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Privacy Policy

Acumentis – Privacy Policy

Last Updated: December 2019

Introduction

Our website address is: https://www.acumentis.com.au.

At Acumentis Group Limited (ACN 102 320 329) and its related companies (collectively referred to as “Acumentis”, “us” or “we”), we recognise the importance of your privacy and appreciate that your personal information is very important to you.  We are committed to complying with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“the Act”), and in particular the Australian Privacy Principles (“APP’s”).

In this Privacy Policy “personal information” has the meaning set out in the Privacy Act. Basically, personal information is information or an opinion about an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not, and whether recorded in material form or not.

This Privacy Policy sets out key information regarding our collection, use, disclosure and storage of your personal information, and of your ability to access and correct it.

Where applicable, Acumentis will handle personal information relying on the related bodies corporate exemption and the employee records exemption in the Privacy Act and any other applicable exemptions in the Privacy Act or other legislation.

We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time, at our discretion and without notice to you.  Please check our Privacy Policy regularly for updates.  The latest version of our Privacy Policy is available on our website at www.acumentis.com.au.

What personal information do we collect and hold?

The types of Personal Information we collect and hold will depend on the circumstances of collection and on the type of service we are providing. Typically, the personal information we collect is limited to what we reasonably require to provide property valuation, consulting and advisory services.

For example, when we are engaged to value a property, we may collect and hold Personal Information from both the property owner and/or borrower in relation to the loan secured by the property, and any lender or insurer for whom we could be performing valuations. The information we may collect includes name, address, email address, telephone numbers and financial or credit card information.

If you are an individual contractor to Acumentis under a services arrangement, in addition to some of the personal information specified above we may collect information relevant to your engagement with Acumentis including qualifications, resume, fee rates, bank account details, feedback from internal stakeholders, training records and details of your use of Acumentis equipment.

If you apply for a job at Acumentis, we may also collect information about your work history and qualifications, including from your referees, along with the results of any testing we might ask you to undertake, with your consent, to assist us in considering your application.

We also hold personal information about our shareholders.  This is used to fulfil our legal obligations and to keep our shareholders informed about Acumentis’ business performance and the services we provide.

In addition to the types of personal information identified above, Acumentis may collect personal information as otherwise permitted or required by law. As a general rule, we do not collect sensitive information (for example health information), however if we do it will usually be for the purposes of providing goods and services and if the law requires us to, we will seek your consent to collect it.

How we collect personal information

We may collect Personal Information about you directly when you deal with us over the telephone, send us correspondence (whether by letter, fax or email), have contact with us in person, visit our website or complete hard copy or online forms.

There are also circumstances where we may collect Personal Information about you from someone else. For example, from:

  • market research companies contracted by us to obtain information so that we may improve and market our services;
  • your employer;
  • other valuers who may be involved in the services we provide;
  • lenders, financial institutions, insurers and government departments and entities who contract us to value properties;
  • publicly available information and databases;
  • any of the companies within the Acumentis group
  • Acumentis licensees and franchisees; and
  • anyone you have authorised to deal with us on your behalf;
  • if you apply for a job at Acumentis, from you directly and from your referees;
  • if you perform work for Acumentis under a service arrangement, from your employer or labour agency;
  • you or your share broker if you buy or trade shares in Acumentis.

We also automatically collect certain information when you visit our website or our subscribers receive promotional emails from us via cookies and other tracking technology (such as web beacons), some of which may be capable of personally identifying you.  Such information includes the type of browser and operating system you are using, your IP address and how you use our website. It may be possible to restrict or deny the use of cookies, however this may prevent you from taking full advantage of our website.

Depending on the type of service you or our clients have requested, we may also seek to collect information about someone else from you (for example, contact details of your solicitor or lender). However, you must not provide us with Personal Information about another person unless you have clear consent from that person to do so, told them that their Personal Information will be handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy and directed them to where they can find it.

Regardless of how it is collected, we handle Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Why we collect, hold and use personal information

We generally collect, hold and use your Personal Information for the purposes for which it is provided to us (which will usually be obvious at the time of collection), related purposes or as permitted or required by law. Such purposes may include:

  • property valuation, consulting and advisory services;
  • administration of our business, such as collection of outstanding fees;
  • responding to client enquiries and communicating with you from time to time to maintain contact and keep you updated on the services you have requested;
  • forecasting future needs of our services and general quality assurance and training purposes;
  • engaging in legal proceedings and/or enforcing judgements and/or orders;
  • complying with the applicable legal or regulatory requirements and/or orders of competent authorities;
  • providing you with promotional and marketing information, including market research reports, newsletters, event invitations and/or property valuation information relating to our products and services which we think may be of interest to you; and
  • any other purpose identified at the time of collecting your Personal Information;
  • if you apply for a job at Acumentis, to consider your application;
  • if you are a shareholder, to communicate with you in relation to your shareholding.

If you withhold your personal information, it may not be possible for us to provide you with our products and services or for you to fully access our website.

Our website may use cookies to analyse website traffic, provide social media sharing and liking functionality and help us improve our goods and services, including our website. In addition, cookies and pixels may be used to serve relevant ads to website visitors through third party services such as Google Adwords and Facebook Adverts. These ads may appear on this website or other websites you visit.

We hold your personal information electronically in various systems.

