Privacy policy.
GROWIFY Pty Limited ABN 54 636 679 108 takes its obligations under the Privacy Act, 1988 (Cth) including related legislation ("Act") and the Australian Privacy Principles ("APPs") seriously. GROWIFY respects the right to privacy of its customers, suppliers, contractors, agents and others with whom it deals ("You/ Your") and understands the need to protect Your personal information. GROWIFY is bound by the APPs and other laws and codes relating to personal information.
Our privacy policy
This Policy sets out how GROWIFY manages Your personal information. It also describes, in general terms, the types of personal information GROWIFY holds, for what purpose and how that information is collected, used, stored and disclosed. This Policy applies to all Your dealings with GROWIFY whether through our suppliers, franchisees, warehouses or websites.
When can you deal with GROWIFY anonymously?
Generally, you can deal with GROWIFY anonymously (i.e. without identifying yourself). In certain circumstances however, GROWIFY will ask you to provide personal information because it is required by law or GROWIFY’s policies to do so, or because it would be impracticable to deal with you anonymously. These circumstances include where you order goods online (including when you pick up such goods from us), where you trade-in or buy second-hand games, where you purchase pre-paid mobile phone services, where you sign up to a post-paid mobile phone plan, where you purchase an extended warranty on a product or accidental damage insurance, where you apply to purchase goods on finance, where you return goods for repair, where you purchase goods to be delivered or installed, collect goods from a GROWIFY suppliers warehouse or storeroom, where you enter one of our competitions, when you submit a request, enquiry, complaint, consumer guarantee or warranty claim, when you pre-order goods and when you purchase goods.
Use and disclosure of your personal information?
GROWIFY collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information for a number of purposes connected with our business operations, which include:
providing you with products and/or services you have ordered/purchased;
dealing with requests, enquiries, complaints, consumer guarantee or warranty claims, and other customer care related activities;
marketing our products and services and providing advice on our products;
developing and improving our products and services;
in connection with our loyalty or reward programmes and competitions;
the operation and administration of accounts or subscriptions that you have with us;
payment processing;
processing a refund or exchange of a product;
carrying out certain checks (for example, for our fraud or theft prevention processes, if you wish to open an account with us, obtain credit from us, collect goods from a GROWIFY suppliers warehouse or storeroom, or pick-up goods in-store that have been ordered online);
interacting with companies or organisations with whom GROWIFY has a business relationship (where you work for, or otherwise represent, such an organisation);
reconciling payments due to GROWIFY from suppliers in relation to goods or services provided to you by those suppliers;
purposes relating to any third party acquisition or potential acquisition of an interest in GROWIFY or its assets;
complying with our obligations under agreements with third parties (for example, under our authorised dealer arrangements with Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and our arrangements with consumer finance providers); and
carrying out any activity in connection with a legal, governmental or regulatory requirement that we have to comply with, or in connection with legal proceedings, crime or fraud prevention, detection or prosecution. In particular, GROWIFY is required by law to collect personal information in certain circumstances, including:
if you trade-in goods (under, depending on the State or Territory in which you are located, the Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 2003 (Qld), the Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1996 (SA), the Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1994 (Tas), the Second-Hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1989 (Vic), the Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading Act 1990 (NT) and related regulations); and
if you activate pre-paid mobile telecommunications services with GROWIFY (in accordance with the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth) and the Telecommunications (Service Provider – Identity Checks for Pre-paid Public Mobile Telecommunications Services) Determination 2013).
We may also use and disclose your personal information for other purposes related to those described above which would be reasonably expected by you. Documents (including hard copy documents and electronic documents such as emails) which coincidentally contain personal information will also be retained in accordance with GROWIFY’s normal document retention practices for accounting, legal and business purposes. Generally, you have no obligation to provide any personal information requested by us. However, if you choose not to do so where we require this information, we may not be able to provide you with the goods and services that you want or deal with a request, enquiry or complaint that you have.
What personal information does GROWIFY collect?
We collect Your personal information directly and indirectly from You and, in some cases, from other people or organizations.
As a supplier of consumer goods and services, personal information collected and maintained by GROWIFY generally comprises:
personal details required to identify You such as name, address, drivers licence, date of birth and place of birth information;
contact details including phone number, fax number and email address;
credit card, financial institution and cheque information;
credit history including reports from credit reporting agencies;
business details such as company name, size and business type; and
unique identifiers such as user name, account number and password.
This personal information is collected for the purpose of GROWIFY's dealings with its customers, performing credit worthiness checks in accordance with GROWIFY's credit policies and marketing GROWIFY's goods and services.
GROWIFY does not collect information about a customer's racial or ethnic background, political views or persuasions, membership of any political, professional or trade association, trade union membership, religious belief or affiliation, philosophical belief, sexual preference or practice, criminal record or health information.
