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Draft - for review by a qualified lawyer before publication

Privacy Policy

Draft - for review by a qualified lawyer before publication. Version 0.1, prepared 23 September 2026. Effective date: [to be set on publication].

This policy explains how CTEQ PTY LTD ("CTEQ", "we", "us") handles personal information in our iPhone app Bellbird and on our website cteq.com.au. We've written it in plain English. We handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

The short version

  • Bellbird doesn't send your information to us. There's no account, no sign-up, no CTEQ server holding your data, and no ads, analytics or tracking.
  • Everything you add stays on your iPhone, encrypted by iOS and read on your iPhone.
  • Bellbird only goes online when you add an eScript link. Your iPhone then opens that link with eRx, the eScript service your prescriber used, to read the medicine details. We never see that request.
  • Backups are optional and locked with a passphrase only you know. We can't open them, and neither can Apple.
  • Bellbird does not give medical advice. In an emergency, call 000.

CTEQ and Bellbird

CTEQ PTY LTD (ABN [to be added]) is an Australian company that makes Bellbird (previously called escript). You can contact us about privacy at privacy@cteq.com.au.

What Bellbird collects

CTEQ does not collect personal information through Bellbird. The app has no user accounts. It contains no analytics, advertising or crash-reporting tools and no third-party code that sends data to us or anyone else. The information you put into Bellbird is stored and processed only on your device, and we have no way of seeing it.

Information stored on your iPhone

To do its job, Bellbird keeps the following on your iPhone, and only there:

  • Medicines: details from eScripts and paper scripts, such as the medicine name, strength, directions, prescriber, repeats, dates and the eScript link or QR code.
  • Visits: appointments you add, including clinic, clinician, time, place, notes and "before this visit" steps.
  • Records: referral letters, results, scans and other documents you scan or import, and the key details Bellbird reads from them.
  • Health profile: things you choose to add, such as your name, date of birth, allergies, conditions, GP, pharmacy, emergency contacts, and Medicare or concession card details.
  • Dose log and reminders: reminder times you confirm, and whether you marked a dose as taken or snoozed.
  • Family profiles: the same kinds of information for people you care for (see "Family members and people you care for").
  • Settings: such as your first name, lock timing and reminder preferences.

This information is stored in the app's private storage, which iOS encrypts whenever your iPhone is locked. Bellbird can also be locked with Face ID or your passcode and is hidden in the app switcher.

Permissions Bellbird asks for

Bellbird only asks for a permission when you use the feature that needs it. You can change any of them in the iPhone Settings app.

  • Camera: to scan eScript QR codes, paper scripts, referral letters and results. Images are processed on your iPhone.
  • Photos and Files: to import pictures or PDFs you choose. Bellbird only sees the items you pick.
  • Face ID: to lock the app. Face ID is handled by iOS, and Bellbird never receives your face data.
  • Notifications: for reminders you set, such as a script about to expire, a referral running out, a visit coming up, or a dose time you've confirmed. Reminders are scheduled on your iPhone. The lock screen never shows medicine names.
  • Calendar (add only): if you choose, Bellbird adds a visit to your iPhone Calendar. It can't read your calendar.
  • Apple Health (read only): if you connect it, Bellbird reads the types of Health data you allow, such as activity, heart, sleep, body measurements, vitals and medications you have logged in Health. It shows them to you as charts and a short factual summary. Bellbird never writes to Health, never includes Health data in its backups, and never sends Health data anywhere. It is not used for advertising or marketing.
  • Siri and widgets: if you use them, Bellbird shows information from your iPhone in widgets and answers shortcuts on your device. When you speak to Siri, Apple processes your request under Apple's own privacy terms.

On-device intelligence

Bellbird uses Apple's on-device text recognition and, on iPhones that support it, Apple's on-device language model (Apple Intelligence). It uses them to read your messages, scripts and letters, suggest reminder times from your directions, summarise your Apple Health data, and answer questions you ask Pip, the in-app assistant, about your own records. This happens on your iPhone. Your information is not sent to CTEQ, to Apple's cloud or to any other AI provider for this purpose.

Bellbird doesn't make decisions about you. It organises your information, and you confirm what it reads. It is designed not to give medical advice, interpret results or suggest changes to your medicines.

eScript links and eRx

An eScript text or email contains a link (a "token") that points to your prescription on eRx, the electronic prescription service your prescriber used. When you add an eScript link to Bellbird, by pasting it, scanning its QR code or sharing it, your iPhone connects directly to eRx (ausscripts.erx.com.au) to read the medicine details on that page. It's the same as tapping the link in Messages.

  • The request goes from your iPhone to eRx. It doesn't pass through CTEQ, and we never see it.
  • As with any website visit, eRx receives your IP address, the link, and a note that the request came from Bellbird. eRx handles that under its own privacy policy.
  • Bellbird only connects to that one eRx address, and it doesn't store cookies.
  • If you don't want Bellbird to go online, you can type the details in yourself.

Bellbird is independent. It isn't affiliated with or endorsed by eRx, Fred IT Group, the Australian Digital Health Agency, My Health Record, Medicare or Services Australia.

