This Policy and the Credit Reporting Policy below apply to Baker McKenzie and its affiliates in Australia (Baker McKenzie Australia) in relation to our operations in Australia and explain how we handle personal information.
Information about how we handle your personal information is set out in the Privacy & Cookies Statement available on the Baker McKenzie website (see here). In addition:
- we are required by law in some cases to collect your information, such as where we are required to verify a person's identity;
- we may use your information in other ways you have consented to;
- the countries outside Australia that your personal information may be disclosed to include (but are not limited to) the United Kingdom, United States, Hong Kong, Germany, the Philippines, Singapore, Canada, Argentina and Malaysia;
- we also collect information about our contractors engaged by us to perform services. Such information might include remuneration details, hours of work, emergency contact details, superannuation fund and related details, tax file number, bank account details and emergency contact details. During the course of a contractor's engagement, additional personal information may be collected, for example, performance and remuneration reviews and leave records and other information as notified from time to time; and
- if you attend our premises, you may be subject to CCTV recording.
What to do if you want to seek access or correction
If at any time you want to know what personal information we hold about you, you may request access to your record by contacting our Australian Privacy Officer at privacy.australia@bakermckenzie.com. We will respond within a reasonable period from the date your application is received.
If at any time you want to change personal information that is inaccurate or out of date, please contact our Australian Privacy Officer (see above) and we can amend the record. If you want to have your personal information deleted, please let us know and we will take reasonable steps to delete it unless we need to keep it for legal or regulatory purposes.
What to do if you have a question or problem
If we become aware of any ongoing concerns or problems concerning our privacy practices, we will take these issues seriously and work to address these concerns. If you have a question or a complaint about our handling of your personal information, please contact our Australian Privacy Officer (see above). We will respond to your complaint within a reasonable time. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Credit Reporting Policy
Collecting information about you
This credit reporting policy relates to the collection by Baker McKenzie Australia of credit related information that is covered by Part IIIA of the Privacy Act and is not intended to cover other categories of personal information.
The main types of credit related information we collect relate to the contact details of clients, suppliers and other business contacts including officers and certain employees, requests for information we make to credit reporting bodies and the type and amount of credit we provide. We also collect consumer credit reports, information about personal insolvency and related court proceedings, and certain publicly available information on clients' officers and employees.
We collect credit related information directly from individuals when we deal with them but may also collect this information from third parties such as credit reporting bodies. If you do not provide us with the credit related information that we may request, we may not be able to provide our full range of services.
Collecting, holding, using and disclosing your credit related information
Our main purposes in collecting, holding, using and disclosing credit related information about individuals are:
- to assess as to whether we will provide credit terms;
- for the ongoing review and management of an account, such as invoicing;
- to assist clients to avoid defaulting on their credit obligations;
- to participate in the credit reporting system; and
- to undertake debt recovery and enforcement activities.
Baker McKenzie Australia may give your credit related information to Equifax Australia (formerly Veda Advantage) or illion Australia (formerly Dun & Bradstreet), which are credit reporting bodies, to obtain consumer credit report on you or if you fail to meet your payment obligations.
You have a right to request the credit reporting body not to use your credit related information if you believe on reasonable grounds that you have been or are likely to be a victim of fraud. You may obtain a copy of the credit reporting body's management of credit information policy by contacting them as follows:
Equifax Australia
By telephone: 13 8332
By email: customercomplaintsAU@equifax.com
(visit Equifax Australia's website at www.equifax.com.au for their most up-to-date contact details).
illion Australia
By post: illion Australia, Attn: Complaints Department, PO Box 7405, St Kilda Road, Melbourne VIC 3004
By telephone: 13 23 33
By email: chc-au@illion.com.au
(visit illion Australia's website at www.illion.com.au for their most up-to-date contact details).
Disclosure of credit related information outside of Australia
We may disclose your credit related information outside Australia in accordance with our privacy policy referred to above.
You can access and correct the credit related information we keep about you
You have special rights to access your credit related information held by us. If at any time you want to know exactly what credit related information we hold about you, you are welcome to request access to your record by contacting our Australian privacy officer (see above).
We will usually respond to your application within 14 days. If we require more time, we will let you know. If we refuse your request, we will provide you with a notice explaining our decision. There is no charge for making a request for access to your credit related information but there may be an administration charge for providing access in accordance with your request.
If at any time you wish to change or correct your credit related information that is inaccurate or out of date, please contact us and we can amend this record. If we do not agree with your correction request, we will provide you with a notice explaining our decision and how you can complain about our decision. There is no charge for making a correction request or for the correction of your credit related information.
Storage and security of your credit related information
The storage and security of your credit related information is described in with our privacy policy referred to above.
Complaints
If you believe that we may not have complied with our obligations under the Part IIIA of the Privacy Act or the Credit Reporting Code, please contact our Australian Privacy Officer (see above). You will receive an acknowledgement of your complaint within 7 days.
If you are not satisfied with the way your complaint is being handled, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Future changes to this policy
We reserve the right to change this Credit Reporting Policy at any time and notify you by posting an updated version of the policy on our website. If at any point we decide to use or disclose your credit related information in a manner materially different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will notify you by email or via a prominent notice on our website, and where necessary we will seek your prior consent.