The Redlands Privacy Policy
Effective date: 7 November 2026
This policy explains how The Redlands handles information. It follows the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
The short version
- You don't need an account, and the app never asks for your name.
- Saved items and preferences stay on your phone.
- Questions you ask Koa, our AI assistant, go to OpenAI in the United States, but only after you agree.
- We don't sell your information. The app has no ads and no analytics tools.
Who we are
The Redlands is run by Luis Otavio Susko, based in Queensland, Australia. In this policy, "we" and "us" means him.
Contact: support@theredlands.app
The Redlands is an independent app. It is not run by or connected with Redland City Council or any government agency.
Using the app anonymously
You can use the whole app without telling us who you are. There is no sign-up and no login. We don't try to work out who you are from what you do in the app.
What stays on your phone
These are kept only on your device. We can't see them unless the feature says otherwise below.
| What | How to remove it |
|---|---|
| Saved places, businesses, events and other listings | Unsave them in You |
| Your chosen suburb or neighbourhood (a copy goes with your searches, as explained below) | Change it in You > Preferences |
| The property you chose for Bin day (street address label, suburb and a calendar reference) | Use Remove address in Bin day |
| Your bin reminder choice, and in the iPhone app the reminders set on the phone and your last bin calendar | Turn reminders off in Bin day. Remove address deletes the reminders and the calendar, and keeps your choice for the next address |
| Your chosen fuel type | Reset it in Fuel |
| Recently viewed links, if you turn this on (off by default, up to 20 public links) | Clear them in You > Preferences |
| Your agreement to send Koa questions to OpenAI | Withdraw it in You > Preferences |
| A random ID used to limit how much Koa can be used | Delete the app |
| In the iPhone app, the last weather, tides and fuel prices, so Today works offline | Replaced when they update; removed when you delete the app |
Deleting the app removes all of this from your phone. If your iPhone is backed up to iCloud or a computer, a copy may remain in that backup until the backup is replaced or deleted. We can't access your backups.
What we receive and why
When you browse
To show you listings and Today information, your phone asks our servers for it. Like any internet service, our hosting providers receive technical details with each request, such as your IP address and device or browser type. We don't use these to identify you. Our database provider keeps these request logs for up to 7 days.
When you ask Koa
The first time you ask Koa something, the app asks for your agreement.
If you agree, we send these to OpenAI through our server:
- your question (up to 600 characters)
- earlier questions in the same chat
- your chosen suburb and any listing you are asking about
- public listing information that may help answer your question
- the current date and time
OpenAI may search the web using your question. The search is told only that the location is Queensland, Australia, not where you are.
We don't send OpenAI your IP address, a user ID or the random ID on your phone.
We ask OpenAI not to store responses as saved records (the API's store: false setting). OpenAI's published API terms say it does not use API data to train its models unless a customer opts in, and may keep logs for up to 30 days to monitor for abuse, or longer where the law requires or to protect against harm.
Please don't put private details in your questions, such as your name, address, phone number or health information. We can't reliably filter them out.
If you choose "Not now", your question and any suburb you chose go to our server to search The Redlands listings, and nothing goes to OpenAI.
You can withdraw your agreement at any time in You > Preferences. This stops future questions going to OpenAI. It can't recall questions already sent.
We don't keep the text of your questions on our servers.
Limits on Koa
To stop abuse and control cost, we keep:
- a scrambled (hashed) version of the random ID on your phone, with a count of questions. The per-minute record is removed the next time the limit is checked after that minute ends, and the daily one after that day ends.
- a salted, scrambled version of your IP address, with a count of questions for the day. We don't store the IP address itself. This is removed the next time the limit is checked after that Brisbane day ends.
When a limit is reached, Koa answers from The Redlands listings instead.
Koa quality records
For each Koa answer we keep a technical record for 30 days: the type of question, whether it succeeded, how many results came back, how long it took, which AI model was used and similar technical details. It doesn't include your words or any ID linked to you.
Bin day and waste
Bin day needs your exact property because collection days differ by property.
- When you search, the suburb, street and property you choose pass through our server to the Council's collection-calendar provider (LoopedIn Councils), which returns your dates. While a property is saved, its calendar reference goes the same way each time the app loads your dates, including on the Home screen. We don't store these lookups on our server.
- If you ask for the closest waste centre, your saved address and suburb pass through our server to Redland City Council's address service for that one lookup. We don't store it. The result stays on your screen only.
We don't control how those services keep records.
Fuel
We count, in total for each month, how many times Fuel information is requested for Redland City. These counts contain no IP address, device ID or other detail about you. We keep the current month and the previous 12 months. The Fuel licence may require us to report usage to the Queensland Government, and we would report totals only.
When you email us
Corrections, removal requests and support all work by email. Your email app opens with a suggested message, and nothing is sent until you press send. We receive your email address and whatever you write. We use it to deal with your request. Emails to us are kept in our support inbox, which Google (Gmail) runs for us, until you ask us to delete them, unless the law requires us to keep them longer.
Forms on our website
Our website has three optional forms. We only collect what each form asks for, and store it on servers in Sydney, Australia. A free Cloudflare check (Turnstile) helps keep robots out; it doesn't track you for advertising. To stop abuse, we also keep a scrambled code made from your network address (never the address itself) for up to 1 hour, only to limit how often a form can be sent.
- The first group (launch list): your email address, the date you agreed, and the version of this policy you agreed to. We send one email to confirm, then launch news only. If you don't confirm within 30 days, we delete your sign-up. Every email has a link to unsubscribe, and we stop straight away. We delete the address 12 months after launch or as soon as you unsubscribe.