Your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, server address, domain name and information on your browsing activity when visiting one of our websites;
Your user name for social networking sites that you use, to refer to, or in conjunction with, our goods and services and personal preferences regarding products and services.
How does GROWIFY collect and hold your personal information?
We collect personal information in a number of ways including:
when you order goods or services from us (either online, in-person or over the telephone);
when you collect goods that you have ordered from us, including from a GROWIFY supplier warehouse or storeroom;
when you set up an account with us;
when you purchase certain products or extended warranties from us;
when you buy goods on lay-by or “duty-free” goods;
when you pay for goods by cheque;
when you request for a refund or exchange of a product;
when you subscribe to our catalogues or mailing lists or those of certain partners of ours such as Stack magazine;
when you subscribe to GROWIFY subscription service;
when you sell second-hand goods to us or buy second-hand goods from us;
when you enter competitions or promotions that we run;
when you provide us your details for customer care purposes;
when you browse one of our websites (further information is set out later in this Privacy Policy);
when you submit an enquiry using one of our websites;
when you complete surveys or provide online feedback or product reviews; and
when you publicly comment about us on social media sites (for example so that we can answer questions about our products); and through the closed circuit video cameras located in our stores, when you visit one of our stores.
Generally, GROWIFY will collect your personal information directly from you. However, GROWIFY also holds information, collected incidentally, concerning individuals who work for companies or organisations that have a business relationship with GROWIFY. Additionally, if you apply for a job with GROWIFY, we may collect personal information about you from any third parties that you nominate as your referees in your application.
GROWIFY holds personal information in a number of ways, including:
as part of customer records and other electronic documents on which personal information is contained which are stored on our information technology systems and servers operated by third parties who provide services to us in connection with our business; and
by securely storing hard copy documents on which personal information is contained, at our various premises and using third party document management and archiving services
Storage of personal information
GROWIFY stores Your personal information on its systems and with its Agents. GROWIFY has adopted appropriate steps to minimise the risk of loss, misuse, unauthorised access to, interference with, modification of or unauthorised disclosure of Your personal information. Where personal information is no longer required appropriate steps are taken to destroy or de-identify that information. Whilst the utmost care is taken with Your personal information, GROWIFY cannot guarantee that personal information stored or transmitted using GROWIFY systems will not be lost, misused, intercepted, interfered with, subject to unauthorised access or disclosure or otherwise secure.
Sharing your personal information
GROWIFY may disclose or receive personal information or documents about you, including to/from:
organisations that provide services to us in connection with our business, including customer support, payment processing, administration, archival, data storage, hosting, research, mail and delivery, installation, distribution, logistics, marketing, auditing, share registry, consulting, financial and legal advisory, banking, debt collection, security or technical services and the operation of GROWIFY website. In some cases these service providers may collect your personal information on our behalf;
manufacturers and distributors of goods;
if you return goods to GROWIFY to be repaired, third parties including our repairs system administrator, the manufacturer of the goods and authorised repairers;
law enforcement agencies to assist in the prevention, investigation and prosecution of criminal activities;
parties involved in any third party acquisition or potential acquisition of an interest in GROWIFY or its assets;
our insurers and insurance brokers;
if goods you purchase from GROWIFY are subject to a product recall, the manufacturer or distributor of those goods; and
to other third parties where you have specifically consented to the disclosure of information to these third parties.
Additionally, if you return goods to us on which personal information is stored for repair (for example, on a mobile phone or computer) and do not delete that personal information, GROWIFY will send the goods to the repairer. By returning such goods to GROWIFY for repair, you consent to GROWIFY disclosing any personal information contained on the goods to the repairer, by way of GROWIFY sending the goods to the repairer.
Disclosure of personal information to overseas recipients
GROWIFY is likely to disclose the personal information that it collects and holds about you to third parties who are not in Australia (such as third parties who are located in the United States of America, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Holland, Israel and New Zealand) for one or more the purposes set out in this policy e.g. to provide you the goods/services you have purchased. Some of the jurisdictions in which these third parties are located may have less protective privacy and data protections laws than Australia.
Personal information collected on behalf of other parties
GROWIFY may collect information about you on behalf of third parties. For example:
information collected for Telstra, Optus and Vodafone if you wish to enter into a contract with Telstra, Optus and Vodafone; or
information collected for finance providers such as Flexigroup, HSBC Consumer Finance and GE Money Australia if you wish to purchase goods on finance.
In these cases the documentation that you sign will set out how the personal information that you provide will be used by these third parties and the privacy policies of the third parties will apply. GROWIFY may also receive personal information or documents about you from these third parties where necessary in connection with the provision of goods or services by GROWIFY.
