Privacy

Your privacy is important to us

Privacy of your personal information is important to us and we conduct our business with the highest standards of personal and corporate integrity. We aim to provide the best possible service, whilst ensuring you are aware of how your personal information is used within RACT, and by related entities such as RACT Travel Pty Limited [ABN 45 144  538 803].

What does “personal information” mean?

Personal information is any information that identifies you or by which your identity can be reasonably determined.

Collection of personal information

We will always be open and honest in our dealings with you and will only collect information about you that we believe is necessary to undertake our legitimate business activities. The nature of the personal information we collect will be dependent upon your chosen level of interaction with RACT, and the degree to which you utilise the broad range of RACT benefits, products and services.

RACT collects personal information when we provide roadside, insurance, travel and other services to customers.  The personal information needed to supply such services can include your name, personal and business address, age, sex, employment details, vehicle details, property details, salary and personal finances or insurance history.  We may need to collect additional personal information to supply services you have requested.

In most cases we only collect information about you, directly from you, however there are circumstances where this is impractical, e.g. RACT membership purchased as a gift, where multiple persons are linked or related to a particular membership and in cases involving joint insurance of property under an insurance policy issued by RACT Insurance.

RACT also retains transactional histories of your usage of RACT services for audit purposes and to assist in understanding your circumstances, preferences and service needs.

We only collect information about you, which we need:

• to service and administer your products, accounts and other needs;
• to ensure you are aware of various membership benefits and to offer specific products and services we feel may be of particular interest to you; or
• to satisfy legal requirements.

In most cases we will require you to specifically acknowledge any collection, use or disclosure of your personal information by RACT. Your acknowledgment will usually be required in writing or by a specific act such as when you click an acknowledgment on our Internet sites, however verbal acknowledgment may also be appropriate in certain circumstances.

Sometimes, however, your consent or acknowledgment may be implied through your conduct such as:

• when you continue a telephone call to our Call Centre after you have heard a recorded message that tells you that the call may be recorded;
• when you speak to a branch Consultant; or
• when you provide us with information that we have not specifically requested.

However, no matter how your personal information is collected it is dealt with by the RACT in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

What if you don’t want to provide certain personal information?

The RACT only seeks information that we believe is necessary to undertake a specific transaction or function, therefore, refusal to supply requested details may delay or prevent us from satisfying your request.

Sensitive information

If personal information concerns particular topics it is regarded as sensitive information.

Sensitive information can be information about your:

• racial or ethnic origin
• political opinions
• religious beliefs or affiliations
• philosophical beliefs
• membership of a professional or trade association
• sexual preferences or practices
• criminal record
• health

The RACT only collects, uses or discloses sensitive information in circumstances that include where:

• we have received your consent to do so;
• it is necessary for our business purposes and is allowed by law; or
• it is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim.

Use of your personal information

We advise our customers about the general uses of their information and we will provide additional explanation if customers request it. Primarily we will use your information to process your application and/or provide the products and services you have requested and enhance the relationships we have with you.

Your information may be shared between RACT businesses for the purposes described in this statement.

Your feedback is important to us. RACT may use your information to contact you from time to time in order to seek your opinion on matters such as current service provision, road safety and motoring related issues and development of new products and services. These contacts assist RACT to remain relevant to the needs of its membership and customer base. You can choose not to take part in this activity if we contact you.

We may use your information to offer you other products that we think you might be interested in. These offers may be based on information you provided in your initial transaction with us, in information you provided when you used our services, in surveys, from information that may indicate purchasing preferences and lifestyle, as well as information lawfully available from other organisations.

Is my personal information secure?

The protection of your personal information is a priority for the RACT.

This is why we take all reasonable precautions to safeguard your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

We employ a number of means to protect your personal information including:

• external and internal premises security;
• restricted access to personal information;
• entering into confidentiality agreements with all employees, contractors and third party organisations that may have access to your personal information;
• having in place stand-by systems to deal with major business interruptions;
• maintaining technology products to prevent unauthorised computer access; and
• regular reviewing and testing of our technology in order to improve the level of security.

The RACT may be required by law to retain your personal information for a period of time after you have ceased your relationship with us.

Where the RACT determine it no longer necessary to hold your information we will securely destroy or delete that information.  In the interim period your information will be securely archived.

