hiwave Free WiFi — Privacy Policy

Last updated: 18 July 2026

This policy covers the free WiFi service provided at this location by Instrumatica Pty Ltd trading as hiwave ("hiwave", "we", "us"), and the "hiwave Free WiFi" sign-in page you use to get connected. It does not cover hiwave's other telco services — see hiwave.com.au for those. See also our Terms of Service.

Why do you need to authenticate me?

Free WiFi that anyone can join without identifying themselves is an easy way for someone to hide bad behaviour — think spam, harassment, or accessing illegal content — behind our network. Asking you to sign in, even briefly, means we can trace abuse back to an account if it ever happens, which discourages it in the first place and satisfies our legal obligations as the network operator. It also lets us recognise you on your next visit, so you're not asked to sign in every single time. See "What we collect" and "Why we collect it" below for exactly what that involves.

Who we are

hiwave provides free WiFi in this location as a courtesy to visitors. This policy explains what information we collect when you connect, why we collect it, and what you can do about it. If you have questions, contact us at privacy@hiwave.com.au.

What we collect

What we collect depends on how you choose to get connected:

• Signing in with Google, Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok: your name, email address (where the platform provides one), and a unique account identifier from that platform. If we ask you to like or follow one of our pages as part of getting connected, we record the date and time you told us you'd done so — we don't and can't verify this independently.
• Signing in with a phone number: the phone number you provide, and a one-time verification code we send to it. The code is deleted shortly after use or once it expires.
• A voucher code from staff: just the code itself and which location it was issued from — we don't need any personal details from you for this option.
• Device and connection information, automatically, for anyone connecting: your device's MAC address, IP address, and browser user-agent string. This is standard technical information any WiFi network needs to manage access, and doesn't require any action from you.
• A recognition cookie: once you're verified, we place a cookie in your browser so you don't have to sign in again on your next visit — including if your device uses a different MAC address next time (many phones do this automatically for privacy). This cookie only maps back to the verification you already completed; it doesn't collect anything new on its own.

Why we collect it

We use this information to:

• verify you're a real person before granting network access;
• grant and manage your access to the WiFi network, including recognizing you on a return visit so you don't have to sign in again;
• keep a record of who has been granted access, for network security and abuse prevention;
• meet our mandatory data retention obligations as a telecommunications provider under Australian law;
• where you've signed in with a social account and been asked to like/follow a page, keep a basic record of that for our own marketing reporting.

We don't use your phone number, email, or any information collected here to send you marketing messages, and we don't sell your information to anyone.

Who we share it with

We don't sell or rent your information. It's shared only with:

• the sign-in provider you chose (Google, Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok) — as part of any OAuth login, information necessarily passes between you, that provider, and us;
• our SMS delivery provider, solely to send the one-time verification code, if you choose the phone number option;
• hiwave staff who administer this WiFi service, who can see who has connected, by which method, and manage/revoke access;
• where we're required to by law.

Some of these providers are based overseas (including in the United States), so your information may be handled or stored outside Australia as part of using their services.

How long we keep it

Under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (as amended by the Data Retention Act), we're required by law to retain certain "metadata" for two years — this includes your account/identifying details, the source and destination of your communications, the date, time and duration of your connection, and the type and location of the device you connected with. This obligation does not extend to the content of your communications or your web browsing history — we don't collect either of these, and the law specifically excludes them from retention. Other information we hold (such as voucher codes or social media follow records) is kept for as long as necessary to operate the WiFi service, investigate misuse of the network, and meet our other legal obligations. If you'd like information deleted sooner, contact us using the details below and we'll action reasonable requests where we're not legally required to retain it.

Deleting your data

You can ask us to delete the information we hold about you at any time — see "Your rights" below for how.

If you signed in with Facebook, you can also request deletion directly from Facebook: go to your Facebook Settings & Privacy → Settings → Apps and Websites, find "hiwave Free WiFi", and choose "Remove". Facebook then notifies us automatically, and we delete the name, email, and profile information we received from Facebook for your account straight away. This doesn't affect Facebook's own copy of your data — for that, manage it directly with Facebook.

Your rights

Under the Australian Privacy Principles, you can ask us what information we hold about you, ask us to correct it if it's wrong, or ask us to delete it. Contact privacy@hiwave.com.au and we'll respond within a reasonable time. If you're not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au).

Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect the information we hold from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access. No system is perfectly secure, so we can't guarantee absolute security, but we work to keep this information appropriately protected.

Children's privacy

This service isn't directed at children, and the sign-in options we offer (social login, SMS) generally require the account holder to meet each platform's own minimum age requirements.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top will always reflect the most recent version.

Contact us

Email privacy@hiwave.com.au with any questions or requests about your information.