Credit Reporting Privacy Policy

Introduction

1. This Bunnings Credit Reporting Privacy Policy is the official privacy policy of Bunnings Group Limited (Bunnings) as required by the Privacy Act 1988 (particularly Part IIIA of that Act), Credit Reporting Code and the Australian Privacy Principles (“APP”) and it applies to all credit information and credit eligibility information about individuals (“credit information”) collected and held by Bunnings in its activities as a credit provider.
   In this policy we explain how and why we collect your credit information, how we use it, and what controls you have over our use of it. This policy is relevant to individuals who are current and former commercial credit account holder  customers, as well as other individuals that Bunnings deals deal with in connection with credit we provide to account commercial credit account customers (such as guarantors and directors).
   
   
2. Bunnings is committed to complying with Commonwealth legislation (the Privacy Act 1988 and the APP and the Credit Reporting Code) governing privacy of credit information by credit providers and to protecting and safeguarding your privacy when you deal with us.

Collection of information and types of of information collected

3. Bunnings collects, holds and discloses various types of credit-related information about individuals, including:
   

• identification information such as current and prior names and addresses, age, contact details and driver's licence number;
• applications for consumer or commercial credit (including the name of each relevant credit provider), the type and amount of that credit and the fact Bunnings has accessed consumer credit information to assess a relevant application;
• that Bunnings and other credit providers are or have been a provider of credit to an individual and the type, characteristics and maximum amount of credit that have been provided or will be provided;
• the date that any credit contract Bunnings or other credit providers have or had with an individual was entered into and the date that it comes to an end;
• payments owed to Bunnings or another credit provider, in connection with credit provided to an individual or in relation to which an individual is a guarantor, overdue for more than 60 days (and, if such an individual  subsequently repays any such overdue payment, the fact of that repayment);
• whether in Bunnings’ or another credit provider's opinion an individual has committed a serious credit infringement;
• whether an individual has entered into arrangements with Bunnings or other credit providers in connection with credit provided to the individual;
• court proceedings information, personal insolvency information and credit-related publicly available information;
• scores, ratings, summaries, evaluations and other information relating to an individual’s credit worthiness which is derived by Bunnings or its agents or by CRBs wholly or partly on the basis of the information above;
• certain administrative information relating to credit, such as account and customer numbers.

While the Privacy Act uses a variety of terms to refer to the types of information  above, for ease of understanding and reading this policy, we will refer to it as "credit information".

4. Credit information may be collected in a number of ways including:
   

• being provided by an individual directly to Bunnings or by persons acting on behalf of the individual (such as on applications or other forms);
• being provided by credit reporting bodies (“CRBs”) and other credit providers with the consent of the individual;
• being information that is in the public domain;
• being information is derived by Bunnings us from an individual’s usage and (where applicable) trade on and repayment of any account held with Bunnings. 
  

5. Any financial information that is collected via Bunnings’ web site or through Bunnings Trade or Supplier BITS Internet trading systems relating to you is used by Bunnings to bill you for products and services. Any financial information that is collected is for the purpose of transaction approval and funds transfer. Any such financial information we collect from or about you is kept securely and held on secure servers in controlled facilities. 
   
   
6. At or before the time any credit information is collected by Bunnings about you, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of who we are, the fact that you are able to gain access to the information held about yourself, the purpose of the collection, the type(s) of organisations to which we usually disclose such information, any laws requiring the collection of the information and the main consequences for you if all or part of the information is not collected. 
   
   
7. Bunnings may hold credit information about you in physical form or in electronic form on our systems or the systems of Bunnings’ service providers.
   The credit information Bunnings holds about you is protected by physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards and Bunnings also require its service providers that hold and process such information on Bunnings’ behalf to follow appropriate standards of security and confidentiality.
   Bunnings trains its staff and others who work for it on how to handle credit information appropriately and Bunnings restricts access to what is necessary for specific job functions.

Use of information collected and disclosure of personal information to others 

8. We may collect, hold, use or disclose credit information held about you for the purposes for which such information is collected. These purposes include:

•  to form decisions as to whether to provide an individual, or an entity associated with an individual, with credit or to accept an individual as a guarantor;
•  to make assessments relating to an individual’s credit worthiness which are used in Bunnings’ ongoing decision-making processes regarding provision of credit and the amount of such credit;
• to participate in the credit reporting system and providing information to CRBs as permitted by Part IIIA of the Privacy Act and the Credit Reporting Code;
•  to assist an individual or entity associated with the individual to avoid defaulting on credit-related obligations to Bunnings or other credit providers;
•  to undertake debt recovery and enforcement activities, including in relation to guarantors, and to deal with serious credit infringements;
•  to deal with complaints and meet legal and regulatory requirements; and
• to assist other credit providers to do the same.

(Some credit information may only be used or disclosed for some of the above purposes and in some circumstances. Some examples of circumstances are set out below.)

9. Generally, Bunnings will be permitted to use or disclose credit information held about you where you consented to the use or disclosure. Bunnings may disclose credit information about you to CRBs and/or to other credit providers. For example, where you consented to the disclosure or where you failed to meet payment obligations in relation to credit provided by Bunnings or if you have committed a serious credit infringement. 
   