Personal information security
GROWIFY keeps personal information about its customers secure and takes reasonable precautions to minimise the likelihood of loss, misuse or unauthorised access, modification or disclosure or alteration of such information.
Personal information access
GROWIFY will give You access to Your personal information which it holds about You. Your right to access Your personal information as held by GROWIFY is subject to certain exceptions allowed by law. Your right to access Your personal information may be affected by matters such as:
the information being commercially sensitive to GROWIFY or one of its Agents;
access posing a threat to life or health of any individual;
access having an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others;
access being unlawful;
access prejudicing enforcement activities relating to criminal conduct or other breaches of law;
a frivolous or vexatious request by You or some other person on Your behalf;
the existence of a legal dispute or potential legal dispute; and
denial of access being required or authorised by law.
If GROWIFY denies You access to Your personal information, GROWIFY will provide an explanation for doing so. For most requests, Your information will be provided free of charge, however GROWIFY may charge a fee to cover its reasonable costs of retrieving and supplying the information to You.
How to make a complaint
If you are concerned that the way GROWIFY collects, holds, uses or discloses your personal information may be in breach of the Australian Privacy Principles, please send the details of your complaint to The Privacy Officer by submitting a privacy enquiry. We have nominated a Privacy Officer, to manage any privacy complaints. If You have any questions about GROWIFY's privacy practices or wish to make a complaint about how Your personal information is managed, please contact GROWIFY's Privacy Officer by email at support@growify.com.au or by telephone on (02) 4339 5710. Any privacy complaint will be handled by GROWIFY in accordance with this Policy. GROWIFY will respond to complaints as soon as practicable.
How GROWIFY will handle complaints
After receiving a complaint, we will consider whether we need any further information from you to properly consider and investigate the complaint, and may request such information from you. We will then:
conduct internal discussions with the relevant business units involved in the collection, holding, use or disclosure of your personal information which is the subject of your complaint, and evaluate whether we believe that such collection, holding, use or disclosure of your personal information was in breach of the Australian Privacy Principles; and
notify you of the results of our investigation of your complaint.
If the conclusion of our investigation is that our collection, holding, use or disclosure of your personal information was in breach of the Australian Privacy Principles, we will take steps to remedy the breach as soon as reasonably practicable. We will endeavour to notify you of the results of our investigation of your complaint within 30 days of receiving your complaint. However, if your complaint involves complex matters or requires extensive investigation and consultation, it may not be possible to respond within this timeframe. If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint you are entitled under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Information about how to make a complaint is available from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s website (www.oaic.gov.au).
Website internet tracking technology and security
GROWIFY uses cookies and other tracking technologies on its websites. GROWIFY may also partner with third party advertising networks to either display advertising on GROWIFY’s website or manage GROWIFY’s advertising on other sites. GROWIFY and its partners may use cookies, tracking technologies, widgets and electronic images known web beacons (sometimes called single-pixel gifs) to collect information that does not contain personal information about You such as Your browsing activities on GROWIFY’s website and other websites in order to provide targeted marketing based on Your interests. If You do not wish to have information collected through the use of cookies, We recommend that You disable cookies in your browser. There are also web services available if You wish to control what information is collected about You, such as Google's Ads Preferences Manager.
GROWIFY’s website may include links to other websites whose privacy practices differ from those of GROWIFY. If You submit personal information to any of those sites, Your personal information is governed by their privacy terms (if any). GROWIFY encourages You to carefully read the privacy terms of each website You visit.
GROWIFY's website includes widgets which are interactive mini-programs that run on the site to provide specific services from another organisation (e.g. to display news, opinions, music, etc). Personal information, such as Your email address, may be collected through a widget. Information collected by the widget is governed by the privacy terms of the organisation that created the widget.
GROWIFY's website may offer publicly accessible blogs or community forums. You should be aware that any information You provide in these forums may be read, collected and used by others who access them. GROWIFY will not be responsible for such use of Your information.
Additional information for purchasers of mobile phones
Unless you have opted out, when you buy a mobile phone and / or a mobile phone service, GROWIFY may collect and use your personal information for the purposes of follow up communications, associated products/services or marketing communications.
When you buy a mobile phone, GROWIFY will ask you to provide proof of identity details such as a Credit Card, Driver’s License or Passport and the phone’s unique identification number (IMEI) will be recorded. In the case of prepaid phones which include a sim card and phones sold in conjunction with post-paid phone plans your personal information is collected in accordance with government regulations, as a condition of GROWIFY’S licence as a Telstra, Optus and Vodafone dealer and for the purpose of provisioning Telstra, Optus and Vodafone services and accounts. If you refuse to provide this information when purchasing a product of this type then GROWIFY will not be able to sell it to you.
