Acceptable Use Policy

1. What this policy is

This policy is part of the Terms of Service, which apply if the two conflict. FairTalk is offered only to adults living in Australia and New Zealand, and this policy applies wherever you use it.

The analysis made after a recorded conversation is AI-generated and can be wrong. The person who recorded the conversation can open it, and so can a linked person if the session was with them. A recorded person who is not on FairTalk cannot: if that is you, see section 9.

2. Recording a conversation

In Western Australia, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, recording a private conversation without everyone’s agreement can be a criminal offence, even if you are part of it, and can expose you personally to a civil claim. The rules below apply everywhere, including New Zealand (see the Australia and New Zealand Notice).

• Record only when every person in the conversation is an adult, knows it is being recorded and has freely agreed before you press Start. Never record anyone secretly.
• Make sure each person knows that the audio goes to an overseas transcription provider and the text to an overseas AI provider, that the analysis is kept until deleted, and who can open it.
• With a linked person, wait for them to approve the session request on their own device.
• With someone who is not on FairTalk, let them read the on-screen notice and confirm their own agreement. You are responsible for making sure they really agreed. Tell them where the Privacy Policy is, and that only you can open the analysis, including the coaching written about them.
• If anyone changes their mind, stop and do not go on to the analysis. Stopping still sends what was recorded for transcription, and a transcript with no analysis is deleted after about a week. To remove it sooner, use the delete option on that conversation where it is offered, or email contact@fairtalk.com.au.
• Do not record a conversation you are not part of, a phone or video call, people in the background or more than two people. The agreement steps cover you and one other person only.
• Do not record someone who is pressured, afraid of you or unable to say no. Agreement given under pressure is not agreement.
• Do not confirm agreement for someone else, approve a session request in a linked person’s place, or use a “Just me” session when anyone else will be heard.
• Where you can, leave out identifying detail about people who are not in the conversation. We do not contact people who are mentioned in a conversation.

3. What FairTalk must not be used for

FairTalk is meant for conversations both people want, where neither is using it against the other. The analysis is designed to be even-handed and is not built to recognise abuse or danger, so it can treat a harmful situation as an ordinary disagreement. Conversations and analyses have no legal privilege or counsellor confidentiality and could be required by a court or by law.

• Do not use FairTalk to monitor, control, intimidate or pressure a partner, family member, colleague or anyone else, or to gather evidence or build a case against them. Doing so can expose you personally to a civil claim.
• Do not stage a conversation, mislabel who said what, or try to steer the analysis.
• Do not use FairTalk where there is family violence, abuse, threats or fear of the other person.

If you are the one being pressured, monitored or harmed, telling us does not breach this policy.

If you feel unsafe, stop the session. In an emergency call 000 in Australia or 111 in New Zealand. For support call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or 1737 in New Zealand.

4. Not for clinical, legal or emergency use

FairTalk is not a health, legal or emergency service and is not a replacement for professional support.

• Do not use FairTalk in clinical, medical, psychological or legal work, or for patient or client information.
• Do not rely on an analysis, private coaching or a resolution as medical, psychological, legal or financial advice.
• Do not rely on FairTalk in an emergency. Nobody watches a session as it happens and we cannot send help.

5. Sharing what comes out of a conversation

In Western Australia and some other States and Territories, passing on a record or report of a private conversation without the agreement of the people in it can be an offence, and can expose you personally to a civil claim.

Do not publish, post, forward or screenshot an analysis, resolutions, private coaching or a data download from a conversation with another person for anyone outside that conversation, unless they agree or the law requires it. This applies whether they are a linked person or someone who is not on FairTalk, and a data download holds their side as well as yours. Nothing in this policy stops you asking the police, a lawyer or a support service for help.

