Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1 November 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Palmleaf Books, operated by PALMLEAF PTY LTD, collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information when you:

Visit or use our website
Create a customer account
Search for or purchase products
Contact us
Use our website chat or AI-assisted features
Subscribe to marketing communications
Otherwise interact with Palmleaf Books

We handle personal information in accordance with applicable Australian privacy laws, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles where they apply.

What is personal information?

Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

Depending on how you interact with Palmleaf Books, we may collect the following types of personal information.

Information you provide

We may collect:

Your name
Email address
Telephone number
Billing and delivery addresses
Customer account information
Order and transaction details
Products purchased, saved or viewed
Gift voucher information
Marketing preferences
Enquiries, complaints and customer-support messages
Website chat and AI-assisted search messages
Return and refund information
Photographs supplied for damaged-product or delivery claims
Information supplied when entering a competition, promotion or survey
Any other information you voluntarily provide

Please do not provide sensitive personal information through our website chat, search tools or customer-support channels unless it is reasonably necessary for us to assist you.

Payment information

Payments are processed through Shopify’s checkout and approved payment providers.

Palmleaf Books does not normally receive or store complete credit-card numbers or card security codes.

We may receive limited payment information, such as:

Payment status
Payment method
Transaction reference
Billing name and address
The last digits of a payment card, where provided by the payment processor
Fraud or verification results

Payment providers handle information according to their own privacy policies and legal obligations.

Information collected automatically

When you visit or use our website, Shopify and other authorised service providers may automatically collect:

IP address
Browser and device type
Operating system
Device identifiers
Website activity
Pages and products viewed
Search terms
Referral website
Approximate location derived from an IP address
Date and time of access
Cart and checkout activity
Cookie and similar technology information

This information helps operate, secure and improve the website.

How we collect personal information

We may collect personal information:

Directly from you
Through our Shopify store and checkout
Through customer accounts
Through website forms
Through chat and AI-assisted tools
Through email or other communications
Through cookies and similar technologies
From payment providers
From delivery providers
From publishers, distributors and suppliers
From marketing, analytics and fraud-prevention providers
From publicly available sources, where legally permitted

If you provide personal information about another person—for example, a gift recipient—you must be authorised to provide that information.

Browsing without identification

You may browse many areas of our website without creating an account or directly identifying yourself.

However, we need certain personal information to process an order, deliver products, provide customer support, manage a return or refund, or respond to a privacy request.

If the required information is not provided, we may be unable to provide the relevant product or service.

Why we collect and use personal information

We may collect, hold, use and disclose personal information to:

Process and manage orders
Confirm payments
Arrange sourcing, packing, dispatch and delivery
Provide tracking information
Manage preorders and supplier-sourced products
Communicate availability changes or delays
Process cancellations, returns, replacements and refunds
Provide customer support
Respond to questions and complaints
Operate customer accounts
Provide website chat and AI-assisted book-search features
Recommend books or help customers locate titles
Issue and manage gift vouchers
Prevent fraud, misuse and unlawful activity
Protect our website, customers and business
Improve our website, products, services and customer experience
Measure website performance
Conduct analytics
Send marketing communications where permitted
Administer promotions, surveys or competitions
Maintain business, accounting and tax records
Enforce our policies and Terms of Sale
Comply with legal and regulatory obligations
Establish, exercise or defend legal claims

Website chat and AI-assisted features

Palmleaf Books may provide chat, automated assistance or AI-assisted search tools to help customers:

Find books
Search by title, author or ISBN
Receive general product information
Ask questions about orders or store policies
Contact customer support

Messages entered into these tools may be processed by Palmleaf Books and authorised technology providers.

Do not enter:

Complete payment-card details
Passwords
Government identification numbers
Health information
Other unnecessary sensitive information

Automated responses may not always be accurate. Customers should verify important product, price, availability and order information before making a purchase.

Automated assessments

Shopify, payment providers and fraud-prevention services may use automated systems to assess transactions for fraud, security or payment risk.

An automated assessment may result in an order being:

Referred for additional verification
Temporarily held
Declined
Cancelled and refunded

Where reasonably possible, customers may contact Palmleaf Books if they believe an order was incorrectly affected.

How we disclose personal information

We may disclose personal information to organisations that assist us in operating our business, including:

Shopify and Shopify-related services
Payment processors
Banks and financial institutions
Publishers, distributors and book suppliers
Print-on-demand providers
Warehousing and fulfilment providers
Delivery, postal and courier providers
Website hosting and cloud-storage providers
Email and communication providers
Customer-support and chat providers
Analytics providers
Marketing and advertising providers
Fraud-prevention and security providers
Accountants, lawyers, insurers and professional advisers
Government agencies, regulators, courts and law-enforcement bodies where required or authorised by law
A purchaser or adviser involved in a proposed sale, restructure or transfer of our business

We disclose only the information reasonably required for the relevant purpose.

For example, a supplier or delivery provider may receive the customer’s name, delivery address, contact details and order information when needed to fulfil or deliver an order.

Supplier-direct deliveries

In some circumstances, a publisher, distributor or other approved supplier may dispatch a product directly to the customer.

We may provide that supplier and its delivery provider with the personal information reasonably required to:

Fulfil the order
Deliver the product
Provide tracking
Resolve a delivery problem

Suppliers must not use this information for unrelated purposes unless they have an independent legal basis to do so.

