never transmitted — only structured prompt inputs derived from email metadata. All AI interactions are logged in the Platform with timestamps and call metadata, without storing the email body.

7.2 Security Measures

We implement the following technical and organisational controls:

  • AES-256 encryption at rest, managed by Supabase
  • TLS 1.3 encryption in transit, enforced at both the application layer (Vercel) and database layer (Supabase)
  • Row-Level Security on every database table, ensuring each subscriber firm’s data is completely isolated from every other firm at the database level
  • Role-based access controls enforced via custom JWT claims — four access roles (Director, Quality Manager, Project Architect, Auditor) with distinct permission levels
  • All document access via time-limited signed URLs (5-minute expiry), with every URL generation event logged
  • Rate limiting per organisation via Upstash Redis, preventing bulk data extraction
  • Operator access restricted to a dedicated console with all actions logged as immutable records

7.3 Evidence Record Integrity

A defined set of quality evidence records in the Platform are INSERT-ONLY — they are created once and can never be modified or deleted. This includes stage gate records, AQIL confirmation and suppression records, peer review items, corrective action records, and activity logs. This architecture is a deliberate ISO 9001 compliance design — the immutability of these records is what makes them reliable audit evidence.

This has an important consequence for erasure requests: see Section 9.3.

8. How Long We Keep Personal Information

CategoryRetention periodBasis
Active subscriber firm dataDuration of subscription + 30-day grace period after cancellationContractual necessity
Project quality records (general)7 years from project completionAPP 11; professional indemnity industry standard
Project records (regulated designs under DBP Act 2020)10 years from project completionDBPR Clause 84; NSW Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020
PI insurance certificates7 years from certificate dateProfessional indemnity industry standard
Staff personal informationDuration of employment + 7 yearsPrivacy Act 1988 (Cth); professional records retention
Billing recordsAs required by Stripe DPA and applicable tax lawLegal obligation
Interest registration records24 months from submission, or until deletion requestedLegitimate interest
Activity logs and audit trails7 yearsISO 9001 §7.5; professional indemnity records

When a subscription is cancelled, the 30-day grace period allows the firm to download a full JSON export of all their records before deletion. After 30 days, all subscriber personal information is permanently deleted except where a longer retention period is required by law.

9. Your Rights

9.1 Access

You have the right to request access to personal information we hold about you. Requests should be directed to privacy@archiqms.com.au. We will respond within 30 days. We will not charge for providing access unless the request is unusually complex.

9.2 Correction

If personal information we hold is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date, you may request correction. Users can correct most personal information (name, role, email) directly within Settings. Where correction is not available in-app, contact privacy@archiqms.com.au.

9.3 Erasure and Anonymisation

You may request deletion of your personal information. For most categories of data, we will action this request within 30 days.

Important exception — INSERT-ONLY evidence records: Where personal information is contained within an immutable quality evidence record (a stage gate record, AQIL confirmation, peer review record, corrective action, or activity log), we are unable to delete that record without compromising the integrity of the audit evidence trail. This is required for professional indemnity insurance and, in some cases, by building legislation (DBP Act 2020). In these circumstances, we will anonymisethe record by replacing identifying information (name, email) with “REDACTED” while preserving the quality evidence content. This satisfies the erasure request while maintaining the professional evidence trail the subscriber firm is legally obligated to retain. This position is disclosed in our Data Processing Agreement.

9.4 Opt-Out

You may opt out of:

  • Marketing communications at any time via the unsubscribe link in any marketing email
  • Aggregate analytics (Enterprise/Government tier subscribers) by contacting privacy@archiqms.com.au
  • Email intelligence processing by disabling the BCC route in Settings > Email Intelligence

You cannot opt out of transactional communications necessary to operate the Platform (account notices, security alerts, billing confirmations).

9.5 Complaints

If you believe we have breached the APPs, you may lodge a complaint with us at privacy@archiqms.com.au. We will respond within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.

