We collect what we need to run Word Around: your contact details, the review alerts for your business, and copies of the reviews customers leave you on Google. We don't sell any of it. Some of it is handled by providers in the United States. You can ask us to see, fix or delete your information at any time.
1. Who we are
Word Around is a service run by Jared Bartolo, trading as V2 Designs, ABN 73 171 765 491, based in Werribee, Victoria, Australia. In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" mean V2 Designs. "You" means anyone who visits this website, sends us an enquiry, or uses the service.
You can reach us any time at hello@v2designs.com.au or on 0413 839 634.
2. If you send us an enquiry
The form on this website collects:
- Your business name
- Your name
- Your mobile number
- Your suburb
- Your email address, if you choose to give it
Your details are saved on our server, and a text message with them is sent to Jared's phone so he can call you back. If you call, text or email us instead, we keep whatever you choose to tell us, along with your number or email address.
Please don't send payment details or sensitive personal information through the form. We don't ask for them and we don't want them.
3. If you become a customer
To run the service, we collect and hold:
- Your contact and account details: business name, your name, mobile, email and suburb.
- Payment details: payments are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number.
- Access to your Google Business Profile: you add our Google account as a manager on your profile. That lets Google send us notifications about your profile, including new reviews. We use this access only to run the service. We don't change your business details, and we don't post anything to your profile.
- Copies of reviews of your business: when a review arrives, we keep a copy of the reviewer's name as it appears on Google, the star rating, the review text and the date. These reviews are already public on Google.
- How you like replies to sound: the tone preferences you give us when you sign up.
- Public information about nearby businesses: for your monthly summary, we look up the public star rating and review count of your business and a few businesses near you on Google. This is information about businesses, not about people.
Tap cards and their QR codes simply open your Google review page. We don't track who taps or scans them.
4. How we use AI
We use Google's Gemini AI to draft replies to your reviews and to summarise what customers keep mentioning in your monthly report. To do that, the text of the review is sent to Google.
AI can get things wrong, so every reply comes to you as a draft. Nothing is posted unless you post it yourself. We don't use AI to make decisions about you, your customers or anyone else that have a legal or similarly significant effect on them, and we don't use your information to train AI models of our own.
5. Who we share it with
We do not sell personal information to anyone. We share it only where we need to in order to run the service:
- Hostinger hosts this website, our email, and the server that runs Word Around. That server is located in the United States.
- Twilio (United States) sends our text messages, including your review alerts, and the alert Jared gets when you send an enquiry.
- Google (United States) receives and delivers your profile notifications to our Google account. Its Gemini AI drafts replies and summaries, and Google Places supplies the public business ratings in your monthly summary.
- Stripe processes subscription payments.
- Professional advisers and authorities, such as our accountant, or a regulator or court where the law requires it.
We never use one customer's information for another customer. We may combine de-identified figures across all customers, such as the average number of reviews a business gets each month, to improve the service. Those figures never identify you, your business or your customers.
Overseas disclosure
Hostinger's server, Twilio and Google handle information in the United States, and Stripe may process payment information outside Australia. By sending an enquiry or using the service, you consent to your information being handled overseas by those providers. We choose established providers and give each one only what it needs, but we can't control the laws of other countries.
6. If you left a review for one of our customers
Your review is public on Google. We hold a copy of it for the business you reviewed, only so we can tell the owner about it and help them respond. We will never contact you.
If you'd like your details removed from our copy, email us and we'll do it. To change or delete the review itself, you'll need to do that through Google.
7. Cookies and tracking
This website doesn't use analytics, advertising cookies or tracking pixels. Its fonts load from Google Fonts, which means Google receives your IP address when the page loads. If we ever add analytics, we'll update this policy before we switch it on.
8. How long we keep it
- Enquiries: up to 24 months after we last hear from you, so we can pick up the conversation if you come back.
- Customer account and billing records: while you're a customer, then for seven years, as Australian tax law requires.
- Copies of reviews and drafted replies: while you're a customer. We delete them within 90 days after you cancel.
- Access to your Google profile: we remove ourselves as a manager when you cancel, and you can remove us yourself at any time.
You can ask us to delete your information sooner, and we will, unless the law requires us to keep it.
9. Keeping it secure
We take reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access. That includes serving this site over HTTPS, protecting our accounts with strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, and limiting access to your information to Jared. No system is completely secure, so we can't guarantee it. If a data breach is likely to cause you serious harm, we'll notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required.
10. Your rights
You can ask us at any time to:
- Show you the personal information we hold about you
- Correct anything that's wrong or out of date
- Delete your information
- Stop contacting you
Email hello@v2designs.com.au. It's free, and we'll normally respond within 30 days. We may need to confirm who you are first so we don't hand your details to someone else.
11. Complaints
If you think we've mishandled your information, email us with the details. We'll look into it and respond within 30 days. If you're not satisfied, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992.
As a small business, we may not be legally bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). We follow the Australian Privacy Principles anyway, because handling your details properly shouldn't depend on how big we are.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The current version always lives at this address, with the date it was last updated at the top. If a change significantly affects information we already hold about you, we'll tell you directly.
13. Contact us
Email: hello@v2designs.com.au
Phone: 0413 839 634
Werribee, Victoria, Australia