Privacy Policy

Settle helps businesses recover overdue invoices respectfully. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. It applies to the Settle website and product operated in Australia.

Information we collect

We collect only what we need to provide Settle:

• Account information — your name, email address and password (stored only as a secure, salted hash).
• Business details — your business name, ABN and the guardrails and preferences you set.
• Customer information you provide — the contact name, email, phone number and invoice details of the customers you ask Settle to help you recover from, together with your record that you are authorised to contact them.
• Conversation records — the messages Settle drafts, the ones you approve, and replies received, kept as an audit trail.
• Payment authorisations — when a customer sets up a payment plan, their bank details are entered directly with our payments provider (Pinch) and are never stored by Settle.

How we use information

We use your information to run the service you have asked for: to draft and (once you approve) send payment messages in your business's voice — by text message to the mobile number you provide for each customer — to set up and manage payment plans, and to keep a truthful record of what happened. We do not sell your information, and we do not use your customers' details for anything other than the recovery you have asked us to help with.

Automated assistance

Settle uses automated (AI) assistance to draft messages. Settle always identifies itself to your customers as an AI assistant acting on your behalf, never threatens legal action, and pauses automatically for hardship or a dispute. These protections are built in and are not optional settings.

Service providers

We share information only with the providers needed to deliver Settle:

• Pinch — payment processing and direct debits. Customers enter bank details directly with Pinch.
• SMS delivery provider — to send the messages you approve.
• Hosting and database providers — to run the application securely.

Each provider only receives what it needs to perform its function.

Automated drafting.Settle uses Google's Gemini AI service to help draft messages and respond to customer enquiries. Debtor and invoice details (such as name, contact details, invoice amount and payment history) are sent to Gemini for this purpose. Gemini is hosted outside Australia, so this involves an overseas disclosure of your data (see "Overseas disclosure" below).

Overseas disclosure

Some of the service providers we use, including our AI drafting provider, host data outside Australia. Where this happens, we take reasonable steps to ensure your information is handled in a way consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles, including relying on the provider's own data protection terms. If you have questions about where your data is held, contact us at privacy@settleup.com.au.

Security and retention

Credentials are encrypted, passwords are hashed, and access is restricted. We keep information for as long as needed to provide the service and to meet our legal and record-keeping obligations, then delete or de-identify it.

Your choices

You can ask us to access, correct or delete your information. Your customers can reply STOP at any time to opt out of further automated messages, which Settle honours immediately.

Contact

For any privacy question or request, contact us at privacy@settleup.com.au.