Stratos Institute Privacy Policy

A sub-brand of Australian College Pty Ltd (ABN 79 111 194 015)
Last updated: 18 December 2025

01. Overview and who we are

This Privacy Policy explains how Stratos Institute collects, uses, stores and discloses personal information.

Stratos Institute is a sub-brand of Australian College Pty Ltd (Registered Training Organisation (RTO) 91110, ABN 79 111 194 015). For Stratos Institute offerings, we provide non-accredited online courses primarily to learners in the United States.

Australian College Pty Ltd is the organisation responsible for your personal information collected through Stratos Institute. We use the learning platform hosted at https://stratos.learnworlds.com to deliver learning content and related services.

In this Privacy Policy, "we", "us", and "our" refer to Stratos Institute and Australian College Pty Ltd. "You" and "your" refer to website visitors, prospective learners, learners and others who interact with our services.

02. What this policy covers

This Privacy Policy applies to personal information we collect through:

  • The Stratos Institute website and the LearnWorlds learning platform (including account registration, course access and learning activity)
  • Inquiries by phone, email, web forms and live chat
  • Payments and billing interactions (processed by third-party providers)
  • Marketing communications and advertising channels
  • Events, surveys and feedback requests

This Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party websites, platforms or services that we do not control. Those providers have their own privacy policies.

03. The types of personal information we collect

Depending on how you interact with Stratos Institute, we may collect the following types of personal information:
  • Identity and contact information such as name, email address, phone number and postal address
  • Account information such as username, password and authentication details
  • Learning information such as enrolments, course progress, assessment submissions, completion status and learning activity
  • Communications such as support requests, emails, messages, call notes and feedback
  • Payment and transaction information (for example the fact that a payment was made, amounts and dates). We do not typically store full card details where a third-party payment provider processes payment
  • Technical and usage information such as IP address, device identifiers, browser type, operating system, log data and interactions with pages and features
  • Marketing preferences and subscription status
Sensitive information: We do not seek to collect sensitive information (for example health information) for Stratos Institute courses. If sensitive information is collected, we will only do so with your consent or where permitted or required by law.

04. How we collect personal information

We collect personal information in several ways, including:
  • Directly from you when you register, enrol, complete forms, contact us or submit content
  • Automatically when you use our website or learning platform (for example through logs, cookies and similar technologies)
  • From service providers that help us deliver our services (for example learning platform providers, payment providers and analytics providers)
  • From referrals or partners where you have asked them to share your information with us
You can choose not to provide some information, however this may limit our ability to provide access to courses, support or other services.

05. How we use personal information

We use personal information for purposes that include:
  • Providing access to courses and delivering learning services
  • Managing learner accounts, enrolments and course administration
  • Processing payments and managing billing and refunds
  • Responding to inquiries, providing support and handling complaints
  • Improving our content, platform experience and service quality
  • Sending service messages (for example enrolment confirmations, course updates and platform notices)
  • Sending marketing communications where permitted, including newsletters and offers
  • Security, fraud prevention, maintaining the integrity of our systems and enforcing our terms
  • Meeting our legal and regulatory obligations

06. How we disclose personal information

We may disclose personal information to third parties that assist us to operate Stratos Institute and deliver services, including:
  • Learning platform and hosting providers (including LearnWorlds)
  • Payment processors and financial service providers
  • Email, SMS and communications providers
  • Analytics, advertising and marketing service providers
  • Customer support and administrative contractors (including staff located in Australia and Sri Lanka)
  • Professional advisers such as lawyers, accountants and auditors
  • Law enforcement agencies, courts or regulators where required or authorised by law
We do not sell your personal information to unaffiliated third parties for money. Some marketing and analytics arrangements may involve sharing information to measure or improve advertising performance.

07. Overseas disclosure and storage

We may store or process personal information in Australia and overseas, depending on where our service providers and contractors operate. Countries where personal information is commonly processed may include Australia, the United States and Sri Lanka.

