Privacy Statement

Scope

This Privacy Statement applies to information collected by Equity-One Mortgage Fund Limited ™ ("Equity-One™" or "we") and its related bodies corporate. It outlines how we manage your personal information and safeguard your privacy.

Equity-One™ is committed to providing only the best service which includes the protection of your privacy. We understand how important it is to protect your personal information. Our privacy policy ensures your right to privacy as we recognise that any personal information we may collect will only be used for the purpose of servicing your needs. Be confident that any personal information we collect will be treated with appropriate respect, ensuring protection of your personal information.

Our commitment is to abide by the national privacy principals for the protection of personal information, as set out in the Privacy Act 1988 and any other relevant law.

What personal information is collected?

Equity-One™ only collects personal information that is reasonably necessary for us to perform our functions. The kind of personal information we collect and hold will depend upon the type of products and services that you request from us and may include:

• information you give us when you request a product or service from us. This information may include your name, address, contact details and relevant identification documents;
• financial information about you such as your financial position and information obtained from credit checks if you have authorised us to carry out those checks;
• communications between us and your financial adviser or mortgage broker; and
• transactional information about the use of a product if you have or had a product with us.

How personal information is collected?

Equity-One™ collects your personal information in a number of ways including:

• directly from you, such as when you provide the information by phone, email or in an application form; and
• from third parties such as credit reporting agencies, other credit providers or from your broker / representative.

Use and disclosure of your personal information

Equity-One™ may use your personal information in a number of ways including:

• to verify your identity or transactions which you may enter into with us;
• to provide the product and services that you request;
• to administer and manage the provision of our products and services;
• to respond to queries, complaints or to provide you with our general customer services;
• to assess credit which you seek from Equity-One™ loan programmes and to administer any credit a Equity-One™ loan programme provides;
• to comply with laws and regulatory requirements including complying with any request made by a governmental authority in connection with legal proceedings or the prevention or detection of fraud and crime; or 
• to train our staff.

We may use your personal information for additional purposes related to the purposes listed above. We will not, however, use your personal information other than for:

• a purpose made known to you;
• a purpose you would reasonably expect;
• a purpose required or permitted by law; or
• a purpose otherwise authorised by you.

Third party access to personal information

We may contract out some of our functions such as mailing, settlement services, banking / transaction functions or identification verification to external service providers from time to time and only in those instances will we disclose personal information to those providers. Only information pertinent to these products or services will be provided and confidentiality clauses feature in our service agreements with third party providers and suppliers.

We may also disclose your information to investors in the Equity-One Mortgage Fund ™ so that products and services may be offered.

Where we have obtained your approval to conduct credit checks, we may obtain personal information from or disclose personal information to credit reporting agencies.

Quality of the personal information

We aim to ensure that personal information we retain about you is accurate, complete and up to date. However, the accuracy of that information depends to a large extent on the information you provide.  

During the course of our relationship with you we request that you inform us of any changes to your personal information.

Storage and security of information

Equity-One™ stores personal information in a combination of computer storage facilities, paper-based files and other records. We will take reasonable steps to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Access to your personal information

You may request access to the personal information that we hold about you or request correction to personal information that we hold. Subject to the limited circumstances set out below, we will endeavour to process your request in a reasonable time. In order for us to process your request we will need to verify your identity and, in some circumstances, we may need to charge an administrative fee, of which we will inform you in advance.

In the event that we refuse you access to your personal information, we will provide you with an explanation for that refusal. These reasons may include:

• an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals;
• the information relates to legal proceedings between Equity-One™ and you;
• the information would reveal our commercially-sensitive decision-making process; or
• we are prevented by law from disclosing the information or providing access.

Use of our web site

We will collect some information from you when you apply online through the Equity-One™  website. Your use of the facilities and services available through the website will determine the amount and type of information that we will collect about you.

The only personal information which we collect about you when you use the website is what you tell us about yourself; for example, by completing an online form such as an application form or by asking for a disclosure document for our products or by sending us an email. We will record your email address if you send us an email.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

Equity-One™ may make changes to this Privacy Statement from time to time for any reason and will make concerted efforts to update the website in a timely manner.

Contacting us

If you would like more information about how we manage your personal information, please contact us on 03 9620 3477, or write to us at the following address:

The Privacy Officer
Equity-One Mortgage Fund Limited ™
Level 13, 256 Queen Street
Melbourne Victoria 3000

If you wish to raise any concerns about any breach or potential breach of your privacy, please contact our Privacy Officer and we will make every effort to resolve your complaint internally.