Privacy Policy
At Smart Search Finance we are dedicated to safeguarding and preserving your privacy when visiting our site or communicating electronically with us. This Privacy Policy provided should be read together with our terms of use. This policy explains what happens to any personal data that you provide to us, or that we collect from you when you are on this site.
We respect your personal information,
and this Privacy Policy explains how we handle it. The
policy covers Frank Zandona and the use of the Smart
Search Finance Website.
This Policy also includes our credit
reporting policy, that is, it covers additional information on
how we manage your personal information collected in
connection with a credit application, or a credit facility.
We refer to this credit-related information below as
credit information.
If you are in a country
that is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), the EU
General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (‘GDPR’)
governs the way we collect, use, hold, process and disclose
your personal information. Under the GDPR, we are a data
controller. We make decisions on how and why your personal
information is processed.
We do update this Policy from time to time so please do return and review this Policy regularly.
What
personal information
do we collect and hold?
General
information
The types of
information that we collect and hold about you could include:
·
ID information such
as your name, postal or email address, telephone numbers, and
date of birth;
·
other contact
details such as social media handles;
·
financial details
such as your tax file number; and
·
other information we
think is necessary.
When the law authorises or requires
us to collect information
We may collect
information about you because we are required or authorised by
law to collect it. There are laws which require us to collect
personal information. For example, we require personal
information to verify your identity under Australian Anti-Money
Laundering law.
What do we
collect via your website activity?
If you’re an internet
customer of ours, we monitor your use of internet services to
ensure we can verify you and can receive information from us,
and to identify ways we can improve our services for you.
If
you start but don’t submit an on-line application, we can
contact you using any of the contact details you’ve supplied to
offer help completing it. The information in applications will
be kept temporarily then destroyed if the application is not
completed.
We also know that some
customers like to engage with us through social media channels.
We may collect information about you when you interact with us
through these channels. However, for all confidential matters,
we’ll ensure we interact with you via a secure forum.
To improve our services
and products, we sometimes collect de-identified information
from web users. That information could include IP addresses or
geographical information to ensure your use of our web
applications is secure.
How do we
collect your personal information?
How we collect
and hold your information
Unless it’s
unreasonable or impracticable, we will try to collect personal
information directly from you (referred to as ‘solicited
information’). For this reason, it’s
important that you help us to do this and keep your contact
details up-to-date.
There are a number of
ways in which we may seek information from you. We might
collect your information when you fill out a form with us, when
you’ve given us a call or used our website. We also find using
electronic means, such as email or SMS, a convenient way to
communicate with you and to verify your details[1].
How we collect
your information from other sources
Sometimes, we will
collect information about you from other sources as the Privacy
Act 1988 permits. We will do this only if
it’s reasonably necessary to do so, for example, where:
·
we collect
information from third parties about the loan or lease made
available to you arising out of the services we provide you;
·
we can’t get hold of
you and we rely on public information (for example, from public
registers or social media) or made available by third parties)
to update your contact details; or
·
we exchange
information with your legal or financial advisers or other
representatives.
What if you don’t want to provide us with your personal information?
If you don’t provide
your information to us, it may not be possible:
·
for us to give you
the credit assistance you seek from us;
·
to assist in finding
a loan or lease relevant to your circumstances;
·
verify your identity
or protect against fraud; or
·
to let you know
about other products or services that might be suitable for
your financial needs.
How we collect and hold
your credit information
We will collect your
credit information in the course of you answering the enquiries
we make of you relating to the credit assistance you seek from
us. In addition to what we say above about collecting
information from other sources, other main sources for
collecting credit information are:
·
your co-loan
applicants or co-borrowers;
·
your
guarantors/proposed guarantors;
·
your employer,
accountant, real estate agent or other referees;
·
your agents and
other representatives like the person who
referred your business to us, your solicitors, conveyancers and
settlement agents;
·
organisations that
help us to process credit applications;
·
organisations that
check the security you are offering
such as valuers;
·
bodies that issue
identification documents to help us check your identity; and
·
our service
providers involved in helping us to process any application you
make for credit through us.
What do we do when we
get information we didn’t ask for?
Sometimes, people share
information with us we haven’t sought out (referred to as ‘unsolicited
information’). Where we receive unsolicited personal
information about you, we will check whether that information
is reasonably necessary for our functions or activities. If it
is, we’ll handle this information the same way we do with other
information we seek from you. If not, we’ll ensure we do the
right thing and destroy or de-identify it.
When will we notify you
that we have received your information?
When we receive personal
information from you directly, we’ll take reasonable steps to
notify you how and why we collected your information, who we
may disclose it to and outline how you can access it, seek
correction of it or make a complaint.
