Value My Car Privacy Policy

Car Valuations Pty Ltd and its related bodies corporate (valuemycar, us, we, our) takes your privacy seriously and is committed to responsible privacy practices.

Please read the following privacy policy (Privacy Policy) to understand how we collect, use, disclose, store, handle and protect your personal information in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act 2020 (Privacy Act). We hope that this will help you make an informed decision about sharing personal information with us. As well as applying to our interactions with you, this Privacy Policy also applies to all information collected through this website at valuemycar.co.nz (Website).

What is personal information?

In this Privacy Policy, ‘personal information’ has the meaning set out in the Privacy Act. In general terms, personal information is information (whether fact or opinion) about an individual who is identified or reasonably identifiable.

Some types of personal information are designated as ‘sensitive information’, which are subject to additional protection under the Privacy Act. For example, these can include information about your health.

What types of personal 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:

  • in the case of Website users – your name, mobile number, email address and postcode;
  • in the case of business users – your name, billing or shipping address, email address, telephone number(s), and payment information (including credit card information or alternative payment method account information);
  • if you have requested to receive news about exclusive offers, promotions, or events – your name, mailing or street address, email address, and telephone number(s);
  • if you have contacted our customer service unit to make a complaint, provide feedback, submit an enquiry or request a call-back – your name, mailing or street address, email address, and telephone number(s);
  • in the case of prospective employees or contractors – information contained in your application or résumé, recorded during any interview, or obtained through any pre-employment checks, and government-issued identifiers such as tax file numbers; and
  • in the case of our suppliers and distributors – your name, mailing or street address, email address, and telephone number(s).

We do not collect sensitive information.

We also collect technical information and general analytics, such as web browser type and browsing preferences, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps, IP address, time zone, and geolocation data (if applicable) arising from your use of our Website.

How do we collect personal information?

We collect your personal information directly from you, including when you:

  • access or use our Website;
  • access or use our products or services;
  • complete the valuation form available on our Website;
  • sign up to our services as a business user;
  • sign up to receive news and exclusive offers, promotions, or events;
  • enter surveys, competitions, promotions or request information or material from us;
  • make inquiries about us or our products or services or otherwise communicate with us by email, by telephone, in person, via a Website or otherwise; and
  • apply to work with us or are engaged by us as a contractor.

Where it is reasonable and practicable to do so, we will only collect personal information about you from you directly and not from third parties. In limited circumstances, we may collect personal information about you from publicly available sources (such as the Internet) and from third parties (such as mutual contacts, or if someone contacts us on your behalf, or from your referees during the recruitment process if you apply for a job with us). We may also collect personal information through third parties such as our users, service providers, through promotional and marketing activities, and from publicly available sources of information.

We also use the following technologies to collect technical information and general analytics:

  • cookies, which are data files that are placed on your device and often include an anonymous unique identifier. For more information about cookies, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org;
  • log files, which track actions occurring on our Website; and
  • web beacons, tags, and pixels, which are electronic files used to record information about how you browse our Website.

By using our Website, you are consenting to the use of these technologies in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Can you choose not to disclose your personal information?

You do not have to identify yourself or provide any personal information if you contact us. You can also notify us that you wish to deal with us using a pseudonym.

However, if we cannot collect personal information about you, we may not be able to provide you with the information or assistance you require. For example, we will not be able to provide you with a valuation certificate or send you information you have requested if you have not provided us with a valid email address or telephone number.

How do we use your personal information?

In general, we use your personal information for purposes connected with our business.

Some of the specific purposes for which we use your personal information are as follows:

  • to provide our products and services to our users (e.g. to provide you with a valuation of your car);
  • to share your personal information with our business users to facilitate transactions between you and our business users (e.g. to enable business users to contact you regarding the sale of your car);
  • to enable the proper operation and functionality of our products and services;
  • to verify your identity (for example, if you request access to the personal information we hold about you);
  • to consider you for a job at Car Valuations Pty Ltd (whether as an employee or contractor) or other relationships with us;
  • to communicate with you and to address any issues or complaints that we or you may have regarding our relationship;
  • for direct marketing purposes (see the “Direct marketing” section below); and
  • to contact you regarding the above, including via electronic messaging such as SMS and email, by mail, by phone or in any other lawful manner.

We may also use or disclose your personal information for our administrative, marketing (including direct marketing), planning, product or service development, quality control, survey and research purposes and for other purposes to which you have consented, or as otherwise permitted or required by law.

We use technical information and general analytics for the purpose of gauging visitor traffic, trends and delivering personalised content to you while you are using our Website, and to improve our Website and our products and services.