Disclosure of personal information

We may disclose your Personal Information to third parties as may be necessary for any of the purposes stated in the above section. Such third parties generally include:

  • our third party providers, contractors, consultants, agents and/or representatives (such as law firms, banks, financial institutions, insurers, IT providers, mortgage referral services providers and/or wealth management services providers) who provide services to us or on our behalf, including to:
    • conduct valuations;
    • assist with obtaining payment from creditors;
    • operate data centres;
    • conduct market research;
    • provide advice;
  • anyone you have authorised to deal with us on your behalf;
  • any of the companies within the Acumentis group and their related companies, licensee and franchisees;
  • government authorities, regulatory bodies, law enforcement agencies, courts, tribunals and/or parties to the legal proceedings where you have consented to this or we are required or authorised to do so by law;
  • debt collection agencies; and/or
  • any other third parties identified at the time of collection of your Personal Information.

If there is a change of control in one of our businesses, then customer information, which may include your personal information, could be disclosed to a potential purchaser under a confidentiality agreement. We would only disclose your information in good faith and where required in relation to the proposed transaction.

We will take reasonable commercial steps to ensure our service providers keep your personal information confidential, not use or disclose it for any purpose other than the purpose of performing their work for us, and in a manner consistent with the Act.

If we intend to use or disclose your personal information in a manner which is not consistent with this Privacy Policy, we will seek your consent to do so.

If you post information to our social media channels, you acknowledge that such information may be publicly available. We recommend that you use your discretion in deciding what information you upload to such websites.

Disclosure of personal information overseas

Some of the third parties to whom we disclose personal information may be located outside Australia.  For example, we may disclose personal information to companies in other countries if we are requested to value property outside of Australia.

Other service providers may be located overseas.  The countries in which these third parties are located will depend on the circumstances.  Except where an exemption applies under the Act, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that such overseas recipients do not breach the APP’s in the Act in relation to such information.

However you acknowledge that, by agreeing to the disclosure of your Personal Information to these entities outside of Australia, we will no longer be required to take reasonable steps to ensure the overseas recipient’s compliance with the Australian privacy law in relation to your Personal Information and we will not be liable to you for any breach of the Australian privacy law by these overseas recipients. On this basis, you consent to such disclosure.

Access, update and correction of personal information

We take reasonable steps to ensure that the Personal Information we hold about you is accurate, complete and up-to-date.  However, we also rely on you to advise us of any changes to your Personal Information.

On request we will provide you with access to the Personal Information we hold about you, including for the purpose of correcting or updating that information, unless otherwise required or permitted by law.

There is no charge for making the request or giving the access to your Personal Information. We will deal with your request within a reasonable period after the request is made.

If we refuse to provide you with access we will provide you with a written notice that, at a minimum, outlines reasons for the refusal and the complaints mechanisms available to you.

If you wish to access the Personal Information we hold about you or to update or correct it, you can either do so by logging on to your account (if you have one) or contact us using the contact details provided below. We will require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require.

Storage and security of personal information

We take reasonable steps to protect any Personal Information that we hold from misuse, interference and loss and from unauthorised access, alteration and disclosure. For example, we implement a range of physical and IT security procedures including password protection, firewalls, site monitoring and encryption.

Unfortunately no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be totally secure.

We will retain your personal information for as long as is as needed to provide services to you and as otherwise necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.

Direct marketing

When you request a valuation on our website or subscribe to our updates, you will be given a choice as to whether you want to receive e-mail messages from us, including newsletters, announcements and e-mail communications about our latest news, products or services.  To the extent the relevant local law requires us to seek your consent, we will only send such messages to you if you opt-in.

If you do not wish to receive direct marketing calls or materials, you may use the unsubscribe facility in the marketing communication or contact our Privacy Officer using the channels prescribed below.

Links to third party sites

Our websites may contain links to the websites of other entities, including those which may be co-branded with our logo but not operated or maintained by us or on our behalf.  If you click on such links, you will be transferred to the websites of these entities.  We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy practices of these entities.  You should read the privacy policy of these entities to find out how they handle your Personal Information when you visit their websites.

What if you have a complaint?

If you wish to make a complaint about a breach of this Privacy Policy or the APP’s of the Act you can contact us using the contact details below.  You will need to provide us with sufficient details regarding your complaint together with any supporting evidence.

Our Privacy Officer will investigate the issue and determine the steps that we will undertake to resolve your complaint.  We will contact you if we require any additional information from you and will notify you in writing of the outcome of the investigation.

If you are not satisfied with our determination, you can contact us to discuss your concerns or contact the Australian Privacy Commissioner via www.oaic.gov.au.

Privacy & site changes

Acumentis may update this Privacy Policy from time to time so please review it periodically for changes. All amendments to this Policy will be effective immediately upon our posting of such amendments on our website.

Your continued use of our websites or services, requesting our assistance or the provision of further Personal Information to us (directly or via an authorised person) after this Privacy Policy has been revised, indicates your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.

Our contact details

If you have a query relating to this Privacy Policy or wish to make a complaint, please contact us using the following contact details:

The Privacy Officer
Acumentis
Level 73, 283 Clarence St.
Sydney NSW, 2000
Telephone: (02) 8823-6300.

 

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about the Privacy Act in Australia and protecting your privacy, visit the www.privacy.gov.au.