The American Chamber of Commerce in Australia Privacy Policy

 

Our Commitment

The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to communicate to you how we manage, collect, deal with, protect and allow access to personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (the APPs).  We understand the importance placed on the privacy of your personal information. We will endeavour to make you aware of the contents of this Privacy Policy before or as soon as reasonably practicable after collecting any personal information about you.

We may be contacted at any time at:

Suite 3.02, Level 3
15 Castlereagh Street 
Sydney NSW 2000

Ph:      02 8031 9000
Email: [email protected]

Scope

This Privacy Policy governs all personal information collected by and provided to us and must be adhered to by all persons who access, use, process, control or otherwise deal with personal information on our behalf.  This policy applies to independent contractors and job applicants, as well as individuals who provide us with their personal information. This Privacy Policy does not apply to our acts and practices which relate directly to the employee records of our current and former employees.

Why do we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information?

We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information for the following purposes:

1. to lawfully carry out our functions and activities;
2. to deliver the products and services that you requested;
3. to provide you with further information about the products and services you requested;
4. to personalise and customise your experiences with us;
5. to help us review, manage and enhance our services;
6. to develop insights used in reports or other content developed by us;
7. to communicate with you;
8. for administration purposes, including charging, billing and collecting debts;
9. to promote and market those of our other products and services which we consider may be of interest to you;
10. when considering making offers to job applicants and prospective employees or for employment purposes; and
11. to receive services from you or the organisation which employs you.

In addition to the Primary Purpose, we may use the personal information we collect and you consent to us using your personal information to:

1. provide you with news about any products and services;
2. send you marketing and promotional material that you may be interested in;
3. communicate with you, including by email, telephone and mail;
4. manage and enhance products or your experience on our Website and domains;
5. conduct surveys or promotions;
6. verify your identity;
7. investigate any complaints about, or made by you, or if we have reason to suspect you have breached any relevant terms and conditions; and as required or permitted by any law.
8. as is reasonably necessary and convenient for our business’ functions and activities.
9. Unless otherwise provided by law, we will not collect, hold, use or disclose sensitive information without your consent.

If you would like to access any of our services on an anonymous basis or by using a pseudonym, please tell us.  However, we will require you to identify yourself if:

  • we are required by law to deal with individuals who have identified themselves; or
  • it is impracticable for us to deal with you if you do not identify yourself or elect to use a pseudonym.

Please be aware that your request to be anonymous or to use a pseudonym may affect our ability to provide you with the requested goods and/or services.

 

What personal information do we collect?

The nature and extent of personal information we collect varies depending on your particular interaction with us and the nature of our functions and activities.
 
Personal information that we commonly collect from you would include (but is not limited to):

1. your name, position, date of birth;
2. your address, email address, telephone numbers, gender, driver’s licence number;
3. your financial information including credit card and banking information, business references, details about your business, Australian Business Number;
4. nature of products or services being sought for the purposes of filling your order;
5. insurance details, rates and fees; and your occupation, career history and references.
We also collect information that is not personal information, such as data relating to your activity on our Website.
 
If you feel that the personal information that we are requesting at any point is not information that you wish to provide, please feel free to raise this with us.

 

How do we collect and hold personal information?

Generally, personal information is collected by us from a variety of sources, including when dealing with members or customers, when dealing with individuals, undertaking marketing initiatives, or when recruiting.
 
For example, we may collect personal information from you in the following circumstances:

1. when you are dealing with membership services, fulfilling your registrations to events, webinars, participating in surveys or purchasing products or services;
2. when you deal with us as an independent contractor; or
3. when you apply for a job.
Personal information may be provided by you using our Website or by telephone, business cards, contracts, applications, competition entries, survey entries, mail or email, registration forms, face-to-face or in writing, whether verbally, in hardcopy or electronic format.
 
Where possible, we collect your personal information directly from you. In some circumstances we may obtain personal information from a third party.
 
If you provide personal information about another person to us, we require that you:

inform that person you have done so and provide them with a copy of this policy; and
confirm to us that you have that person’s consent to provide such information for the purpose specified.
If we receive unsolicited personal information about you that we could not have collected in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the Privacy Act, we will within a reasonable period, destroy or de-identify such information received.

When do we use and disclose your personal information?

We will only use and disclose your personal information:

  • if we get your consent; or
  • for purposes which are related to the purposes for which the information was collected, in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the Privacy Act.