To whom do we disclose personal information?

We may disclose your personal information to third parties in connection with the purposes described above (see the “How do we use your personal information?” section).

This may include disclosing your personal information to the following types of third parties:

  • our related companies;
  • any potential third party acquirer of our business or assets, and advisors to that third party;
  • our business users;
  • our professional advisers (such as lawyers, accountants or auditors) and insurers;
  • our employees, contractors and third party service providers who assist us in performing our functions and activities e.g. payment systems operators and financial institutions, cloud service providers, data storage providers, shipping companies, telecommunications providers and IT support services providers;
  • organisations authorised by us to conduct promotional, research or marketing activities;
  • third parties to whom you have authorised us to disclose your information (e.g. referees); and
  • any other person as required or permitted by law.

If we disclose your personal information to third parties we will use reasonable commercial efforts to ensure that such third parties only use your personal information as reasonably required for the purpose of disclosure and in a manner consistent with applicable laws, for example (where commercially practical) by including suitable privacy and confidentiality clauses in our agreement with a third party service provider to which we disclose your personal information.

Direct marketing communications

We and our business users will only send you direct marketing communications (either through mail, SMS or email), including any news and exclusive offers, promotions, or events, where you have consented for us to do so.

You may opt-out of receiving direct marketing communications at any time by contacting us or our business users by using opt-out facilities provided in the direct marketing communications.

Does personal information leave Australia?

We store personal information in servers located in Australia. We may disclose your personal information to overseas recipients, such as to service providers located overseas (including Heap Analytics and Google Cloud), in order to provide its products and services and to obtain services. It is not practical for us to list every country where such overseas recipients may be located, however such countries are likely to include the USA and the Philippines.

Except where an exception applies under the Privacy Act or other relevant legislation, we will take commercially reasonable steps to ensure that overseas recipients to whom we disclose personal information do not breach the Australian Privacy Principles stated in the Privacy Act in relation to such information.

How do we protect your personal information?

We will take reasonable precautions to protect your personal information from misuse, loss, or unauthorised access, modification or disclosure and we request the same from third parties to which we disclose your personal information. However, as the Internet is inherently insecure, we cannot guarantee the security of transmission of personal information you disclose to us online. Accordingly, you transmit your personal information to us online at your own risk.

Please notify us immediately if you become aware of any breach of security.

How long do we keep your personal information?

Generally, we will retain your personal information for the period necessary for the purposes for which your personal information was collected (as outlined in this Privacy Policy) unless a longer retention period is required by law or if it is reasonably necessary for us to comply with our legal obligations, resolve a dispute or maintain security.

When personal information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to delete the personal information from our systems or de-identify the personal information. We will only retain technical information for 90 days from the date of collection.

How can you access and correct your personal information?

You may request access to any personal information we hold about you at any time by contacting us. We will provide access to that information in accordance with the Privacy Act, subject to any exemptions that may apply. We may charge an administration fee in limited circumstances, for example if we are required to.

If you believe that personal information we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request us to amend it by contacting us at contact@valuemycar.co.nz. Where we agree that the information needs to be corrected, we will update it. If we do not agree, you can request that we make a record of your correction request with the relevant information.

You can also ask us to notify any third parties that we provided incorrect information to about the correction. We’ll try and help where we can – if we can’t, then we’ll let you know.

What is the process for complaining about a breach of privacy?

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about our collection, use, disclosure or management of your personal information, please contact us in writing using the contact details below.

We are committed to resolving any complaints reasonably and to ensuring that we are doing the right thing by you. We will make all reasonable inquiries and your complaint will be assessed with the aim of resolving any issue in a timely and efficient manner.

If you have raised a complaint with us and you are unsatisfied with the outcome or have further concerns about the way we handle your personal information, under the Privacy Act, you may complain to the Privacy Commissioner at the Office Privacy Commissioner, via https://www.privacy.org.nz/your-rights/making-a-complaint/

How to contact us

If you have a query, concern or complaint about the manner in which your personal information has been collected or handled by us or would like to request access to or correction of the personal information we hold about you, please contact us using the details provided below:

Car Valuations Pty Ltd
Attention: Privacy Officer
stewart@autograb.com.au

Exemptions and inconsistency with law

Where local laws allow for an exemption to compliance with certain legal obligations (for example, the employee records exemption), we may rely on such an exemption.

This Privacy Policy will not apply to the extent that it is inconsistent with any applicable law.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time at our discretion. Amendments to this Privacy Policy will be posted on our Website. Your continued dealings with us, for example use of its websites, products or services, will signify your agreement to this Privacy Policy as amended.

Last updated: 15 March 2023