Ethnobot is a qualitative research platform. Research only works when people trust it. This policy explains exactly what we collect, why, and what we do — and don't do — with what you share.
Last updated: March 2026 · Effective from: March 2026
Ethnobot is operated by The Helix Lab Pty Ltd, an Australian company based in Adelaide, South Australia. When this policy says “we”, “us”, or “Ethnobot”, that's who we mean.
We are subject to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) as amended, including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs 1–13). If you have a question about how we handle your information, contact us at privacy@ethnobot.cc.
We only collect what we need. Here's a plain breakdown by product.
Discover is our free, public interview. You don't need an account to participate. During a Discover interview we collect:
Discover interviews are designed to be anonymous. We don't require your name. The pre-interview context you provide is used to shape the conversation, not to identify you.
Org Studies are commissioned by organisations (our clients) to understand AI adoption across their workforce. Participants in an Org Study provide informed consent before the interview begins. We collect:
In Org Studies, your organisation is the research client and receives the aggregate findings. Individual responses are never attributed to you by name in synthesis reports unless you have separately provided explicit consent for that attribution.
Like most web platforms, we receive some data automatically when you visit Ethnobot:
We do not use tracking pixels, third-party advertising networks, or fingerprinting techniques.
Ethnobot uses large language models to conduct interviews and analyse transcripts. This is central to the product, and you should understand exactly how it works.
Your interview transcript is not used to train Anthropic's models or any other AI system. We have agreed to Anthropic's API terms of service, which prohibit use of API inputs for model training without explicit consent. We will never sell your data or provide it to AI training pipelines.
If you complete a Discover interview, you receive a personal AI profile at a unique, permanent link. This profile is yours — it summarises your interview in a shareable format. The link is not publicly indexed and is only accessible to people you share it with. If you would like your profile deleted, contact privacy@ethnobot.cc.
We do not sell your personal information. We share data only with the sub-processors required to run the platform, and with research clients in the case of Org Studies.
If you participate in an Org Study, the commissioning organisation receives aggregate findings: themes, patterns, and anonymised quotes drawn from the full participant cohort. Individual transcripts are accessible to our internal research team for quality assurance. Direct attribution of quotes to individuals requires your explicit, separate consent.
The following companies process data on our behalf to run Ethnobot. We have data processing agreements in place with each:
| Provider | Purpose | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | AI interview engine and transcript analysis | United States |
| Supabase (AWS ap-southeast-2) | Database — stores transcripts, analysis, profiles | Sydney, Australia |
| Vercel | Web hosting and global content delivery | Global CDN (edge nodes worldwide) |
| Resend | Transactional email (profile delivery) | United States |
| PostHog | Product analytics (page views, feature usage) | United States (EU self-hosting available) |
Some of the sub-processors above are located outside Australia. Under APP 8 of the Australian Privacy Act, we are required to be transparent about this and to take reasonable steps to ensure overseas recipients handle your information consistently with the APPs.
The key cross-border transfers are:
Your interview transcript and profile data at rest are stored on Supabase's AWS ap-southeast-2 infrastructure in Sydney, Australia.
Ethnographic research depends on trust. Here is what we commit to, in plain terms:
All Org Study participants see a consent screen before the interview begins. It explains the purpose of the research, who commissioned it, and how data will be used. You can stop the interview at any point.
Discover participants are informed via this policy and the platform's pre-interview context screen. By starting an interview, you are consenting to the processing described in this policy.
Synthesis reports for Org Studies present findings at a cohort level. Quotes are selected for their representativeness and presented without attribution unless you have given explicit written consent. We do not include names, job titles, or other direct identifiers in reports without that consent.
Your Discover profile lives at a unique link that only you know (unless you choose to share it). It is not searchable, not indexed, and not shared with anyone else. You can request deletion at any time.
Your transcript is used to generate your profile and, in Org Studies, to contribute to cohort-level analysis. It is not used for purposes outside of the research engagement you participated in.
We use the information we collect to:
We do not use your information for advertising, automated decision-making that affects your rights, or any purpose not described in this policy.
Transcripts and profiles from Discover interviews are retained indefinitely to allow you to return to your profile via your permanent link. If you want your data deleted, we will do so promptly on request.
Transcripts and analysis from Org Studies are retained for the duration of the research engagement plus 12 months, to support longitudinal follow-up studies where the client has that option. After that period, transcripts are deleted and only aggregated, anonymised findings are retained.
If you provided your email to receive your profile, we retain it only for that delivery purpose. We do not add you to a mailing list unless you explicitly opt in elsewhere.
Anonymised usage analytics are retained for 12 months on a rolling basis.
We take security seriously, not just as a compliance obligation but because research data deserves it. Our measures include:
No system is perfectly secure. If we become aware of a breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.
Under the Australian Privacy Act, you have the right to:
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@ethnobot.cc. We will respond within 30 days. In most cases, we can verify your identity by asking you to confirm the unique link associated with your profile or interview.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Ethnobot is designed for use by adults in professional and research contexts. We do not knowingly collect personal information from people under 18. If we become aware that we have collected information from a minor, we will delete it promptly.
We may update this policy as the platform evolves. When we make significant changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. For material changes that affect how we use your existing data, we will notify you directly if we have your contact information.
Continuing to use Ethnobot after a policy update constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.
Privacy questions, access requests, corrections, or complaints — we're here: