Privacy Policy
Introduction
Urban Real Estate (Urban, we, our, us) recognise the importance of protecting the privacy and the rights of individuals in relation to their personal information. We comply with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1998 (Cth) (Privacy Act), including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) concerning the personal information of individuals.
This Privacy Policy describes how Urban collects, handles, uses and discloses your personal information. By providing us with your personal information, you consent to us using and disclosing it for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will update this Privacy Policy when our information handling practices change, or when required. Any revised Privacy Policy will take effect when it is published on our website; https://urbanrealestate.com.au/privacy/
What information do we collect?
When used in this privacy policy, the term “personal information” has the meaning given to it in the Act. In general terms, it is any information that can be used to personally identify you. If the information we collect or you provide personally identifies you, or you are reasonably identifiable from it, the information will be considered personal information.
Personal information we collect about you may include your name, mailing or street address, postcode, gender, profession, occupation job title, telephone number, fax number, age or birth date, email address, property details, payment details and proof of identity such as your driver’s licence or passport number, and any additional information relating to you that you provide to us directly through our websites or indirectly through use of our websites or any online presence, through our representatives or otherwise any information you provide to us via our sales offices, customer surveys or visits by our representatives from time to time.
Other personal information we collect about you may also include credit-related personal information. Credit-related information is information used and disclosed to us to assess your creditworthiness and assess your application for tenancy. The types of credit-related personal information that we collect about you may include your credit liability information, repayment history information, rental history, court proceedings, insolvency actions and credit worthiness.
We may collect additional personal information from you from time to time.
Urban generally does not collect sensitive information about you, unless you provide it to us voluntarily. For example, when you interact with one of our agents or property managers, you may provide sensitive information such as racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health information, religious or philosophical beliefs or political opinion and membership or affiliation information. If you consent to us collecting sensitive information for a specific purpose, we will ask for your consent.
If you are an employee or prospective employee, we may need to collect sensitive information about you and you consent to us collecting this information. For example, personnel records may include sensitive information such as place of birth, racial or ethnic origin, criminal record, tax file number, disabilities, general health related information, and relationship information. Urban’s recruitment records may include employment history and professional experience, referee contact information and other related employment information.
If you provide us with sensitive information, we will treat is as personal information and handle it in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
You do not have to provide us with all the information we may request, however, we may not be able to provide you with the products and services or information you request, to the required standard or at all, and you may also miss out on receiving valuable information about us, our products and our services.
We may also collect some information that is not personal information because it does not identify you or anyone else. For example, we may collect anonymous answers to surveys or aggregated information about how users use our website.
How do we collect your personal information?
We may collect personal information in the following ways:
- through your access and engagement with us on our website or social media platforms
- by telephone, letter, fax or direct email enquiries
- during conversations between you and our representatives or other forms of interaction
- by entering competitions, promotions or requesting information or material from us
- completing surveys or providing feedback
- When you request us to provide our products and services or information about our products and services, including sales, leasing and finance
- When you contact us to make an enquiry about our listed properties or our products and services, including online, over the phone or in person
- When you subscribe to communications from us such as updates, publications or newsletters
- When you tell us about your preferences when making an enquiry or using our products and services
- When you contact us to provide feedback, comments or suggestions on our services
- On attending property inspections, or properties open for sale or lease, or visit our sales offices, including via manual sign in and security surveillance of our offices
- Applying for a job with us or becoming an employee, contractor or subcontractor of Urban Real Estate
There may be occasions when we may also collect personal information from third parties. We may combine this information with information we already have about you so that we may gain a better understanding of your preferences, attributes, trends and behaviour. Third parties we collect information from includes:
- credit reporting agencies, law enforcement agencies and government entities
- your representatives (lawyers, accountants and financial advisers)
- your employer, or nominated referee when you apply to rent a property
- publicly available sources of information or any other organisations where you have given your consent
- Third parties that provide marketing leads, marketing and data analysis services to us
- Your nominated referee, law enforcement agencies for policy checks or intermediaries such as recruitment agents and personnel providers (for prospective employees)
Cookies
In some cases, we may also collect your personal information through the use of cookies on our website and social media pages. When you access our website, we may send a “cookie” to your computer. We use cookies to measure traffic patterns, to determine which areas of our website have been visited and to measure transaction patterns in the aggregate. We use this to research our users’ habits so that we can improve our online products and services. Our cookies do not collect personal information.