GROWIFY also collects and retains personal information, such as your name, proof of ID reference number, date of birth, address and phone IMEI number from the sale of all mobile phone handsets for the purpose of record keeping in accordance with its Consumer Guarantees Compliance Program (warranties regarding acceptable quality and fitness for purpose), including for the purpose of facilitating efficient retrieval and authentication of records in the event of warranty claims and product returns (for example, if you have lost your receipt). Details are also recorded in accordance with GROWIFY’s fraud and theft prevention strategies.
In the case of an “Outright” phone purchase, personal information is not transmitted to any telecommunications carrier or government agency.
If you are purchasing an Outright Phone (a phone without a Sim card included and that is not on a “plan”) GROWIFY will collect your personal information, you can advise GROWIFY staff that you would like to purchase the Outright Phone “Anonymously”. Staff will still be required to collect the phone’s unique IMEI number but will not record any personal identity information in GROWIFY’s system and will record the sale as “Anonymous”. Purchasing an Outright Phone “Anonymously” means that, if you lose your receipt, GROWIFY may not be able retrieve evidence of your proof of purchase for consumer guarantee (warranty) purposes. Please note that you will not be able to purchase an Outright Phone “Anonymously” if you are purchasing online (including for pick-up).
The other provisions of this Privacy Policy also apply to the purchase of mobile phones.
Changes to this policy
GROWIFY reserves the right to make changes to this Policy from time to time. Any changes to the Policy will be published on GROWIFY's website. GROWIFY encourages You to periodically review this Policy for the latest information on GROWIFY’s privacy practices.
Contacting GROWIFY
To review and update Your personal information or to obtain a copy of this Policy, please contact GROWIFY’s Privacy Officer by email at support@growify.com.au or by telephone on (02) 4339 5710. This Policy may also be found on GROWIFY’S website at www.growify.com.au.
APPENDIX A – Further information for individuals who apply in-house or on the GROWIFY website for credit from a third party credit provider
Background
As part of GROWIFY’S arrangements with third party credit providers (such as HSBC, Optus, Vodafone and Telstra):
customers may apply in-store for credit provided by third party credit providers; and
GROWIFY may assist in the processing of such applications.
This Appendix A contains certain information which GROWIFY is required under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) to disclose to individuals who apply in-store for credit from a third party credit provider. In this Appendix A, these individuals are referred to as Third Party Credit Applicants.
Unless you are a Third Party Credit Applicant, the information in this Appendix A will not be relevant to you.
What kinds of credit-related information does GROWIFY collect and hold about Third Party Credit Applicants?
GROWIFY may collect (and hold) certain personal information contained in the application documentation completed by Third Party Credit Applicants when they apply in-store for credit from a third party credit provider, including his or her:
full name;
date of birth;
sex;
current address (as shown on his or her driver’s licence);
employer; and
driver’s licence number.
GROWIFY will also collect (and hold) certain information contained in the application documentation completed by Third Party Credit Applicants about the credit applied for by Third Party Credit Applicants, including:
the name of the third party credit provider;
the type of credit applied for;
the day on which the credit is applied for (and entered into);
the terms and conditions of the credit applied for (including in relation to repayment);
the maximum amount of credit available under the consumer credit applied for; and
the expiry date of the credit.
The information described in the preceding 2 paragraphs is collectively referred to as Application Documentation Information.
Why does GROWIFY collect, hold, use and disclose Application Documentation Information?
GROWIFY collects, holds, uses and discloses Application Documentation Information for the purposes of:
submitting the application documentation completed by Third Party Credit Applicants to the relevant third party credit providers; and
administering its arrangements with those third party credit providers.
Hard copies of the application documentation signed by Third Party Credit Applicants (which will contain Application Documentation Information) will also be retained in accordance with GROWIFY’s normal document retention practices for legal and business purposes.
How does GROWIFY hold Application Documentation Information?
GROWIFY holds Application Documentation Information by securely storing the hard copy application documentation signed by Third Party Credit Applicants, at our various premises and using third party document management and archiving services.
Is GROWIFY likely to disclose Application Documentation Information to recipients who are not subject to Australian privacy laws?
GROWIFY is not likely to disclose Application Documentation Information to recipients who are not subject to Australian privacy laws.
How to correct and update your Application Documentation Information
You may also request us to correct the Application Documentation Information that GROWIFY holds about you. If you do so and we are satisfied that, having regard to a purpose for which the information is held, the information is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, GROWIFY will take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to correct your Application Documentation Information to ensure that, having regarding to the purpose for which it is held, it is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading.
To request GROWIFY to correct or update the Application Documentation Information that it holds about you, please send a written request to The Privacy Officer via email at support@growify.com.au.