Purpose
We are committed to protecting privacy and confidentiality in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (‘APPs’) in the Privacy Act 1988. It is one of our prime responsibilities, that any personal or sensitive information provided to us is not used for any other purpose than that of which is intended and expected. This Privacy Policy describes our current policies and practices for collecting, handling, using and disclosing personal information. It also deals with how to complain about a breach of the privacy laws, how individuals can access the personal information we hold about them and how to have that information corrected.
Scope
This Privacy Policy applies to 8 Collective Pty Ltd and its affiliated entities, including its related bodies corporate (as that term is defined under the Corporations Act 2001(Cth)) (‘8 Collective’) who are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (‘APPs’) in the Privacy Act 1988, and will protect the personal information of individuals in accordance with the above.
What is personal information?
Personal information includes any information or opinion about an identified individual or an individual who can be reasonably identified from their information. The information or opinion will still be personal information whether it is true or not and regardless of whether 8 Collective have kept a record of it. We may collect personal information about the following individuals:
- Clients including but not limited to Natural persons, Sole traders, Partnerships, Companies, Trusts, Trustees, Self-Managed Superannuation Funds, and Companies;
- prospective clients;
- service providers or suppliers;
- prospective employees, employees and contractors; and
- other third parties with whom we come into contact.
The above listed are referred to as ‘individuals’ in this policy. The information that 8 Collective seeks to collect will depend on the products or services that it recommends or provides. If an individual does not allow 8 Collective to collect all of the information requested, 8 Collective may not be able to deliver all of those services effectively. If 8 Collective receives unsolicited personal information about individuals we will destroy the information, unless the personal information is relevant to 8 Collective’s purposes for collecting personal information.
What kind of personal information does 8 Collective collect and hold?
8 Collective will not collect any personal information except when the individual has knowingly provided that information to us or authorised a third party to provide that information to us. 8 Collective may ask for identification information. This information may include but is not limited to name, address, contact details, date of birth, and tax file number. We will not use identifiers assigned by the Government, such as a tax file number, Medicare number or provider number, for our own file recording purposes. 8 Collective may collect and hold additional personal information about individuals. This could include transaction information or making a record of queries or complaints an individual makes. The collection of sensitive information is restricted by the Privacy Act. 8 Collective will only collect this sort of information if it is deemed necessary to provide a specific product or service and the individual has consented to that collection.
What is a Government identifier?
A Government identifier is a Commonwealth Government or Commonwealth Government agency designated identification number such as your Tax File Number (TFN). Although at times 8 Collective may request or hold details regarding certain Government assigned identification numbers we do not use such information as identifiers of our own. We only use Government identifiers for purposes required by law, such as when we supply your TFN to the Australian Taxation Office.
What if an individual chooses not to provide some information?
8 Collective may be unable to provide its services if it does not have all the relevant information it requires to deliver such services. For what purposes does 8 Collective collect, hold, use and disclose personal information? The main reason 8 Collective collect, use, hold and disclose personal information is to facilitate the provision of its service offerings. This includes:
- checking whether an individual is eligible for the product or service;
- assisting where online applications are not completed;
- providing the product or service; and
- helping to manage the product or service.
8 Collective may also use information to comply with legislative or regulatory requirements in any jurisdiction, prevent fraud, crime or other activity that may cause harm in relation to its products or services and to help run the business. 8 Collective may also use information to tell individuals about products or services that it feels may interest them.
What service offerings does 8 Collective provide?
8 Collective provides Tax and Business Advisory services including but not limited to the services listed on this website.
How does 8 Collective collect personal information?
8 Collective collects most of the personal information directly from the individual. This can be done electronically. (see section “Does 8 Collective collect personal information electronically?” of this policy for more information). 8 Collective also collects personal information about an individual from other areas of its business including sharing information amongst its subsidiaries and related parties or from third party organisations. This may happen without the individual’s direct involvement. For instance, 8 Collective will collect personal information about an individual from:
- publicly available sources of information;
- the individual’s external representatives (including legal adviser, mortgage broker, executor, administrator, guardian, trustee, or attorney);
- the individual’s other 8 Collective representatives (including Accountant, business advisory adviser);
- the individual’s employer;
- other organisations, who jointly with 8 Collective, provide products or services to the individual;
- commercial information service providers, such as companies that provide fraud prevention reports; and
- insurers
What laws require or authorise 8 Collective to collect personal information?
