Jon Oates
I spent two careers learning the same lesson: when the paperwork has to be exactly right, “near enough” isn’t good enough. That’s the standard I built Privaproof to bring to privacy compliance.
An unusual background for a privacy product. And, I think, exactly the right one
Before Privaproof, I built a career in finance and spent 20 years with a major airline, 13 of them as a captain. Two very different worlds, but both run on the same discipline: checklists, standards, and getting the details right the first time, because the cost of “she’ll be right” is measured in something real.
Privacy compliance isn’t glamorous. It’s careful, methodical work where the small things matter and being almost compliant isn’t compliant at all. That’s the kind of work I’ve done my whole career, so it felt natural to build a product around doing it properly, calmly, and without drama.
Why I built it
Real-estate agencies handle an enormous amount of personal information every day: tenant applications, identity documents, vendor and landlord records. But most don’t have a legal team or the budget for bespoke advice. Then the rules changed: since 1 July 2026, the AML/CTF reforms draw agencies into the Privacy Act for the identity data they now collect, even below the small-business turnover threshold that used to exempt them.
I kept seeing good agencies quietly exposed, not because they don’t care, but because compliance felt like a project they could never finish. Privaproof exists to make it finishable: practical, agency-specific documents, reviewed by an Australian solicitor, and kept current as the law moves, so “we’ll sort the privacy side later” stops being the plan.
How I run it
Prefer to reach out first? Email hello@privaproof.com.au, or find me on LinkedIn. I’m happy to answer anything.
General information, not legal advice. Privaproof provides tools and general information and is not a law practice. Your obligations depend on your circumstances. Privaproof™ is a trade mark of Privaproof Pty Ltd.