How Separately Protects Your Data During Separation

Separation is a stressful time, and the questions you bring to Separately are deeply personal. You are sharing details about your finances, your home, your superannuation and your family. We treat that information with the care it deserves. This article explains, in plain language, how Separately handles your data and the choices you have along the way.

This is general information about how our product works. It is not legal or financial advice.

Why your privacy matters to us

A property settlement involves some of the most sensitive information you hold. We have designed Separately so you can explore your situation and receive an assessment without feeling exposed. Protecting your data is not an afterthought. It shapes how the product is built.

How we protect your information

Encryption in transit and at rest

Your connection to Separately is encrypted using TLS, the same kind of transport encryption used by banks and government services. Information you provide is also encrypted when it is stored on our servers. This reduces the risk that anyone intercepting traffic, or gaining access to stored files, can read your details.

Keeping your identity separate from your numbers

Where we can, we keep the details that identify you apart from the financial information used to produce your assessment. Separating these elements means the data driving your assessment is harder to tie back to you as a specific person. This is one of the practical privacy measures recommended for handling personal information.

We do not sell your data

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising. We use the information you give us to produce your assessment and to operate and support the service. That is the purpose you came to us for, and we keep it that way.

Payments are handled by Stripe

If you pay for an assessment, your payment is processed by Stripe, a global payments provider that is certified as a PCI DSS Level 1 service provider, the highest level of payment-card security certification. This means your full card number is handled inside Stripe's secure environment rather than stored by us. We keep only limited, non-sensitive details such as the card type and the last four digits to help you recognise your own payment.

You stay in control of your data

You decide how long your information stays with us.

• You can permanently delete your account and its associated data from your dashboard at any time.
• Estimate data that you do not save is removed automatically after a set period, so unfinished work does not linger indefinitely.

If you want to know what we hold about you, or you want it corrected or deleted, you can contact us and we will help.

Could the information I enter be used in court?

This is a common and reasonable worry. A few points may help.

Your Separately assessment is a private estimate to help you understand your situation. It is not a court document and it is not filed anywhere.

That said, it is worth understanding how disclosure works in Australian family law more broadly. If a property matter goes to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, both parties have a duty of full and frank disclosure. This means each person must share all information relevant to their financial circumstances, including income, property, superannuation and interests held through companies or trusts. The duty applies during pre-action steps and continues until the case is finalised. Courts can also issue a subpoena, which compels a person or organisation to produce documents or give evidence.

The key point is that the duty of disclosure attaches to the underlying facts of your finances, not to a private tool you used to think things through. Using Separately does not create a new document that your former partner is automatically entitled to. If you are unsure how disclosure applies to your circumstances, a family lawyer can advise you.

Can my former partner see my information?

No. Your Separately account is yours. Your former partner cannot log in to see what you have entered, and we do not notify them that you are using the service. If you share a device or email account, it is sensible to use a private login and to sign out when you are finished.

How Separately is different from a general AI chatbot

Separately is a focused tool, not a general-purpose chatbot. It is built specifically to help people understand property settlement in the Australian context, and it asks only for the information needed to produce your assessment. We do not use the personal details you enter to train general AI models. If you have ever felt uneasy pasting personal financial details into an open chatbot, that is a reasonable instinct, and it is exactly why we built Separately the way we did.

A note on privacy law

Australian privacy law is set by the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles, overseen by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). The Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires covered organisations to notify affected individuals and the OAIC if a data breach is likely to result in serious harm. Privacy regulation in Australia is also under active reform, and we keep our practices under review as the law develops. For the most current detail, the OAIC website is the authoritative source.

Getting your settlement formalised

Separately helps you understand your position and prepare for the conversations ahead. It does not replace independent legal advice, and your assessment is not a binding agreement.

To make a property settlement legally binding in Australia, there are two main pathways: consent orders, which you apply to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia to formalise an agreement you have reached, and a binding financial agreement, which by law requires each party to receive independent legal advice from an Australian legal practitioner before signing. We recommend speaking with a family lawyer before finalising any settlement, and Separately works alongside law firms to help you do that.

Your information is yours. We are simply here to look after it while we help you find clarity.