Privacy Policy
Our Trading name is Local Agency Co. and we are a real estate company within Sydney Australia.
Local Agency Co. (A.C.N. 096 757 041) is committed to complying with its obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Act).
The Act allows personal information to be collected, used and disclosed for the purposes for which it was collected in accordance with the Act.
This Privacy Policy only applies to the extent we collect, use and disclose personal information in connection with this website.
We also have a privacy policy which details our policy in connection with our real estate agency business. A copy of this privacy policy can be requested via info@localagencyco.com or available at our office.
This Privacy Policy may be revised, updated or replaced from time to time and we may subsequently notify users of any changes to it by posting the revised, updated or replaced Privacy Policy on this website. Any changes to it take effect on the date on which the revised, updated or replaced Privacy Policy is posted to this website.
What information do we collect?
The types of personal information we collect about you will depend on the purpose for which the personal information is collected. This can include:
- For current clients or clients seeking property management or sales services – your name, date of birth, contact details (including residential address, postal address, email address and telephone numbers), property ownership details, financial information such as bank account information, and identification documents as required by law;
- For prospective tenants – your name, date of birth, contact details (including residential address, postal address, email address and telephone numbers), details regarding family members, partners or flatmates, rental history and references, details of properties currently or previously owned or leased by you, financial information such as bank account information, property preferences, any other information relevant to assisting you with your property needs; and identification documents as required by law;
- For prospective buyers – your name, contact details (including current address, email address and telephone numbers), property preferences, financial pre-approval information, and any other information relevant to assisting you with your property needs;
- For newsletter subscribers and general enquiries – your name, email address, and telephone number(s);
- For complaints, feedback or enquiries – your name, contact details (including mailing or street address, email address and telephone numbers), and details of your enquiry or concern;
- For service providers, contractors and suppliers – your name, business contact details (including address, email address and telephone numbers), and payment details.
Generally, we will not collect sensitive information about you. However, in limited circumstances where it is necessary to provide our services effectively, we may need to collect certain sensitive information with your consent.
We also collect technical information through our website, including browser type, IP address, device information, time zone settings, and other analytical data relating to your use of our online platforms.
If you provide us with another person’s personal information (such as contact details for your solicitor, accountant, property references, or emergency contacts), you must first obtain their consent and inform them that their information will be provided to us and handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Why do we collect this information
We collect and use your personal information for purposes directly connected with providing professional real estate services. Specific purposes include:
- To provide our property services – including acting as your agent for property sales, purchases, leasing and property management, conducting property inspections, negotiating on your behalf, preparing documentation, and facilitating transactions;
- To comply with our legal obligations – including verification of identity as required under legislation, and meeting our obligations under NSW property laws and regulations;
- To communicate with you effectively – including responding to your enquiries, providing updates on your property matters, sending important information regarding inspections, maintenance or tenancy issues, and keeping you informed throughout the sales or leasing process;
- To provide market insights and updates – keeping you informed about property market news, trends, insights, properties for lease or leased, and properties for sale or sold;
- To improve our services – ensuring the proper operation and functionality of our business systems, and enhancing the quality of service we provide to our clients;
- To maintain our relationship with you – including sending newsletters, property alerts, inspection reminders and other communications that may be of interest to you.
We use technical information and website analytics to understand visitor traffic patterns and trends, to deliver relevant content while you browse our website, and to continuously improve our online platforms and services.
Information disclosed
We will use and disclose personal information only for the purposes for which it is collected in accordance with the Act, including:
- providing services and customer support, including service updates;
- maintaining and updating our records;
- comparing information for accuracy, and verifying it with third parties; and
- providing information as authorised or required by law or a relevant government body or authority.
Overseas disclosure
We do not disclose personal information overseas.
We may use cloud storage and IT servers that may be located overseas to store the personal information we hold. As electronic or networked storage can be accessed from various countries through an internet connection it is not always practical to know in which country information about an individual may be held.
Please note that in some cases countries to which we transfer information may not have laws or binding schemes that have the effect of protecting your information in a way that overall is at least substantially similar to the way in which the Australian Privacy Principles protect your information, and there may not be any mechanism or binding scheme that you can access to take action to enforce legal protections.
How long do we keep your personal information
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected (as outlined in this Privacy Policy), unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.
Retention periods vary depending on the nature of our relationship with you, the type of services we provide, and our legal and regulatory obligations. We may need to retain certain information for extended periods to comply with property industry regulations, to resolve disputes or to maintain security.
When your personal information is no longer required for these purposes, and we are no longer required to retain it to comply with our legal obligations, we will take reasonable steps to securely destroy or permanently de-identify your personal information.
Anonymity
General users of the website do not need to disclose their identity to us in order to use this website. This website does not, therefore, collect personal information about people who generally access it except in the circumstances described above.
Cookies
A cookie is an electronic token that is passed to the user’s browser which passes it back to the server whenever a page is sent to the user. Our servers may generate cookies which are used to keep track of the pages that users have accessed while using the website. The cookie also allows data to be inputted into a form or template and temporarily stored until the user chooses to save that form or template. Cookies generally remain on the user’s computer even after an internet session is ended and the computer rebooted. The cookie can be read by the server that placed it there during a subsequent visit to that same server. Their exact behavior is server specific.
When users visit this website, our server may log certain information, including the type of browser and operating system the user is using, the top level domain name (for example .com, .net, .au, etc), the address of the referring site (for example, the previous site visited), the server’s IP address, the date and time of visit and the address of the pages accessed and the documents downloaded. This information is generally only for internal statistical analysis and system administration purposes.
Any other information supplied to us (for example, if a user sends an email or enters any personal information into our website) is treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Information security
We take reasonable steps to protect all information which we hold (including personal information) from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
We may store information about you in cloud or other types of networked or electronic storage. As electronic or networked storage can be accessed from various countries through an internet connection it is not always practical to know in which country personal information about you may be held.
Where appropriate, we use secure transmission facilities. However, no transmission of information over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure and we do not warrant the security of any information transmitted to us over the internet.
Links to other websites
This website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of those websites. This Privacy Policy does not extend to those linked websites.
Marketing and opt-out
We may also use the information, including personal information (excluding sensitive information), provided by users of this website for marketing and research purposes, to analyse and improve products, benefits and services and to inform users of products, services and benefits provided by us, our related entities, suppliers or sponsors which we consider may be of value or interest to users, unless the user tells us, or has previously told us, not to. If a user does not wish to receive any information about such products, services and benefits they can contact the Privacy Officer (details specified below). We will not use your sensitive information for these purposes without your consent.
Accessing your Personal Information
Users of the website whose information we either collect, use or disclose have the right to request access to any personal information held by us which relates to them, unless we are permitted to withhold that information. We may charge a reasonable fee where access to personal information is provided. Any requests for access to a user’s personal information should be made in writing to the Privacy Officer (details specified below). The user also has the right to request the correction of any personal information which relates to them that is inaccurate, incomplete, irrelevant, misleading or out-of-date.
If the user requires any further information about our management of personal information or has any queries or complaints, they should contact:
Privacy Officer
296 Oxford Street, Paddington, NSW 2021
T: 1300 258 888
Acceptance of this Privacy Policy
By using this website, accessing any of our products, services or features, the user acknowledges that it has read, understands and accepts this Privacy Policy and the permissions to collect, use and disclose personal information, and the user authorises us to collect, use and disclose, in accordance with the Act, their personal information for the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy.