Recycled Sound is a community app that collects, services, and redistributes donated hearing aids to people who cannot afford them — primarily refugees, asylum seekers, and low-income residents in Greater Dandenong, Victoria, Australia. This policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information.
1. Who We Are
Recycled Sound is a joint initiative of the Rotary Club of Springvale City and Arches Audiology (Seray Lim, Clinical Audiologist). References to “we”, “us”, or “our” in this policy refer to the Recycled Sound project team.
2. What Data We Collect
We collect the following categories of personal information:
- Account information — email address and password (used for authentication)
- Profile information — your name and your role in the app (donor, recipient, audiologist, or admin)
- Device photos — photographs of hearing aids you upload via the camera or photo library
- Device data — brand, model, type, specifications, and condition of donated hearing aids
- Donation and application details — information you provide when donating a device or applying for one, such as your location and contact preferences
We do not collect health data directly. If you voluntarily provide hearing assessment documents as part of a recipient application, these are stored securely and accessible only to authorised audiologists and administrators.
3. How We Use Your Data
We use the information we collect to:
- Create and manage your account
- Identify hearing aid brand, model, and specifications from photos you submit
- Facilitate matching between donated devices and recipients
- Enable audiologists to review and quality-assure devices
- Communicate with you about your donation or application status
- Improve the app and our services
We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for advertising or marketing purposes.
4. Camera and Photo Permissions
The app requests access to your device camera and photo library so you can photograph hearing aids for identification. These photos are:
- Used solely for identifying the hearing aid’s brand, model, and specifications
- Uploaded securely to our servers for processing
- Not shared with any third party for purposes unrelated to device identification
- Not used for facial recognition or any form of biometric analysis
You can deny camera or photo library access and still use other features of the app. You can revoke these permissions at any time through your device settings.
5. Data Storage and Security
Your data is stored using Google Firebase and Google Cloud infrastructure. This means:
- Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest
- Authentication is handled by Firebase Authentication, which follows industry-standard security practices
- Data is stored in data centres that comply with ISO 27001, SOC 1/2/3, and other security certifications
- Access to personal data is restricted to authorised team members on a need-to-know basis
- We use Firebase Security Rules to enforce access control at the database level
While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure. We encourage you to use a strong, unique password for your account.
6. Data Retention and Deleting Your Account
We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide our services.
You can delete your account at any time from within the app, under Settings → Delete Account. You do not need to contact us. Deletion is immediate and cannot be undone. It permanently removes your sign-in credentials, your name and your email address.
Records of hearing aids catalogued through the app are kept, with your name removed from them. These records describe donated devices — brand, model, specifications and photographs of the device itself — that are held for and distributed to recipients. They are not information about you, and deleting them would destroy the only record of a physical device someone is waiting on. After your account is deleted, your name and email address are gone from them. These records may still carry an internal system identifier that was generated for your account — it cannot be used to sign in, and it no longer corresponds to any account, but it is an identifier rather than nothing, so we describe the records as de-identified rather than anonymous. They are retained in that form for device servicing, impact reporting and e-waste metrics.
Where we are required by law to retain particular information, we will keep only what the law requires and for no longer than it requires.
7. Your Rights
Under the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), you have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you
- Correct any inaccurate or out-of-date information
- Request deletion of your personal information
- Withdraw consent for data processing at any time
- Complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) if you believe your privacy has been breached
You can delete your account yourself, at any time, from within the app — see Deleting Your Account above. You do not need to contact us to do that. For any of the other rights listed here, contact us at the address below.
8. Children’s Privacy
Our app is not directed at children under the age of 16. Where a recipient is under 16, a parent or guardian must manage their account and provide consent on their behalf.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the updated policy in the app and updating the “Last updated” date above. Continued use of the app after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
10. Contact Us
If you have questions or concerns about this privacy policy or your personal data, contact us at:
Email: seraylim@outlook.com
Project: Recycled Sound
Partners: Rotary Club of Springvale City & Arches Audiology
Location: Greater Dandenong, Victoria, Australia