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. (However we’ll never ask you for your security details in this way – if you are ever unsure, just contact us)
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:
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we collect information from third parties about the loan or lease made available to you arising out of the services we provide you;
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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
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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:
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for us to give you the credit assistance you seek from us;
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to assist in finding a loan or lease relevant to your circumstances;
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verify your identity or protect against fraud; or
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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:
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your co-loan applicants or co-borrowers;
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your guarantors/proposed guarantors;
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your employer, accountant, real estate agent or other referees;
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your agents and other representatives like the person who referred your business to us, your solicitors, conveyancers and settlement agents;
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organisations that help us to process credit applications;
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organisations that check the security you are offering such as valuers;
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bodies that issue identification documents to help us check your identity; and
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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.
What do we do when we get information we didn’t ask for?
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:
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document storage security policies;
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security measures for access to our systems; and
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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.