What is personal information
When used in this Privacy Policy, the term “Personal Information” has the meaning given to it in the Act. In general terms, it is any information that can be used to personally identify you. This may include your name, address, telephone number, email address and profession or occupation. If the information we collect personally identifies you, or you are reasonably identifiable from it, the information will be considered Personal Information.
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Who we share your data with
If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
How long we retain your data
Suggested text: If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognise and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Where we send your data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
What type of Personal Information does Sapphire Properties Australia collect and hold about me?
Sapphire Properties Australia may collect any of the following information about you if you are a current or prospective vendor, purchaser or landlord of real estate or if you visit our website or make an enquiry with us via another method: contact details (including, name, address, telephone number and email address); driver’s license number; current property ownership and title details; desired property ownership details; and details of properties sold or acquired by you. If you are a current or prospective tenant for a rental property, Sapphire Properties Australia may collect the following additional information from you: contact details (including, name, address, telephone number and email address); driver’s license number; employment details such as your employment status, employer, salary, length of employment; other sources of income; and personal and financial referees whom we may contact about your application. Sometimes Sapphire Properties Australia may also need to ask you for other forms of Personal Information to enable us to provide services to you.
How does Sapphire Properties Australia collect Personal Information about me?
Sapphire Properties Australia collects your Personal Information directly from you unless it is unreasonable or impracticable to do so. When collecting Personal Information from you, we may collect in various ways, including through when you write to or email us, when you access and use our website and during conversations between you and our representatives; Sapphire Properties Australia may collect information about you from the following third party sources: various databases in the public domain such as Telstra White Pages, Australia Post DPID database, Titles Office or other property databases; credit reporting bodies, law enforcement agencies and other government entities; and referrals and recommendations from existing clients of Sapphire Properties Australia. As part of its due diligence process prior to entering into lease or rental agreements with you, Sapphire Properties Australia may disclose your information to authorised credit-checking agencies.
What happens if we can’t collect your Personal Information?
If you do not provide us with the Personal Information described above, some or all of the following may happen: we may not be able to provide our services to you, either to the same standard or at all; we may not be able to provide you with information about services that you may want, including information about new properties that are available for lease or purchase; or we may be unable to tailor the content of our website to your preferences and your experience of our website may not be as enjoyable or useful.
Why does Sapphire Properties Australia collect, hold, use and disclose your Personal Information?
Sapphire Properties Australia collects this information for a range of purposes including: enable Sapphire Properties Australia to provide you with the services and/or products you may require; to comply with local, state and federal legislation or regulations, including with respect to real estate property sales, rental and administration; to enable Sapphire Properties Australia and its third party partner businesses to assist you with related or ancillary services, as required; for our internal administrative, marketing, planning, product development and research requirements to share your Personal Information within Sapphire Properties Australia (including between Sapphire Properties Australia’s parent company IMAN K PTY LTD), contractors or service providers; to update Sapphire Properties Australia’s records and keep your contact details up to date; to deal with your queries or customer service issues promptly, whether by email, telephone or mail; to keep you up-to-date with services we think would be of particular interest to you; to conduct relevant business processing functions; and to process and respond to any complaint made by you. Your Personal Information will not be shared, sold, rented or disclosed other than as described in this Privacy Policy.
How does Sapphire Properties Australia use the Personal Information held about me?
Any Personal Information about you that Sapphire Properties Australia collects and records will only be used or disclosed by Sapphire Properties Australia for the purpose of: compliance with obligations under real-estate regulations and laws applicable for Victoria; helping Sapphire Properties Australia efficiently and effectively deliver and improve on products and services; any other purpose if you would reasonably expect Sapphire Properties Australia to use or disclose that Personal Information for that other purpose and that other purpose is related to the purpose for which the information is collected; to provide you with access to protected areas of our website and to assess the performance of our website and to improve the operation of our website; to conduct business processing functions including sharing Personal Information within Sapphire Properties Australia and with its contractors, service providers or other third parties; and for Sapphire Properties Australia’s administrative, planning, product or service development, quality control and research purposes; and complying with any other relevant laws or regulations. Sapphire Properties Australia may also use or disclose the information it collects for any other purpose specified to you at the time of collection. If Sapphire Properties Australia wishes to use or disclose any of your Personal Information in any other ways than described above, Sapphire Properties Australia will not do so unless it: has your express consent to do so; has reasonable grounds to believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent a threat to life or health; or has reasonable grounds to believe that the use or disclosure is required by law or to enforce the law.
What about direct marketing?
