Privacy Policy for Blackfort Pty Ltd
Effective from October 2023
At Blackfort Pty Ltd ("we"/"us"/"our"), we are committed to safeguarding your privacy and protecting your personal information. We understand the importance of privacy and are dedicated to complying with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles ("APPs") (collectively, the "Privacy Act"). For Blackfort Pty Ltd, which is involved in financial services, we also adhere to Part IIIA of the Privacy Act and the 'Credit Reporting Privacy Code,' which governs credit reporting in Australia.
About this Privacy Policy
The purpose of this Privacy and Credit Reporting Policy ("Policy") is to inform you about how we collect, use, and manage your personal information, including credit information and credit eligibility information. This Policy covers the following sections:
You have the option to interact with us anonymously or using a pseudonym for general inquiries. However, for specific interactions related to your account or personal information, we will need to verify your identity before proceeding with discussions and correspondence.
Collection of Personal Information
2.1. Types of Personal Information We Collect
As a financial services company offering a wide range of products and services, we collect and store personal information about various stakeholders, including customers, prospective customers, employees, contractors, suppliers, brokers, introducers, merchants, agents, service providers, and representatives of businesses we engage with. The type of personal information we collect may vary depending on our interactions with you. For example, if we provide credit services, we may collect and store financial information, credit-related information (refer to section 4), identification details, transaction and repayment history, banking information, and employment details.
To fulfill our legal obligations, we may retain your information even after the termination of a transaction or relationship. However, we will not retain your identifiable personal information longer than reasonably necessary and permitted under Australian law. We will only collect sensitive information (e.g., ethnicity, health, or biometric data) with your explicit consent or as allowed by Australian law.
2.2. How We Collect Your Personal Information
We strive to collect personal information directly from you whenever it is practical and feasible to do so. This may occur in person, over the phone, via email, through online interactions, by fax, or by completing forms (such as application forms).
In cases where it is impractical or unreasonable to collect personal information directly from you, we may obtain it from third parties with whom we have arrangements, partnerships, or joint ventures. The specific third party may vary depending on the nature of the business and our interactions with you. For instance, we may collect credit information and credit eligibility information from credit reporting agencies or personal information from your employer for verification purposes in credit applications or hardship applications.
In the context of providing credit, third parties may include:
- Credit reporting agencies
- Collection agents
- Employers
- Other financial institutions
- While the list is not exhaustive, we may also obtain personal information from other third parties, such as introducers (e.g., brokers, agents, dealers, and retail partners), authorized representatives (e.g., financial advisers, executors, trustees, guardians, attorneys, accountants, or consumer advocates), research agencies, referees, recruitment consultants, government bodies, third-party service providers, suppliers, and our related companies, both in Australia and overseas.
- Dealing with Personal Information
3.1. How We Safeguard Your Personal Information
We recognize the importance of protecting the personal information in our possession. We take various measures to prevent misuse, unauthorized access, loss, interference, or modification of personal information, including:
- Securing personal information in both physical and electronic forms
- Providing staff education on the importance of Privacy and Data Security
- Restricting access to personal information to individuals who require it
- Employing appropriate technology solutions to protect our systems
3.2. The Purpose of Collecting, Holding, Using, and Disclosing Your Personal Information
We collect, hold, use, and disclose your personal information to manage and administer the products and services we offer to our customers, whether they are individuals or businesses. You may be a customer, contractor, job applicant, supplier, partner, or a party with whom we currently or may do business in the future.
As a financial services provider, one of our primary purposes for collecting, using, and disclosing personal information is to assess credit applications (including assessing proposed guarantors), manage credit (including servicing and collections activities), process hardship applications, handle insurance agreements and claims, support planning and product development, conduct research, and analyze the risk profiles of our customers or potential customers.
3.3. Online Servicing or Access
When you register to access our products or services online, the information collected is compared with the details we may already have on record. This typically includes your name and date of birth, allowing us to verify your identity for access. Failure to provide this information may result in restricted access to your personal information online.
3.4. Direct Marketing
By consenting to our Privacy Policy, you authorize us to use and disclose your personal information for direct marketing purposes for an indefinite period. This includes informing you about products and services that may be of interest through direct marketing channels.
If you do not want your personal information to be used for direct marketing purposes, please contact us to opt out of these communications. You can opt out of direct marketing from each Blackfort Pty Ltd company by using the contact details provided in the 'Contact Us' section at the end of this policy.
3.5. Sharing of Personal Information
To provide our products and services to our customers, we may share personal information with our related companies, both in Australia and overseas, as defined in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). We may also share personal information with other businesses that provide services to us and other third parties, including:
- Suppliers providing product source systems
- Introducers such as brokers, dealers, and retail partners
- Your employer
- Service providers like customer service organizations, call centers, mailing houses, researchers, collections agents, and data analysts
- Other organizations as required or authorized by law, such as government or regulatory bodies
- Credit reporting agencies
- Other financial institutions, government bodies, and credit providers
- Card schemes like Mastercard or Visa
- Your nominated referees
- Additional cardholders or authorized persons on your credit facility
- Organizations involved in our funding arrangements, including investors, advisers, trustees, and rating agencies
- Organizations interested in acquiring an interest in any part of our business (including receivables) for assessment or implementation purposes
When sharing personal information, we adhere to strict confidentiality requirements and comply with the Privacy Act. If you are our customer (or represent a customer), additional information about how we handle personal information is provided in the product's Important Privacy Notice or Product Disclosure Statement.
4.1. Collection, Use, and Disclosure of Credit-Related Information
As part of the credit services we offer, we may obtain credit-related information about you from credit reporting agencies. Credit-related information, as defined in this Policy, encompasses:
- Identification information (e.g., name, address, date of birth, or employer)
- Consumer credit liability information (details about consumer credit accounts with various credit providers)
- Repayment history information (information about payment timeliness)
- Financial hardship information (and from 1 July 2022, information about entering financial hardship arrangements)
- Credit enquiry information (details of previous credit applications)
- Default information (overdue amounts greater than 60 days and exceeding $150)
- Court proceedings information (e.g., summons or judgments)
- Personal insolvency information (information on bankruptcy)
We collect, hold, use, and disclose credit information and credit eligibility information about you for purposes reasonably necessary for our business activities and in compliance with the Privacy Act and applicable laws. These purposes include, but are not limited to:
- Assessing credit applications and accepting guarantors
- Internal management functions, including securitization, risk management, credit scoring, and portfolio analysis
- Assisting in the collection of overdue payments
- Preventing defaults and considering applications for financial hardship
- Participating in the credit reporting system
- Undertaking securitization activities and debt assignments
- Handling complaints and legal proceedings
- Meeting our legal and regulatory requirements (e.g., reporting to regulators or enforcement bodies as required by law)
- Assisting other credit providers for authorized purposes
- Sharing information with organizations involved in our securitization (funding) activities
- Sharing information with organizations that purchase our debt or to whom we assign our debt
Sharing information with organizations interested in acquiring an interest in any part of our business (including receivables) for assessment or implementation purposes
Privacy Act restrictions apply to the use and disclosure of credit information, and we ensure compliance with these restrictions. For instance, credit eligibility information may not be disclosed unless the recipient is a credit provider, and limitations exist regarding the use of credit eligibility information for direct marketing purposes.
We may also disclose your credit information to credit reporting agencies, which may include your information in reports provided to other credit providers to assess your creditworthiness. For instance, we may provide information that identifies you and details about your credit application when seeking credit reporting information for assessment.
In cases where you fail to meet payment obligations to us or commit a serious credit infringement related to the credit we provide, we may be entitled to disclose this information to credit reporting agencies.
4.2. Other Rights Regarding Your Credit Reporting Information
4.2.1. Direct Marketing Pre-Screening
You have the right to request these credit reporting agencies to exclude your credit reporting information from permissible direct marketing activities that we may request them to conduct. If you wish to make this request, you should contact each relevant credit reporting agency directly.
4.2.2. Victim of Fraud
If you believe you have been or are likely to be a victim of fraud, you have the right to request credit reporting agencies not to use or disclose your credit reporting information. This request is particularly relevant if you suspect someone is using your identity details to apply for credit. You must contact the credit reporting agencies directly if this situation arises.
Security, Websites, and Cookies
5.1. Protecting Your Personal Information
We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from loss, unauthorized access, or other forms of misuse. You should also take precautions to protect your personal information, such as using secure passwords, accessing personal information on safe internet networks, and not disclosing your personal information to unknown third parties. Please notify us through our contact details listed below if you become aware of any security breaches related to your account or personal information.
5.2. Tracking Information on the Web
For statistical purposes, we collect information about website activity, including the number of users, date and time of visits, pages viewed, navigation patterns, geographic location, and systems used to access the site. This information is collected through the use of 'cookies' (refer to the section below for more information about cookies).
Our websites may contain links to other websites. While we provide these links for convenience, please be aware that the information handling practices of linked websites may differ from ours. We strive to link only to sites that share our high privacy standards, but we cannot guarantee the privacy practices of other websites.