6. Accounts, security and limits

• An approval from your account is stored as your own agreement to be recorded, so do not share a login or use someone else’s account.
• Do not try to reach another person’s conversations, private coaching or account details, or get around our security.
• Do not scrape or crawl FairTalk, or use bots, scripts or other automated tools to collect content from it or to operate it. Assistive technology, password managers and ordinary browser features are fine.
• Do not copy, reproduce, republish or sell FairTalk’s own content, design or features, such as the articles in Learn, the screens of the app or the way an analysis is set out, or use them to build or improve another product. This does not limit what you do with your own analyses, within section 5.
• Do not use FairTalk’s content, design or software, or what you learn of how it works, to train, test or improve an artificial intelligence model or service.
• Do not reverse engineer, decompile or copy the app, its software or the instructions we give the AI, and do not try to get the AI to reveal those instructions, for example through what is said in a session, unless the law gives you a right to.
• Do not use the FairTalk name, logo or look in a way that suggests we made, approve of or are connected with something we are not, or as part of the name or advertising of another product or service.
• Do not give a false age or get around the agreement steps, the subscription rules, or the limits built into the app.
• Do not use a topic title, a resolution you write, your display name, an invitation or feedback to threaten, abuse or harass anyone.
• Use FairTalk only for lawful purposes, and do not use it to break the law. Laws on recording, privacy and harassment where you are may be stricter than this policy.

Built-in limits apply: a recording stops at 30 minutes, a very large recording can be refused, and we limit how often recordings and analyses can be requested and how many invitations can be sent.

7. Invitations and session requests

A session request goes to a linked person in the app and by email. The email says only who is asking. The request in the app also shows the topic title.

• Invite only adults you know who are expecting it, at an address you know is theirs.
• Keep topic titles neutral and free of private detail.
• Do not use invitations or session requests to pester or pressure anyone, or keep sending them after someone has declined or not replied.

8. What we do if this policy is breached

No person at FairTalk reviews conversations in normal operation and the app does not check what is said. FairTalk’s owner and developer can technically access stored content through database administration, but only to fix a fault, answer a request from the person concerned or meet a legal obligation.

If we have good reason to believe this policy has been breached, we may ask you to stop or to put something right. If the breach is serious or repeated, or someone needs protecting (including anyone under 18), we may also delete a conversation and its analysis, or suspend or close your account, as the Terms of Service allow. We give information to the police, a court or a regulator where the law requires it.

Where we can, we tell you by email what we plan to do and why, and let you respond. We act without notice only to protect someone or the service, or to meet the law.

If you think we got it wrong, email contact@fairtalk.com.au. We will look again and reply within 30 days. Nothing here limits your consumer law rights in Australia or New Zealand.

9. Reporting misuse and having a conversation removed

Email contact@fairtalk.com.au to report misuse of FairTalk, such as being recorded without your agreement, being monitored or pressured, or receiving unwanted invitations, or to report a harmful analysis or a security problem. You do not need an account. We reply to every report within 30 days, or within 20 working days if you are in New Zealand. We cannot respond to emergencies: see section 3.

If you were recorded without your agreement, you can ask us to remove the conversation. Tell us who recorded you and roughly when: we keep no audio, and a conversation with someone who is not on FairTalk is stored only in the recorder’s account. We may ask questions to confirm you took part. If we find the conversation and are satisfied you did not agree, we delete the analysis, the resolutions and any transcript we still hold. If we cannot find it or cannot confirm what happened, we tell you.

If the conversation was with a linked person, either of you can email us to delete it. We do so within 30 days and tell the other person.

After deletion, our internal activity log keeps the topic title, the session times and the wording of any committed or completed resolutions for up to 12 months, backups can hold deleted information for a short period, up to 14 days, and our transcription and AI providers may still hold data under their own terms (see the Trust Centre). We keep the record of the agreement given for the session for 7 years as evidence, and we may keep a record of your report.

The person who recorded the conversation will see that it has been removed, and we normally tell them why. If that could put you at risk, tell us, so that we can act without telling them first.

10. Changes to this policy

Changes follow the process in the Terms of Service. If a change matters, the app asks you to accept the new version before you continue. If you do not agree, you can still ask for a copy of your data, cancel your subscription and delete your account.