We may send you direct marketing communications and information about our services that we consider may be of interest to you. These may include: offering to provide you with products or services provided by Sapphire Properties Australia and third-party business partners; or sending you news and other information about Sapphire Properties Australia’s activities and general promotional material which Sapphire Properties Australia believes may be of interest to you. These communications may be sent in various forms, including mail, SMS, fax and email, in accordance with applicable marketing laws, such a (Cth). When Sapphire Properties Australia does this, Sapphire Properties Australia will provide you with an express opportunity to decline receiving any further communication from Sapphire Properties Australia of this type via an opt-out mechanism. If you indicate a preference for a method of communication, we will endeavour to use that method whenever practical to do so. You may at any time request not to receive direct marketing from Sapphire Properties Australia by contacting us (see the details below) or by using opt-out facilities provided in the marketing communications and we will then ensure that your name is removed from our mailing list.
The Sapphire Properties Australia website
Sapphire Properties Australia’s privacy policy also applies to our website at www.sapphireproperties.com.au. When you access our website, we may send a “cookie” (which is a small summary file containing a unique ID number) to your computer. This enables us to recognise your computer and greet you each time you visit our website without bothering you with a request to register. It also enables us to keep track of services you view so that, if you consent, we can send you news about those services. We also use cookies to measure traffic patterns, to determine which areas of our website have been visited and to measure transaction patterns in the aggregate. We use this to research our users’ habits so that we can improve our online services and create a better online experience for you. Our cookies do not collect Personal Information, although they do identify your browser. If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can set your browser so that your computer does not accept them. We may log IP addresses (that is, the electronic addresses of computers connected to the internet) to analyse trends, administer the website, track users’ movements, and gather broad demographic information. As our website is linked to the Internet, and the Internet is inherently insecure, we cannot provide any assurance regarding the security of transmission of information you communicate to us online. We also cannot guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the Internet. Accordingly, any Personal Information or other information, which you transmit to us online, is transmitted at your own risk. Our website may contain links to other websites operated by third parties. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of any third-party website and we are not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of any third party website. Third party websites are responsible for informing you about their own privacy practices.
Can I be anonymous when I deal with Sapphire Properties Australia?
To some extent you can preserve your anonymity when you deal with Sapphire Properties Australia. You can browse our website without providing any Personal Information, you can access our real-estate advertising in various publications, and you can generally attend auctions without providing personal details if you do not intend to bid. However, when you enter into transactions with Sapphire Properties Australia (including IMAN K PTY LTD) that involve the sale, purchase or rental of real estate property, then various Acts, statutory legislation and regulations require you to provide Sapphire Properties Australia with Personal Information so as to identify you.
What happens if I want to access or correct the Personal Information held about me?
What happens if I want to access or correct the Personal Information held about me? You may request access to your Personal Information held by Sapphire Properties Australia, at any time by contacting us (see details below). We will try to provide you with suitable means of accessing your Personal Information (for example, by mailing or emailing it to you), subject to some exceptions. We will respond to your request for access within 14 days and endeavour to provide the requested information within 30 days. Sapphire Properties Australia may charge you a reasonable fee to cover its administrative and other reasonable costs in providing the information to you. Sapphire Properties Australia will not charge for simply making the request and will not charge for making any corrections to your Personal Information. There may be instances where Sapphire Properties Australia cannot grant you access to the Personal Information we hold. For example, we may not be able to provide access to information in the following situations: where in Sapphire Properties Australia’s opinion providing your access may create a serious threat to the life or health of any individual or may be an unreasonable intrusion into the privacy of another individual; where your request for access is, in Sapphire Properties Australia’s opinion, frivolous or vexatious; or where providing access would be unlawful, may prejudice an investigation of possible unlawful activity, may prejudice enforcement of law, or denying access is specifically authorised by law. If for any reason Sapphire Properties Australia does not allow you to access your Personal Information, Sapphire Properties Australia will provide you with reasons in writing for its decision. If you believe that Personal Information Sapphire Properties Australia holds about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request that we amend it. Sapphire Properties Australia will consider if the information requires amendment. If Sapphire Properties Australia does not agree that there are grounds for amendment, then Sapphire Properties Australia will add a note to the Personal Information stating that you disagree with it.
Who does Sapphire Properties Australia disclose my Personal Information to?
