WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICY

Merc Real Estate (A.C.N. [160 832 673] (we, us, our) is committed to complying with its obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Act).

The Act allows personal information to be collected, used and disclosed for the purposes for which it was collected in accordance with the Act.

This Privacy Policy only applies to the extent we collect, use and disclose personal information in connection with this website.

We also have a privacy policy which details our policy in connection with our real estate agency business. A copy of this privacy policy can be accessed here

This Privacy Policy may be revised, updated or replaced from time to time and we may subsequently notify users of any changes to it by posting the revised, updated or replaced Privacy Policy on this website. Any changes to it take effect on the date on which the revised, updated or replaced Privacy Policy is posted to this website.

What information do we collect?

The personal information we collect about you will depend on how you deal with us. This information may include:

• Identity and contact details, such as your name, residential address, phone number, email address.
• Identification information, where required, including driver licence or passport details for identity verification, tenancy applications or to meet legislative requirements.
• Property-related information, including property interests, ownership details, attendance at inspections, appraisals, leasing activities and tenancy history.
• Financial information relevant to a transaction or tenancy, such as rental payment and arrears history, bond details, bank account details for payments and proof of income.
• Records of communications with us, including emails, telephone calls, text messages and notes of conversations.
• Online information collected when you use our website or digital services, such as information submitted through online enquiry forms.
• Employment-related information, if you apply for a position with us, including your résumé, references and other information relevant to your application.
• Sensitive information, where voluntarily provided and relevant to a tenancy or other real estate process, such as medical information (for accessibility requests) or relationship information. We do not collect sensitive information unless it is reasonably necessary, required or authorised by law, or you have provided your consent.

We will generally only collect personal information that is reasonably necessary for our business functions and activities as a real estate agency.

This information may be collected directly from you, through your use of our services or website, through rental application systems, through inspection attendance, via third-party platforms, or from other authorised sources.

Why do we collect this information?

We collect, use and disclose personal information for purposes related to the operation of our real estate services, including to:

• Deliver real estate services, including property sales, leasing, property management and related professional services;
• Coordinate property access and inspections, and keep records of attendance for security, safety and compliance purposes;
• Respond to enquiries and provide requested information, including brochures, contracts, property listings and appraisal information;
• Process tenancy applications, manage tenancies, arrange repairs and maintenance, and comply with our legislative and regulatory obligations;
• Communicate with you about properties, appointments, transactions and service updates;
• Operate and administer our business, including record keeping, accounts, trust accounting, identity verification, dispute resolution and compliance obligations; and
• Send marketing communications where permitted by law, including property alerts, newsletters and market information. You may unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time. You may opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time.

If the personal information requested is not provided, this may limit our ability to deliver our services. For example, we may be unable to process a tenancy application, arrange access to a property, or provide requested information.

Automated Decision Making (ADM)

ADM is when:

• we use a computer program to make, or do a thing that is substantially and directly related to making, a decision; and
• he decision could reasonably be expected to significantly affect the rights or interests of an individual; and

• the kinds of personal information used in the operation of such computer programs are:
  • Identity Information, Contact Information, Financial Information, Tenancy & Property History, Employment & Reference Information, Behavioural & Application Data, Digital & System Data, Preference & Eligibility Information
• the kinds of such decisions made solely by the operation of such computer programs are:
  • Automated eligibility determination, Scoring or ranking, Algorithmic recommendations
• the kinds of such decisions for which a thing, that is substantially and directly related to making the decision, is done by the operation of such computer programs are:
  • Residential tenancy application decisions, Tenant screening and background assessment, Allocation of inspections or viewing opportunities, Lead management and buyer prioritisation, Automated pricing or rent recommendation processes, Arrears, breach, or compliance response decisions

Information disclosed

We will use and disclose personal information only for the purposes for which it is collected in accordance with the Act, including:

• providing services and customer support, including service updates;
• maintaining and updating our records;
• comparing information for accuracy, and verifying it with third parties; and
• providing information as authorised or required by law or a relevant government body or authority.

Overseas disclosure

We do not disclose personal information overseas.

We may use cloud storage and IT servers that may be located overseas to store the personal information we hold. As electronic or networked storage can be accessed from various countries through an internet connection it is not always practical to know in which country information about an individual may be held.

To the extent that we can identify the countries to which we transfer information they are:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS), Sydney region

Please note that in some cases countries to which we transfer information may not have laws or binding schemes that have the effect of protecting your information in a way that overall is at least substantially similar to the way in which the Australian Privacy Principles protect your information, and there may not be any mechanism or binding scheme that you can access to take action to enforce legal protections.

Anonymity and pseudonyms

General users of the website do not need to disclose their identity to us in order to use this website. This website does not, therefore, collect personal information about people who generally access it except in the circumstances described above.

Please note that we may not be able to provide you with some or all of our services if you are anonymous or use a pseudonym.

Cookies

A cookie is an electronic token that is passed to the user’s browser which passes it back to the server whenever a page is sent to the user. Our servers may generate cookies which are used to keep track of the pages that users have accessed while using the website. The cookie also allows data to be inputted into a form or template and temporarily stored until the user chooses to save that form or template. Cookies generally remain on the user’s computer even after an internet session is ended and the computer rebooted. The cookie can be read by the server that placed it there during a subsequent visit to that same server. Their exact behavior is server specific.

When users visit this website, our server may log certain information, including the type of browser and operating system the user is using, the top level domain name (for example .com, .net, .au, etc), the address of the referring site (for example, the previous site visited), the server's IP address, the date and time of visit and the address of the pages accessed and the documents downloaded. This information is generally only for internal statistical analysis and system administration purposes.

Any other information supplied to us (for example, if a user sends an email or enters any personal information into our website) is treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Information Security

We take reasonable steps to protect all information which we hold (including personal information) from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

We may store information about you in cloud or other types of networked or electronic storage. As electronic or networked storage can be accessed from various countries through an internet connection it is not always practical to know in which country personal information about you may be held.

Where appropriate, we use secure transmission facilities. However, no transmission of information over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure and we do not warrant the security of any information transmitted to us over the internet.

Links to other websites

This website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of those websites. This Privacy Policy does not extend to those linked websites.

Marketing and opt-out

We may also use the information, including personal information (excluding sensitive information), provided by users of this website for marketing and research purposes, to analyse and improve products, benefits and services and to inform users of products, services and benefits provided by us, our related entities, suppliers or sponsors which we consider may be of value or interest to users, unless the user tells us, or has previously told us, not to. If a user does not wish to receive any information about such products, services and benefits they can contact the Privacy Officer (details specified below). We will not use your sensitive information for these purposes without your consent.

Accessing your Personal Information

Users of the website whose information we either collect, use or disclose have the right to request access to any personal information held by us which relates to them, unless we are permitted to withhold that information. We may charge a reasonable fee where access to personal information is provided. Any requests for access to a user’s personal information should be made in writing to the Privacy Officer (details specified below). The user also has the right to request the correction of any personal information which relates to them that is inaccurate, incomplete, irrelevant, misleading or out-of-date.

If the user requires any further information about our management of personal information or has any queries or complaints, they should contact:

The Privacy Officer
402/29-31 Solent Circuit, Norwest NSW 2153
Tel: (02) 9659 5888
[email protected]

The Office of the Information Commissioner can be contacted as follows:

Acceptance of this Privacy Policy

By using this website, accessing any of our products, services or features, the user acknowledges that it has read, understands and accepts this Privacy Policy and the permissions to collect, use and disclose personal information, and the user authorises us to collect, use and disclose, in accordance with the Act, their personal information for the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy.