Last updated: 29 October 2026
1. Who we are
InterviewBuddy ("we", "us", "our") is an Australian company providing AI-powered interview preparation services. This policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
2. Information we collect
Account data: name, email address, and current role
If you ask us to email you something without an account (a company question pack, the 7-day plan, or your scorecard from the free sample question), we keep your email address and, for the scorecard, the three scores and the two coaching sentences. We never keep the sample answer itself, and we only email you again if you tick the newsletter box.
Interview data: your text responses during practice sessions
Uploaded documents: CV and job description files (optional)
Payment data: processed securely by Stripe — we never store card details
Usage data: session history, scores, and app interactions
Feedback you choose to give: a thumbs up or down on a scorecard or interview question, with an optional reason and comment. We use it only to improve the quality and fairness of our AI. It is not sent to the AI model. Please leave out names and confidential details.
3. How we use your data
To deliver and personalise your interview practice sessions
To generate AI feedback and scoring on your responses
To improve our AI models and product features
To process payments and manage your account
To send transactional emails (no marketing without consent)
4. Data storage & security
Your data is stored on Microsoft Azure infrastructure located in Australia. We use industry-standard encryption (TLS in transit, AES-256 at rest). Access is restricted to authorised personnel only.
We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.
5. Third-party services
Stripe — payment processing (governed by Stripe's Privacy Policy)
Microsoft Azure OpenAI (Australia East) — generates interview questions and feedback. Your content is not used to train AI models. Microsoft may keep prompts for a short period (up to 30 days) solely to detect misuse.
Microsoft Azure — cloud hosting, database and email delivery, in Australia
Microsoft Azure AI Speech (Australia East) — in a mock interview, if you answer by voice, your speech is streamed to Azure only to turn it into text. The audio is not stored by us or by Microsoft; only the text of your answer is saved. If Azure is unavailable, your browser's built-in speech service (for example Chrome with Google, or Edge with Microsoft) is used instead under its own privacy terms, as it also is for the free sample question and the website chat. You can always type instead.
Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity — measure how visitors use the site (see Cookies & tracking).
Site assistant ("iBuddy") — questions typed or spoken in the website chat are sent to Microsoft Azure OpenAI to write the answer and, if you turn voice on, the answer is read aloud by Microsoft Azure AI Speech. We do not store chat messages (only anonymous usage counts), and the chat is hidden from session replay. Please do not share personal details in the chat.
6. Cookies & tracking
We use essential cookies to keep you logged in and to remember your session preferences. We also use Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity (analytics and session replay) to understand how the site is used; these set analytics cookies. Session replay can run on the practice, interview, results and account pages so we can see where the site is hard to use, but all text and form inputs on those screens are masked, so your answers, scores, CV and personal details are not captured, and your camera and voice are never recorded. Session replay never starts for members of a school, or on sign-in or school-dashboard pages. We do not run analytics for school members or on school-dashboard pages, and we do not use advertising cookies. You can disable cookies in your browser settings, though some features may not work correctly.
Our servers keep routine logs that include your IP address, and we use it to limit abusive traffic (rate limiting). We also record, for each AI request, how many tokens it used, how long it took and whether it worked, linked to your account so we can manage cost and quality. These records contain no interview content (not your answers, CV or the AI's replies).
6a. Interview Buddy Recruit (employer screening interviews)
When an employer uses Interview Buddy Recruit, the employer collects the candidate's information to decide about their application, and we process it on the employer's behalf. We keep the candidate's name and email, screening answers and a text transcript of the interview. Spoken answers are transcribed by Azure Speech in Australia and the audio is not stored; no video is recorded and there is no face analysis.
Automated decisions: an AI model (Azure OpenAI) summarises the evidence in a candidate's answers against the skills the employer chose. This assists the employer's decision, which is always made by a person; no candidate is rejected automatically. Recruit data is stored in Australia, kept for the retention period the employer sets (90 to 365 days), never used for Interview Buddy practice and never shared with other employers. The full candidate notice is at /recruit/candidate-privacy.
7. Your rights
Under the Australian Privacy Principles, you have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal data at any time.
To exercise these rights, email contact@interviewbuddy.com.au or use the Contact Us page. We will respond within 30 days.
8. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes via email or an in-app notice. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
9. Contact
For privacy-related enquiries, email contact@interviewbuddy.com.au or use the Contact Us page.