Last updated 23 September 2026
My Research Buddy (“the app”) is operated by BDS Automation (“we”, “us”). This policy explains what personal information the app holds, why, where it is kept, and your choices. We handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
Your account. When you sign up we collect your name, email address and a password. We store only a one-way scrypt hash of the password, never the password itself.
Your study’s records. Research teams use the app to record their projects: participants (names, codes, group, status, and, if the team chooses, phone, email and address), checklists and who ticked what and when, notes, supervisor contacts, standard operating procedures, uploaded documents such as signed consent forms, and shared logins for study tools. This can include health information, which the Privacy Act treats as sensitive.
For study records, the research team decides what is collected and is responsible for obtaining participants’ consent under its ethics approval. We store and process those records on the team’s behalf and use them for nothing else. Participants with questions about their information should contact the research team first; we will help the team respond.
We do not sell personal information, use it for advertising, or share it with anyone except the service providers listed below. The app has no advertising, tracking or analytics.
Only people the project owner has added. Owners and editors can change records; viewers can read them. Shared logins are visible only to owners and editors. Participant contact details are shown only inside that participant’s record and are never written into the activity history.
Because some of these providers are overseas, personal information may be disclosed outside Australia. We choose providers that are bound by contract to protect it and to use it only to provide their service to us.
Account and project records are kept while the account or project exists. Removing a document hides it in the app, but the stored copy is kept, because ethics approvals commonly require consent forms to be retained for years; tell us if your approval needs it destroyed sooner. Database backups are kept for up to 90 days, then deleted.
The app sets one cookie, which keeps you signed in. It lasts up to 30 days, or until you log out. There are no other cookies.
You can correct your project records in the app. To get a copy of your personal information, correct your account details, or close your account, email us at jamie@bdsautomation.com.au. We will reply within 30 days. Closing your account does not delete a project other members still use; the project owner decides about the project’s records.
If a data breach is likely to cause serious harm, we will notify the affected research teams and people, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires.
Contact us at jamie@bdsautomation.com.au. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.
If we change this policy, we will update the date above and tell project owners about significant changes.