Privacy Policy

INTRODUCTION

House&Land Maps Pty Limited, referred to as the “Website” , and known as “House&Land Maps” or “HLM”, or “we”, “our” and “us” in this Privacy Policy. Where we refer to the data practices of a specific business in this Privacy Policy, "we", "our" or "us" refers to the operating entity of that business, as specified above.

This Privacy Policy sets out the manner in which we collect, use, disclose and manage personal information. By using the Website, subscribing to our services or entering into an agreement with us in relation to the Website, you are taken to have read, and agreed to the collection, use, disclosure and handling of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

We may modify this Privacy Policy at any time. You should review this Privacy Policy periodically so that you are updated on any changes. If you are a customer and the modification would result in a material change to either party’s rights or obligations and, for that reason, may cause you material detriment, we will give you at least 30 days’ written notice via email before the modification is to take effect and you may terminate your agreement with us during this period if you consider that the modification will cause you material detriment. For non-material changes we make that would not cause material detriment to a customer, we will give customers at least 30 days’ written notice before the modification is to take effect, but customers may not terminate as a result of this modification during this period.

RESPECTING INFORMATION PRIVACY

We recognise the importance of protecting personal information. We do not, without your consent, collect sensitive information as defined under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act“), such as racial or ethnicity information, political opinions or associations, criminal records or health information.

In collecting and handling personal information, we are bound by the Privacy Act, including the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs“), and applicable privacy regulations.

THE PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU

We may collect personal information about you including, but not limited to your name, phone number, email, and any other information provided. We may also collect non-personal information about you including, but not limited to, data relating to your activities on the Website (including IP addresses) via tracking technologies such as cookies, web beacons and measurement software or data relating to survey responses.

You acknowledge that the personal information you provide us and which we collect from you, is your own information or information which you have been authorised to provide to us.

HOW WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may collect personal information about you from a variety of sources including, but not limited to:

(a)  registering to use the Website or part of it through a House&Land Maps account;

(b)  subscribing to receive notifications and filling in forms, surveys or research, participating in promotions and competitions on the Website or websites of our service providers;

(c)  contacting us or our service providers for any reason including, but not limited to, reporting a problem with the Website, requesting further services or seeking our assistance;

(d)  posting or contributing material on our Website;

We may also collect your personal information through our related bodies corporate, our service providers and third parties so that we may provide a better or more relevant service or product to you.

HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We use the personal information we have collected largely for the purpose of providing you with products and services that you have requested, responding to your enquiries, creating and maintaining your account and ensuring you comply and adhere to our website terms of use.

More specifically, we may use personal information which we have collected to:

(a)  ensure that content from the Website is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer;

(b)  provide a better or more relevant service or product to you, for instance by automatically populating forms on the Website when you make enquiries of selected land sellers and home builders;

(c)  combine your personal information with information that we have collected from our service providers, third parties, cookies or web beacons in order to provide you with a better or more relevant and personalised experience and to improve the quality of our services and the services of third parties. For example, we may combine behavioural data we have collected about you through the use of cookies or web beacons and combine it with your personal information from requests you send to third parties through our Website;

(d)  personalise and customise your services, experience, advertising and content that you view and engage with on the Website or the websites of our service providers and business partners

(e)  respond to or provide you with services, products, information and assistance that you request from us;

(f)  contact you to conduct surveys, research and feedback about our products, services or the Website;

(g)  allow you to participate in interactive features of our service, when you choose to do so;

(h)  help carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us;

(i)  notify you about changes to our products and services; and

(j) enhancing your security when you visit our Website.

If all or part of this information is not provided, we may not be able to provide these services.

USING AND DISCLOSING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR MARKETING PURPOSES

We may:

(a)  use your personal information to provide you with information about offers, promotions, goods or services, which we believe may be of interest to you; and

(b)  share your information with our service providers and other third parties so that they can provide you with products or services on our behalf or help us to provide you with the requested products or services including contacting you in relation to the products or services.

If we do contact you by using your personal information in accordance with either of the above, we will give you the opportunity to request that your information not be used for further direct marketing in the future.

We may also, if you request us to by opting-in through your House&Land Maps account, share your information with third parties so they may contact you directly about their offers, promotions, goods or services.

HOW WE DISCLOSE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may disclose personal information to our related bodies corporate, service providers or business partners.

