Scope of the Early Years SA app

The Early Years SA mobile application (the Early Years SA app) is a product of the Office for Early Childhood Development. This Privacy Statement outlines our commitment to protecting the personal information and privacy of Users of this application. If you are seeking information concerning the conditions of use of the Early Years SA app, refer to the Early Years SA app Terms and Conditions.

This Privacy Statement will be updated from time to time and use of the Early Years SA app requires acceptance of this Privacy Statement.

This Privacy Statement applies to the Early Years SA app only, and not to any websites, information or resources linked within the Early Years SA app. The governance of the collation, storage, use, access, and disposal of your personal information is of key importance and will be done in accordance with the Education and Children’s Services Act 2019 and the Information Privacy Principles (IPPS) Instruction that safeguard individuals’ personal information and privacy of that information.

The Early Years SA app contains links to websites owned by government and non-government organisations. These websites have their own privacy statements and terms and conditions that apply to Users when visiting those websites.

Personal information collected and how it is used

To use the Early Years SA app, a User is required to accept this Privacy Statement and the Terms and Conditions. The User can opt in to provide the following personal information for their child(ren):

• the child’s name or nickname
• the child’s sex
• the child’s date of birth
• the child’s due date (if they were born prematurely).

The app collects personal information to provide key functionality only. This functionality includes:

• the app uses the child's name to differentiate between each child. The name can be pseudonymous.
• the app uses the child's date of birth to provide the User with age-appropriate articles and information.
• the app uses the child's sex, and date of birth and/or due date to create a tailored Child Growth Chart.
• the app uses the child's date of birth and name to provide the User with scheduled notifications (including, but not limited to reminders about development checks and immunisations).

If the User opts to, they can enter measurements for their child’s head circumference, height and/or weight. These measurements allow the User to chart their child’s growth against child growth standards from recognised third parties.

The Early Years SA app does not transmit any personal information across the internet to any server.

On iOS, the app encrypts the User’s personal information using 256-bit AES-GCM encryption at rest and stores it using iOS’s Secure Storage API.

On Android, the app encrypts the User’s personal information using 256-bit AES with a device-generated RSA from the Android KeyStore at rest.

All stored personal information will be removed when the app is uninstalled on iOS, or when the App’s storage is deleted from the Settings app on Android.

The security of each User's personal information is taken seriously. The Office for Early Childhood Development will take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information it holds against any loss, unauthorised access, use, modification, disclosure or misuse.

The Office for Early Childhood Development will not be held liable if any personal information is stolen or lost when the User’s device is jailbroken or rooted.

Information automatically collected and how it is used

The Early Years SA app will collect anonymous, non-identifiable information about the User’s usage of the app.

The app will collect information about how and when the User performs or triggers specific events. These events can include:

• when the User opened the app
• when the User viewed a page
• when the User opened a link to an external website.

The Early Years SA app will collect information about the User’s device, including:

• the manufacturer, make and model
• the platform (Android or iOS) and version.

The Office for Early Childhood Development will use the data for the following purposes:

• evaluating usage of the app’s functionality
• evaluating popularity of articles
• improving user experience
• diagnosing and resolving app performance or crashing issues.

Usage data is stored in Australia only, using services and products provided by Microsoft Azure. All usage data is encrypted in transit.

Usage data is retained for 3650 days, after which it will be deleted.

Usage data may be shared with third parties to produce analytics and to evaluate usage of the application. These analytics may be stored in separate, secure storage.

Any deidentified data provided to third parties will be anonymous and is not at any stage attributable back to the User from whom it was gathered.

Exporting your child’s data

The Early Years SA app allows you to export some of your child’s data on your device. The following data can be exported:

• child name (or nickname)
• child date of birth
• child due date (if child was prematurely born)
• growth chart selection
• child’s weight measurements and/or height measurements and/or head circumference measurements

Exported information is not synchronised with the latest information stored in the Early Years SA app and is exported at a point in time.

You should only export this information if you are confident that the location you are storing it in is safe and trusted. If you export data, it will only be protected by the security on your device (if any). The Office for Early Childhood Development accepts no liability for any claims, loss or damage arising from exported data that is stored on your device or shared elsewhere.

Sharing your child’s information

You should only share your child’s exported data with other people if you are confident that recipient needs to access this information and they will manage your child’s information responsibly.

Removing the Early Years SA app

If you remove, delete, or uninstall the Early Years SA app from your device, the data you have previously entered cannot be restored.

If you have exported your child’s data to your device, this data will remain and will continue to be stored on your device. You can manage this by deleting the file from your device at any time.

Feedback and complaints

Contact the Department for Education to provide feedback or make a complaint using the contact form in the Early Years SA app.

Information collected in the course of feedback or a User complaint is managed in accordance with the Department for Education’s privacy statement.