YOUTH SAFETY POLICY
Last updated: 2026-07-16
1. About this policy
This policy describes how Compono Australia Pty Ltd (ACN 650 552 373) supports younger users of Hey Compono and works with their parents and legal guardians. It is referenced by our Terms and Conditions (Section 5.1 and Section 5.5) and our Privacy Policy (Section 13). Where this policy describes a current mechanism, we may update it from time to time without amending the Terms and Conditions, in line with Clause 5.1(c) of the Terms and Conditions.
This policy is written to be readable by a 16- or 17-year-old. We have tried to keep the language plain. If anything is unclear, please ask: privacy@compono.com.
2. Who this policy applies to
You are a "Youth User" if You are aged 16 or 17 and use Hey Compono. This policy applies to you and to your parent or legal guardian.
Persons under the age of 16 are not eligible to use Hey Compono. If we become aware that a person under 16 has signed up, we will delete their account and data as quickly as possible.
3. Age confirmation — current mechanism
Current (as of the date at the top of this policy): At signup, you confirm your age by selecting one of two options on the signup form:
- "I am 18 or older", or
- "I am 16 or 17 (with parental or guardian consent)"
You also tick to confirm your responses are accurate.
We use the option You select to determine which experience to give You. If you are a Youth User we provide you with age-appropriate content and additional in-product safeguards.
Future updates: We may strengthen our age confirmation processes from time to time. we may add additional steps such as date-of-birth collection or other reasonable methods. We will update this policy section if required when changes take effect, and we will give you notice as required by law.
4. Parental and guardian consent — current mechanism
Current (as of the date at the top of this policy): If you select that you are 16 or 17 at signup, you must also tick a box confirming that a parent or legal guardian has consented to your use of Hey Compono. By ticking this box, you attest that consent has been given.
We record the consent attestation against your account, including the date and time, and the version of the consent text you agreed to.
We do not currently capture your parent's or guardian's email address at signup. We are working on a future update where parents can verify directly.
Future updates: We plan to introduce a step where your parent or guardian receives an email and confirms consent directly. When this changes, we will update this section.
5. Parental and guardian rights
This section 5 is addressed to parents and guardians of Youth Users.
If you are a parent or legal guardian of a Youth User, you can:
- Request a copy of your child's account information (such as name, email, Personality type name, and engagement metrics). Conversation content remains private to the Youth User and is not included in parental access — see Section 9 (Privacy and confidentiality).
- Request correction of your child's data where it is inaccurate.
- Request deletion of your child's data, including closing the account.
- Withdraw your consent for your child's use of Hey Compono (which results in account closure).
- Remove your child from marketing communications.
To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@compono.com. Please include:
- The Hey Compono account email address of your child;
- Your relationship to the Youth User (e.g. mother, legal guardian);
- The specific request you are making.
How We verify Your request
To protect Your child's data from impersonation or unauthorised requests, we follow an internal verification process for parental and guardian requests. We do not publish the details of our verification steps so that the safeguards cannot be planned around. We respond as quickly as the verification process reasonably allows, within the timeframes set out below. For urgent safety concerns, please see the Urgent safety requests section that follows.
Urgent safety requests
If you are contacting us about an immediate safety concern — for example, your child has expressed thoughts of self-harm and you need to remove their access — please say so clearly in your email. We will prioritise your request and take the account-level action available to us, such as suspending your child's access or expediting deletion. All such actions are recorded for audit purposes.
Hey Compono is not a crisis service, and Compono personnel do not review the content of your child's conversations that are generated during interactions with Hey Compono. If Your child is in immediate danger, please contact emergency services or one of the crisis lines in Section 6.
Response timeframes
- Marketing opt-out: within five (5) business days of receiving your request (after the verification window where applicable).
- Full data-subject requests (access, correction, deletion, export): within thirty (30) days of receiving your request, including any cross-verification step (per Privacy Policy Section 9).
- Urgent safety requests: same business day where possible.
6. Crisis resources
Hey Compono is a coaching service. It is not a healthcare provider, a therapist, or an emergency service. If you or your child are in crisis, please contact emergency services or a crisis support line in your country.
We publish a current, jurisdiction-specific list of crisis support lines at heycompono.com/policies/crisis-resources. We update that page as services and numbers change. We use reasonable efforts to keep the list accurate and up to date, but we cannot take responsibility for errors. If any entry is incorrect or out of date, please let us know at privacy@compono.com.
