Privacy Policy

 

Pale Green Earth • palegreenearth.com • Last updated: 15 July 2026

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Pale Green Earth ("PGE", "we", "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, how we handle it, and your rights. We handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

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The upshot: we collect what we need to run the marketplace, we never sell your data, we never share your full name or phone number with other members unless you express desire for us to do so, and your payment card details never touch our systems.

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1. Who we are

 

PGE operates an Australian online marketplace for trade jobs, equipment, and careers at palegreenearth.com. Contact: info@palegreenearth.com, Sydney, Australia.

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2. What we collect

 

Account information: name, email address, username, password (stored by our platform provider in hashed form), phone number, account type, and profile details you choose to add (photo, bio, tagline, location, business name, ABN, years of experience, trade categories, portfolio).

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Verification information: licences, insurance certificates, and qualifications uploaded by tradespeople; business verification details from employers. Verification documents are visible only to you and PGE administrators; only the resulting verified status appears publicly.

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Payout details (tradespeople): account holder name, BSB, and account number, stored in a private vault collection accessible only to you and PGE administrators, used solely to pay you. At payments launch, payout onboarding and verification are handled by Stripe.

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Payment information (customers): all card entry occurs in Stripe-secured forms. Card numbers never touch PGE systems. We keep only the card brand, last four digits, and expiry so you can recognise your saved card.

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Transaction information: jobs, listings, offers, counter-offers, acceptances, completions, cancellations, Job Credits, disputes and their outcomes, and payment records.

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Communications: messages, questions and answers, reviews, and dispute submissions made on the platform. Automated filters scan message content to block off-platform contact details and protect the marketplace.

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Estimator inputs: job or equipment descriptions and locations you enter into the AI Price Estimator.

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Technical information: device and browser data, IP address, pages viewed, and interactions, collected via cookies and similar technologies (see section 8). We also use your browser's local and session storage to remember things like drafts, saved items, and navigation context.

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3. How we collect it

 

Directly from you (signup, profile, posting, offering, messaging, uploading, contacting us); automatically as you use the platform; and from our service providers (for example payment confirmations from Stripe).

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4. Why we use it

 

We collect, hold, and use personal information to: operate your account and the marketplace; display your public profile (username, photo, ratings, badges, and profile details you add); enable posting, offers, negotiation, acceptance, completion, and reviews; process payments, hold funds until completion, pay tradespeople, and apply Job Credits; verify identities, credentials, and employers; run trust features including badges and ratings; provide the AI Price Estimator; send service notifications (offers, messages, questions, completions, disputes) in line with your notification settings; contact tradespeople about their jobs (this is the sole use of the mandatory bidding mobile number); investigate and resolve disputes; detect and prevent fraud, fee circumvention, and abuse; comply with law; and improve the platform.

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5. What other members see, and what they never see

 

Visible to other members: your username, profile photo, ratings, reviews, badges, verified status, general location you choose to display, profile content you add, and the content of your listings, offers, questions, and messages within the relevant conversation.

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Never shared with other members: your full name, phone number, email address, payout details, payment details, and verification documents. Members interact by username. When a career application is submitted, your application is sent by email to the employer you chose to apply to; that is the one flow in which your contact details reach another party, and it happens at your instruction.

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6. Who we share information with

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• Stripe (payments): processes all card payments and payout onboarding. Stripe is PCI-DSS Level 1 certified and handles card and identity data under its own privacy policy.

• Wix (platform infrastructure): hosts the platform and its databases.

• AI service providers: text you enter into the AI Price Estimator is sent to our AI provider to generate the estimate. Do not include personal details in estimator descriptions; they are not needed for a good estimate.

• Infrastructure and communications providers: services that schedule platform tasks and deliver emails and notifications.

• Professional advisers, and authorities where required by law or to protect safety, prevent fraud, or enforce our Terms.

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We do not sell personal information. We do not share it with advertisers.

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7. Payment and bank data, specifically

 

Card entry happens inside Stripe-secured forms embedded in the platform; card numbers go directly to Stripe's vault and never to PGE. Payout bank details are stored in a member-private collection readable only by the account owner and PGE administrators, encrypted in transit, and used only to pay you. At payments launch, payout verification moves to Stripe Connect and is handled inside your account without leaving the platform.

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8. Cookies and similar technologies

 

We and our providers use cookies and browser storage that are necessary for the platform to work (login sessions, security, remembering context between pages) and to understand how the platform is used so we can improve it. You can control cookies in your browser, but blocking essential cookies will stop parts of the platform working.

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9. Marketing

 

Marketing communications are off by default. We send them only if you opt in, and every marketing message includes an unsubscribe option. Service notifications about your account activity are not marketing and are controlled separately in your notification settings.

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10. Security

 

We protect personal information with encryption in transit, access controls, member-private data collections for sensitive records, Stripe-hosted handling of all card data, automated content filtering, and administrative access limited to what operators need. No system is perfectly secure; if a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify affected members and the OAIC as required by the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

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11. Retention

 

We keep personal information for as long as your account is active and as needed afterwards to complete transactions, resolve disputes, meet legal obligations (including tax and record-keeping laws), and enforce our Terms. Transaction and dispute records may be retained after account closure for these purposes, then deleted or de-identified.

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12. Access, correction, and deletion

 

You can view and update most of your information directly in your account settings. You may also contact us to request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information. We will respond within a reasonable period and will not charge for making a request. We may need to retain certain records described in section 11 even after a deletion request, and will tell you if so.

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13. Overseas disclosure

 

Our service providers (including Wix, Stripe, and AI providers) may store or process information on servers located outside Australia, including in the United States and the European Union. We take reasonable steps to ensure overseas recipients handle personal information consistently with the APPs.

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14. Children

 

The platform is for people 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18; if we learn we have, we will delete it.

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15. Complaints

 

If you have a privacy concern, contact us at info@palegreenearth.com and we will investigate and respond. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au).

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16. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified on the platform or by email. The "Last updated" date at the top shows the current version.

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17. Contact

Pale Green Earth · Sydney, Australia · info@palegreenearth.com