This affiliate Rooms Now accommodation booking service is operated by Australian Online Travel Pty Ltd (AOT) ABN 17 105 135 331 of Level 4, 18-22 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000.
This policy addresses personal privacy matters. Its purpose
is to explain, in general terms, what sort of personal information AOT
holds and why we hold it, and how AOT collects, uses and discloses that
information. In this policy, where we refer to "you" or "your", we are
referring specifically to natural persons as opposed to other entities such as
partnerships, trusts and companies.
AOT is committed to safeguarding the privacy of any
personal information individuals are required, or may choose, to give to us.
This policy represents AOT's position on the management of personal
information. It also reflects the requirements of the Privacy Act and has been
prepared with the assistance of publications issued by the Office of the
Federal Privacy Commissioner.
How does AOT collect personal information?
AOT will only ask for the personal information it reasonably requires to do
business with you. Most information is obtained through online forms at our
website www.needitnow.com.au. We may also collect personal
information via phone or through hardcopy forms.
AOT will not collect non-publicly available personal information about you
without your consent and will not buy, rent or otherwise acquire information
about you from third parties (such as marketing agencies) without your prior
express consent.
What information do we collect? How do we use it?
The personal information AOT may collect about you is dependent, to some
extent, upon your relationship with AOT. The following are some
examples of the types of personal information that AOT may collect from
individuals:
When you sign up for our newsletter, we need only
an email address, which we use to send the newsletter you requested.
When you submit any suggestion, recommendation,
or comment we also ask for your email address although we will not publish your
email address without your prior approval. We may use this information to
contact you in clarifying any issues you raised.
When you enter a contest or other promotional
feature, we may ask for your name, address, and email address so we can
administer the contest and notify winners. AOT may also use the
information collected to market certain services or products to the
contestants. Where AOT intends to do this, it will advise the
contestant of this in the contest's terms and conditions
When you make an accommodation booking through
AOT we require your name, phone number and email address. This
information will be passed to the accommodation provider. You enter credit card
details only on the Card Authoriser's secure server. Your credit card details
are never supplied to AOT.
We may also use the information we collect to
notify you about important functionality changes to the website, new AOT
services, and special offers we think you'll find valuable.
An overview of how AOT uses and discloses personal information
Subject to the exceptions set out in the National Privacy
Principles (for example, the disclosure of personal information when allowed or
required by law), AOT will only use and/or disclose your personal
information for:
(a) the primary purpose for which it is collected; or
(b) a related purpose, where you would reasonably expect that it be
used and/or disclosed without your further consent.
Will AOT send you marketing material in the mail and email and what can you do to stop that?
A related purpose for which AOT collects personal information may be
marketing. However, if this is not the
case, AOT is entitled to send marketing material to you provided it
gives you a chance to stop or "opt-out" of receiving this material.
AOT will set out in all its standard marketing material details of simple steps
that you can take to stop receiving marketing material.
AOT will not charge you any additional cost or in any way disadvantage you if you choose to opt out of
receiving marketing material.
When does AOT share information?
AOT generally will only disclose your personal information to the accommodation provider after you have
made a booking for accommodation.
AOT will not disclose your personal information to a third
party for marketing purposes unless AOT has obtained your express
consent or you have "opted-in", that is, you have expressly agreed to your
personal information being disclosed to a third party.
AOT may provide aggregate statistics about our customers,
sales, traffic patterns, and related site information to reputable third-party
vendors, but these statistics will include no personally identifying
information.
AOT may release personal information when
we believe, in good faith, that such release is reasonably necessary to comply
with law or to protect the rights, property or safety of AOT, our
users, or others.
AOT may disclose your personal information to a likely or actual buyer of the whole or part of the
AOT business, if reasonably necessary for such a sale.
Security measures AOT adopts to protect personal information
AOT stores personal information in a range of paper-based and electronic forms:
(a) Paper
Security – Where personal information is stored in physical form, AOT
will use access control measures such as keyed access and security alarms to
deter and detect unauthorised access.
(b) Computer and Network Security – AOT adopts a number of security measures to protect
information from unauthorised access to its computer systems which include:
* access control for authorised users such as user passwords and screen saver passwords;
* limiting access to shared network drives to authorised staff;
* virus checking;
* specialised IT support to deal with security risk.
(c) Communications Security – Transmission of personal information may involve insecure telecommunications lines.
Security of this personal information is enhanced by:
* checking facsimile numbers before sending personal information, and confirming receipt;
* passwords required for some internet transmissions;
* checking identity before giving out any personal information;
* encryption of data for high risk transmissions.
Personal information in AOT's possession may be
retained in archival storage. Generally AOT will destroy personal
information after a period of seven (7) years following its collection unless
it is required, or may be required, to be kept for a longer period because of
the purpose(s) for which it was originally collected.
Access to your
personal information held by AOT
If you want access to your personal information held by Need
It Now, you should put your request in writing and clearly identify the
personal information you seek access to. This is important to ensure that the
information can be retrieved quickly and cheaply. All requests for access must be addressed to The Privacy
Compliance Officer (see contact details below).
Depending on the circumstances, AOT reserves the
right to charge you a reasonable administrative fee. For example, AOT's
reasonable administrative costs might include:
* reasonable staff costs in locating and collating the information;
* reasonable reproduction or photocopying costs; and
* reasonable costs involved in having someone explain the information to you.
In some instances, AOT may not release the personal
information. For example, if the information reveals a formula or the fine
details of a commercially sensitive decision-making process, then, in these
instances, AOT may decide to give you an explanation of the
commercially-sensitive decision rather than direct access to the information.
Alteration of records containing personal information
AOT will take reasonable steps to correct any personal information that is inaccurate.
AOT's use of "cookies"
"Cookies" are small
pieces of information that a website transfers to your computer's hard drive
for record-keeping purposes. Our cookies do not contain any personally
identifying information, but they do enable us to track site traffic patterns.
AOT uses this information to improve our design, layout and service to
users. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can change your
browser settings to prevent that. Even without a cookie, you can still use all
of the features on our site.
Accountability and complaints handling
If you wish to make a complaint to AOT about a possible breach of privacy, the
complaint should be in writing and clearly set out the nature of the complaint.
The complaint should be addressed to The Privacy Compliance Officer (see contact details below).
Individuals inquiring about their rights and remedies for breaches of privacy can access detailed
information at the Australian Privacy Commissioner's website, www.privacy.gov.au.
How changes to this policy will be notified
AOT may amend the AOT Privacy Policy from time to time. Amendments to the AOT Privacy Policy
may be necessitated by a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, operational and
procedural changes and/or the changing legal environment in which AOT
operates.
When changes are effected, the AOT Privacy Policy
will be updated with the amendments highlighted. The change will be effective
on and from the date the amended AOT Privacy Policy is posted on the
websites.
Linked websites
AOT contains links to other sites not affiliated with Need
It Now. These sites have their own policies and practices about on-line
privacy, and AOT cannot be responsible for the privacy practices or the
content of these unaffiliated websites.
Other Privacy issues
Whenever you post unprotected personal information on-line in areas
accessible to others - eg chat areas and message boards- that information can
be collected and used.
Ultimately you are the one who can
best control the secrecy of your passwords and account details. You should be
careful when you are online.
How to contact us
If you have any questions about the AOT Privacy
Policy, our privacy practices or your personal information, dealings with Need
It Now, you can send an email to service@needitnow.com.au
The Privacy Compliance Officer
Australian Online Travel Pty Ltd
Level 4,
18-22 Pitt Street,
Sydney NSW 2000
