1. About this policy
Bloc (referred to as “Bloc”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) provides software for body corporate and strata maintenance. This policy applies to people who visit our website, create or use a Bloc account, report maintenance, participate in a property workspace, communicate with us, or interact with a service operated through Bloc.
We aim to handle personal information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988(Cth), where they apply. A body corporate, strata agency, or other organisation using Bloc may also have its own privacy obligations and policy.
2. Information we collect
The information we collect depends on how you use Bloc and may include:
- Account and identity information: your name, email address, profile image, authentication provider, and account identifiers.
- Property and membership information: your property, lot or unit, role, contact details, committee membership, invitations, and access permissions.
- Maintenance and service information: reports, descriptions, addresses, access notes, messages, emails, WhatsApp communications, photos, files, quotes, invoices, votes, approvals, trade details, and case history.
- Communications: enquiries, support requests, feedback, and records of our correspondence with you.
- Technical and usage information: IP address, browser and device information, session data, logs, referring pages, and information about how you use the service.
We collect information directly from you, from other authorised users in your property workspace, from maintenance channels you use, from service providers, and from Google or Facebook if you choose social sign-in.
4. How we use information
We may use personal information to:
- provide, operate, maintain, and improve Bloc;
- authenticate users and manage permissions and invitations;
- receive, triage, coordinate, and keep records of maintenance reports, quotes, votes, approvals, scheduling, and work;
- send service messages and communicate with owners, committees, agencies, trades, and other authorised parties;
- provide support and respond to enquiries;
- protect the security and integrity of Bloc, prevent misuse, and investigate incidents;
- comply with law and enforce our rights; and
- analyse service performance and develop features, using aggregated or de-identified information where practical.
Bloc may use artificial intelligence services to help classify maintenance requests, extract relevant details, and prepare recommendations or draft communications. Important actions are designed to remain subject to human review or approval. Please avoid including unrelated sensitive information in maintenance reports.
5. When we share information
We may disclose relevant information only as reasonably needed for the purposes described in this policy, including to:
- authorised owners, committee members, body corporate representatives, strata agencies, property managers, and administrators connected with a workspace;
- trades, contractors, suppliers, and other people involved in assessing or completing maintenance;
- providers that support hosting, databases, authentication, email, messaging, file storage, analytics, security, and AI processing, including providers such as Supabase, Google, Meta, Resend, and OpenAI where relevant;
- professional advisers, regulators, courts, law enforcement, or other parties where required or permitted by law; and
- a buyer, investor, or successor in connection with a proposed or completed business transaction, subject to appropriate confidentiality protections.
Some recipients or service providers may store or process information outside Australia. Privacy and data protection laws in those locations may differ from Australian law. We take reasonable steps to work with reputable providers and protect information handled on our behalf.
6. Cookies and security
Bloc uses cookies and similar local storage technologies that are necessary for sign-in, security, invitations, preferences, and core service functionality. Your browser may let you block cookies, but parts of Bloc may then stop working.
We use reasonable technical and organisational safeguards to protect personal information. However, no internet service or storage system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please keep your account credentials secure and contact us if you suspect unauthorised access.
7. Retention
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the service, maintain property and maintenance records, resolve disputes, meet legal, accounting, security, and compliance obligations, and enforce agreements. Retention periods vary according to the type of information and why it is held. When information is no longer required, we take reasonable steps to delete or de-identify it.
8. Access, correction, and data deletion
You may ask to access or correct personal information we hold about you, or ask us to delete your Bloc account and associated personal information. To make a request, email jason@withbloc.com from the email address connected to your account with the subject “Bloc data deletion request”. State whether you signed in with Facebook, Google, or email and identify the relevant property workspace if possible.
We may need to verify your identity before acting. We will assess the request and delete or de-identify information that is not required for legal, security, fraud-prevention, dispute, or legitimate record-keeping purposes. Some maintenance records may need to remain available to the relevant body corporate or organisation even after your account is removed. We will respond within a reasonable period and explain if information cannot be deleted.
You can also revoke Bloc’s access in your Facebook Apps and Websites settings or your Google third-party connections. Revoking provider access stops future sign-in through that connection but does not by itself delete information already held by Bloc. Email us using the process above to request deletion from Bloc.
9. Children
Bloc is intended for adults involved in property and maintenance management. It is not directed to children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. Contact us if you believe a child has provided information to Bloc without appropriate authorisation.
10. Complaints and changes
If you have a privacy concern, please contact us first so we can investigate and respond. If you are not satisfied, you may be entitled to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.
We may update this policy as Bloc or applicable requirements change. We will publish the updated version here and revise the “Last updated” date. We may provide additional notice where a change is material.
11. Contact us
For privacy questions, access or correction requests, or data deletion requests, contact Bloc at jason@withbloc.com.
3. Google and Facebook sign-in
You may create or access your Bloc account using Google or Facebook Login. When you choose one of these options, the provider authenticates you and may give us the information you authorise, generally your name, email address, profile image, and a provider-specific account identifier. Bloc does not receive your Google or Facebook password.
We use this information to create and secure your account, match you to invitations or authorised property access, display your profile, and support sign-in. We do not request access to your Facebook friends, posts, pages, or advertising data, or to your Google contacts, Drive, or calendar, as part of standard sign-in. We do not sell data received from Google or Meta.
Google and Meta separately process information under their own policies. You can review the Google Privacy Policy and the Meta Privacy Policy. You can use Bloc without social sign-in where email and password sign-in is available.