7. How the AI behaves with Youth Users
Hey Compono uses AI to provide personalised coaching content. Where we have identified you as a Youth User, the AI is instructed to:
- Be supportive, age-appropriate and encouraging, and treat you as a young person navigating early-career and life topics.
- Clearly state it is not a psychologist, therapist or healthcare provider whenever the conversation touches on mental health or wellbeing topics.
- Provide generic, supportive advice and act as a sounding board for everyday challenges — for example, study-life balance, interview preparation, peer issues, workplace concerns, self-confidence.
- Surface crisis resources (see Section 6 of this policy) where the conversation indicates that a higher-risk situation is or may be happening.
- Encourage You to talk to a trusted adult — a parent, teacher, school counsellor, or other trusted person — whenever a topic may warrant adult support, in addition to anything the AI itself says.
- Decline to engage with topics that are not appropriate for Youth Users, such as content involving alcohol, gambling, financial products beyond general career guidance, dating, or adult themes.
- Not promise absolute confidentiality. Your conversations are private, but in limited circumstances (such as where Compono is required by law) Hey Compono may need to review or disclose content. We explain this further in Section 9 below.
We review and update the AI's behaviour instructions from time to time as part of our ongoing commitment to user safety. Material changes to this approach will be reflected here.
8. Marketing to Youth Users
Where you are a Youth User, we may send you marketing emails about Hey Compono — for example, about new features, career-focused content, interview preparation, study skills, and personal development. Our marketing content is reviewed to ensure it is age-appropriate.
We do not send marketing about: alcohol, gambling, financial products, dating, or adult-themed content.
You can always unsubscribe using the link in any marketing email, or by emailing privacy@compono.com.
Your parent or guardian can also opt you out of marketing by emailing privacy@compono.com.
In the UK, we follow the principles of the ICO Age Appropriate Design Code (the "Children's Code") when marketing to Youth Users.
9. Privacy and confidentiality
Your conversations with the AI on Hey Compono are private. Compono personnel do not access the content of Your conversations in the ordinary course of running the Hey Compono service.
Conversations may only be reviewed where review is required by law (for example, in response to a court order, subpoena, regulator request, or other valid legal process), and any such review is carried out through a secure, audited process.
The only other circumstance in which conversation content is shared is where a user has expressly opted in to share specific session content with a recruiter (the per-session opt-in described in Section 6.5 of our Privacy Policy). However, this does not apply to Youth Users using Hey Compono for personal coaching and career advice in personal accounts.
Where conversation content is reviewed and Compono becomes aware of information that suggests a child is at risk of significant harm, Compono may have reporting obligations under applicable child safety laws and will act accordingly. We take these obligations seriously and We will not promise you absolute confidentiality when your safety, or someone else's safety, may be at risk.
For full details on how We handle Your personal information, see our Privacy Policy at heycompono.com/policies/privacy-policy.
10. Data retention for Youth Users
We retain your data in accordance with Section 8 of our Privacy Policy. In addition:
- Youth-User-specific retention rules and safeguards apply while we identify your account as a Youth User account.
- Once You turn 18, You can email privacy@compono.com to confirm your age, and we will transition Your account to adult retention rules and settings.
- Your parent or guardian may request earlier deletion at any time (Section 5 of this policy).
- You may also request earlier deletion at any time by emailing privacy@compono.com.
As We strengthen our age verification mechanisms (for example, by collecting date-of-birth at signup), we may introduce automated transition. We will update this section when that change occurs.
11. How this policy fits with our other documents
Some of our other documents are relevant to this policy. In particular, please see the following:
- Terms and Conditions (Section 5.1 Age Requirement; Section 5.5 Minors and Parental Consent; Section 7 Mental Health and Crisis Situations) at heycompono.com/policies/terms-and-conditions
- Privacy Policy (Section 13 Children's Privacy; Section 14 Marketing) at heycompono.com/policies/privacy-policy
- Crisis Resources page at heycompono.com/policies/crisis-resources (the live list, kept in sync with this policy)
If anything in this policy is inconsistent with the Terms and Conditions or Privacy Policy, the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy prevail.
12. Last updated
This policy was last updated on 2026-07-16.
We may update this policy from time to time. Where we make a material change, we will give you notice in accordance with Clause 18.3 (Amendments) of the Terms and Conditions. Where the update is operational (for example, refining a verification mechanism or updating crisis resource phone numbers), We will refresh the "Last updated" date above without separate notification.
13. Contact
For all questions about this policy, or to make a parental request, please email:
privacy@compono.com
Compono Australia Pty Ltd ACN: 650 552 373 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
