KOLink Privacy Policy

Effective date: 4 November 2026

KOLink ("KOLink", "we", "us") is operated by KOLINKAU PTY LTD (ABN 54 702 676 202). KOLink is an Australian platform that connects local merchants with content creators ("Influencers") for product and dining collaboration campaigns on social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu (RED).

This policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. It is written to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

This policy is published in English and Chinese. The English version is the authoritative text; the Chinese version is a reference translation. If the two versions differ, the English version prevails.

1. What personal information we collect

Account information (merchants and Influencers). Name, email address, mobile phone number, and account role. Accounts are currently created by our team by invitation; there is no public sign-up.

Website enquiries (people without an account). Our public website has an enquiry form. Merchants give their brand name, how to address them, one contact method (email address, Australian mobile number, or WeChat ID), and an optional message. Influencers give their Xiaohongshu profile link and one contact method (email address or WeChat ID). We use these details only to contact the person about working with KOLink. We do not keep the IP address with the enquiry; to limit how often the form can be submitted, we keep only a short-lived hash of it.

Influencer profile information. Full name as it appears on your ID, preferred name (optional), WeChat ID (optional), city, content languages, accepted content formats, and the date and version of the terms you accepted. If you ask us to change your email address, phone number, WeChat ID, or full name, we keep the request with the old and new values.

Influencer postal address (optional). You may choose to provide a postal address. It is collected for one purpose: shipping product samples for product-seeding collaborations. Providing it is optional, and leaving it blank does not affect your account.

Your social media accounts and their public information. When you add a Xiaohongshu account, we collect its profile link and keep the account's public information up to date: Xiaohongshu ID and handle, nickname, avatar, bio, follower and note counts, the location the platform shows, and your published notes (titles, short excerpts, hashtags, and engagement counts), including the history of these figures. We use computer programs to classify your public notes into content directions (see 〈Automated decision-making and AI〉).

Commercial-platform profile. If your Xiaohongshu account is listed on Xiaohongshu's commercial collaboration platform (Pugongying), we obtain your profile there through a data service provider: official content categories, collaboration rates, median exposure and engagement figures, cost per thousand views, the number of sponsored notes, gender, the persona tags the platform generates, and the other figures on that profile. Persona tags are the platform's own descriptions of a creator. We use them only as a reference for our operations team; they are not used for automated screening or ranking and are not shown to merchants.

Account verification screenshots. To confirm that a social media account is yours, we ask for screenshots from your creator centre (account information, data overview, and, where applicable, your Pugongying page). Only our team sees them.

Discord. Applying for campaigns requires linking Discord. When you link it, we store your Discord user ID, username, and avatar, and the direct-message channel we use to send you notifications.

Merchant and organisation information. Business name, ABN, brand and store details (store name, address, and map location), the contact details of nominated notification recipients (name, role, email, phone number), on-site contacts for a campaign (name, role, phone number), how Influencers should make a booking, and what you write in campaign forms, including free-text notes.

Collaboration and performance records. As you use the platform, we generate records about collaborations: applications, visit dates and times, party size, attendance confirmations, the reason given when a collaboration is withdrawn, messages you write to our team about a collaboration, content drafts (text, images, and video links), published post links, performance figures and data screenshots, ratings, and operational notes kept by our team.

Technical information. Session cookies, the IP address and browser information of your signed-in sessions (used for security and rate limiting), technical logs (with personal information redacted), and product analytics events.

Please do not include sensitive information (such as religious or biometric information) in free-text fields.

2. How we collect and hold personal information

We collect personal information:

• Directly from you, when you submit the enquiry form on our website, when your account is set up with you by invitation, when you maintain your profile, and when you take part in collaborations;
• From the other side of a collaboration, for example on-site contacts a merchant names, or performance figures an Influencer submits;
• Automatically, through cookies, logs, and analytics when you use the platform;
• From public sources, for the public social media information described above;
• From data service providers, for the commercial-platform profile described above.

Personal information is held in databases and file storage located in Sydney, Australia, with access controls, encryption in transit, and audit logging of administrative access. Technical logs are redacted so that personal information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, and postal addresses is not written to log storage.

3. Why we collect, use, and disclose personal information

We use personal information to:

• operate merchant and Influencer accounts and verify sign-in (one-time codes sent to your email address; our team's accounts use a password and an authenticator app instead);
• verify that the social media accounts on a profile belong to the Influencer;
• match merchants with suitable Influencers and manage collaboration campaigns from briefing through completion;
• relay communications between merchants and Influencers;
• ship product samples where you have provided a postal address for that purpose;
• send service notifications about your account and active collaborations, by email, on the platform, and by Discord direct message where you have linked Discord;
• show campaign posts in the KOLink Creators server on Discord to Influencers in the right city, by giving linked members a city role based on the city in their profile;
• maintain platform quality, including ratings, reviews of collaboration outcomes, and safety screening of platform content;
• analyse product usage to improve the platform;
• meet our legal obligations.