10. Notifiable Data Breaches

We comply with the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme under Part IIIC of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). In the event of an eligible data breach involving personal information, we will:

  • Assess the breach within 30 days of becoming aware of it
  • Notify the OAIC if we conclude the breach is likely to result in serious harm to affected individuals
  • Notify affected individuals directly if there is a risk of serious harm to them
  • Log all incidents in our corrective action register

11. AI and Automated Processing

The Platform uses the Anthropic Claude API for two purposes:

AQIL prompts:AI-generated quality guidance is presented to users as indicative prompts only. AQIL outputs are not legal or compliance advice. They do not constitute architectural or engineering advice. Confirmation of an AQIL prompt constitutes the user’s own professional judgement — not AI decision-making. Every confirmation record is framed as a human action taken with AI assistance, not as an AI determination.

Email intelligence classification: The Anthropic Claude API analyses email metadata to classify signals relevant to project quality management. The email body is processed in working memory and immediately discarded. Only structured classification metadata is retained.

No automated decision-making with legal or significant effect is applied to any individual based solely on AI processing. All consequential decisions in the Platform (stage gate approvals, corrective action responses, AQIL suppressions) require human confirmation.

12. International Subscribers

12.1 New Zealand

Subscribers established in New Zealand are subject to the Privacy Act 2020 (NZ) and the New Zealand Information Privacy Principles (NZIPPs). JUDD.OS processes personal information for New Zealand subscribers in its capacity as an overseas agency under that Act. New Zealand users have equivalent rights of access and correction to those described in Section 9. Data is held in Australia (Sydney) under the APP cross-border transfer framework. New Zealand subscribers who wish to raise a concern may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (New Zealand) at privacy.org.nz.

12.2 United Kingdom

Subscribers established in the United Kingdom are subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. For UK subscribers, JUDD.OS acts as a data processor and the subscriber firm acts as the data controller. UK users have the following rights under UK GDPR: access, rectification, erasure (subject to the INSERT-ONLY evidence records limitation described in Section 9.3), restriction of processing, data portability, and the right to object. The lawful basis for processing is contractual necessity (for operating the Platform) and legitimate interests (for aggregate analytics). Cross-border transfers to Australia are conducted under the UK adequacy framework or, where not available, under International Data Transfer Agreements. UK subscribers who wish to raise a concern may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

12.3 European Economic Area

Where subscribers are established in EEA member states, equivalent obligations under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation 2016/679) apply. Standard Contractual Clauses will be executed where required for cross-border transfers. EEA subscribers may exercise the rights described above and may contact their national supervisory authority.

12.4 Governing Law

Notwithstanding the jurisdiction-specific provisions above, this Policy and the Subscriber Terms of Service are governed by the laws of the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Disputes are subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the ACT.

13. ISO 9001 and This Policy

ArchiQMS is designed to help subscriber firms achieve and maintain ISO 9001:2015 certification. The way we handle data in operating the Platform is itself consistent with ISO 9001 principles:

  • Documented information (§7.5): All personal information processing activities are documented and version-controlled
  • Confidentiality of information (§7.5.3b): Access controls prevent unauthorised access to subscriber data; all document access is logged
  • Continual improvement (§10.3): Our aggregate analytics programme supports platform improvement, and any data incident is treated as a corrective action with root cause analysis and effectiveness review
  • Risk-based thinking (§6.1): Our data security architecture is designed around identified risks, with controls proportionate to the potential harm of a breach
  • External providers (§8.4): All subprocessors are subject to contractual obligations consistent with this Policy

Subscribers should note that ArchiQMS provides tools to assist ISO 9001 compliance but does not itself certify any firm. Certification decisions rest with the subscriber’s chosen accredited certification body.

14. Changes to This Policy

We will notify subscribers of material changes to this Policy by email and by posting a notice in the Platform. The updated Policy will take effect 30 days after notification unless the change is required by law, in which case it takes immediate effect. Continued use of the Platform after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Policy. The version history of this Policy is maintained at archiqms.com.au/legal/privacy.

15. Contact Us

Privacy Officer

JUDD.OS Pty Ltd

O’Connor, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Email: privacy@archiqms.com.au

This Policy was last updated: May 2026
Policy version: 0.1
Document controller: JUDD.OS Pty Ltd