Overseas disclosure

Some of our service providers may process or store personal information outside Australia.

Likely overseas locations may include:

Canada
The United States
Countries where Shopify, payment providers, cloud-service providers, analytics providers, suppliers or delivery providers operate

The specific countries may vary depending on the services used and where a supplier or delivery provider is located.

Where required by law, we take reasonable steps to ensure that overseas recipients handle personal information consistently with applicable Australian privacy requirements.

However, privacy protections in another country may differ from those available in Australia.

Shopify

Our online store is hosted and supported by Shopify.

Shopify processes personal information to provide services including:

Website hosting
Checkout
Order management
Customer accounts
Fraud prevention
Analytics
Store functionality

Shopify may independently collect and process information according to its own privacy policies.

Cookies and similar technologies

Our website may use cookies, pixels, local storage and similar technologies.

These technologies may be used to:

Keep the website functioning
Remember preferences
Maintain carts and customer sessions
Support checkout
Prevent fraud
Measure website traffic and performance
Understand how visitors use the website
Personalise content
Measure or deliver advertising, where permitted

Some cookies are necessary for the website to operate. Others may be controlled through available cookie settings or browser controls.

Blocking cookies may prevent parts of the website from working correctly.

Analytics and advertising

We may use analytics and advertising services to understand website performance and the effectiveness of our marketing.

These services may collect information about browsing activity, devices, interactions and purchases.

Where required, we will obtain consent or provide appropriate controls for non-essential cookies and tracking technologies.

We do not knowingly sell customers’ personal information.

Direct marketing

Where permitted by law, Palmleaf Books may use contact information to send:

New-release information
Special offers
Book recommendations
Store news
Promotional communications

Customers can unsubscribe at any time by:

Selecting the unsubscribe link in a marketing email
Updating available marketing preferences
Contacting Palmleaf Books

Unsubscribing from marketing does not prevent us from sending necessary transactional communications about orders, payments, deliveries, cancellations or refunds.

We will process opt-out requests within a reasonable time.

Security

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information against:

Misuse
Interference
Loss
Unauthorised access
Unauthorised modification
Unauthorised disclosure

Security measures may include:

Access controls
Password protections
Secure Shopify checkout
Encryption used by our service providers
Restricted administrative access
Fraud monitoring
Staff and contractor access limitations

No internet transmission or storage system is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

Customers are responsible for protecting their account passwords and should notify us promptly if they suspect unauthorised account activity.

Data breaches

If a data breach occurs, Palmleaf Books will investigate and take appropriate steps.

Where required by applicable law, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

How long we retain information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to:

Fulfil the purpose for which it was collected
Manage customer accounts
Complete orders and resolve disputes
Maintain financial, tax and business records
Prevent fraud
Comply with legal obligations
Establish, exercise or defend legal claims

Retention periods vary depending on the type of information and applicable legal requirements.

When information is no longer reasonably required, we will take reasonable steps to delete, destroy or de-identify it, unless retention is required or authorised by law.

Accessing or correcting personal information

You may request access to personal information held by Palmleaf Books or ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date by:

Emailing privacy@palmleaf.com.au; or
Using our Contact Us page

We may need to verify your identity before providing access or making changes.

We will respond within a reasonable time. In some circumstances, applicable law may permit or require us to refuse access. If this occurs, we will explain the reason where legally permitted.

You may also update certain account information by signing into your customer account.

Requests to delete information

You may ask Palmleaf Books to delete personal information by emailing privacy@palmleaf.com.au.

We will assess the request and delete or de-identify information where reasonably possible and legally permitted.

We may need to retain certain information for:

Order and transaction records
Tax and accounting obligations
Fraud prevention
Dispute resolution
Legal claims
Other legal or regulatory requirements

Deleting information may affect our ability to maintain a customer account, process an existing order or provide services.

Privacy complaints

If you believe Palmleaf Books has mishandled your personal information, email privacy@palmleaf.com.au with details of your concern.

Please provide:

Your name and contact details
A description of the issue
Relevant dates or order details
The outcome you are seeking

We will:

Acknowledge the complaint within a reasonable time.
Investigate the matter.
Request additional information if necessary.
Provide a response within a reasonable time, generally within 30 days.

Children’s privacy

Our products may be suitable for children, but purchases and customer accounts should be managed by an adult or an individual legally able to enter into the transaction.

We do not knowingly seek to collect personal information directly from children without appropriate authority.

A parent or guardian who believes that a child has supplied unnecessary personal information may email privacy@palmleaf.com.au or use our Contact Us page.

Third-party links

Our website may contain links to websites or services operated by third parties.

Palmleaf Books does not control the privacy practices of third parties. Customers should review their privacy policies before providing personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when our business practices, service providers, technology or legal obligations change.

The updated policy will be published on our website with a revised “Last updated” date.

Material changes may also be communicated through the website or another appropriate method.

Contact us

Privacy enquiries, access and correction requests, and complaints may be submitted through the Contact Us page on the Palmleaf Books website.

Palmleaf Books
Operated by PALMLEAF PTY LTD
Email: privacy@palmleaf.com.au

Please include enough information for us to identify and respond to your request. Do not send complete payment-card details, passwords or unnecessary sensitive information.

We may need to verify your identity before providing access to or changing personal information.