When we disclose personal information overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure recipients handle personal information in a way that is consistent with this Privacy Policy, including through contractual requirements and access controls.

08. Cookies and tracking technologies

We and our service providers may use cookies and similar technologies (such as pixels and SDKs) to support the operation of our website and learning platform.

These technologies may be used for purposes such as:
  • Remembering your preferences and keeping you logged in where applicable
  • Enabling core website and platform functionality
  • Measuring usage, diagnosing issues and improving performance
  • Understanding the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and delivering more relevant advertising
You can manage cookies through your browser settings. If you disable cookies, some parts of the website or learning platform may not function properly.

09. Direct marketing

We may send marketing communications by email or other channels where permitted by law. You can opt out at any time by using the unsubscribe link in a message or by contacting us.

Even if you opt out of marketing, we may still send important service messages that relate to your account or course access.

10. Security of personal information

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Security measures may include access controls, staff training, encryption in transit and monitoring for suspicious activity.

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Retention of personal information

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to provide services, manage our relationship with you, meet legal obligations and resolve disputes.

Typical retention periods include:
  • Account and learning records: for the life of your account and for a reasonable period afterwards to support re-access and support requests
  • Financial and transaction records: generally up to 7 years to meet tax and accounting requirements
  • Marketing records: until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove you from marketing lists
  • Security and technical logs: typically 12 to 24 months unless required for security investigation or legal compliance
When information is no longer required, we take reasonable steps to delete, de-identify or securely destroy it.

12. Access, correction and your choices

You may request access to the personal information we hold about you and request correction if you believe it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or misleading.

You may also request deletion of certain personal information. We will consider such requests and may need to retain information where required or authorised by law or for legitimate business purposes.

To make a request, contact us using the details in section 16. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.

13. Data breaches

If we become aware of a suspected or actual data breach, we will take steps to contain, assess and remediate the incident.

Where an eligible data breach occurs under the Australian Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as required.

14. United States privacy notice

If you are located in the United States, additional privacy rights may apply to you under certain state privacy laws. These rights vary by state and may depend on factors such as our activities and the nature of your interaction with Stratos Institute.

Subject to applicable law, you may have rights to:
  • Request access to information about the categories of personal information we collect, the sources, the purposes and the categories of recipients
  • Request correction of inaccurate personal information
  • Request deletion of personal information (subject to legal exceptions)
  • Opt out of certain uses or disclosures of personal information, including targeted advertising in some jurisdictions
  • Not be discriminated against for exercising privacy rights
Opt out of targeted advertising: Where we use cookies or similar technologies for advertising, you can reduce or opt out of targeted advertising by adjusting cookie settings in your browser and by contacting us. If we offer a dedicated cookie preference tool in future, we will make it available through the Stratos Institute website.

Authorised agents: In some jurisdictions, you may appoint an authorised agent to submit requests on your behalf. We may require proof of authority and identity verification.

Appeals: If we deny a privacy request and an appeal right applies, you can request a review by contacting us and stating that you would like to appeal the decision.

15. Complaints

If you have a concern or complaint about how we handle your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer using the details in section 16.

When we receive a complaint, we will:
  • Acknowledge receipt within 5 business days where practical
  • Review the complaint and may request further information from you
  • Aim to provide a substantive response within 30 days, or tell you if more time is required
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) to lodge a complaint (oaic.gov.au).

16. Contact us

Privacy Officer

Stratos Institute (a sub-brand of Australian College Pty Ltd)
Postal address: Unit 7, 70 Croydon Street, Cronulla NSW 2230, Australia
Phone: 1300 783 283 (Australia) | +61 2 9386 2500 (International)
Email: info@stratos.institute (Attention: Privacy Officer)

17. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will publish the current version on the Stratos Institute website. If a change is material, we will take reasonable steps to notify you, for example by posting a notice on the website or by email where appropriate.