   
10. CRBs may include credit information provided by Bunnings in reports provided to other credit providers to assist such other credit providers to assess the individual’s credit-worthiness. Bunnings shares credit information with the following CRBs:

Veda Advantage Limited
Level 15,100 Arthur Street
North Sydney  NSW  2060
Telephone: 1300 762 207

Dun & Bradstreet (Australia) Pty Ltd
Ground floor
479 St Kilda Road
Melbourne VIC 3004
Telephone: 1300 734 806 

Rights in relation to CRBs

Anonymity and Pseudonymity

11. You have the option of dealing with Bunnings anonymously or with a pseudonym.  However, this only applies where it is practicable for Bunnings to deal with you acting anonymously or under a pseudonym such as a general enquiry.  

Direct Marketing

12. As part of Bunnings’ functions and business activities and to promote the services we can provide to you, Bunnings may use personal information that you have provided to Bunnings for the purposes of direct marketing.  Direct marketing includes, but is not limited to, sending to you and/or contacting you in relation to promotions and information about Bunnings.  We will generally do so where you have expressed an interest in receiving such information.  You can opt out of receiving direct marketing communications by sending an email to Bunnings’ Privacy Officer at privacy@bunnings.com.au or using the link or contact information provided in the direct marketing communication.

Links

13. Our web site may contain links to other web sites and those third party web sites may collect personal information about you. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other businesses or the content of web sites that are linked to our web site. Bunnings encourages users to be aware when they leave the site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information.

Security and storage

14. Bunnings places a great importance on the security of all information associated with our customers, clients and contractors. We have security measures in place to attempt to reasonably protect personal information against loss, misuse and alteration, interference, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.  All personal information held is kept securely and that held electronically is held on secure servers in controlled facilities.
     
15. Personal information is de-identified or destroyed securely when no longer required by us.
    
    
16. Bunnings retains the information you provide to us including your contact and credit card details to enable us to verify transactions and customer details and to retain adequate records for legal and accounting purposes. This information is held on secure servers in controlled facilities.
    
    
17. Information stored within our computer systems can only be accessed by those entrusted with authority and computer network password sanctions.
    
    
18. No data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100 per cent secure. As a result, while we strive to protect users' personal information, Bunnings cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted to it or from its online products or services, and users do so at their own risk. Once Bunnings receives your transmission, it makes reasonable efforts to ensure its security on its systems.
    
    
19. You are responsible for keeping your passwords and/or account information secret. You should be careful and responsible whenever you are online.

Access to and correction of personal information

20. Bunnings is committed to and takes reasonable steps to maintain accurate, timely, relevant, complete and appropriate information about our customers, clients and web-site users.
    
    
21. You may request access to personal information about you held by Bunnings.  Requests for access to your personal information should be made to:
    
    Bunnings’ Privacy Officer
    16-18 Cato St,
    HAWTHORN EAST  VIC  3123
    AUSTRALIA
    
    Telephone: +613 8831 9740
    Email: privacy@bunnings.com.au
    
    
22. Verification of identity is required with a request to access (or update personal information) so that we can ensure your personal information is disclosed only to you.
    
    
23. Inaccurate information will be corrected upon receiving advice from you.
    
    
24. If we refuse to provide you with access to or correct the personal information held about you by us, then we will provide reasons for such refusal.
    
    
25. Bunnings will respond to any requests for access or correction within a reasonable time of receipt of the request, but by no later than 30 days of the request being received. 

Complaints

26. If you have a question or complaint about our Privacy Policies or Bunnings’ collection, use or safe disposal or destruction of your personal information, your feedback should be directed in the first instance to Bunnings’ Privacy Officer at the contact details set out at clause 19 of this policy.
    
    
27. We will promptly investigate your feedback and attempt to resolve the matter. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of this procedure or we have not responded to you with a determination within 30 days then you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:
    
    Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
    Website: www.oaic.gov.au
    Phone: 1300 363 992
    
    Or if in New Zealand: Privacy Commissioner (NZ)
    Website: www.privacy.org.nz

Transfer of information overseas

28. Bunnings does not ordinarily disclose personal information to overseas recipients.  Personal information will only be disclosed by Bunnings to overseas recipients in accordance with law such as if the disclosure is required by Australian law.

Cookies

29. Bunnings collects information from the site using "IP files".
    
    
30. When you visit the Bunnings site to read, browse or download information, our system will record/log your IP address (the address which identifies your computer on the internet and which is automatically recognised by our web server), date and time of your visit to our site, the pages viewed and any information downloaded. This information will only be used for the purpose of site analysis and to help us offer you improved online service. We may automatically collect non-personal information about you such as the type of Internet browsers you use or the site from which you linked to our Web Sites. You cannot be identified from this information and it is only used to assist us in providing an effective service on our Web Sites.

Changes to Privacy Policy

31. If Bunnings decides to or is required to change this Credit Privacy Policy, it will post changes on this Bunnings Privacy Policy page so that users are always aware of what information is collected, how it is used and the way in which information may be disclosed. As a result, please remember to refer back to this Bunnings Privacy Policy and Credit Privacy Policy regularly to review any amendments.

Contacting us

32. If you require further information regarding our Privacy Policies, please contact us at the following address:
    
    E-mail: privacy@bunnings.com.au
    
    
33. Should you wish to read more information on privacy legislation or the Australian Privacy Principles we recommend that you visit the  web-site of the office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au or, if in New Zealand, the Privacy Commissioner’s website at www.privacy.org.nz

Acceptance

34. You accept and acknowledge that your use of this site includes your acceptance of this Credit Privacy Policy, Bunnings Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use.