Privacy Policy

 

Property Connect Operations Pty Ltd ACN 620 787 117 (PCH, us or we) owns and operates the website www.propertyconnect.com and www.live-offer.com.au (Website) and the LiveOffer Platform and App (LiveOffer Platform), which is a rental application app that enables prospective tenants to make offers in real-time for rental properties (collectively the LiveOffer Services). PCH is dedicated to ensuring that we comply with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (the APPs).  This Privacy Policy explains how we manage the personal information that is collected, used, disclosed and stored about you.

Acceptance

By using the LiveOffer Services or by otherwise providing your personal information to us, you confirm your acceptance of the terms of this Privacy Policy and your consent to the handling of your personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use the LiveOffer Services or otherwise provide us with your personal information.

What is personal information?

“Personal information” means information or an opinion that is capable of reasonably identifying an individual, whether that information or opinion is true or not and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.  For example, this may include your name, mobile number and email address.

What personal information do we collect?

The type of personal information that we may collect from you varies depending on the circumstances of collection and may include (but is not limited to): your name, mobile number, credit card details, income, employment details, referees, drivers license, passport and email address.

If you make an offer for a rental property using the LiveOffer Platform, we will collect details of the amount of rent you are prepared to offer, the proposed lease term and move-in date as well as the date/time when your offers are submitted. Sometimes we may also collect a photo of you if requested by the property manager of the rental property in respect of which you are submitting an offer.

If you are applying for employment, we will collect, for example, details of your employment history and referee details.

From time to time, you may be able to visit the Website or Platform and deal with us anonymously or by pseudonym.  For example, you may be able to make an offer on the LiveOffer Platform using a pseudonym. However, please be aware that, if you do not provide us with certain information that we require, we may not be able to provide you with the particular LiveOffer Services that you seek. For example, if we do not have your mobile number or email address, we will not be able to notify you regarding the status of your offer.

How do we collect personal information?

We may collect personal information from you in variety of ways, including when you:

·       create a profile on the LiveOffer Platform or update your profile;

·       make an offer for a rental property and/or pay a holding deposit via the LiveOffer Platform;

·       visit the LiveOffer Platform or any LiveOffer official social media pages and other webpages that we own, operate or manage;

·       contact us by phone, email, post or via our Website enquiry form (whether you are a prospective tenant, PCH client, commercial partner or supplier);

·       subscribe to receive our newsletters or to receive other promotional materials;

·       sign-up to participate in surveys, competitions or other promotional activities;

·       apply for employment with PCH; and

·       become a key contact of a PCH client, commercial partner or supplier.

In some circumstances, we may also collect your personal information from third parties, which may include (but is not limited to):

·       real estate agents using the LiveOffer Platform to manage listings for rental properties. For example, real estate agents will inform us whether credit, reference or residential tenancy database checks they have conducted are satisfactory or not;

·       if you are applying for employment with PCH, recruiters we have retained and your referees;

·       credit and reference checking agencies; and

·       law enforcement agencies and other government entities.

Your personal information will only be collected from third parties if it unreasonable or impractical to collect that personal information from you directly. 

Collection of non-personal information

We may also collect and store certain non-personal information when you visit or use the LiveOffer Services.  This information may include your IP address, domain server, login session, type of internet browser and type of device you are using.

Why do we collect your personal information and how do we use it?

PCH may collect and use your personal information for the purposes of providing you with the LiveOffer Services, which includes but is not limited to:

·       registering, setting up and managing profiles on the LiveOffer Platform;

·       facilitating the conduct of LiveOffers, including liaising with real estate agents and prospective tenants participating in LiveOffers and to enable related searches to be conducted, such as identity and credit checks, if required;

·            processing holding deposits to secure a property;

·       responding to your questions, comments, requests and complaints and to otherwise provide customer services;

·       to enhance, improve and further develop the LiveOffer Services, for example, creating new features or functions, refining the user experience, increasing technical performance etc;

·       to operate and maintain the LiveOffer Services eg fix malfunctions, test security systems etc;

·       to help personalise the LiveOffer Services, for example, remembering your information so that you do not have to enter it each time you use the Platform;

·       marketing our products and services and providing you with information and updates such as newsletters or offers of promotional events or opportunities (such as competitions or surveys) that you may be interested in;

·       the prevention of fraud and/or identifying and investigating any suspicious use of the LiveOffer Services;

·       assessing and processing employment applications and conducting due diligence as part of pre-employment screening;

·       for our internal business and management processes, for example, accounting or auditing purposes;

·       for any other purpose to allow us to comply with our obligations under law; and

·       for any other purposes that would reasonably be expected by you.

The non-personal information we collect helps us to analyse trends, improve our services and administer the LiveOffer Services.

Direct Marketing

PCH may use your personal information for the purposes of marketing the LiveOffer Services to you or to inform you of new products, promotions or events that we believe you may be interested in.  If you would like to stop receiving any of these marketing communications, you can opt out by writing to us at the contact details listed below (“Contact Details”) and informing us that you no longer wish to receive these materials.   If at any time you would like to stop receiving future emails, you can click “unsubscribe” at the bottom of each direct marketing email we send.

