Ehlers Real Estate ABN 89 307 310 678 Privacy Policy
Last updated: 28 February 2024
Ehlers Real Estate understands the importance of, and is committed to, complying with its obligations under the Privacy Act1988 (Cth)and the associated Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This Privacy Policy explains how we manage your personal information, including our obligations and your rights in respect of our dealings with your personal information.
2. We, through our Privacy Officer, are happy to provide further details as to the extent to which we are required to comply with the APPs should any person wish. Alternatively, further details of the obligations imposed upon organisations under Australia’s privacy laws can be obtained directly from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (Commissioner) or by reference to the APPs and the Commissioner’s associated guidelines at www.oaic.gov.au.
The types of information held by Ehlers Real Estate
3. “Personal information” is information or any information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.
4. The types of personal information held by us includes the following (as well as other information):
names, date of birth, email addresses, other contact details, residential and mail addresses, gender information, occupation details, and other personal information provided by individuals to Ehlers Real Estate;
employment history and educational qualifications;
details of the products and services you have purchased from us or which you have enquired about, together with any additional information necessary to deliver those products and services and to respond to your enquiries;
any additional information relation to you that you provide to us directly through our website or indirectly through our website or online presence through our representatives or otherwise;
information you provide to us through customer surveys or visits by our representatives from time to time;
financial information such credit reference information and credit card/banking details;
photographic identification;
data obtained from third parties such as credit reporting agencies, law enforcement agencies and other government entities, recruitment agencies and contractors and business partners.
Ways in which Ehlers Real Estate collects personal information
5. Ehlers Real Estate collects personal information:
when you register your personal details on our website, to request information regarding properties for sale or rent, or to request an appraisal of your home.
when you apply for newsletters, mailouts or property alerts on our website.
through our website;
through publicly available information services (eg social media, local councils, telephone white pages, internet records);
through referrals from entities, bodies and individuals;
when we are required to collect the information by virtue of legal or regulatory requirements;
from our clients when they pass on information in connection with work we are doing or may do for them;
from third party internet providers, local council offices, planning authorities, advertising agencies, marketing agencies, printing companies, property data providers, signage companies, third party real estate agencies and their representatives, statutory authorities, settlement agents, solicitors passing on information on behalf of their clients.
when individuals participate in competitions or surveys conducted by Ehlers Real Estate (or third parties, on our behalf) including, but not limited to, surveys relating to the quality of our services provided, such as testimonials and/or referrals.
6. If we receive unsolicited information about you that we have not requested, and if we determine that we could not have lawfully collected that information under privacy law if we required it, we will destroy or de-identify the information, if it is lawful and reasonable to do so.
The primary purpose for which Ehlers Real Estate holds information
7. The primary purpose for which we collect information is to enable us to perform our business activities and functions and to provide best possible quality customer service. In particular:
we collect information to enable us to provide our services, which includes the buying and selling of residential real estate on behalf of clients who authorize us to act for them;
we collect information to provide advice to clients and prospective clients with respect to our services;
we collect information about prospective employees and sales representatives to enable us to consider whether they are suitable to work with us and our clients;
we obtain information to assist us with marketing our client’s properties, and the services of Ehlers Real Estate;
we collect information to enable us to advise property buyers and sellers of additional property information or services supplied by us (or by third parties) that may be of interest to them;
we provide personal information to our employees or sales representatives, who provide us with services to assist us with conducting our business;
we collect information to enable us to efficiently manage our business;
we collect information to assist with our delivery of services via the internet;
we collect information for research and statistical purposes.
8. You have the right to refuse to provide us with personal information. However, if you decide not to do so, we may be unable to provide you with our goods and services.
Disclosure of personal information
9. In general, we do not use or disclose your personal information for a purpose other than:
a purpose set out this Privacy Policy;
a purpose you would reasonably expect;
a purpose required or permitted by law; or
a purpose otherwise disclosed to you to which you have consented.
10. We may disclose your personal information to other organisations, for example to our related companies (if any), external service providers such as accountants, lawyers, auditors, research consultants and government or regulatory authorities where required or permitted by law.
11. We may provide personal information to our sales representatives and employees, who provide us with services to assist us with conducting our business from time to time;
12. We may provide information to external and third party real estate agencies and their representatives, marketing entities and third party contractors to enable us to market, promote our services and conduct our business through in person and online through the internet;
13. We disclose information for research and statistical purposes;
14. We may store information on data storage facilities provided by third parties; and
15. We may disclose your personal information to interstate and overseas recipients. Refer to paragraphs 16 and 17 below.
Disclosure of personal information to overseas recipients
16. It is likely that we may disclose your personal information to overseas recipients (e.g. foreign buyers and sellers, either/or non-resident and/or not Australian Citizens, in contract negotiations when transacting an Offer and Acceptance Contract for the sale of property.