Sometimes we collect
your personal information from third parties. You may not be
aware that we have done so. If we collect information that can
be used to identify you, we will take reasonable steps to
notify you of that collection.
How do we take care of
your personal information?
We store information in
different ways, including in paper and electronic form. The
security of your personal information is important to us and we
take reasonable steps to protect it from misuse, interference
and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or
disclosure. Some of the ways we do this are:
- document storage
security policies;
- security measures
for access to our systems; and
- only giving access
to personal information to a person who is verified to be
able to receive that information
We may store personal
information physically or electronically with third party data
storage providers. Where we do this, we use contractual
arrangements to ensure those providers take appropriate
measures to protect that information and restrict the uses to
which they can put that information.
What happens when we no
longer need your information?
We’ll only keep your information for as
long as we require it for our purposes. We
may be required to keep some of your information for certain
periods of time under law. When we no longer
require your information, we’ll ensure that your information is
destroyed or de-identified.
How we use your
personal information
What are the main
reasons we collect, hold and use your information?
Collecting your
personal information allows us to provide you with the products
and services you’ve asked for. This means we
can use your information to:
- give you credit
assistance;
- give you
information about loan products or related services
including help, guidance and advice;
- consider whether
you are eligible for a loan or lease or any related service
you requested including identifying or verifying you or
your authority to act on behalf of a customer;
- assist you to
prepare an application for a lease or a loan;
- administer
services we provide, for example, to answer requests or
deal with complaints; and
- administer
payments we receive, or any payments we make, relating to
your loan or lease.
Can we use your
information for marketing our products and services?
We may use or disclose
your personal information to let you know about other products
or services we or a third party make available and that may be
of interest to you.
We will always let you
know that you can opt out from receiving marketing offers.
With your consent, we
may disclose your personal information to third parties for the
purpose of connecting you with other businesses or customers.
You can ask us not to do this at any time. We won’t sell
your personal information to any organisation.
Yes, You Can Opt-Out
You can let us know at
any time if you no longer wish to receive direct marketing
offers from us. We will process your request as soon as
practicable.
What are the other ways
we use your information?
We’ve just told you
some of the main reasons why we collect your information, so
here’s some more insight into the ways we use your personal
information including:
·
telling you about
other products or services we make available and that may be of
interest to you, unless you tell us not to;
·
identifying
opportunities to improve our service to you and improving our
service to you;
·
allowing us to run
our business efficiently and perform general administrative
tasks;
·
preventing any fraud
or crime or any suspected fraud or crime;
·
as required by law,
regulation or codes binding us; and
·
any purpose to which
you have consented.
What are the grounds
which we will deal with your personal information under the
GDPR?
Under the GDPR, we must
have a legal ground in order to process your personal
information. The legal grounds that we may rely on are:
- Performance of our
contract with you;
- Compliance with a
legal obligation;
- Where you have
provided your consent; and
- For our legitimate
interests: our main legitimate interests for
processing your personal information are: fraud, security,
due diligence, business operations and direct marketing.
How long do you keep your information?
We are required to keep
some of your information for certain periods of time under law,
such as the Corporations Act, the Anti-Money Laundering &
Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, and the Financial Transaction
Reports Act for example.
We are required to keep
your information for 7 years from the closure of accounts, or
otherwise as required for our business operations or by
applicable laws.
We may need to retain
certain personal information after we cease providing you with
products or services to enforce our terms, for fraud
prevention, to identify, issue or resolve legal claims and/or
for proper record keeping.
Who do we
share your personal information with?
To make sure we can
meet your specific needs and for the purposes described in ‘How
we use your personal information’, we sometimes need to share
your personal information with others.
We may share your
information with other organisations for any purposes for which
we use your information.
Sharing Your
Information
We may use and share
your information with other organisations for any purpose
described above.
Sharing with your representatives and
referees
We may share your
information with:
·
your representative or any
person acting on your behalf (for example, lawyers, settlement
agents, accountants or real estate agents); and
·
your referees, like your
employer, to confirm details about you.
Sharing with
third parties
We may share your
information with third parties in relation to services we
provide to you. Those third parties may
include:
·
the mortgage aggregator
through whom we may submit loan or lease applications to
lenders or lessors on the mortgage aggregator’s panel;
·
the Australian Credit
Licence holder that authorises us to engage in credit
activities;
· referrers that referred
your business to us;
·
valuers;
·
lenders, lessors, lender’s
mortgage insurers and other loan or lease intermediaries;
·
organisations, like fraud
reporting agencies, that may identify, investigate and/or
prevent fraud, suspected fraud, crimes, suspected crimes, or
other misconduct;
· government or regulatory
bodies (including ASIC and the Australian Taxation Office) as
required or authorised by law. In some instances, these
bodies may share the information with relevant foreign
authorities;
·
guarantors and prospective
guarantors of your loan or lease;
·
service providers, agents,
contractors and advisers that assist us to conduct our business
for purposes including, without limitation, storing or
analysing information;
·
any organisation that
wishes to take an interest in our business or assets; and
·
any third party to which
you consent to us sharing your information.
Sharing
outside of Australia
We may use overseas
organisations to help conduct our business. As a result, we may
need to share some of your information (including credit
information) with such organisations outside Australia. The
countries in which those organisations are located are:
· NA
We may
store your information in cloud or other types of networked or
electronic storage. As electronic or networked storage
can be accessed from various countries via an internet
connection, it’s not always practicable to know in which
country your information may be held. If your information is
stored in this way, disclosures may occur in countries other
than those listed.
Overseas organisations
may be required to disclose information we share with them
under a foreign law. In those instances, we will not be
responsible for that disclosure.
Where we transfer your
information from the EEA’ to a recipient outside the EEA we
will ensure that an adequate level of protection is in place to
protect your personal information such as putting in place
contractual protections to ensure the security of your
information.
How do you access your personal information?
How you can generally access your
information
We‘ll always give you access to your
personal information unless there are certain legal reasons why
we can’t. You can ask us in writing to access your personal
information that we hold. In some cases we may be able to deal
with your request over the phone.
We will give you access to your
information in the form you want it where it’s reasonable and
practical.
We may charge you a small fee to cover our costs when giving
you access, but we’ll always check with you first.
We’re not always required to give you
access to your personal information. Some of the situations
where we don’t have to give you access include when:
- we
believe there is a threat to life or
public safety;
- there is an
unreasonable impact on other individuals;
- the request is
frivolous;
- the information
wouldn’t be ordinarily accessible because of legal
proceedings;
- it would prejudice
negotiations with you;
- it would be
unlawful;
- it would
jeopardise taking action against serious misconduct by you;
- it would be likely
to harm the activities of an enforcement body (e.g. the
police); or
- it would
harm the confidentiality of our commercial information.
If we can’t provide your information in
the way you’ve requested, we will tell you why in writing. If
you have concerns, you can complain. See ‘Contact Us’.
How do you correct your personal
information?
How we correct your information
Contact us if you think there is
something wrong with the information we hold about you and
we’ll try to correct it if it’s:
- inaccurate;
- out‑of‑date;
- incomplete;
- irrelevant; or
- misleading.
If you are worried that we have given
incorrect information to others, you can ask us to tell them
about the correction. We’ll try and help where we can - if we
can’t, then we’ll let you know in writing.
What additional things do we have to do
to correct your credit information?
If you ask us to correct credit
information, we will help you with this in the following way.
Helping you manage corrections
Whether we made the mistake or someone
else made it, we are required to help you ask for the
information to be corrected. So we can do
this, we might need to talk to others. However, the most
efficient way for you to make a correction request is to send
it to the organisation which made the mistake.
Where we correct information
If we’re able to correct the information,
we’ll let you know within five business days of deciding to do
this. We’ll also let the relevant third parties know as well as
any others you tell us about. If there are any instances where
we can’t do this, then we’ll let you know in writing.
Where we can’t correct information
If we’re unable to correct your
information, we’ll explain why in writing within five business
days of making this decision. If you have any concerns, you can
access our external dispute resolution scheme or make a
complaint to the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner.
Time frame for correcting information
If we agree to correct your information,
we’ll do so within 30 days from when you asked us, or a longer
period that’s been agreed by you.
If we can’t make corrections within a 30
day time frame or the agreed time frame, we must:
- let you know about
the delay, the reasons for it and when we expect to resolve
the matter;
- ask you to agree
in writing to give us more time; and
- let you know you
can complain to our external dispute resolution scheme or
the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
How do you make a complaint?
How do you generally make a complaint?
If you have a complaint about how we
handle your personal information, we want to hear from you. You
are always welcome to contact us.
You can contact us by submitting a form
at the link below:
https://www.smartsearchfinance.com.au/contact_us.html
We are committed to resolving your
complaint and doing the right thing by our customers. Most
complaints are resolved quickly, and you should hear from us
within five business days.
Need more help?
If you still feel your issue hasn't been
resolved to your satisfaction, then you can raise your concern
with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:
·
Online:
www.oaic.gov.au/privacy
·
Phone:
1300 363 992
·
Email:
enquiries@oaic.gov.au
·
Fax:
+61 2 9284 9666
·
Mail:
GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 or GPO Box 2999 Canberra ACT 2601
If you are located in the EEA, you can
contact the relevant data protection authority (for example in
the place you reside or where you believe we breached your
rights). For example, the Office of the UK
Information Commissioner:
Office of the UK Information Commissioner
• Online: www.ico.gov.uk
• Phone: 0303 123 1113
• Live
chat:
https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/live-chat
What additional things do we have to do
to manage your complaints about credit information?
