Privacy Policy

 

OUR APPROACH TO PRIVACY

Brand Partners (we, us or our) is committed to protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information. We are committed to managing personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Act).

We will handle personal information relying on the employee and related bodies corporate exemption in the Act where these exemptions are relevant. We are also bound to our clients by professional obligations of confidentiality and legal professional privilege. We will continue to treat and protect all client information we receive (including any personal information) in accordance with these obligations.

This privacy policy sets out how we collect, use, store and disclose personal information.

By using our website, applications and services, or otherwise providing us with your information, you consent to us collecting, holding, using and disclosing your personal information as described in this privacy policy. If we are not able to collect, handle, use and disclose personal information about you as set out in this privacy policy, we may not be able to provide you with our services or with access to our website or applications.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

‘Personal information’ is defined in the Act and includes information or an opinion (in recorded form or otherwise and whether true or not) about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

Personal information includes ‘sensitive information’ which includes information or an opinion relating to your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, memberships, religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, criminal record and health.

COLLECTING YOUR INFORMATION 

We may collect and hold personal information relating to a broad range of parties and entities which includes but is not limited to our clients, business associates, potential clients, suppliers, their respective or prospective employees and other people who come into contact with us, our employees and agents. The type of personal information we collect, and hold includes (but is not limited to):

  • name, address, job title, email, phone number, date of birth, employment, organisation or business details, billing and financial information, and other information which assists us in conducting our business, providing and marketing our services and meeting legal obligations, including sensitive information required to enable us to provide you with legal services;
  • if you apply for a role with us information about your education, work history, references and background information;
  • if you are a current or former employee, contractor or office holder with us information as necessary and relevant to employment including emergency contact details information about remuneration and benefits; and

We may also collect and process non-personal information provided to us by your browser when you visit our website or use our applications, for example, the website you came from, your location information, IP address, web browser and/or device type and the time and date of access. your internet address. We collect personal information in the course of conducting our business and providing services to our clients, and not for any other purpose. Where possible we collect personal information directly from you. Where it is not practicable or reasonable to collect your information directly from you, we may collect it from other sources.

We may collect personal information by several means, including:

  • in person meetings or interviews, telephone calls; emails, forms, business cards, online queries, and through use of services available through our website;
  • from third parties such as your employer or colleagues, government registers, online publications or professional reports; and
  • through our website brandpartners.com.au, applications and social media accounts.

OUR WEBSITE

Brand Partners’ website uses cookies which store information about your visit. While most internet browsers are set up to accept cookies, you may be able to change the settings of your browser to refuse all cookies or to notify you each time a cookie is sent to your computer.

Brand Partners’ website may contain links or references to other third-party websites and social media platforms. We do not make any warranties or representations in relation to the privacy practices of any third-party website and we are not responsible for their privacy policies or the content of the website.

SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Brand Partners has social media profiles to better engage with our community. We may collect personal information when you connect with us through social media.

You should also be aware that the social media platforms may also be collecting your personal information for their own purposes, which will be subject to their own privacy policies.

SENSITIVE INFORMATION

We will not collect sensitive information about you unless:

  • you have given consent;
  • the collection of such information is required by law;
  • the collection is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal or equitable claim; or
  • the collection of such information is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the life or health of any individual and communication of consent is not physically or legally possible.

USE OR DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION 

We will use and disclose your personal information as follows:

  • for the primary purpose for which it was collected, and for any other purpose which relates to the primary purpose;
  • for a purpose for which you have given consent;
  • to provide, manage and improve our legal services and client relationships;
  • where it is required or authorised by or under law;
  • for direct marketing purposes;
  • to facilitate our business operations;
  • where we reasonably believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious and imminent threat to an individual’s life, health or safety, or a serious threat to public health or public safety;
  • where we have reason to suspect that unlawful activity has been, is being or may be engaged in and using and disclosing the personal information is a necessary part of our investigation of the matter or in reporting our concerns to relevant persons or authorities; or
  • where we reasonably believe that the use or disclosure is reasonably necessary for certain conduct to be taken by or on behalf of an enforcement.

We may disclose your information to barristers and experts engaged as part of providing our services to you, courts, tribunals, regulatory authorities, property exchange Australia, service providers, agents, contractors, strategic partners, our professional advisors and insurers, organisations with whom we have co-promotional arrangements and anyone else to whom you authorise us to disclose it to.

We do not routinely disclose personal information overseas. We do disclose personal information overseas when it is specifically appropriate to providing our legal services for a particular client.

If we do disclose your information we generally require these parties to protect your information in the same way we do, where it is lawful and appropriate to do so.

STORAGE, PROTECTION AND SECURITY OF INFORMATION

Brand Partners take responsible measures to ensure that your personal information (either electronic or hard copy) is stored securely, and is not subject to misuse, loss, unauthorised access and modification or disclosure. Information collected by, or provided to, Brand Partners may be stored on physical computers, servers or devices within Australia or by storing on secure cloud-based storage (including LEAP legal software and Microsoft SharePoint). While we strive to protect your information, we cannot warrant or ensure the security of the information provided to us electronically and any electronic transmission is at your own risk.

Further, we take steps to protect the security of your personal information from internal misuse, interference or loss and external threats through unauthorised access by:

  • regular training of all staff, to ensure your information in handled in a manner to minimise breach, disclosure or misuse, whether inadvertent or intentional;
  • ensuring that staff only have access to personal information where needed for them to perform their function with us;
  • regularly assessing the risk of misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure of personal information;
  • ensuring that we are kept informed of the latest risks to systems, such as methods of hacking and latest phishing emails circulated and immediately incorporating changes to our network and systems to address any latest external threats;
  • taking measures to address identified internal risks, including the ability to monitor (and record) when someone has added, changed or deleted personal information held in our database, and to test that access, authorisation and need; and
  • conducting regular internal and external audits to assess risk and to ensure that we have taken all reasonable steps to ensure that we have adequately complied with our information security obligations and implemented all necessary steps.

We will also securely destroy or de-identify your personal information when we no longer require it. For matter related information, this usually occurs seven years after the completion of your matter.

CORRECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION

We endeavour to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up-to-date.  If you are aware that any information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or not up-to-date, please contact us as set out below and we will take reasonable steps to make the necessary corrections.  If we refuse to correct the information, we will provide you with the reason for our decision (unless the law allows us not to specify a reason).

You also have the right to opt out of receiving any direct marketing communications from us. If you would like to do so, please use the contact information set out below.

ACCESS

You may request access to your personal information at any time by using the contact details below. You will be asked to verify your identity before you are given access to your information or can correct it.  In most circumstances, we will comply with your request. However, we may deny your request in some circumstances permissible by law, in which case we will provide you with the reasons for our decision (unless the law allows us not to specify a reason) and how you can complain about our refusal.

CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY 

We review these policies periodically and may make changes without notice to you. We may notify you about changes to our privacy policy by posting an updated version on our website.

CONTACT US 

If you have any concerns or queries in relation to privacy matters or if you would like more information on how we handle your information, please contact us by emailing admin@brandpartners.com.au or calling + 61 3 9602 5800.

Updated November 2023