17. The countries associated with the overseas recipients may include any non-Australian country.
Right to gain access to personal information held by Ehlers Real Estate
18. Pursuant to the APPs, you may request access to the personal information we hold about you by contacting our Privacy Officer in writing. Subject to the relevant exemptions contained in the APPs and subject to you providing sufficient proof of your identity, Ehlers Real Estate will provide you access to information that it holds about you. Ehlers Real Estate reserves the right to charge a fee for the provision of this information based on the administrative cost of supplying the information requested. Further details as to these costs and the ability to access information held by us can be obtained by contacting our Privacy Officer.
19. We will deal with your request for access within a reasonable time. Should we believe that we are entitled to refuse your request to access information we will provide written reasons for our decision and the relevant provisions of the Privacy Act that we rely on to refuse access.
Accuracy of personal information held by Ehlers Real Estate
20. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that the personal information we collect is accurate, up-to-date and complete. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that the personal information we use or disclose is accurate, up-to-date, complete and relevant. Where we believe that the personal information is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, we will take reasonable steps to correct that information.
21. If you believe that information we hold about you is incorrect you are entitled to request, by contacting our Privacy Officer, that we correct that information. We will take reasonable steps to correct the information to ensure that it is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading.
22. We will deal with your request to correct personal information within a reasonable time. Should we believe that we are entitled to refuse your request to make corrections we will provide written reasons for our decision.
Security of personal information held by Ehlers Real Estate
23. Ehlers Real Estate holds your personal information in paper-based and electronic form. We are required to take all reasonable steps to ensure your personal information kept in our files is protected from misuse, interference and loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
24. When we no longer require your personal information (including when we are no longer required by law to keep records relating to you), we ensure that it is destroyed or de-identified.
Website
25. This section explains how we handle personal information collected from our website. If you have any questions or concerns about transmitting your personal information via the internet, you may contact us using the contact details provided above, as there are other ways for you to provide us with your personal information.
Visiting our website
26. Anytime you access an unsecured part of our website, that is, a public page that does not require you to log on, we will collect information about your visit, such as:
the time and date of the visit;
any information or documentation that you download;
your browser type; and
your server address.
Cookies
27. A "cookie" is a small text file which is placed on your internet browser and which we access each time you visit our website. When you visit the secured pages of our website (i.e. pages that you have to provide login details to access) we use cookies for security and personalisation purposes. When you visit the unsecured pages of our website (i.e. public pages that you can access without providing login details) we use cookies to obtain information about how our website is being used. You may change the settings on your browser to reject cookies, however doing so will prevent you from access the secured pages of our website.
IP Addresses
28. Whenever you use our website, and many other websites, the computer on which the web pages are stored (the web server) needs to know the network address of your computer so that it can send the requested web pages to your internet browser. The unique network address of your computer is called its “IP address” and is sent automatically each time you access any internet site. From a computer’s IP address, it is possible to determine the general geographic location of that computer, but otherwise it is anonymous.
29. We do not keep a record of the IP addresses from which users access its site except where the user has specifically provided it with information about itself, in which case we also record the user’s IP address for security purposes.
Email/Your Consent to be added to our Mailing List
30. When we receive emails, we will retain the content of the email and our response to you where we consider it necessary to do so. You must advise otherwise should you not want your email address added to our mailing list for the purpose of marketing our services.
Security
31. We make reasonable efforts to ensure that the most up-to-date security measures are used on our website to protect your personal information. Any data containing personal information which we transmit via the internet is encrypted. However, we cannot guarantee that any information transmitted via the internet by us, or yourself, is entirely secure. You use our website at your own risk.
Links on our website
32. Our website may contain links to third party websites. We advise that the terms of this Privacy Policy do not apply to external websites. If you wish to find out how any third parties handle your personal information, you will need to obtain a copy of their privacy policy.
Further information
33. Should any person wish to obtain further information with respect to the type of personal information we hold, the purposes for which we use that information and/or the way in which we manage that information, please contact our Privacy Officer at the contact details set out above.
Direct Marketing
34. As part of our functions and business activities and to promote the services we can provide to you, we may use your personal information that you have provided to us for the purposes of direct marketing. Direct marketing includes but is not limited to, sending to you and/or contacting you in relation to promotions and information about our products and services.
35. You may opt out at any time if you no longer wish to receive marketing information. You can opt out of receiving direct marketing communications by sending an email to our Privacy Officer using the contact details provided above, or by "unsubscribing" from email marketing messages.
Questions and complaints
36. If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this Privacy Policy, or our use of your personal information, please contact the Privacy Officer using the contact details provided above. You can also contact the Privacy Officer if you believe that the privacy of your personal information has been compromised or is not adequately protected.
37. Once a complaint has been lodged, the Privacy Officer will respond to you as soon as possible.
38. You may also lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by telephone: 1300 363 992 or email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au.
Changes to our Privacy Policy
39. This document sets our current privacy policy. This policy will be reviewed from time to time and will be maintained in an up-to-date form, without notice to you. Any changes to this policy will be posted on the relevant section of our website.
