Privacy notice
Updated 17 August 2026 · In force from 17 August 2026 · Australia
1. Who is responsible
ToonBench is an independent editorial project published at toonbench.com from Australia. It decides how and why personal information on this site is handled and is therefore responsible for it. Written enquiries about this notice go to desk@toonbench.com, and we aim to reply within thirty days.
We handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
2. What we collect
2.1 Information you give us
- Subscription form: the email address you enter, the name you enter if you choose to fill that field, and the fact that you ticked the consent box together with the date and time.
- Correspondence: anything you write to us by email, including your address and the content of your message.
The form on this site has no telephone field and no card field. We never ask for card details on toonbench.com.
2.2 Information collected automatically
- Server logs: IP address, the page requested, the date and time, referring address, browser user-agent string and general device type.
- Cookies and similar storage: small entries kept in your browser, including a record of your choice on our cookie notice. Categories and lifetimes are listed in the cookie notice.
- Analytics: aggregated data on pages viewed, approximate region and traffic sources, used to understand which reviews are read.
- Advertising identifiers: identifiers set by advertising partners where advertising is served, used for frequency control and measurement.
- Push identifiers: if you allow browser notifications, OneSignal assigns your browser a subscription identifier and records the browser, operating system and general region.
3. Why we handle it, and on what basis
| Purpose | Data used | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Sending the digest and browser notifications | Email address, name, push identifier | Your consent, given on the form |
| Keeping the site available and secure | Server logs, necessary cookies | Our legitimate interest in a working, protected site |
| Understanding which content is read | Analytics data | Your consent through the cookie notice |
| Serving and measuring advertising | Advertising identifiers, cookies | Your consent through the cookie notice |
| Administering paid plans once billing is live | Email address, plan and billing records held by the payment provider | Performance of the agreement with you |
| Answering your enquiries | Email address, message content | Our legitimate interest in replying to you |
4. Paid plans and billing data
The paid ToonBench plans described on the home page are not yet billable: card payment is being activated with an external payment provider and no checkout runs on this site. When billing opens, card details will be entered on the provider’s own secure page and will never reach our servers. We will hold only your email address, the plan chosen, the start date, the renewal date and the invoice references supplied by the provider. Cancellation and refund conditions are set out in the terms of use.
5. How long we keep it
- Subscription data: until you unsubscribe or ask for removal, then deleted within thirty days.
- Push identifiers: until you revoke the browser permission or unsubscribe, then removed by OneSignal.
- Server logs: up to twelve months, then deleted or aggregated.
- Analytics data: up to fourteen months in aggregated form.
- Correspondence: up to twenty-four months after the exchange ends.
- Billing records, once billing is live: for the period required by Australian tax and record-keeping law.
6. Who else is involved
We do not sell personal information and we do not trade email addresses. Information is shared only with providers that help us run the site, each acting on our instructions:
- Hosting and content delivery: stores and serves the pages, keeps access logs.
- OneSignal: delivers the email digest and browser notifications, holds the address and push identifier for that purpose.
- Analytics provider: produces aggregated audience statistics.
- Advertising partners: serve and measure advertising placements where these appear.
- Payment provider, once billing is live: handles the transaction and holds the card data on its own systems.
Some of these providers operate servers outside Australia, including in the United States and the European Union. Where information is sent overseas we take reasonable steps to ensure the recipient handles it consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.
7. Cookies
Necessary storage is used to keep the site working and to remember your cookie choice. Analytics and advertising categories load only after you accept them in the cookie notice, and you can change your decision at any time by clearing site data in your browser and reloading the page. Full details, including categories and lifetimes, are in the cookie notice.
8. Your rights
Under Australian privacy law you may ask us to:
- confirm whether we hold personal information about you and give you access to it;
- correct information that is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete;
- delete information we no longer need, including your subscription record;
- stop sending you the digest, which you can also do from the unsubscribe link in any message;
- revoke a consent you have given, without affecting anything done while it was in force.
Send requests to desk@toonbench.com. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au.
9. Children
This site is written for a general adult audience and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from a child. If you believe a child has submitted an address through our form, write to us and we will remove it.
10. Security
The site is served over an encrypted connection. Access to the subscription list is limited to the people who produce the digest, and our providers are chosen for their own security practices. No system is perfectly secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute protection, but we will act promptly and notify affected people where the law requires it.
11. Changes to this notice
If this notice changes, the updated version appears on this page with a new date at the top. Substantial changes affecting subscribers will also be announced in the digest.