For the purposes referred to in this Privacy Policy, we may disclose your personal information to other parties including:

  • third parties engaged by us to perform functions or provide products or services on our or their behalf such as mail outs, marketing or advertising;
  • third parties that sponsor or promote us;
  • third party contractors engaged to provide online credit card account processing and related services. When you pay your accounts online, a secure server is used. We make no warranty in respect of the strength or effectiveness of that encryption and we are not responsible or liable for events arising from unauthorised access of the information you provide;
  • your referees;
  • your former employers;
  • credit agencies;
  • our professional advisors, including our accountants, auditors and lawyers;
  • our Related Entities and Related Bodies Corporate (as those terms are defined in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)); and
  • our contractors and suppliers.
  • persons authorised by you to receive information held by us; and
  • any persons as required or permitted by any law.

We will only use or disclose your personal information for the purposes of direct marketing if:

  • we collected the information from you;
  • it is reasonable in the circumstances to expect that we would use or disclose the information for direct marketing purposes;
  • we provide you with a simple means to ‘opt-out’ of direct marketing communications from us; and you have not elected to ‘opt-out’ from receiving such direct marketing communications from us.

Do we send information overseas?

We may in some circumstances as necessary send personal information to overseas recipients (including recipients which may or may not be affiliated with us).  The countries in which likely overseas recipients of personal information are located includes: USA.

If we send personal information to overseas recipients, we will take reasonable measures to protect your personal information such as ensuring all information is de-identified where appropriate before being transmitted.

However, you acknowledge and agree that if we disclose personal information to overseas recipients, we are not obliged to take reasonable steps to ensure overseas recipients of your personal information comply with the Privacy Act and the APPs.  

Access to and correction of your personal information

You have a right to access your personal information.

We are not obliged to allow access to your personal information if:

  • we reasonably believe that giving access would pose a serious threat to the life, health or safety of any individual, or to public health or public safety;
  • giving access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals;
  • the request for access is frivolous or vexatious;
  • the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings between you and us and would not ordinarily be accessible by the discovery process in such proceedings;
  • giving access would reveal our intentions in relation to negotiations with you in a way that would prejudice those negotiations;
  • giving access would be unlawful;
  • denying access is required or authorised by or under an Australian law or a court/tribunal order;
  • we have reason to suspect that unlawful activity, or misconduct of a serious nature relating to our functions or activities has been, is being or may be engaged in and giving access would be likely to prejudice the taking of appropriate action in relation to the matter;
  • giving access would be likely to prejudice one or more enforcement related activities conducted by, or on behalf of, an enforcement body; or
  • giving access would reveal internal evaluative information in connection with a commercially sensitive decision-making process.

We will also take reasonable steps to correct personal information to ensure that, having regard to the purpose for which it is held, it is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading if:

  • we are satisfied the information is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, having regard to a purpose for which it is held;
  • or you request us to correct the information.

If you make a request for access to or correction of personal information, we will:

  • respond to your request within a reasonable period; and
  • if reasonable and practicable, give access to or correct the information in the manner requested.

If we refuse to give access to the personal information because of an exception or in the manner requested by you, we will give you a written notice that sets out at a minimum:

  • our reasons for the refusal (to the extent it is reasonable to do so);  and
  • the mechanisms available to complain about the refusal.

If we refuse a request to correct personal information, we will:

  • give you a written notice setting out the reasons for the refusal and how you may make a complaint; and
  • take reasonable steps to associate a statement with personal information it refuses to correct.

We reserve the right to charge you reasonable expenses for providing access or making a correction to personal information, for example, a fee for photocopying any information requested by you.

Nothing in this Privacy Policy replaces other informal or legal procedures by which an individual can be provided with access to or to correct personal information.

Integrity of your personal information

We will take reasonable steps to:

  • ensure that the personal information that we collect is accurate, up to date and complete;
  • ensure that the personal information  the we hold, use or disclose is, with regard to the relevant purpose, accurate, up to date, complete and relevant; and
  • secure your personal information.

We will take reasonable steps to protect personal information from:

  • misuse, interference and loss; and
  • unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

We will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify personal information that we hold if we no longer need the information for the primary purpose for which the information was collected and we are not otherwise required by law to retain the information.

Complaints

If you would like to make a complaint about the way we collect, use, disclose, store or administer your personal information, or otherwise consider there may be a breach of the Privacy Act or the APPs, you may lodge a complaint..

All complaints will be treated seriously and dealt with promptly.  This is our way of ensuring your privacy concerns are raised and addressed promptly.

Complaints can be made by contacting our Privacy Officer.

You may also make a complaint directly to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) online, by mail, fax or email.  Please visit the OAIC website at http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint for more information.

How to contact us

If you would like more information on privacy or have any questions in relation to this policy please contact our Privacy Officer.

Privacy Officer

The American Chamber of Commerce in Australia

Suite 3.02, Level 3
15 Castlereagh Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: 02 8031 9000
Email: [email protected]