Purpose
The purpose of this privacy policy is to communicate clearly the personal information handling practices we follow when we collect and deal with your personal information, including how you can contact us if you wish to correct or access personal information we hold about you.
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
As a small business, we are exempted from the operation of the Privacy Act. However, protection of your personal information that we collect is very important to us. This policy sets out how we handle any personal information we collect or receive about you.
The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) can be viewed at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/pa1988108/
How is our privacy policy structured?
Our privacy policy is ‘layered’ as it is presented in three layers. The first layer is the Privacy icon shown on the bottom of the web page in which we collect your personal information. It provides a quick snapshot of our information handling practices. The second layer, the one page summary that you reach from the icon link, provides you with a summary of how we collect, use, disclose and store your personal information, how you can contact us and which Act applies to our activities. The third layer is this full privacy policy that provides a more detailed explanation of our information handling procedures.
Our personal information handling practices
What is personal information?
We use the definition of personal information contained in s 6(1) of the Privacy Act. It states that personal information is ‘information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database), whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion’.
Collection of personal information
Select Body Corporate Managers collects personal information in order to carry on its business as a Body Corporate Manager and provider of administration and secretarial services for Community Title Schemes and other communities of people, all collectively called body corporate management services.
The information which we collect will depend upon the reason for which it is collected. The main reasons are:
- To provide Body Corporate Management Services – in the course of managing a Community Titles Scheme or other community we are likely to collect personal information about individual Owners and third parties. The type of personal information collected may vary from Owner to Owner; but will in the main be limited to:
- Full name;
- Address(s) including residential address, business address and postal address as required by the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997;
- Other contact details including telephone numbers and email address
- To respond to comments, enquiries or requests made via email or our website.
We try to collect personal information directly from the individual.
We only collect personal information for purposes which are directly related to our activities and only when it is necessary for or directly related to such purposes. These purposes include:
- To provide you with information you have enquired about
- To provide you with goods you have purchased
- To provide you with services you have purchased
- When you ask to be on an email or mailing list so that we can send you information about our activities and/or publications
- For normal communication processes when we might email you, text you or phone you
Browsing
When you only browse the website, we do not collect your personal information.
When you look at our website, our internet service provider makes a record of your visit and logs (in server logs) the following information for statistical purposes:
- Your server address
- Your top level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .org, .au, etc)
- The pages you accessed and documents downloaded
- The date and time of your visit to our site
- Whether you have visited our site before
- The previous site you visited, and
- The type of browser being used. We do not identify you or your browsing activities except, in the event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the internet service provider’s server logs.
Cookies
Our website may use cookies. You may choose to disable cookies in your browser but this may affect your use of the site in some areas.
Use and disclosure of your personal information
Any personal information collected by Select BCM will only be used and disclosed for the purpose for which it has been provided to us or as authorised by law.
We may use your contact details to send you newsletters, legal or other updates relating to community living, which may be of interest to you. However, you may at any time opt out of receiving such materials by contacting Select BCM or sending a request to the address below. Upon receiving such a request, we will remove your contact details from our distribution lists.
Personal information may need to be disclosed to external service providers or third parties engaged by Select BCM or your body corporate in order for those service providers to fulfill their service obligations.
For example:
- IT service providers who assist in managing Select BCM’s servers and networks may need to access client data in order to maintain the servers and networks;
- Tradespeople required to attend site to carry out works, who may need access to your Lot.
Where personal information is disclosed to an external party, Select BCM will take reasonable steps to ensure that the external party treats such information confidentially.
Data quality
We take steps to ensure that the personal information we collect is accurate, up to date and complete. These steps include maintaining and updating personal information when we are advised by you that your personal information has changed.
Data security
We take steps to protect the personal information we hold against loss, unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure and against other misuse. These steps include password protection for electronic files, encryption, securing paper files in locked cabinets and physical access restrictions.
If you choose to join our email lists, complete online forms or lodge enquiries, your contact details are stored on password-protected databases.
Deletion of data and unsubscribing
When you cease to be a member of our website, we will destroy your personal information in a secure manner or delete it. You can request that your personal information be deleted at any time.
You may also request us to delete any personal information we hold about you by emailing our contact person whose details are below. You may choose to opt out of further contact from us by sending us an email containing the word ‘unsubscribe’ in the title of the email.
Access and correction
If you wish to request access to the personal information we hold about you, or request that we change that personal information, we will allow access or make the changes unless we consider that there is a sound reason to withhold the information under relevant law such as the Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) or other relevant information.
You may request access to personal information that Select BCM holds about you.
We will acknowledge your request within 5 business days of the request being made. If access is being denied, we will usually advise you in writing of the denial of access and the reasons for within 10 business days of our acknowledgement. If access is being granted, access will usually be granted within 10 business days of our acknowledgment or, if the request involves complex considerations or voluminous photocopying or scanning, within 10 business days. We will let you know which timeframe applies to your request and if any delays are anticipated.
You will need to verify your identity before access to your personal information is granted.
While we cannot and do not charge a fee for you applying to access your personal information, we may charge a fee for actually giving you access to your personal information in your preferred format (where reasonable and possible), which will cover our costs involved in locating and collating information as well as reproduction costs.
Once your request has been processed by us, you may be forwarded the information by mail or email or you may personally inspect it at the location where the information is held or another appropriate place by appointment only. Whenever possible, we will endeavour to make the information available to you in the manner requested by you unless it is unreasonable for us to do so (e.g. if you have asked for the information to be emailed to you, we will endeavour to email the information to you. If the file size would be too large, we may send you the information by hard copy instead of email).
If you are aware that we hold personal information about you that is no longer accurate, complete or up-to-date, please contact us in writing to advise of the change of details.
If you request access to your personal information, or if you request that we correct your personal information, we will do so unless we consider that there is a sound reason to withhold the information, or not make the correction.
Under the Act, we may refuse to grant access to personal information if:
- We believe that granting access would pose a serious threat to the life, health or safety of any individual, or to public health or public safety.
- Granting access would have an unreasonable impact upon the privacy of other individuals.
- Denial of access is required or authorised by law or by a Court or Tribunal order.
- Giving access would be unlawful.
- The request for access is frivolous or vexatious.
- Legal proceedings are underway or anticipated and the information would not be accessible by way of the discovery process in those proceedings.
- Giving access would reveal our intentions in relation to negotiations between us and you in such a way as to prejudice those negotiations.
- Giving access is likely to prejudice enforcement related activities conducted by, or on behalf of, an enforcement body.
- Giving access is likely to prejudice action being taken or to be taken with respect to suspected unlawful activity or serious misconduct relating to our functions or activities.
- Giving access would reveal information in connection with a commercially sensitive decision making process.
You can obtain further information in relation to this privacy policy, ask questions about it or provide any comments, by writing to us:
The Privacy Officer
Select Body Corporate Managers
PO Box 2485
Chermside Centre QLD 4032