Sopal Pty Ltd (“Sopal”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is committed to handling your personal information responsibly and in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”) contained in Schedule 1 of that Act. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use and disclose it, how we protect it, and your rights in relation to it. It applies to all services offered at sopal.com.au and app.sopal.com.au (together, the “Platform”). Last updated: June 2026.
Sopal Pty Ltd operates the Sopal Platform, which provides security-of-payment research, document review, and claim-management tools for Australian construction industry professionals. Our contact details are set out in section 11 below. Where this policy refers to “you”, it means any individual who visits our website, registers for a trial, subscribes to a paid plan, or otherwise interacts with our Platform.
We collect personal information only where it is reasonably necessary for our functions and activities. The main categories are:
When you create an account or start a free trial we collect identifying information such as your name, email address, organisation name, role or occupation, and the jurisdiction(s) you work in. If you are added to a team account by an administrator, we receive the same categories of information in relation to you.
The Platform allows you to upload or paste construction contracts, payment claims, payment schedules, and related documents for the purpose of review, analysis, and drafting assistance. We collect and temporarily process this content solely to provide the services you have requested. Please see section 5 below regarding our commitment not to use uploaded documents to train external AI models.
We also collect any queries, notes, annotations, or other text you enter while using the Platform’s research or drafting features.
Subscription payments are handled by a third-party payment processor. We do not collect or store your full card number, CVV, or other sensitive payment card data on our own servers. We do retain billing-related metadata such as your plan type, billing cycle, invoice history, and the last four digits of a card if surfaced by the payment processor for display purposes.
If you choose to pay by invoice, we will collect the invoicing details (entity name, ABN if provided, and postal or email address) needed to issue and reconcile that invoice.
When you use the Platform we automatically collect certain technical and behavioural data, including:
This information is used for security monitoring, product improvement, and aggregate analytics. Where possible, we rely on aggregated or pseudonymous data rather than individually identified records.
If you contact us by email, through a contact form, or via in-app support, we retain a record of that correspondence including your name, email address, and the content of your message, so that we can respond to and manage your enquiry.
Our use of cookies is described separately in section 8 of this policy.
We use personal information for the following purposes:
We will not use your personal information for any purpose that is incompatible with the purpose for which it was originally collected unless we obtain your consent or are otherwise permitted to do so under the APPs.
We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We do not share it for their independent marketing or advertising purposes. We share information only in the limited circumstances described below.
We engage third-party service providers to help us operate and improve the Platform. These may include cloud hosting providers, payment processors, email delivery providers, error and performance monitoring tools, and AI model providers used to power research and drafting features. We require all service providers to handle personal information only on our instructions, to maintain appropriate confidentiality obligations, and to implement security measures consistent with our own standards. We do not authorise service providers to use your personal information for their own purposes.
If you are a member of a team or organisational account on the Platform, certain account information (such as your name, email address, and usage activity within that account) may be visible to the nominated administrator of that account. We recommend reviewing the terms agreed to by your organisation administrator if you have questions about how they manage access within your team.
In the event that Sopal is involved in a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or other change of control, personal information we hold may be transferred to a successor entity as part of that transaction. We will notify affected users of any such transfer and of any material change to this Privacy Policy that results from it.
We may disclose personal information where we are required to do so by law or where we believe in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with a legal obligation, protect the rights or safety of Sopal, our users, or the public, or to detect or prevent fraud or other unlawful activity.
We may share aggregated, anonymised data (for example, aggregate statistics about Platform usage or trends in adjudication decision volumes) that cannot reasonably be used to identify any individual. This information is not personal information for the purposes of the Privacy Act.
The Sopal Platform uses AI technology to provide document review, research, and drafting assistance. We understand that the construction contracts, payment claims, payment schedules, and related materials you upload are often commercially sensitive and may contain confidential information belonging to your clients or counterparties.
Documents you upload to Sopal are not used to train public AI models. When your content is passed to an AI model as part of a Platform feature, it is processed solely to generate the output you have requested. It is not retained by any AI model provider for the purpose of training, fine-tuning, or improving externally accessible foundation models.
You remain responsible for ensuring that you have authority to upload any documents that contain third-party personal information or confidential information. If you are acting on behalf of a client or employer, you should satisfy yourself that your engagement terms or internal policies permit you to upload that content to a cloud-based platform.
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. Our approach to security is described in more detail at sopal.com.au/security. Measures include encrypted data transmission (TLS), encryption at rest for sensitive data, access controls and authentication requirements for staff, and regular security review of our infrastructure.
No method of internet transmission or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If you become aware of any security incident affecting your account, please contact us immediately at info@sopal.com.au.
We retain personal information for as long as is necessary for the purposes described in this policy or as otherwise required by law. In practice:
On account closure, we will delete or de-identify your personal information within a reasonable time, except where we are required by law to retain it for a specified period or where legitimate business reasons (such as ongoing dispute resolution) require temporary retention.
The Platform relies on cloud infrastructure and third-party service providers, some of which may process or store data in countries outside Australia. We take steps to ensure that overseas recipients of personal information are required to handle that information in a manner consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles, either through contractual commitments or because they are subject to privacy laws in their jurisdiction that provide substantially similar protections.
By using the Platform, you acknowledge that your personal information may be processed outside Australia. If you have questions about the specific countries in which your data may be processed, please contact us at info@sopal.com.au.
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies on our website and Platform. A cookie is a small text file placed on your device by a web server. Cookies allow us to recognise your browser, maintain your session, and remember your preferences.
You can control and delete cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling essential cookies will impair your ability to use the Platform. Instructions for managing cookies vary by browser; please consult your browser’s help documentation for guidance.
We do not currently respond to “Do Not Track” signals because there is no industry-standard approach to honouring them. We will revisit this position as standards develop.
Under the Australian Privacy Principles you have certain rights in relation to your personal information. We will respond to all requests within a reasonable time and in accordance with our legal obligations.
You may request access to the personal information we hold about you. We will provide access to that information unless an exception under the Privacy Act applies (for example, where providing access would be unlawful or would prejudice an enforcement-related activity). There is no charge for making a request, though we may charge a reasonable fee for the cost of locating and providing access to information in unusual circumstances.
If you believe that personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant, or misleading, you may request that we correct it. You can update most account information directly within the Platform. For other correction requests, please contact us at info@sopal.com.au.
You may request deletion of your account and associated personal information. We will action such requests within a reasonable time, subject to any retention obligations described in section 6. Deleting your account will terminate your access to the Platform and any saved content within it.
You can opt out of marketing or promotional emails at any time by using the unsubscribe link in any such email or by contacting us directly. Transactional and account-related communications (such as payment receipts and security notices) are not subject to opt-out as they are necessary for the operation of your account.
If you believe we have mishandled your personal information, we encourage you to contact us first so that we can attempt to resolve the matter. If we are unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au. The OAIC provides a free complaint-resolution service.
The Platform is intended for use by legal and construction industry professionals. It is not directed at, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from, persons under the age of 18. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a minor without appropriate consent, we will take steps to delete that information as soon as practicable.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. Where we make material changes, we will provide notice through the Platform or by email to the address associated with your account before the changes take effect. The updated policy will be posted at sopal.com.au/privacy with a revised “last updated” date. Continued use of the Platform after the effective date of any update constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your rights under the Privacy Act, or have a complaint about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us:
We aim to acknowledge all privacy enquiries within two business days and to resolve them within 30 days. If the matter is complex or requires more time, we will let you know.
This Privacy Policy is general information about how we handle personal information. It is not legal advice. If you have specific questions about your privacy rights or obligations, you should seek independent legal advice.
