Document Processing Terms

These Document Processing Terms apply to every document, image and file you upload to Auswitness, and to any document created on the Platform (together, your "Document"), including the versions produced during and after the witnessing session: the document as uploaded, any marked-up or annotated version, and the signed and witnessed version.

They form part of, and should be read with, our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. If anything here is inconsistent with the Privacy Policy as it applies to personal information, the Privacy Policy prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.

In these terms, "we", "us" and "our" mean Sheppard Corporation Pty Ltd (ACN 703 043 476), trading as Auswitness.

By uploading a Document, you agree to these terms and confirm that you are entitled to provide the Document to us for the purposes set out below, including any personal information about other people it contains.

We process your Document so that we can:

• check that it is a type of document that can lawfully be witnessed by audio-visual link in the relevant jurisdiction;
• prepare it for the session, including converting file formats, flattening form fields and rendering it for display;
• display it to you and the witnessing practitioner during the session, and record the marks, signatures and endorsements applied to it;
• produce, deliver and store the signed and witnessed version;
• answer later questions about the witnessing, including from you, a recipient of the Document, a regulator or a court;
• detect and prevent fraud, misuse of the service and attempts to have a document witnessed improperly; and
• maintain, secure, test and improve the Platform, as described in clause 3.

You consent to your Document, and text extracted from it, being processed by automated tools, including large language models and other artificial intelligence services operated by us or by our service providers. We use these tools to:

• identify the kind of document and whether it can be witnessed online;
• extract or check details such as names, dates and the jurisdiction of the form;
• assist the practitioner and our support staff, for example by summarising a document or flagging an issue before the session;
• detect fraud and misuse; and
• improve the quality, accuracy and reliability of those tools and of the Platform.

Automated output is used to assist people, not to replace them. The decision to witness a document is always made by the practitioner.

Some of these providers may process data outside Australia. Where they do, we take reasonable steps to ensure they handle it in a way consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles, as set out in our Privacy Policy. We do not permit our providers to use your Document to train models made available to anyone other than us.

We use trusted third parties to host and operate the Platform, and your Document may be stored or processed by them for the purposes in these terms. They include providers of cloud hosting and databases, file storage, video calling and relay services, email delivery, payment processing and AI processing. They act on our instructions and are bound by confidentiality and security obligations.

We do not sell your Document or its contents, and we do not disclose it to anyone else except as described here, in our Privacy Policy, with your consent, or where the law requires or permits it.

We may retain your Document, in each of its versions, together with the session record, identity verification material and audit trail, for up to seven (7) years after the session, and for longer where we are required by law to keep it or it is relevant to an actual or anticipated complaint, claim, investigation or legal proceeding.

We are permitted to retain your Document for that period but are not obliged to. We may delete any version of it, at any time and without notice, once we consider it is no longer needed. You should keep your own copy of the signed and witnessed Document; we do not guarantee that a copy will remain available from us.

When a Document is no longer needed, we delete it or de-identify it in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Copies may persist in backups for a limited period before they are overwritten.

Documents are stored in private, access-controlled storage and are transmitted over encrypted connections. Access is limited to the witnessing practitioner, our authorised staff and service providers who need it for the purposes in these terms.

We treat the contents of your Document as confidential. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted over the internet.

You are responsible for:

• the content and accuracy of your Document;
• having the right to upload it, including any personal information about other people it contains;
• not uploading anything unlawful, or any document you are not permitted to have witnessed; and
• keeping your own copy of the final Document.

We do not review your Document for legal accuracy or give legal advice about it. Witnessing a Document confirms only the matters the witness endorsement states.

You can ask for a copy of your Document, or ask us to delete it, by emailing info@auswitness.com.au. We will act on a deletion request unless we need to keep the Document to meet a legal obligation, to respond to a complaint or claim, or to preserve the evidentiary record of the witnessing.

You can also withdraw your consent to AI processing by contacting us before your session. If you do, we may be unable to provide some parts of the service.

We may update these terms from time to time. The version published when you upload a Document applies to that Document.

These terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia, and you submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of its courts.