Disclosure to the other side of a collaboration. So the platform can work, selected information is shown to the other party:

• Merchants considering candidates see an Influencer's nickname, profile link, city, follower count, average likes on recent notes, content directions, and whether these figures are up to date.
• Once an Influencer is selected, the merchant sees the visit date and time, party size, and attendance confirmation.
• When a collaboration reaches review, the merchant sees the Influencer's content drafts; after publication, the merchant sees the post link and performance figures.
• If an Influencer leaves a collaboration after being selected, or the collaboration is ended, the merchant is told that the Influencer can no longer take part, usually with a general reason (a scheduling conflict or unforeseen circumstances). When an Influencer leaves for health reasons, the merchant sees only "unforeseen circumstances"; anything the Influencer writes is not passed on.
• Influencers see the merchant's campaign information, and selected Influencers see the name and role of the merchant's on-site contact.

Commercial-platform profiles, persona tags, verification screenshots, data screenshots, and our operational notes are not shown to merchants. Apart from the booking channel a merchant provides for a campaign, we do not give either party the other's phone number, email address, postal address, WeChat, or Discord. Where a campaign requires a booking, the Influencer makes the booking through that channel, using the Influencer's own name and contact details.

Marketing. We may send you updates about KOLink features and opportunities. Every marketing message includes a simple way to opt out, and opting out does not affect service notifications.

We do not sell personal information.

4. Automated decision-making and AI

We use computer programs, including AI systems, in the operation of the platform. This section is included ahead of the commencement of the Privacy Act's automated decision-making transparency obligation (10 December 2026).

AI processing. Our AI assistant uses models provided by OpenAI to prepare campaign materials and to classify content. It processes:

• what merchants write in campaign forms, and public information about their venue (the venue's own website, and public posts and reviews about the venue);
• the titles, short excerpts, and hashtags of Influencers' public notes, to work out content directions.

OpenAI does not use this data to train its models. It may retain the data for up to 30 days.

Decisions substantially assisted by computer programs. Content directions worked out by our programs are shown to merchants when they consider candidates. Our team shortlists candidates and merchants choose who to work with; ratings are set by our team.

Decisions made solely by computer programs.

• Automated safety screening may block or mask content where it detects a breach of platform rules (for example, an attempt to exchange direct contact details).
• Some collaboration steps have deadlines. If an Influencer does not choose a visit date by the deadline shown, the collaboration ends automatically.
• If a merchant has not chosen Influencers, or has not confirmed any visit date, by the deadline shown, the campaign ends automatically, which also ends the collaboration for the Influencers in it. A draft the merchant does not review by its deadline is passed automatically.

If you believe an automated outcome is wrong, contact us using the details in 〈Complaints and contact〉 and a person will review it.

5. Information about people who are not KOLink users

We do not build profiles of creators who are not registered with KOLink. Some information about other people still passes through our systems:

• To prepare a campaign, we read public Xiaohongshu posts about the merchant's venue, the venue's own Instagram posts, and Google reviews of the venue. We keep the title and text of a few recent public posts about the venue, without the authors' names. Google reviews are read once to prepare the campaign and are not stored.
• To check that our data providers are accurate, we regularly look up a small fixed list of public Xiaohongshu accounts. We keep only the result of the comparison, not the accounts' data.
• People who submit the enquiry form on our website do not need an account. We keep what they submit, as described in 〈What personal information we collect〉, and use it only to contact them.

6. Overseas disclosure

Our primary databases, file storage, and application servers are located in Sydney, Australia. Some service providers we use process data overseas:

• AI processing (OpenAI): campaign information, public venue information, and excerpts of Influencers' public notes, as described in 〈Automated decision-making and AI〉, are processed in the United States;
• Social media data (TikHub): Influencers' Xiaohongshu IDs and profile links are sent to obtain public profile and note data, and venue names and Instagram handles to find public posts about a venue; processed in the United States;
• Commercial-platform profiles (JustOneAPI): Influencers' Xiaohongshu IDs are sent to obtain Pugongying profiles; this provider may process data in mainland China or Hong Kong;
• Data accuracy checks and backup data source (RedFox): the IDs of the public accounts described in 〈Information about people who are not KOLink users〉 are sent; if our main social media data provider is unavailable, Influencers' Xiaohongshu IDs may be sent instead; processed in mainland China;
• Venue websites (Firecrawl): merchants' website addresses are sent and the public pages returned; processed in the United States;
• Venue reviews (Google): store names and addresses are sent to read public ratings and reviews; processed on Google's global infrastructure;
• Email (Resend): sign-in codes and notification emails, including the recipient's email address, are sent from Japan; account data and email logs are held in the United States;
• Discord (Discord): for linked Influencers, Discord user IDs, direct-message notifications, and city roles; and internal alerts to our operations team, which can include a person's name, email address, phone number, WeChat ID, or social media handle, the messages merchants and Influencers write to our team about a collaboration, and what people submit through the enquiry form on our website; processed in the United States;
• Product analytics (PostHog): analytics data is processed in the United States;
• Log management and uptime monitoring (Better Stack): technical logs, with personal information redacted, are processed in Singapore;
• Error reporting (Sentry): when something breaks, an error report with personal information removed and only an internal account identifier retained is processed in the United States;
• Hosting (Fly.io): our applications run in Sydney; the provider's platform logs may be processed in the United States;
• Edge network and security (Cloudflare): web traffic passes through Cloudflare's global network, including the United States.

We take reasonable steps to ensure these providers handle information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles, including contractual data-protection terms. We will update this section when we start using a new provider or learn that a provider processes data in a different country.

7. Cookies, analytics, and email tracking

Essential cookies. We use a session cookie to keep you signed in, and Cloudflare Turnstile on the sign-in page and the website enquiry form to block automated abuse. These are required for the platform to function.

Functional cookie. If you open a campaign page before you are able to apply, we keep a cookie that remembers that campaign for 30 days, so we can take you back to it.

Analytics. We use PostHog to understand how the platform is used (pages visited, features used). PostHog sets its own cookie to recognise a returning browser. URLs are scrubbed of query parameters before capture. We do not currently record session replays; if we start, we will update this policy first.

Email tracking. Notification emails we send (not sign-in verification codes) contain a tracking pixel and tracked links that record when the email was opened, when and which link was clicked, and which page was reached through it. Our email provider processes the technical data needed for this, such as IP address, on our behalf; we do not store IP addresses or device information. We use this data to understand whether notifications are being read and acted on, and to improve their content and frequency.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Blocking essential cookies will prevent sign-in.

8. Data retention and deletion

We keep personal information only as long as we need it:

• Account verification screenshots are deleted 90 days after the review decision; the decision itself is kept.
• Uploaded files that are never submitted are deleted after 24 hours.
• Records of sign-in codes sent are deleted after 7 days.
• Technical logs are kept for a few days.
• Database backups are kept for 30 days, so deleted information can remain in backups for up to 30 days.
• Public social media information and commercial-platform profiles are kept and refreshed while the account is active on your profile. When you retire a social media account, we stop refreshing it; what was already collected is kept.
• Website enquiries are not yet deleted automatically. To have yours deleted, contact us using the details in 〈Complaints and contact〉; our team deletes it by hand, including the alert in our operations channel.
• Other account, profile, and collaboration information is kept while your account exists.
• Financial records we are legally required to keep (such as tax records) are retained for the statutory period.

Deleting your information. To have your account deleted, email us at the address in 〈Complaints and contact〉. Within 30 days we will delete or de-identify your account and profile information, including your social media account information. Collaboration and rating records are kept with your account details removed, to preserve platform integrity (for example, aggregate rating history). Copies of messages and alerts already posted in our internal operations channel on Discord are not deleted with your account. Records we must keep by law are kept for the required period.

9. Security

We protect personal information with encryption in transit, role-based access controls, tenant isolation between merchant organisations, audit logging of administrative access, and redaction of personal information from technical logs. No system is perfectly secure, but we design for data protection by default.

Data breaches. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

10. Access, correction, and your choices

You can view and update most of your profile information directly in your account. Some information is not shown in your account, such as your commercial-platform profile, persona tags, ratings, and our operational notes. To see it, or to request a copy of any personal information we hold about you, contact us using the details in 〈Complaints and contact〉. We will respond within 30 days. We may decline a request only where the Privacy Act permits, and we will explain why.

If you believe information we hold is inaccurate, out of date, or incomplete, we will take reasonable steps to correct it.

Your choices. Retiring a social media account in your profile is how you stop us refreshing its information. A retired account is also no longer used for matching, because its information is what matching relies on. You can turn most email notifications off in your settings; messages that ask you to act on an active collaboration are still sent.

11. Complaints and contact

Privacy contact: [email protected]

If you have a question or complaint about how we have handled your personal information, contact us first. We will acknowledge your complaint promptly, investigate, and respond within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):

• Website: www.oaic.gov.au
• Phone: 1300 363 992

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the platform evolves. We will post the updated policy on this page with a new effective date, and for material changes we will notify account holders. Continued use of the platform after an update takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.