Saw the SafeSubmit badge? Here’s what it means.
If you’ve just used a form marked with the “Privacy protected by SafeSubmit” badge, it’s a sign the practice has gone out of its way to keep what you share private. Unlike an ordinary website contact form, your details (e.g. your name, your contact details, and anything you wrote) are protected far more carefully than usual. That’s a genuinely good thing for your privacy, and below we explain exactly what happens to your information and why it matters.
Why this matters to you
A safer way to share personal information.
When you contact a health practice, you often share things that are private. This could be symptoms, conditions, worries, or issues you’d only want the practitioner to know. On an ordinary contact form, that information ends up in far more places than you’d expect. SafeSubmit closes those gaps.
- Your message is emailed in plain text, readable by anyone who handles the practice’s email
- It sits unencrypted in the website’s database, sometimes for years
- Web agencies, hosts and unintended third parties can often have unintended access to the information
- It’s a tempting target for hackers - health details are highly valuable to steal
- Your message is treated with privacy in mind
- It’s stored encrypted in a secure Australian data centre
- Only the practice you contacted can unlock and read it
- Nothing readable is left lying in databases, inboxes or backups to be stolen
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can read what I submitted?
Only the practice you contacted. Your details are encrypted and can only be unlocked with the practice’s own access code. Their website provider, their hosting company, and other third parties cannot read the contents of your message.
Where is my information stored?
Encrypted, in a secure data centre here in Australia - not stored overseas. That keeps your information under the protection of Australian privacy law.
Do I need to do anything?
No. There’s nothing for you to install, sign up for, or manage. The protection happens automatically the moment you press send - you can simply wait to hear back from the practice.
What is SafeSubmit?
SafeSubmit is an Australian service that secures the enquiry forms on health practice websites. It encrypts each submission, stores it safely in Australia, and makes sure only the practice you contacted can read it - so sensitive information stays private, the way it should be.
You can share with confidence.
The practice you contacted chose SafeSubmit specifically to keep your information private. So the message you just sent is encrypted, stored securely in Australia, and readable only by them - exactly as it should be.