5.3. Website Security
Whenever personal information is transmitted through our website, we employ high levels of security to protect it. These security levels are consistent with standard practices for internet banking and large-scale e-commerce sites, and they include the use of strong encryption methods. You can view the security level of a web page by clicking on the internet browser's padlock or key icon.
5.4. Cookies
A 'cookie' is a small packet of information that enables a website to identify and interact more effectively with a computer. Cookies do not identify you personally, but they may record certain browser and connection information.
Cookies are commonly used on websites to aid navigation, monitor usage, and personalize the user experience. We may use cookies to monitor the use of our website, provide tailored information and services, and enhance your experience when you return to our website.
Your web browser can be configured to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is sent. Rejecting cookies may limit certain functionalities on our websites.
5.5. Website Advertisements
Occasionally, we place advertisements on other websites. This may involve placing a cookie on a computer when our advertisement is viewed. This helps us keep track of the number of unique visitors to our site and the source of their entry.
We may use third-party services to collect statistical data to evaluate the effectiveness of our website advertisements. No personal data is collected during this process.
Access and Correction of Personal Information
6.1. Access
You have the right to access the information we hold about you. Simple requests are best handled by speaking to the relevant customer service area. More complex requests, such as accessing the credit information we hold about you or obtaining copies of contractual or insurance policy documents, may be better communicated in writing to ensure a thorough response. The 'Contact Us' table at the end of this policy provides contact details for reaching us.
We typically provide the requested information within 30 days of receiving your request. If we cannot fulfill your request for access to personal information due to a valid reason, we will communicate this to you in writing. Some reasons for refusing access may include:
The information could pose a threat to the health or safety of an individual or the public
Providing the information may have an unreasonable impact on another individual's privacy
Providing the information is not allowed by law
The information may reveal internal information about a commercially sensitive decision-making process
There is no charge for requesting access to your personal information. However, we may apply an administration fee if we need to provide access according to your request.
6.2. Correction
We strive to maintain accurate and up-to-date personal information about you at all times. If you believe any information we hold about you is incorrect, you may request a correction. To make such a request, please contact the relevant contact number provided in the 'Contact Us' table at the end of this policy to discuss your query.
In some cases, we may not agree to a request to correct the information we hold about you. If this occurs, we will notify you in writing and provide the reason for not agreeing to the correction request.
6.3. Complaints
If you believe that we have not complied with the Privacy Act, including credit reporting requirements in Part IIIA, or the Credit Reporting Privacy Code, please contact us. We will follow our Internal Dispute Resolution process to address your concerns. The 'Contact Us' table at the end of this policy provides contact details for reaching us.
For more detailed information on our complaint handling process, please refer to our Internal Dispute Resolution web page.
If your complaint remains unresolved, you may escalate it to a recognized External Dispute Resolution scheme (EDR). Latitude is a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), which independently and impartially resolves disputes between customers and participating members on matters including Privacy and Credit Reporting.
Contact details for AFCA are as follows:
Australian Financial Complaints Authority GPO Box 3 Melbourne, Victoria 3001 Australia Phone: 1800 931 678 Email: info@afca.org.au Website: www.afca.org.au
Alternatively, you may refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Contact details for the OAIC are as follows:
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner GPO Box 5218 Sydney, NSW 2001 Australia Phone: 1300 363 992 Fax: +61 2 9284 9666 Website: www.oaic.gov.au
Contact Us
Email: info@blackfort.com.au
The Privacy Act contains various detailed definitions describing the types of information to which it applies. For the sake of readability, we have provided general explanations of key definitions used in this Policy. For more detailed information about key definitions and other definitions used in this Policy, please refer to the website of the OAIC at www.oaic.gov.au or the full provisions of the Privacy Act and the Credit Reporting Privacy Code, which are also available on the OAIC website.
Personal Information: Information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who can reasonably be identified. This may include your name, mailing address, date of birth, email address, telephone number, and financial details. Some elements of personal information are also referred to as 'sensitive information,' which can include but is not limited to racial or ethnic origin, membership of a professional association or union, criminal history, or health information (including biometric information like fingerprints).
Credit Information: Part of personal information and may include details obtained from a Credit Reporting Body, such as identification information, consumer credit liability information, repayment history information, financial hardship information, credit enquiry information, default information, court proceedings information, and personal insolvency information.
Credit Eligibility Information: Primarily related to your credit-related dealings with other credit providers. It typically includes credit reporting information provided by credit reporting bodies and creditworthiness information derived using credit information.
Please note that this is a template based on the information provided in your example policy. It is crucial to adapt this template to your specific company's practices, policies, and legal requirements. You may also want to seek legal counsel to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.