Who will we disclose your information to?

From time to time, PCH may disclose your personal information to third parties, both within and outside Australia, for the purposes of conducting our business.  These third parties may include (but are not limited to):

·       real estate agents, when you make an offer in respect of a rental property using the LiveOffer Services;

·       third party service providers and agents who assist us in managing our business or operating the Platform, for example, business support services, payment processors, webhosting service providers, cloud storage providers, mailing houses etc;

·       credit and reference checking agencies;

·       our professional advisors including lawyers, accountants, tax advisors and auditors;

·       law enforcement bodies to assist in their functions, courts of law or as otherwise required or authorised by law; and

·       regulatory or government bodies for the purposes of resolving customer complaints or investigations.

Where you have provided us with consent, we may also disclose your contact details to ReduceMyBills, which provides services connecting tenants to third party utility companies. ReduceMyBills may then contact you in relation to its services.  

Occasionally, we may disclose personal information to overseas recipients, for example:

·       to our related companies, located in the USA; and

·       if we store, process or back-up your personal information on servers that are located in the USA (for example, cloud service providers).

Please be aware that the privacy laws in other countries might not be the same as in Australia.  However, where we do disclose your personal information to overseas third parties, we will take such steps as are reasonable to ensure that your personal information is handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy. For example, we take steps to ensure that these third parties are obliged to protect and secure your personal information and use it only for the purpose for which it was disclosed.

Cookies

We may use cookies to improve your experience on the Website and Platform. The information gathered from cookies is used to build statistical and demographical information which does not identify you personally.

To disable your cookies, please refer to the help menu within your Internet browser. However, cookies allow you to take full advantage of some of the LiveOffer Services.

How do we secure and protect your personal information?

We take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to store your personal information securely to protect it from interference, misuse and loss and from unauthorised use, access, modification or disclosure. 

In order to protect your personal information we use industry standards and practices, such as through our use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, encrypted payment gateways, firewalls, etc.

Please note that we do not store your credit card details.

To the extent permitted by law, PCH takes reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your personal information if it is no longer needed for any purpose under this Privacy Policy, except in circumstances where PCH is required or authorised to retain this personal information (including as a result of the operation of tax, financial services or other applicable law).

Third Party Links

Our Website may contain links to websites operated and maintained by third parties over which we have absolutely no control.  These third party websites are not subject to this Privacy Policy or our privacy standards and procedures. Any information you provide to third party websites will be governed by the terms of the websites’ privacy policies. We have no responsibility or liability whatsoever for the content, actions or policies of third party websites. The inclusion of third party links on our Website in no way constitutes an endorsement of such websites’ content, actions or policies.  

How do we maintain the accuracy of the personal information we hold about you?

We take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that the personal information that we collect is up-to-date and complete.

However, in order to maintain the accuracy of the personal information, we rely on the quality of the personal information that you provide to us.  To ensure that we always have your most up-to-date personal information, please contact us as soon as possible when your details change.  This might include when you change your name, mailing address or use a new email address.

Alternatively, you may update your details by accessing your profile on the Platform.

Accuracy and requests for access and correction of personal information

You are entitled to access and correct the personal information we hold about you and to have any inaccuracies in the information corrected.  However, in order to maintain the accuracy of your personal information, we rely on the quality of the personal information you provide to us.

If you would like to access, update or correct any of the personal information we hold about you, you may do so by sending us an email to privacy@propertyconnect.com and informing us that you wish to access or correct your personal information.

There are some circumstances specified by law where we may refuse your request for access to and/or the correction of your personal information.  However, if one of these circumstances applies, we will provide you with a written explanation of the reasons for refusal, unless it would be unreasonable to provide that notice.

Once we receive your request for access or correction, we will endeavour to respond to your request within a reasonable period after the request is made.  We may also charge reasonable costs for responding to your request.

Complaints

If you have any concerns or a complaint about a breach of your privacy or the way we have handled your personal information, please inform us of the nature of your concern or complaint by emailing privacy@propertyconnect.com.

We will then investigate your complaint and endeavour to provide you with our response within a reasonable time.  If, after receiving our response you still consider that your privacy complaint remains unresolved, you may then, for example, refer your concern to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

PCH reserves the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time.  We will publish any changes to the Privacy Policy on our Website at www.propertyconnect.com/privacy and www.live-offer.com/privacy and may notify you of the changes by posting an announcement on the Website or sending you an email or an account notification.  We encourage you to review the Privacy Policy regularly for updates and amendments.  By continuing to use our Websites or the LiveOffer Services, or by continuing to provide us with your personal information after these changes have been published on our Website, you confirm your acceptance of these changes.

Contact Details

If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:

Property Connect Holdings Ltd

Level 26, 1 Bligh Street

Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

Phone:  +61 (02) 8226 8516

Email: privacy@propertyconnect.com

Last Updated: 14th August 2018