8 Collective is required or authorised to collect:
- certain identification information about an individual by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter- Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) and Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules Instrument 2007 (No. 1);
- an individual’s Tax File Number, if they choose to provide it, by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth); and
- certain information in relation to the individual’s application if they have applied for an insurance as required by the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth)
How does 8 Collective hold personal information?
8 Collective strives to maintain the relevance, reliability, accuracy, completeness and currency of the personal information we hold and to protect its privacy and security. Much of the information 8 Collective holds about an individual will be stored electronically in secure data centres, which are located in Australia, and owned by either 8 Collective or external service providers. This does not include third parties backing up or mirroring their data in overseas jurisdictions. Some information 8 Collective holds about an individual will be stored in paper files and these files will be held in secure onsite storage. 8 Collective use a range of physical and electronic security measures to protect the security of the personal information they hold. For example:
- access to information systems is controlled through identity and access management;
- employees are bound by internal information security policies and are required to keep information secure;
- all employees are required to complete training about information security; and
- regular monitoring and review their compliance with internal policies and industry best practice.
8 Collective take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify any personal information after it can no longer be used.
Who does 8 Collective disclose personal information to, and why?
8 Collective may provide personal information about individuals to external organisations. To protect personal information, 8 Collective enter into contracts with their service providers that require them to comply with the Privacy Act. These contracts oblige them to only use the personal information 8 Collective disclose to them for the specific role they ask them to perform. Generally, 8 Collective disclose personal information to organisations that help them with their business. These may include:
- 8 Collective agents, contractors and external service providers (for example, mailing houses and technology service providers);
- insurers
- payment systems operators (for example, merchants receiving card payments);
- other organisations, who jointly with 8 Collective, provide products or services to the individual;
- financial services organisations, including banks, superannuation funds, stockbrokers, custodians, fund managers and portfolio service providers;
- debt collectors;
- 8 Collective legal advisers or auditors;
- An individual’s representatives (including their legal adviser, accountant, mortgage broker, executor, administrator, guardian, trustee, or attorney);
- fraud bureaus or other organisations to identify, investigate or prevent fraud or other misconduct;
- IT Service Providers;
- external dispute resolution schemes; and
- Regulatory bodies, government agencies and law enforcement bodies in any jurisdiction.
- Other companies in the event of a corporate sale, merger, reorganisation, dissolution or similar event
We may also disclose an individual’s personal information to others where:
- 8 Collective are required or authorised by law or where they have a public duty to do so;
- The individual may have expressly consented to the disclosure or the consent may be reasonably inferred from the circumstances; or
- 8 Collective are otherwise permitted to disclose the information under the Privacy Act.
Does 8 Collective hold credit card or other payment details?
If and when 8 Collective collect credit card or other payment details, we will not store them.
Does 8 Collective disclose personal information overseas?
8 Collective may disclose an individual’s personal information to a recipient which is located outside Australia. This includes:
- Any financial institution which the individual holds an account with overseas where they have given 8 Collective permission to make enquiries on their behalf.
- Other members of 8 Collective that are located outside Australia, in some circumstances.
Some encrypted data may be backed up or mirrored in overseas jurisdictions by third parties. We will not send personal information to recipients outside of Australia unless:
- we have taken reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient does not breach the Act, the APPs and the Credit Reporting Privacy Code;
- the recipient is subject to an information privacy scheme similar to the Privacy Act; or
- the individual has consented to the disclosure
Does 8 Collective use or disclose personal information for marketing?
8 Collective may use personal information to offer individuals products and services they believe may interest them but will not do so if the individual tells them not to. 8 Collective may offer individuals products and services by various means, including mail, telephone, email, SMS or other electronic means, such as through social media or targeted advertising through 8 Collective’s website. 8 Collective may also disclose an individual’s personal information to external companies who assist 8 Collective to market their products and services to the individual, such as a mailing house. If individuals do not wish to receive marketing offers from 8 Collective, they must expressly request 8 Collective not to do so by email at info@8collective.com.au.
Does 8 Collective collect personal information electronically?
