Privacy Policy

Overview

WriteSmart is a writing practice tool for students preparing for the NSW Selective School and AAS/ACER Scholarship tests. WriteSmart is currently in early access and shared with a small group of families. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and who we share it with. We handle personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

Who operates WriteSmart

WriteSmart is operated by Zhaochen Pu, a sole trader based in New South Wales, Australia (ABN 74 057 754 923). References to "WriteSmart", "we", "us" and "our" in this policy mean Zhaochen Pu trading as WriteSmart.

Who this applies to

WriteSmart is designed to be used by a student with the involvement of a parent or guardian. Where this policy refers to "you", it means whoever holds the account - typically a parent or guardian, or a student using the service with their parent or guardian's permission. Because creating and using an account requires identifying information such as an email address, it isn't practical for WriteSmart to be used anonymously or under a pseudonym beyond the display name you choose.

Information we collect

We collect only what we need to run the service:

• Account information: the email address and password used to sign in (your password is securely hashed by our authentication provider - we cannot see it), and a display name you choose.
• Profile information: year level and target exam (NSW Selective, Scholarship, or both), if you choose to provide them.
• Writing practice data: the prompts you attempt, the essay text you write and submit, time taken, word count, and submission status.
• AI-generated assessment data: rubric scores and coaching feedback (strengths, priority improvements, grammar notes, vocabulary suggestions, structure and audience feedback, and recommended next practice) generated from your submitted writing.
• Usage data: which prompts you've used and when, and a record of AI assessment requests, which we use only to keep the service running fairly for everyone during early access.
• Referral information: every account has a unique referral code so you can share WriteSmart with other families. If you sign up using someone else's referral link, we record which existing account referred you. We don't collect contacts, addresses, or any other information to make this work - it's simply a link between two existing accounts, used only to measure how many signups come from referrals.

Account information is required to create and operate a WriteSmart account - without it, we can't provide the service. Profile information is optional; providing your year level lets us calibrate assessment and feedback to age-appropriate expectations, but it never restricts which writing tasks are available to you.

How we use this information

We use your information to:

• Provide and operate the writing practice service, including your account
• Generate rubric-aligned AI feedback on submitted writing
• Show your progress and score history over time
• Apply fair-use limits so the free service remains available to everyone
• Send account-related emails, such as confirming your email address or resetting your password

We do not use your information for advertising, and we do not build ad profiles.

How your writing is assessed

When you submit a piece of writing, the essay text is sent to Google's Gemini AI model to generate a rubric score and coaching feedback. If Google's service is unavailable, the essay text may instead be sent to a backup AI model hosted on Cloudflare Workers AI. This is an automated process - the feedback is generated by AI, not by a certified NSW Selective or Scholarship examiner, and should be treated as practice guidance rather than an official assessment. Google's and Cloudflare's own handling of this data is described in the Google Privacy Policy and the Cloudflare Privacy Policy.

Who we share information with

We share information only with the service providers that run WriteSmart:

• Supabase - our database, authentication and storage provider. Your account and writing data is stored here.
• Google (Gemini API) - processes your submitted writing to generate AI feedback, as described above.
• Cloudflare - hosts the WriteSmart website and, when Google's Gemini service is unavailable, may process your submitted writing with its Workers AI service to generate AI feedback, as described above.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. During early access, the WriteSmart operator may access account and writing data to provide support, fix issues, and improve the service.

Google, Supabase and Cloudflare may store and process your information on servers located outside Australia, including in the United States. We take reasonable steps to ensure these providers handle your information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles, including relying on their own contractual privacy and security commitments.

Cookies and local storage

WriteSmart does not use advertising or tracking cookies. We use your browser's local storage to keep you signed in between visits, and to briefly remember a referral code from a shared link until you finish signing up. No third-party analytics or advertising scripts run on WriteSmart.

Children's privacy

WriteSmart is built for students broadly in Years 3-6, and is intended to be used with a parent or guardian's involvement. We ask that a parent or guardian create and manage the account, and agree to this policy on the student's behalf. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has set up an account or provided information without your consent, contact us using the details below and we will delete it. We're also monitoring the OAIC's forthcoming Children's Online Privacy Code and will update our practices as needed once it takes effect.

Data retention and deletion

We keep your information for as long as your account is active. If you'd like your account and associated data (writing attempts, scores, and feedback) deleted, email us and we'll action the request. We don't yet have a self-serve delete-account button in the app; that's on our roadmap.

Data security

Your data is protected with access controls that restrict each account to its own writing and results, and transmitted over encrypted (HTTPS) connections. No method of storage or transmission is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.

Data breaches

If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm to affected individuals, we will assess and respond in line with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including notifying affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) where required.

Your rights

You can ask us what information we hold about your account, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, at any time - just email us.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we've handled your personal information, contact us first at support@writesmartapp.com so we can investigate and respond - we aim to do so within 30 days.

If you're not satisfied with our response, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au or by phone on 1300 363 992.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as WriteSmart changes, especially as we move beyond early access. We'll update the effective date above when we do.

Contact us

Questions about this policy, or a request to access, correct or delete your data? Email support@writesmartapp.com.