We may disclose your Personal Information: within Sapphire Properties Australia, including between Sapphire Properties Australia’s parent company IMAN K PTY LTD; to Sapphire Properties Australia employees and our contractors or service providers for the purposes of operation of our website or our business, fulfilling requests by you, and to otherwise provide services to you; if you are a tenant of any property that we are managing, to the National Tenancy Database; to suppliers and other third parties with whom we have commercial relationships, for business, marketing, and related purposes; and to any organisation for any authorised purpose with your express consent. There are some instances when Sapphire Properties Australia (including IMAN K PTY LTD) need to provide your Personal Information to third parties. Sapphire Properties Australia or Sapphire Properties Australia franchisees may be bound by law to provide your details to government-related bodies, including the Titles Office or the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority. Sometimes Sapphire Properties Australia or Sapphire Properties Australia franchisees may need to outsource some of our administrative and other property-related functions to external organisations such as advertising agencies, signwriters, building and garden maintenance contractors or consultants such as accountants, lawyers, surveyors and other advisors. Other third parties may include web hosting providers, IT systems administrators, mailing houses, couriers, payment processors, data entry service providers, electronic network administrators, debt collectors, and other business advisors and consultants. Most of the above organisations are bound by express or implied confidentiality obligations to Sapphire Properties Australia. Sapphire Properties Australia Pty Ltd may also need to provide your details to Sapphire Properties Australia franchisees. Sapphire Properties Australia may also provide your details to third party business partners for the purpose of offering to provide you with products or services provided by Sapphire Properties Australia or these business partners that Sapphire Properties Australia considers relevant to you. Sapphire Properties Australia does not sell your personal details to other organisations. We may however use the information about you to assist us with internal marketing and research. We may disclose Personal Information to our related bodies corporate and third party suppliers and service providers located overseas for some of the purposes listed above. We take reasonable steps to ensure that the overseas recipients of your Personal Information do not breach the privacy obligations relating to your Personal Information. We may disclose your Personal Information to entities located outside of Australia, including our data hosting and other IT service providers, who may pass information to secondary data hosting providers located outside of Australia.
How does Sapphire Properties Australia keep my Personal Information secure?
Sapphire Properties Australia will take reasonable steps to ensure information Sapphire Properties Australia collects, uses or discloses is stored in a secure environment that is accessed only by persons authorised by Sapphire Properties Australia so as to prevent interference, misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. If the Personal Information is no longer needed for any purpose, Sapphire Properties Australia will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify the Personal Information. Sapphire Properties Australia endeavours to provide a secure environment and a reliable system but you should be aware that there are inherent risks associated with the electronic storage and transmission of information (particularly via the Internet) which cannot be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Who do I contact for further information? Sapphire Properties Australia’s Privacy Officer can assist you with any enquiries you have about the information that we hold about you. They can be contacted on (03) 9690 4388 from 9.00am to 5.00pm (Melbourne time), Monday to Friday.
What if I have a complaint and other information
If you wish to make a complaint about a breach of this Privacy Policy or the Australian Privacy Principles of the Act you can contact us using the contact details below. You will need to provide us with sufficient details regarding your complaint together with any supporting evidence.
Our Chief Privacy Officer will investigate the issue and determine the steps that we will undertake to resolve your complaint. We will contact you if we require any additional information from you and will notify you in writing of the outcome of the investigation.
If you are not satisfied with our determination, you can contact us to discuss your concerns or contact the Australian Privacy Commissioner via www.oaic.gov.au.
Privacy and site changes
SAPPHIRE PROPERTIES AUSTRALIA may update this Privacy Policy from time to time so please review it periodically for changes. If the changes are significant or substantive, they will either be advised to you in writing or posted on our websites at www.sapphirepropertiesaustralia.com.au.
Your continued use of our websites or services, requesting our assistance or the provision of further Personal Information to us (directly or via an authorised person) after this Privacy Policy has been revised, indicates your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.
What if I have a complaint or concern?
If you have a query relating to this Privacy Policy or wish to make a complaint, please contact us using the following contact details: SAPPHIRE PROPERTIES AUSTRALIA
Chief Privacy Officer
PO Box 369 Port Melbourne Victoria
Australia agents@sapphireproperties.com.au We will do our best to try and resolve your complaint within 90 days.
More Information
For more information about the Privacy Act in Australia and protecting your privacy, visit the www.privacy.gov.au (external link) website.
What if you are unable to resolve my complaint or concern? If we are unable to resolve your complaint within this time, or you are unhappy with the outcome, you may refer your complaint to the Australian Information Commissioner.
How does this policy change over time? Sapphire Properties Australia may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any updated versions of this Privacy Policy will be posted on our website and will be effective from the date of posting. This privacy policy was last updated on October 2021 Although Sapphire Properties Australia intends to observe this policy at all times, it is not legally binding on Sapphire Properties Australia in any way unless as otherwise described as required under the relevant legislation. From time to time Sapphire Properties Australia may regard it as necessary or desirable to act outside the policy. Sapphire Properties Australia may do so, subject only to any other applicable contractual rights you have and any statutory rights you have under the Act or other applicable legislation.