8 Collective will collect information from individuals electronically, for instance through internet browsing, mobile or tablet applications. Each time an individual visits one of 8 Collective’s websites, 8 Collective collects information about the individual’s use of the website, which may include the following:
- The date and time of visits;
- Which pages are viewed;
- How users navigate through the site and interact with pages (including fields completed in forms and applications completed);
- Location information about users;
- Information about the device used to visit our website; and
- IP addresses
8 Collective uses technology called cookies whenever an individual visits a 8 Collective website. Cookies are small pieces of information stored on the individual’s hard drive or in memory. Cookies can record information about an individual’s visits to the site, allowing it to remember them the next time they visit and provide a more meaningful experience. One of the reasons for using cookies is to offer individuals increased security. The cookies 8 Collective send to an individual’s computer cannot read their hard drive, obtain any information from their browser or command their computer to perform any action. Cookies are designed so that they cannot be sent to another site, or be retrieved by any non-8 Collective site. 8 Collective won’t ask individuals to supply personal information publicly over Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media platform that we use. Sometimes 8 Collective may invite individuals to send their details to them via private messaging, for example, to answer a question. individuals may also be invited to share their personal information through secure channels to participate in other activities, such as competitions.
Keeping information Secure
8 Collective uses security procedures and technology to protect the information we hold. To prevent misuse or unlawful disclosure of sensitive information, 8 Collective has implemented internal policies which cover staff conduct, continuous training and monitoring of staff, and the inclusion of checks in the Audit function. If other organisations provide support services, we require these organisations to appropriately safeguard the privacy of the information provided to them. Where the personal information we collect is no longer required, we delete the information or permanently de-identify it in accordance with relevant laws and our internal records management policy.
Access to and correction of personal information
Under the Privacy Act, individuals have a right to seek access to information which we hold about them; although, there are some exceptions to this. They also have the right to ask us to correct information about them which is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date. To do so, they must contact 8 Collective. We do not charge for receiving a request for access to personal information or for complying with a correction request. We do however reserve the right to charge you for all reasonable costs and outgoings specifically incurred in meeting your request for information. In processing an individual’s request for access to their personal information, a reasonable cost may be charged if they have requested access more than once within twelve months. This charge covers such things as locating the information and supplying it to them. There are some circumstances in which 8 Collective are not required to give individuals access to their personal information. If 8 Collective refuse to give an individual access to or to correct their personal information, 8 Collective will give them a notice explaining the reasons why, except where it would be unreasonable to do so. If we refuse an individual request to correct their personal information, the individual also has the right to request that a statement be associated with their personal information noting that they disagree with its accuracy. If 8 Collective refuses an individual’s request to access or correct their personal information, we will also provide them with information on how they can complain about the refusal.
Notification
Due to the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Act 2017, 8 Collective is legally required to notify affected individuals of any eligible data breaches. To comply with this legal requirement, 8 Collective has implemented a Data Breach Response Plan in order to deal with actual or potential data breaches as well as the notification process to be followed when notifying affected individuals.
Resolving privacy concerns and complaints
If an individual is concerned about how their personal information is being handled or if they have a complaint about a breach by 8 Collective of the Australian Privacy Principles, they must contact 8 Collective. 8 Collective will acknowledge the complaint as soon as practical after receipt of the individual’s complaint. 8 Collective will let the individual know if they need any further information from the individual to resolve their complaint. We aim to resolve complaints as quickly as possible. We strive to resolve complaints within five business days but some complaints can take longer to resolve. If a complaint is taking longer, we will let the individual know what is happening and a date by which they can reasonably expect a response. If the individual is unhappy with our response, there are other bodies they can go to. The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) can consider most privacy complaints involving providers of financial services. AFCA can be contacted at: Australian Financial Complaints Authority GPO Box 3 Melbourne VIC 3001 Phone: 1800 931 678 Website: www.afca.org.au Under the Privacy Act, an individual may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner about the way 8 Collective handled their personal information. The Commissioner can be contacted at: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 Phone: 1300 363 992 Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au Website: www.oaic.gov.au
Contact
The individual can contact 8 Collective by any of the following methods:
- 1300 344 888
- info@8Collective.com.au
- www.8Collective.com.au
- Level 1, 65 Thomas Drive, Chevron Island QLD 4217
8 Collective’s Privacy Officer can also be contacted in relation to privacy concerns by writing to Level 1, 65 Thomas Drive, Chevron Island QLD 4217 or emailing info@8Collective.com.au.
Changes to the Privacy Policy
We may change the way we handle personal information from time to time for any reason. If so, we will update this Privacy Policy which will be updated on the website accordingly. Issued: 23rd October, 2019