If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can set your browser so that your computer does not accept them.
Third party vendors, including Google, also use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to our website or other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to a user, based on their website visits. Users may also opt out of personalised advertising by visiting browser settings.
What do we do with your personal information?
We use your personal information for the following reasons:
- to provide products and services to you and to send communications requested by you;
- to answer enquiries and provide information or advice about existing and new products or services;
- to assess the performance of the website and to improve the operation of the website;
- to conduct business processing functions including providing personal information to our contractors, service providers or other third parties;
- for the administrative, marketing (including direct marketing), planning, product or service development, quality control, survey and research purposes of Urban Real Estate;
- for the purposes of identifying you and assessing you against a rental application
- to provide your updated personal information to our contractors or service providers;
- to update our records and keep your contact details up to date; and
- to process and respond to any complaint made by you;
Your personal information will not be shared, sold, rented or disclosed other than as described in this Privacy Policy.
How do we store the information you provide us?
Urban holds your personal information both electronically and in hard copy at our secured offices. We take the security of your personal information seriously and we implement a range of processes and measures to safeguard your personal information against unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.
However, as our website is linked to the internet, and the internet is inherently insecure, we cannot provide any assurance regarding the security of transmission of information you communicate to us online. We also cannot guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the internet. Accordingly, any personal information or other information which you transmit to us online is transmitted at your own risk.
Our website may contain links to other websites operated by third parties. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of any third-party website and we are not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of any third party website. Third party websites are responsible for informing you about their own privacy practices.
To whom may we disclose your information?
We may disclose your personal information to:
- our employees, contractors, real estate agents, property managers or service providers for the purposes of operation of our website or our business, fulfilling requests by you, and to otherwise provide products and services to you including, without limitation, web hosting providers, IT systems administrators, mailing houses, couriers, payment processors, data entry service providers, electronic network administrators, debt collectors, and professional advisors such as accountants, solicitors, business advisors and consultants;
- suppliers and other third parties with whom we have commercial relationships, for business, marketing, and related purposes; and
- any organisation for any authorised purpose with your express consent.
- We may disclose personal information to our related third-party suppliers and service providers located overseas for some of the purposes listed above. We take reasonable steps to ensure that the overseas recipients of your personal information do not breach the privacy obligations relating to your personal information.
Direct marketing materials
From time to time, Urban may send you direct marketing communications which may include information about our products and services, our property listings and other material that we consider may be of interest to you. These communications may be sent in various forms, including mail, SMS, fax and email, in accordance with applicable marketing laws, such as the Spam Act 2003 (Cth).
At any time, you may opt-out of receiving marketing communications from us by contacting us or by using opt-out facilities provided in the marketing communications and we will then ensure that your name is removed from our mailing list. There may be instances that despite your request to opt-out, Urban may still contact you for other reasonable purposes, including information that we are legally required to send.
How can you access and correct your personal information?
You may request access to any personal information we hold about you at any time. Where we hold information that you are entitled to access, we will try to provide you with suitable means of accessing it (for example, by mailing or emailing it to you), within a reasonable time frame. We may charge a fee for searching for, and providing access to, your information on a as per request basis.
If you believe that personal information we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request us to amend it.
What is the process for complaining about a breach of privacy?
If you have any questions about this privacy policy, any concerns or a complaint regarding the treatment of your privacy or a possible breach of your privacy, please use the contact link on our website.
We will treat your requests or complaints confidentially. Our representative will contact you within a reasonable time after receipt of your complaint to discuss your concerns and outline options regarding how they may be resolved. We will aim to ensure that your complaint is resolved in timely and appropriate manner.