Word of Mouth Online Pty Ltd (ABN 90 666 730 696) ("we", "us" or the "Company") is committed to privacy protection. At https://www.wordofmouth.com.au/ ("this site"), we understand the importance of keeping personal information private and secure. This privacy policy ("Privacy Policy") describes generally how we manage personal information and safeguard privacy. If you would like more information, please don't hesitate to contact us.
This Privacy Policy forms part of, and is subject to the provisions of, our Website Terms of Use (https://www.wordofmouth.com.au/conditions-of-use).
We will treat all personal information in accordance with any and all obligations that are
binding upon us under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Privacy Act”). The Privacy Act lays down
13 key principles in relation to the collection and treatment of personal information, which are
called the “Australian Privacy Principles”.
At this site, we only collect personal information that is necessary for us to conduct our business as it's a user-generated directory where people share the experiences they have with businesses - both good and bad, which includes (without limitation) enabling users to:
We may collect personal information that you provide to us about yourself when you:
When you request contact details, such as phone numbers, of businesses, the information you provide in the form will be shared with the respective business. This includes your name, email address, and any additional details entered in the form. By submitting a contact request, you agree to this sharing for communication purposes.
Note: Businesses receiving your information may have their own privacy practices.
This site may also collect Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. IP addresses are assigned to computers on the internet to uniquely identify them within the global network. The Company collects and manages IP addresses as part of the service of providing internet session management and for security purposes. The Company may also collect and use web log, computer and connection information for security purposes and to help prevent and detect any misuse of, or fraudulent activities involving, this site.
This site uses "cookies" to help personalise your online experience. A cookie is a text file or a packet of information that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server to identify and interact more effectively with your computer. There are two types of cookies that may be used at this site: a persistent cookie and a session cookie. A persistent cookie is entered by your web browser into the "Cookies" folder on your computer and remains in that folder after you close your browser, and may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to this site. A session cookie is held temporarily in your computer’s memory and disappears after you close your browser or shut down your computer. Cookies cannot be used to run programs. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. In some cases, cookies may collect and store personal information about you. The Company extends the same privacy protection to your personal information, whether gathered via cookies or from other sources. You can configure your internet browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies or notify you when a cookie is sent. Please refer to your internet browser’s instructions to learn more about these functions. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser settings to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of this site.
This site uses cookies in order to:
Many of these cookies are removed or cleared when you log out but some may remain so that your preferences are remembered for future sessions.
In some cases, third parties may place cookies through this site. For example:
Your personal information may be used in order to:
and for any other purpose reasonably considered necessary or desirable by the Company in relation to the operation of our business.
From time to time we may email our customers with news, information and offers relating to our own services or those of selected partners. Your personal information may also be collected so that the Company can promote and market products and services to you. This is to keep you informed of products, services, and special offers we believe you will find valuable and may continue after you cease acquiring products and services from us. If you would prefer not to receive promotional or other material from us, please let us know and we will respect your request. You can unsubscribe from such communications at any time if you choose.
For the purposes set out above, the Company may disclose your personal information to organisations outside the Company. Your personal information may be disclosed to these organisations only in relation to this site, and the Company takes reasonable steps to ensure that these organisations are bound by confidentiality and privacy obligations in relation to the protection of your personal information. These organisations may carry out or provide
In addition, we may disclose your personal information to:
If you would like more information about the way we manage personal information that we hold about you, or are concerned that we may have breached your privacy, please contact us by email to [email protected] or by post.
In most cases, you may have access to personal information that we hold about you. We will handle requests for access to your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles. All requests for access to your personal information must be directed to the Privacy Officer by email using the email address provided above or by writing to us at our postal address. We will deal with all requests for access to personal information as quickly as possible. Requests for a large amount of information, or information that is not currently in use, may require further time before a response can be given. We may charge you a fee for access if a cost is incurred by us in order to retrieve your information, but in no case will we charge you a fee for your application for access.
In some cases, we may refuse to give you access to personal information that we hold about you. This may include circumstances where giving you access would:
We may also refuse access where the personal information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings, and the information would not be accessible by the process of discovery in those proceedings.
If we refuse to give you access, we will provide you with reasons for our refusal.
We will amend any personal information about you that is held by us and that is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date if you request us to do so. If we disagree with your view about the accuracy, completeness or currency of a record of your personal information that is held by us, and you ask us to associate with that record a statement that you have a contrary view, we will take reasonable steps to do so.
We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of the information that you provide us and we will take all reasonable precautions to protect your personal information from unauthorised use or alteration. In our business, personal information may be stored both electronically (on our computer systems and with our website hosting provider) and in hard-copy form. Firewalls, anti-virus software and email filters, as well as passwords, protect all of our electronic information. Likewise, we take all reasonable measures to ensure the security of hard-copy information.
Data that we collect about you may be stored or otherwise processed by third party services with data centres based outside Australia, such as Google Analytics, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Apple, etc and online relationship management tools. We consider that the collection and such processing of this information is necessary to pursue our legitimate interests in a way that might reasonably be expected (eg, to analyse how our clients use our services, develop our services and grow our business) and which does notmaterially impact your rights, freedom or interests.
The Company requires that all third parties that act as “data processors” for us provide sufficient guarantees and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to secure your data, only process personal data for specified purposes and have committed themselves to confidentiality.
We will only keep your data for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, subject to satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. At the end of any retention period, your data will either be deleted completely or anonymised (for example, by aggregation with other data so that it can be used in a non-identifiable way for statistical analysis and business planning). In some circumstances, you can ask us to delete your data.
To ensure that your personal information is accurate and up to date, please promptly advise us of any changes to your information by contacting our data protection officer by email at [email protected] or by post.
You may click-through to third party websites from this site, in which case we recommend that you refer to the privacy statement of the websites you visit. This Privacy Policy applies to this site only and the Company assumes no responsibility for the content of any third party websites.
We may use the Google AdWords and/or Facebook re-marketing services to advertise on third party websites to previous visitors to this site based upon their activity on this site. This allows us to tailor our marketing to better suit your needs and to only display advertisements that are relevant to you. Such advertising may be displayed on a Google search results page or a website in the Google Display Network or inside Facebook. Google and Facebook may use cookies and/or pixel tags to achieve this. Any data so collected by Google and/or Facebook will be used in accordance with their own respective privacy policies. None of your personal Google and/or Facebook information is reported to us. You can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ads Settings page (https://www.google.com/settings/ads). Facebook has enabled an AdChoices link that enables you to opt out of targeted advertising.
The Company welcomes the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) of the European Union (“EU”) as an important step forward in streamlining data protection globally. Although we do not operate an establishment within the EU and do not target any offering of services towards clients in the EU specifically, we intend to comply with the data handling regime laid out in the GDPR in respect of any personal information of data subjects in the EU that we may obtain.
The requirements of the GDPR are broadly similar to those set out in the Privacy Act and include the following rights:
If you object to the processing of your personal information, or if you have provided your consent to processing and you later choose to withdraw it, we will respect that choice in accordance with our legal obligations. However, please be aware that:
From time to time, it may be necessary for us to revise this Privacy Policy. Any changes will be in accordance with any applicable requirements under the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles. We may notify you about changes to this Privacy Policy by posting an updated version on this site.
If you require any further information about the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles, you can visit The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (https://www.oaic.gov.au/).
Last Updated: September 2023