Information collected about you online

The only personal information the RACT collects from you online, either via RACT Internet sites or through e-mail transmission is personal information that you choose to submit to us in this manner.

RACT and its agents may also use cookies, which give messages through your web browser to a web server at the time of use.  Each time you request a page from the server, the cookie may facilitate a message to a server to give RACT a clear picture of which areas on the RACT site are accessed.  The RACT gathers this information to maintain and improve upon the operation of our Internet sites.

A cookie is a piece of data that an Internet site can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your computer. Cookies generally allow the Internet site you are browsing to interact more efficiently with your computer.

If you logon to a RACT Internet site, a different type of cookie is placed onto your computer that is necessary to identify you throughout your session. Once you have logged out, the cookie is no longer active.

Usually you can set your browser to notify you before you receive a cookie so that you can decide whether to accept it, however sometimes not accepting a cookie may affect your use of an Internet site.

If your computer does not accept RACT cookies, you may not be able to make full use of our Internet sites.

The cookies used by RACT are not used to track your browsing habits and the RACT does not seek to identify any person browsing its Internet sites but it may collect information such as the type of operating system on your computer.

Security of your personal information online

The RACT maintains technology and procedures no less than industry standard in respect to its information management and provision of online services. These measures are revised and updated to ensure we continually maintain and improve our level of security.

Once received by the RACT your personal information is stored and protected by a range of security controls including system firewalls and user identification requirements and audit trails. The RACT's systems and information technology infrastructure are regularly audited both by internal and external experts and regulatory bodies.

Unless our e-mail transmission is made via RACT's "Secure Messages" or otherwise secured using encryption techniques, the RACT does not transmit your personal information by e-mail externally unless you have consented to such transmission either expressly or by implication through your interaction with us.

An example of where you may consent by implication may be when you e-mail us your personal information and require a response using the same medium or when you raise no objection to our advised, intended communication with you or a third party in this manner.

Ensuring your personal information is up-to-date

We rely on the personal information we hold about you to efficiently administer our relationship and conduct our business of providing financial products and services.

We use technology, documented employee procedures and internal monitoring to help ensure that your information is accurate and up-to-date. In addition, we require high standards of quality from credit reporting agencies and others who provide us with information about prospective customers or other services.

For this reason, it is very important that the personal information we collect from or about you is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

During the course of our relationship with you we will ask you to tell us of any changes to your personal information however you can contact us at any time to update your personal information or to tell us that the information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete.

You can view and update your own member contact details including your address, phone numbers and email address on-line using the RACT website www.ract.com.au.

Declining marketing offers

From time to time, RACT may use your information to tell you about other relevant products and services, discounts, special offers, competitions and invitations to special events. However, we clearly recognise the importance of providing you with choices by giving you an easy means to "Opt Out" from receiving these offers.

All you have to do is let us know that you do not want to receive these offers. You can do this by contacting us on 13 27 22 at any time or by visiting an RACT Branch during business hours. Marketing offers that you receive from us will also let you know how to "Opt Out" from receiving further offers.

The RACT does not disclose your personal information to a party outside RACT for the purposes of allowing that party to direct market its products or services to you.

Often the law requires us to provide you with certain information about the product or service that you receive from us. You will continue to receive this type of information from us even if you have decided not to receive information about our products and services generally.

Disclosing your information

The RACT may disclose your personal information in certain circumstances.

Sometimes we are required or authorised by law to disclose your personal information. For example, we may disclose your personal information to a Court in response to a subpoena or to the Australian Taxation Office following a direction issued under taxation laws.

We may also disclose your personal information where you have consented to us doing so.

Your consent to the disclosure of your personal information may be given explicitly either in writing or verbally or it may be implied from your conduct such as when you discuss details of the relationship you have with us publicly with the media.

Generally however we do not disclose your personal information to a party outside of the RACT, unless that party is providing administrative services or activities to the RACT, or on its behalf, and that party is bound by the same privacy rules we follow.

Some examples of parties outside RACT to whom we may disclose your personal information and the reason for disclosure are:

• mail service providers for the mailing of membership or insurance policy documents, RACT direct marketing material etc.;
• a broker, legal adviser or other representative acting on your behalf in the course of a transaction or interaction with us; or
• another financial institution from which you may be seeking products or services so that it may assess your application.

We may disclose your personal information to other related RACT entities so we can provide you with products and services you request and to let you know about other RACT products and services. This may involve disclosing your information to relevant RACT businesses for processing, servicing, administration or marketing purposes.

