Eaton&Ascot (“we”) or (“our agency”) respects your rights to privacy. We are bound by and adhere to the Australian Privacy Principles (“Principles”) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (“Privacy Act”). Those principles regulate most of the activities with respect to personal information collected, stored, used and disclosed by us. Our privacy policy is set out below.
Types of information we collect and hold:
Personal information in our privacy policy has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act, which is information about an identified individual who is reasonably indentifiable.
The types of personal information we collect from you and hold will vary depending on the context of our dealings with you. We will generally collect the following personal information from you:
- Name
- Contact Details
- Information about the property or properties you express an interest in and/or own.
If you are our client we will also obtain information contained in instructions you have given us in regards to your property/properties and records which are generally obtained through our dealings with you.
If you are a prospective tenant we will also collect further information from you including:
- Identification evidence eg. Drivers licence, passport etc
- Details of income and employment status
- Past rental history
- Credit history
- Referee details and information provided by referees
We usually collect and hold any personal details we require in order to contact our business and/or provide you with our professional services, the administration of our business and marketing activities.
The Privacy Act protects your information, including details about your race or ethnic background. If we need to obtain this type of information, we will ask your consent prior to doing so.
Real Estate and Taxation Laws of Australia require some of this information to be collected in order for us to act on your behalf.
How we collect and hold personal information:
Where reasonable to do so, we will collect personal information direct from you ie.
- If you are a vendor, we will require to collect a certain amount of personal information from you when we do an appraisal of your property or take instructions from you to list your property and when you complete the relevant agreement with our agency.
- We may also collect personal information from a third party, such as the Department of Natural Resources, other government agencies, referees, credit checking agencies, employers and property related service providers.
- If you are making an application as a tenant, we will need to collect personal information from you when you complete the Tenancy Application Form.
- On any contact with us, either by way of phone, email, or via our website, we may collect certain personal information from you during the course of that contact.
- If you are a potential purchaser, we will need to collect certain personal information from you when you inspect a property at an open house inspection or when you call us with an enquiry about a property.
- We may also collect personal information from a third party, such as the Department of Natural Resources, other government agencies, referees, credit checking agencies, employers, and property related service providers.
All personal information collected will be by way of lawful and fair means and will not be used for any unlawful purpose. We will only collect, use and exchange your information in other ways where permitted by law.
Personal information collected shall be held in a variety of ways, including but not limited to:
- Computer Storage – securely located at our office
- Paper files- securely located at our office
- Cloud storage as permitted under the Privacy Act
At all times, we will take reasonable steps to protect from misuse and unauthorized access, all personal information collected through both electronic and paper mediums.
Disclosure of personal information by us:
We undertake to only collect, hold, use and disclose personal information that is reasonably necessary for us to carry out our business activities which include:
- Use of personal information collected for the purpose of which it was collected ie. to act as your agent and to perform our obligations pursuant to our agreement with you.
- Use of personal information collected by us from a tenancy application for the purpose of that tenancy and any subsequent tenancy necessary for us to verify your identity, process your application and ongoing management of the tenancy. This personal information collected may be disclosed to other parties as permitted by the Privacy Act. (this includes landlords, referees, other agents and operators of tenancy reference databases such as TICA). If you fail to comply with your obligations under the tenancy agreement, this may be disclosed to the landlord, other agents and TICA.
- Personal information collected from you are used for a variety of reasons, including contacting you with respect to a specific property and other properties which we believe you may be interested in and in providing the information, you agree to the use of this information for these purposes, unless we are advised differently. If you do not provide us with certain personal information, we may not be able to provide effective services to you. We may provide your personal information to third parties with whom we have a business relationship with as allowed in the Privacy Act.
- We may use personal information (including contact details, email addresses and other electronic media) for direct marketing to you relating to our business. However you will have the option to request to no longer receive direct marketing material from us by contacting us at the address noted herein.
- We may also disclose or use your personal information without your consent as follows;-
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For a reasonable purpose related to the purpose of collecting the information as contemplated by this policy.
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The disclosure of your information to a credit reporting agency in connection with the recovery of funds owed to us.
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If we are required to do so by law (ie to the Residential Tenancies Authority or Residential Tenancies Tribunal.)
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If we believe it is reasonably necessary to assist an enforcement body to perform it’s functions.
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If we believe it is reasonably necessary to prevent threat to life, health or safety of any person.
We hereby undertake to take all reasonable steps to make sure that your personal information collected, held, used or disclosed is accurate and up to date.
We will make our best endeavours to ensure that the personal information we hold is correct, relevant and up to date. In order to do this, we may require your assistance from time to time.
If you need to update or correct any personal information which we hold, please contact our office. We will maintain a dated record of any changes to your personal information.
Access to your personal information is available to you at any time, unless unreasonable or impractical, by giving us notice in writing. Access will usually be provided within 21 days of receipt of the written request.
Under normal circumstances your personal information will not be released to any overseas recipients. If there is a request for this, then you will be contacted and the relevant consent will be requested from you prior to any information being provided to an overseas recipient. We only provide information overseas in accordance with the requirements of the Australian Privacy Policy and Australian data protection and privacy laws.
If personal information is sent to overseas services providers, we will ensure that appropriate data security arrangements are in place.
Complaints regarding a breach of the Privacy Act
Any complaints regarding the handling of your personal information or if you think that we have breached the Australian Privacy Policy code, please contact the Principal of the Agency with your complaint in writing immediately. We undertake to deal with any issue as quickly as possible. It may be necessary for us to provide a copy of your complaint to the affected party for their comments in order that the matter can be fairly and properly investigated. We will then determine what and if any actions should be taken to resolve the complaint and will keep you duly informed of the outcomes. If you are not satisfied with our dealings with the issue, you may file a formal complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
This Privacy Policy is subject to the Australian Privacy Act. For any further information in relation to the Privacy Act, please contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at: http://www.oaic.gov.au
Our Privacy Policy (as amended from time to time) is available at www.eatonandascot.com.au
A copy can also be requested by contacting our office.
Eaton&Ascot Tel: 07 3264 6738 Fax: 3325 3420 Email: mail@eatonandascot.com.au
Mail: P.O. Box 329, Chermside South Qld 4032