- Business requests (claim, add, fix or remove a listing): the business name, suburb, your name, your work email and anything you write. We use it to check the request and reply, and keep it for 24 months.
- Community Voice (places, fixes, ideas): your note and, only if you choose to add it, your email. We use the email only to reply to that note. Notes may shape the app, but we never publish your name or email.
We don't add website emails to any other list, and we don't share them, except with the services that store and send them for us:
| Provider | What it does | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Stores the form entries in our database | Sydney, Australia |
| Resend | Sends the launch list confirmation email, so it receives your email address and that email | United States |
| Cloudflare | Hosts the website and runs the Turnstile robot check, so it sees your IP address and device details | Global network; your request may be handled outside Australia |
Location
If you tap Use my location, iPhone asks for permission to use your approximate location while the app is open. We use it on your phone to pick the nearest Redlands suburb. The position isn't sent to our servers or to OpenAI, isn't stored after use, and is never tracked in the background. The suburb it picks is treated like one you chose yourself: it goes with your searches and, if you agree to Koa, to OpenAI with your questions, where OpenAI's logs may keep it for up to 30 days. You can turn location off in iPhone Settings.
Notifications
If you turn on the bin reminder, iPhone asks for permission. Reminders are scheduled on your phone from your bin calendar, at 6pm the evening before collection. Setting a reminder sends nothing to any server; the dates come from the Bin day lookup described above. We don't use push notifications.
Other services your phone connects to
| Service | When | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare (app photos) | When the app shows a photo | IP address and device details |
| OpenFreeMap (operated from Hungary) and its delivery network | When a map is shown | IP address, device details and the map area shown. Its policy says IP addresses are logged only in error logs (deleted after 7 days) or during security incidents (up to 30 days) |
| Apple Maps, Google Maps | Only if you tap Directions | Your destination. They then apply their own privacy terms |
| Business, Council and other websites, phone and email apps | Only if you tap a link | What you'd normally share by visiting them |
What we don't do
- No advertising, and no sale of personal information.
- No analytics or tracking tools, and no tracking across other apps or websites.
- No direct marketing.
- No decisions about you made by automated systems that affect your rights. Koa suggests information and takes no action for you.
Where information goes overseas
Some information is sent outside Australia.
| Recipient | Country | What |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | United States (OpenAI's standard service may also process in other countries) | Koa questions and related details, only if you agree |
| OpenFreeMap | Hungary; delivery network locations not stated | IP address, device details, map area shown |
| Supabase (database and server functions) | Sydney, Australia, for stored data. Server functions normally run in the region closest to you, and the company is based overseas | Requests from the app |
| Cloudflare (website hosting, app photos and the Turnstile robot check) | Global network; requests may be handled outside Australia | IP address, device details |
| Resend (launch list email) | United States | Your email address and the confirmation email, only if you join the launch list |
| Google (Gmail, our support inbox) | United States and other countries | Emails you send to support@theredlands.app |
We take reasonable steps so that these providers handle information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles, including relying on their data-processing terms. We share data only with the providers needed to run the features above, and each of them must give it the same or equal protection as described in this policy.
How we protect information
We keep as little as we can. Connections use encryption (HTTPS). Server records are private to our systems and aren't readable from the app. We will notify you and the regulator of a serious data breach where the law requires it.
How long we keep things
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| On your phone | Until you remove it or delete the app |
| Hashed limit records | Removed at the next check after the minute or day ends |
| Koa quality records | 30 days |
| Monthly Fuel totals | Current month plus 12 months |
| Emails to us | Until you ask us to delete them |
| Launch list emails | Until you unsubscribe, or 12 months after launch |
| Business requests and Community Voice notes | 24 months |
| Unconfirmed launch list sign-ups | 30 days |
| Scrambled network codes used against abuse | Up to 1 hour |
| OpenAI's abuse logs | Up to 30 days, or longer under OpenAI's terms |
| Hosting provider logs | Supabase keeps request logs and database backups for up to 7 days. Our Cloudflare services don't keep request logs for us; Cloudflare handles traffic under its own privacy policy |
Your rights: access, correction and deletion
Because we don't know who you are, we usually can't find records about you, and most data is on your phone where you control it.
You can still ask us:
- what we hold about you
- to correct it
- to delete it, including your emails to us
Email support@theredlands.app. We may need some details to find the record, but we won't ask for ID unless we have to. We'll respond within 30 days and won't charge you.
If you or your business appears in the app
The Redlands lists businesses, places, events and community organisations from public sources. This can include names, phone numbers and addresses, and sometimes a person's name where it's part of a business or event listing.
To correct or remove a listing, tap the correction or removal link on the listing, or email support@theredlands.app with the listing name and your request. You don't need to prove anything to raise a concern, and we may ask for what we need to act on it. We aim to reply within 5 business days, and we'll deal first with anything that puts someone's safety at risk.
We do this for anyone, including people who don't use the app.
Children
The app isn't designed for children. We don't knowingly ask children for personal information. A parent or guardian who is concerned can email us.
Complaints
- Email support@theredlands.app with what happened. We'll reply within 30 days.
- If you aren't satisfied, or don't hear back within 30 days, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):
- Online: oaic.gov.au
- Email: oaicintake@oaic.gov.au
- Post: GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001
- Enquiries (not complaints): 1300 363 992
Changes to this policy
If what we do with information changes, we'll update this page and the date above, and tell you in the app if the change is significant. We'll ask for your agreement again before sending any new kind of information to a third party.