If you provide us your personal information in relation to obtaining motor vehicle, home insurance or boat insurance we will disclose your personal information to RACT Insurance Pty Ltd who are the issuers of the insurance product.

If you provide us your personal information in relation to obtaining travel insurance, we will disclose your personal information to the issuers of the product.

If you provide us your personal information in relation to obtaining travellers cheques we will disclose your personal information to Travelex Limited, who is the issuers of this product.

Contractors and Agents

RACT may contract with other parties to provide services for us. For example, contractors to provide emergency roadside assistance and towing services to members, printing and mail houses to print and distribute RACT correspondence and material, marketing companies to conduct market research. In some cases we contract other parties to bring you services. For example we contract with insurance companies to offer you some insurance products. In all circumstances where RACT contracts with other parties, we will take reasonable steps to protect the privacy of any of your information disclosed to them.

How long do we keep information?

We will keep information or as long as it is necessary to service your account or to continue to provide products and services you have requested. We will retain information for a reasonable period if you cease to be our customer, unless the law requires us to keep it for longer.

Access and correction of information

You may request access to any of the personal information we hold about you.

In most cases, a summary of personal information such as your name and address details, contact telephone numbers, policy numbers, policy cover and the products and services you have with us is freely available to you by calling 13 27 22 or visiting us at one of our branches.

For more detailed requests for access to personal information, for example, access to information held in archives, a fee may be charged to cover the cost of retrieval and the supply of this information to you.

All requests for access to personal information will be handled as quickly as possible and we shall endeavour to process any request for access within thirty (30) days of having received the request. Some requests for access may take longer than thirty (30) days to process depending upon the nature of the personal information being sought.

Can my request for access to my personal information be denied?

The RACT is not always required to provide you with access to your personal information upon your request.

We may refuse you access to personal information in a number of circumstances such as where the information may relate to existing or anticipated legal proceedings with you, where denying access is required or authorised by law, or where the request for access is regarded as frivolous or vexatious.

If we deny your request for access to, or refuse your request to correct your personal information, we will explain why.

What is a Commonwealth identifier?

A Commonwealth identifier is a Commonwealth Government or Commonwealth Government agency designated identification number such as your Tax File Number (TFN) or Medicare number.

The RACT does not use Commonwealth identifiers as a means of identifying the personal information that we may have collected about you.

Do I have to be identified at all?

Generally it is not possible for us to do business with you unless we have identified you and in some cases, such as when you wish to purchase an Insurance Product with us, the law requires that you identify yourself to us.

Wherever it is lawful and practicable to do so, we may offer you the opportunity to deal with us anonymously. For example, when making an inquiry about the type of products or services we offer or when you are browsing our Internet sites.

Does my personal information leave Australia?

The RACT may send personal information outside Australia in circumstances that may include where:

• you have requested that we do so;
• we outsource an activity or function to an overseas contractor with whom we have a contractual arrangement; or
• it is necessary in order to facilitate a transaction on your behalf.

The RACT does not send personal information outside Australia unless it is authorised to do so by law.

Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time

The RACT constantly reviews all its policies and procedures to keep up to date with changes in the law, technology and market practice.

As a result we may change this Privacy Policy from time to time.

This Privacy Policy was last amended on 24^th November 2010.

Concerns or requests for access?

If you have a question about this Privacy Policy or wish to lodge a request to access your personal information you can contact us in any of the following ways,

• By visiting any one of our RACT branches
• By telephoning 13 27 22
• By writing to RACT Limited, Privacy Information, GPO Box 1292, HOBART TAS 7001

Can I complain about a breach of my privacy?

If you believe that the RACT has not protected your personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy you may lodge a complaint with us in any of the following ways,

• By telephoning 13 27 22 and requesting the RACT General Manager, People & Culture
• By writing to: General Manager, People & Culture, RACT Limited, GPO BOX, 1292, HOBART TAS 7001 or l.shephard@ract.com.au

What if I am not satisfied with the RACT’s response?

If you are not satisfied with the result of your complaint to the RACT you can refer your complaint to the Federal Privacy Commissioner.

You can contact the Federal Privacy Commissioner,

• By telephoning 1300 363 992
• By writing to: Director of Complaints, Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner, GPO Box 5218, SYDNEY NSW 1042