Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

The Pentecostal School of Theology & Ministry (PSTM) is an initiative of The Church of Pentecost Australia. This policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you use our online learning platform at pstm.pentecostau.com.

2. What we collect

When you register for an account, we collect:

• Your name, email address, and (optionally) phone number
• Your church affiliation: Area, District, and Assembly
• Your ministry role within The Church of Pentecost Australia
• Course progress data, quiz attempts, assignment submissions, and related learning activity
• Authentication metadata (login timestamps, password hashes — we never store plain-text passwords)

3. How we use your information

Your data is used solely for the operation of PSTM:

• To provide and improve the learning platform
• To deliver email notifications about courses, assessments, and certificates
• To issue and verify certificates of completion
• For organisational reporting within The Church of Pentecost Australia
• To comply with legal obligations under Australian law

4. Data sharing

We do not sell or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. Your data may be visible to authorised church staff (lecturers, area coordinators, administrators) for educational and organisational reporting. Aggregate, de-identified statistics may be shared within the church for planning purposes.

5. Australian Privacy Act 1988

We comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). You have the right to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal information at any time.

6. Security

We use industry-standard practices to protect your data: encrypted database connections (TLS), passwords hashed with bcrypt, role-based access control, audit logging of administrative actions, and regular automated backups. We continually review our security measures.

7. Cookies and tracking

We use only essential cookies required for authentication and session management. We do not use third-party advertising trackers or analytics that profile individual users.

8. Your rights

You may at any time:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request corrections to inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your account and associated data
• Withdraw consent for non-essential processing
• Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)

9. Contact us

For privacy-related queries, please contact us at pstm@pentecostau.com.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date above will reflect any changes. Material changes will be communicated to active users by email.