Contacting your pharmacy

If you choose to call your pharmacy or send a refill message, Bellbird opens your iPhone's Phone or Messages app with the details filled in. You decide whether to send it. The message goes from you to your pharmacy through your phone, not through CTEQ.

Backups and iCloud

  • Your iPhone's own backup. Like all apps, Bellbird's data is included in your iPhone's iCloud or computer backup if you have that turned on. Apple provides this under your Apple Account settings.
  • Bellbird encrypted backups (optional). You can turn on Bellbird backups. You choose a passphrase, and Bellbird encrypts the backup on your iPhone before saving it (AES-256 encryption with a key derived from your passphrase). By default, backups are saved to Files on your iPhone, in a Bellbird folder. If you switch on "Also keep in iCloud Drive", Bellbird also saves a copy to your own iCloud Drive. That switch is off until you turn it on. We never receive your backups and can't open them. Nor can Apple, because only your passphrase unlocks them. If you turn on automatic backups, the passphrase is kept in your iPhone's Keychain so backups can run in the background. It stays on that device.
  • Keep a copy somewhere safe. A backup saved only to Files on your iPhone stays on that iPhone. To be able to restore on a new iPhone, turn on iCloud Drive backups or copy the backup file somewhere else you control.
  • If you forget your passphrase, we can't recover it or your backup. Write it down somewhere safe.

Family members and people you care for

Bellbird lets you keep information for other people, such as a child, a parent or someone you care for. If you add someone else's information:

  • make sure you have their permission, or are otherwise authorised to manage their health information (for example, as a parent or guardian, or as their carer with their consent)
  • only add what you need to help look after them
  • remember that their information is stored on your iPhone and in any backups you make.

Their information is handled the same way as yours. It stays on your device and is never sent to CTEQ.

Children

Bellbird is designed for adults and for parents and carers managing a family's health. It isn't designed for children to use on their own. Because the app doesn't collect personal information, we don't knowingly collect information about children. A parent or guardian can add a child's details as a family profile, and those details stay on the parent's device.

Security

We designed Bellbird to keep your information private:

  • data is stored in the app's protected storage, which iOS encrypts when your iPhone is locked
  • the optional Face ID or passcode lock, and hiding the screen in the app switcher
  • documents and backups are encrypted, and backups use a passphrase only you know
  • no accounts or CTEQ servers, so there's no central database to be breached
  • the only network connection is to one eRx address, over HTTPS.

No system is perfectly secure. Keep your iPhone passcode private, keep iOS up to date, and share a medicines summary only with people you trust. It contains personal health information.

Keeping and deleting your information

Your information stays on your iPhone until you delete it:

  • Delete an item: remove any medicine, visit, record or profile in the app.
  • Delete everything: delete the Bellbird app. That removes all of its data from your iPhone. Then delete any Bellbird backup files from the Files app, and from iCloud Drive if you turned that on, and any copies inside your iPhone's own backups.
  • Revoke permissions at any time in Settings > Privacy & Security (Health, Camera, Photos, Calendars) or Settings > Notifications.

Because we don't hold your Bellbird information, we can't access, delete or recover it for you.

Sharing and overseas disclosure

CTEQ doesn't share, sell or disclose your Bellbird information, and doesn't send it overseas, because we never have it. Information only leaves your iPhone when you choose:

  • iCloud: if you use iCloud backup, or turn on Bellbird's iCloud Drive backups, Apple stores that data under your agreement with Apple. It may be stored outside Australia. Bellbird backups stored there are encrypted with your passphrase.
  • eRx: when you add an eScript link (see "eScript links and eRx").
  • Things you share: for example, when you print, AirDrop, email or message a medicines summary, or send a message to your pharmacy.

Our website and chat assistant

This section applies to cteq.com.au, not the Bellbird app.

  • No tracking cookies. Our website doesn't use analytics or advertising cookies.
  • Contact form and email. The contact form opens your own email app. If you email us, we use your details only to respond to you and keep a record of our correspondence.
  • Chat assistant. The "Ask CTEQ" chat sends your messages to our website service and to Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service (Australia East region), which generates replies. If you choose to give your name and email to be contacted, the chat prepares an email for you to send us. We use chat messages only to answer you. We don't use them to train AI models. Microsoft may keep them for a limited time to prevent abuse. For rate limiting, our service briefly holds your IP address in memory. Please don't share health or other sensitive information in the chat.
  • The website is hosted on Microsoft Azure.

Accessing or correcting your information

For Bellbird, all your information is in the app on your iPhone, where you can view, correct or delete it at any time. For anything we do hold, such as emails you've sent us, contact privacy@cteq.com.au and we'll respond within 30 days.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we handle personal information, please email privacy@cteq.com.au first. We'll acknowledge it within 7 days and aim to resolve it within 30 days. If you're not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC): www.oaic.gov.au, phone 1300 363 992.

Changes to this policy

We'll update this policy if Bellbird or our website changes how information is handled. For example, we would update it before adding any optional feature that sends information off your iPhone. Any such feature would be off unless you choose to turn it on. We'll post the new version here with a new effective date, and point out significant changes in the app.

Contact us

CTEQ PTY LTD · Email: privacy@cteq.com.au · Website: cteq.com.au