Privacy policy

Last updated 7 November 2026

Who You Know is a directory of Australian startups and the people building them. This policy explains what personal information we hold, where it comes from, what we do with it, and how you can see, correct or remove it. We handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

If you're listed in the directory

We may list you if a startup names you on its own website (for example, a team or about page) or in a press release or announcement. We list:

• Founders, by name, on the company's page, with a link to the public page that names them as a founder.
• Team members and advisors, by job title only, without your name, on the company's page, with a link to the page the company published it on. We show your name only if you claim your profile.

For each person we hold only: your name, job title and team as the company published them, the company, whether you're a founder, team member or advisor, and a link to and short quote from the page we took it from. We don't collect your personal email, phone number, home address, photo, or anything from LinkedIn or people-search websites. Each listing is checked against its source before it goes up, either automatically (our checker finds it on the page) or by a person on our team.

You're in control of your listing. Find your name in the directory and choose “This is me” (or the claim, correct and remove links next to a founder's name), or email support@whoyouknow.au. You can:

• Remove it. If you confirm it's you (with your work email or LinkedIn), it's removed straight away. Otherwise a person checks who's asking first, so nobody can remove someone else, and we reply within 30 days. Once removed, we keep only a one-way code of your name and company so our research never adds you back.
• Correct it. Tell us what's wrong and we'll fix it or explain why not, within 30 days.
• Claim it. Confirm your LinkedIn and work email to manage your profile and, when it opens, choose whether people can ask you for a chat.
• Ask what we hold about you. Email us and we'll tell you, free of charge.

Information about visitors and people who sign up

• Sign-ups and requests: your name and email, what you're interested in, and anything you choose to tell us. If you sign in to manage a listing, we receive your email address and, if you use LinkedIn, the name, email and photo LinkedIn shares. We don't see your LinkedIn password or connections.
• Cookies: one to keep you signed in, one to remember you agreed to our terms before viewing people (one year), and one to remember which link brought you here (30 days). We don't use advertising cookies.
• Abuse protection: we keep a one-way code of your IP address for up to a few days to limit requests, and may use Cloudflare Turnstile to check you're not a bot.

How we collect and check information

We collect company facts and listings from public sources: companies' own websites, press releases and announcements, investors' portfolio pages, public registers such as ABN Lookup, and openly licensed datasets. We use automated research tools, including an AI research agent, to find these pages. Every fact must come with a link to its source and a quote, and we re-check that the quote is on the page. We decide case by case which websites we may use, and never use sites whose terms forbid it.

On company pages, links marked ✓ were verified by our team. Others were checked automatically against the source page. We don't promise every fact is correct or current. Each one links to its source so you can check it yourself.

Why we use it

To run a directory that helps people understand Australia's startup ecosystem: who's building what, who funds them, who's hiring, and who to talk to. We use sign-up details to run your account, answer requests and, if you agreed, send updates (you can unsubscribe any time). We don't sell personal information, and we don't give or sell lists of people to anyone.

Who we share it with

Directory listings are visible on our website as described above. To run the service we use these providers, who process information for us under their own security and privacy terms:

• Supabase (database and sign-in), hosted in Sydney
• Vercel (website hosting)
• Base44 (our research agent), and Resend (email delivery): these may store or process information outside Australia, including in the United States
• Cloudflare (bot checks)

We may also disclose information if the law requires it.

Security and how long we keep it

Access to our database is limited to our team and protected by sign-in and database rules. We keep listings while they're accurate and remove them when they're out of date or you ask. We keep sign-up details while your account is active, and delete them on request.

Questions and complaints

Email support@whoyouknow.au. We'll respond within 30 days. If you're not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.

We'll post any changes to this policy here, with a new date at the top.