If your complaint relates to how we
handled your access and correction requests
You may take your complaint directly to
our external dispute resolution scheme or the Office of the
Australian Information Commissioner. You are
not required to let us try to fix it first.
For all other complaints relating to
credit information
If you make a complaint about things
(other than an access request or correction request) in
relation to your credit information, we will let you know how
we will deal with it within seven days.
Ask for more time if we can’t fix
things in 30 days
If we can’t fix things within 30 days,
we’ll let you know why and how long we think it will take. We
will also ask you for an extension of time to fix the matter.
If you have any concerns, you may complain to our external
dispute resolution scheme or the Office of the Australian
Information Commissioner.
Letting you know about our decision
We’ll let you know about our decision
within 30 days or any longer agreed time frame. If you have any
concerns, you may complain to our external dispute resolution
scheme or the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner.
Your Rights under
GDPR
If you reside in the
EEA, you can also:
- object to the processing or
your personal information or ask us to delete, or restrict
or stop using your personal information. There may be
circumstances where we are required to, or entitled to
retain or continue using your information.
- withdraw your consent to our
processing of your information. We may continue to process
our information if we have another legitimate ground to do
so.
- ask us to send an electronic
copy of your personal information, including to another
organisation.
You can contact us if
you wish to exercise these rights. See ‘Contact
Us’ for more information If we refuse any
request you make in relation to these rights, we will write to
you to explain why and how you can make a complaint about our
decision.
Contact Us
We care about your privacy. Please
contact us if you have any questions or comments about our
privacy policies and procedures. We welcome your feedback.
You can contact us by submitting a form
at the link below:
https://www.smartsearchfinance.com.au/contact_us.html
What if you want to
interact with us anonymously or
use a pseudonym?
If you have general
enquiry type questions, you can choose to do this anonymously
or use a pseudonym. We might not always be able to interact
with you this way, however, as we are often governed by
regulations that require us to know who we’re dealing with. In
general, we won’t be able to deal with you anonymously or where
you are using a pseudonym when:
·
it is impracticable;
or
·
we are required or
authorised by law or a court/tribunal order to deal with you
personally.
What do we do with government-related
identifiers?
In certain circumstances we may be
required to collect government-related identifiers such as your
tax file number. We will not use or disclose this information
unless we are authorised by law.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Policy may change. We will let you
know of any changes to this Policy by email.
Use of Cookies
We may on occasion gather information regarding your computer whilst you are on our website. This enables us to improve our services and to provide statistical information regarding the use of our website to our advertisers where appropriate.
Such information will not identify you personally it is statistical data about our visitors and their use of our site. This statistical data does not identify any personal details whatsoever.
Similarly to the above, we may gather information about your general internet use by using a cookie file. Where used, these cookies are downloaded to your computer automatically. This cookie file is stored on the hard drive of your computer as cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive. They help us to improve our website and the service that we provide to you.
All computers have the ability to decline cookies. This can be done by activating the setting on your browser which enables you to decline the cookies. Please note that should you choose to decline cookies, you may be unable to access particular parts of our website.
Our advertisers may also use cookies, over which we have no control. Such cookies (if used) would be downloaded once you click on advertisements on our website.
Use of Your Information
The information that we collect and store relating to you is primarily used to enable us to provide our services to you. In addition, we may use the information for the following purposes:
i. To provide you with information requested from us, relating to our products or services. To provide information on other products which we feel may be of interest to you, where you have consented to receive such information.
ii. To meet our contractual commitments to you. This means submitting your details to third parties to assist in your request for mortgage quotes or mortgage related information.
iii. To notify you about any changes to our website, such as improvements or service/product changes, that may affect our service.
If you are an existing customer, we may contact you with information about goods and services similar to those which were the subject of a previous sale to you.
Further, we may use your data, or permit selected third parties to use your data, so that you can be provided with information about unrelated goods and services which we consider may be of interest to you. We or they may contact you about these goods and services by any of the methods that you consented at the time your information was collected.
If you are a new customer, we will only contact you or allow third parties to contact you only when you have provided consent and only by those means you provided consent for.
If you do not want us to use your data for our or third parties you will have the opportunity to withhold your consent to this when you provide your details to us on the form on which we collect your data.
Please be advised that we do not reveal information about identifiable individuals to our advertisers but we may, on occasion, provide them with aggregate statistical information about our visitors.
Third Party Links
You mind find links to third party websites on our website. These websites should have their own privacy policies which you should check. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for their policies whatsoever as we have no control over them.
Access to Information
The Privacy Act 1988 gives you the right to access the information that we hold about you. Should you wish to receive details that we hold about you please contact us using the contact details below.