We may also disclose your personal information:

(a)  to land sellers, builders, and mortgage brokers that have listings or advertising on our Website and which you have requested information from by submitting an enquiry;

(b)  to our service providers, so that they can provide you with products or services on our behalf or products or services that you have requested directly from them, or to help us to provide you with our products or services. If you have subscribed to a service through the operating system on your mobile device (including, but not limited to Google’s “Google Now” service), we will disclose information such as your search history to Google. You can opt out of us providing such information to Google through the operating system on your mobile device;

(c)  to third parties where you have requested information, services or products from them;

(d)  in conjunction with a sale or similar transfer of a business;

(e)  relevant public, government or regulatory authorities, our legal representatives or other concerned parties, in special situations where we have reason to believe that disclosing your personal information is necessary to help identify, contact or bring legal action against anyone damaging, injuring, or interfering (intentionally or unintentionally) with our rights or property, users or anyone else who could be harmed by such activities; and

(f)  where we are otherwise authorised or required by law to do so.

If you request information from any organisation through our Website, you will need to check their privacy policy to find out how they handle your personal information. We are not responsible for the way these organisations collect, use, disclose or handle personal information you provide to them through our Website.

DISCLOSURE AND STORAGE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA

Personal information submitted by our customers and visitors to our Website may be held on servers located in Australia or in the data centres of our outsourced data processors with data centres in Australia, the United States of America, Europe and Asia. We transfer data outside of Australia to our service providers in order to obtain secure storage, back-up and data retrieval services and to provide services. We have implemented policies and procedures to safeguard the secure storage and processing of data with our related companies and have verified the security arrangements of our outsourced data processors. When you provide us with your personal information you give us your consent to store your personal information outside of Australia for the purposes described above.

Where we have obtained your consent to do so, we may also share your personal information with our service providers and other third parties located outside Australia so that they can provide you with any products or services requested by you, including contacting you in relation to the products or services. As these entities are located outside of Australia, they are not required to comply with the Privacy Act and you will not be able to seek any redress under the Privacy Act in connection with the use of your information.

SECURITY

We strive to ensure the security, integrity and privacy of personal information we collect. We have established safeguards and use reasonable security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure. Our employees, contractors, agents and service providers who provide services related to our information systems, are obliged to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by us. We review and update our security measures in light of current technologies. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be totally secure.

CORRECTION AND ACCESS

We will endeavour to take all reasonable steps to keep accurate and up to date, any information which we hold about you. If, at any time, you discover that information held about you is incorrect or you would like to review and confirm the accuracy of your personal information, you can contact us.

You can also gain access to the personal information we hold about you, subject to certain exceptions provided for by law. To request access to your personal information, please contact us.

COMPLAINTS RESOLUTION

We are committed to providing our customers with a fair and responsible system for the handling of complaints. 

If at any time you have any concerns, complaints or questions in relation to your privacy or the operation of any of our businesses, please contact us directly at hello@houselandmaps.com.au so that we may resolve your concerns. 

Our Privacy Officer will consider your query and endeavour to respond to you promptly. 

For more information about privacy issues in Australia and protecting your privacy, visit the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s website.

OPTING OUT OF PERSONALISED ADS

We aim to give you a highly relevant experience on our sites and apps.  This involves us collecting and using information about the content you engage with, such as images, articles, calculators and ads, along with any information you provide to us via your House&Land Maps account (if you have one).  We then show you ads that we believe will be engaging.  You can opt out of us personalising your advertising experience by going to the opt out page.

COOKIES AND WEB BEACONS

We use cookies, web beacons and measurement software and tools on the Website and so do our services providers and third parties such as our analytics, advertising or ad serving partners. We use and disclose the information collected through the use of cookies, web beacons and measurement software and tools in accordance with this Privacy Policy. This includes using the information to report statistics, analyse trends, administer our services, diagnose problems and target and improve the quality of our products and services. We may allow other third parties to use their own cookies and web beacons to collect information about your visits to the Website.

We may combine our cookies, information collected through the cookies and web beacons on the Website with other information (including information collected by third parties using their own cookies and web beacons and providing our cookies and information to third parties) and use analytics services – to provide better or more relevant services and advertising to you on the Website and third party websites. Our service providers and other third parties may do the same in order to provide more relevant services and advertising to you through other websites that you may visit.

COOKIE CHOICES

If you do not want information collected through the use of cookies, web beacons or measurement software and tools, you may be able to delete or reject Cookies or some of the measurement software features through your browser or the settings section of your mobile or tablet device. Disabling these features may cause some of the functions on the Website, or products and services not to work properly.

APPLICATIONS, WIDGETS OR LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

We provide links to websites outside of the Website, as well as to third party websites. We also allow some third parties to display widgets and applications on our Website that allow you to interact and share content. These linked sites, applications and widgets are not under our control, and we cannot accept responsibility for the conduct of companies linked to the Website, or their collection of information through these third party applications or widgets. Before disclosing your personal information on any other website, or using these applications or widgets we advise you to examine the terms and conditions of using that website and the relevant third party’s data collection practices and controls in their privacy policy.

Last updated 17 March 2023