Flack privacy policy

There’s one thing we won’t be dabbling in and that is Privacy. We want you to trust Flack as a safe online environment where you can lend and hire practically anything. This policy will give you the run down on how seriously we take your privacy and what we’ll do to ensure that it is protected.

We’ll collect and use your personal information to deliver the best online marketplace experience and to add value to your life! We’re committed to:

Respecting your privacy
Being transparent and honest with your personal information

This policy covers all of our Services: see general terms.

We are committed to your privacy and will comply with applicable privacy laws, including the Privacy Act 1993, any applicable Privacy Codes and other laws when dealing with your information.

What information do we collect?

Information you give us, such as:

Account information. When you sign up for a Flack, we may require your name, username, password, email address, date of birth, demographic information or other personal information.

Profile information. Our services require you to complete a profile, which may include personal information such as your postal and delivery addresses and phone number. Parts of your profile (like your member number, user name, and feedback history) may be part of your public profile page, and will be publicly visible to others. For other Services we may also collect photos connected to your profile if you upload or publish these.

Listing content. We collect the listing content when you create a listing, which may include your description of the listing, photos, your user name and in certain cases your contact details. Listing content may include embedded information or other metadata (e.g. EXIF data in photos or videos, such as when and where each photo was taken, and details of the device used to take it).

Authentication information. To help create and maintain a trusted environment, we may collect identification or other authentication information. You will be told at the time of collection when this applies.

Payment information. We collect your financial information (like your bank account or credit card information) when you make payments to us using our Services.

Communications and phone calls. When you communicate with us or other Users in relation to a Service, we may collect information about your communication and any other information you provide.

Information we automatically collect, such as: Usage information. We collect information about your interactions with our Services, such as the pages or other content you view, your searches for listings, trades and bookings you have made, and emails and messages generated through your use of the Services.

Location information. When you use certain features of our Services, we may collect different types of information about your general location (e.g. your physical or postal address or your device’s IP address) or more specific location information (e.g. precise location from your mobile GPS). Most mobile devices allow you to control or disable the use of location services for applications in the device’s settings menu.

Analytics. We automatically collect analytics information when you use our Services, even if you have not created an account or logged in. We may use third party providers to help us with this. Information collected includes, among other things: details about how you’ve used our Services (including links to third party applications), your IP address, access times, hardware and software information, device information, device event information (e.g. crashes, browser type), and the pages, applications or services you’ve viewed or engaged with before or after using our Services.

Transaction and financial information. We may collect information related to your transactions on our Services, including the date and time, amounts charged, and other related transaction details. Depending on your settings and the Services you use, we may collect financial information relating to your use of our Services and your financial history.

Via cookies and similar technologies. We use cookies, pixels, and other similar technologies to collect and store information about you when you use our Services (e.g. through Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager) and this collection may occur across devices. Cookies may be “session” cookies (which temporarily store information and expire when you close your browser) or “persistent” cookies (e.g. when you select “remember me” when logging in). We may also allow our business partners to use these technologies on our Services (e.g. for advertising and remarketing), or engage others to track your behaviour on our behalf. You may disable the usage of cookies through your browser settings and may opt out of certain advertising in your preferences.

How do we use your information?

We use your personal information to provide you with improved Services and to maintain your trust in Flack and the people who use it.

To personalise or enrich our Services. We may personalise, improve or enrich your experience by, among other things:

not asking you to log in unnecessarily.
ranking search results.
delivering information you might be interested in, such as recommendations and content specific to your interests.
allowing you to create a profile.
assisting with Theft Guarantee reviews and keeping your client record if you use the Flack Theft Guarantee.

For trust, safety and assurance, for example to:

Protect the rights, property or safety of Users, third parties or us.
Prevent harm to us or others.
Ensure we comply with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1993.
Resolve disputes.
Enforce agreements.
Conduct investigations.
Allow our business to be audited.
Verify the identity of users or third parties.
To obtain reference or credit checks. With your consent, we may conduct reference checks.

For advertising and marketing, for example to:

Send you promotional messages, marketing or advertising.
Send you customised advertising (unless you opt out). We may take advertising space available through certain advertising platforms or exchanges, such as DoubleClick Ad Exchange, and you can manage what you see due to DoubleClick cookies through Google’s Ad Settings. You can also opt out of remarketing, a form of customised advertising (see clause 4.4 below). You may also be able to opt out of our advertising by visiting the websites of the the Network Advertising Initiative or Digital Advertising Alliance. If you opt out of customised advertising, the advertising you see may be less relevant to you.
Run promotions.
Analyse and improve our advertising.

To help you publish things on our website, such as:

Your public profile.
Your listing content.
Your feedback.
Comments on message boards.

For other things, with your express consent, we may disclose your information at your direction, or otherwise as you agree with us.

How do we hold and protect your information?

We publish lots of tips on how to keep your personal information secure. We also work hard to ensure we keep your personal information safe and to avoid any harm to you or your personal information. We would notify you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner if a potentially harmful data breach of your personal information did occur. We delete personal information after it is no longer reasonably necessary for us to use it.

Security is not our expertise so Flack has chosen to outsource the storage and security of your personally identifiable information to a market leading security partner.

How can I manage my information?

You can update your information at any time by:

Managing your profiles, where this is available. Some of our Services (such as Flack Job Profile and FindSomeone) allow you to build more customised profiles and offer different privacy settings.
Updating your account information. In most cases, you may review and update the account information we hold about you (such as your email address, password and phone numbers) by logging into the relevant Service and updating the information in your account. If this isn’t available and you want to update your information, please get in touch with us.
Managing your listings, where allowed. Some listings enable you to change the details that can be seen on our Services.
Updating your jobs information in My Flack. You can store, re-use and delete your CVs, cover letters and related documents in Flack Jobs.
Managing your privacy options. You can manage your information options on the ‘Privacy options’ page (e.g. opt out of certain uses of personal information) or by unsubscribing from an advertising email. Otherwise, please use the contact details for the applicable Service.
Ask us to update, provide or delete your information.

How do we amend this policy?

We may make updates from time to time by a Flack site announcement or other notice, usually with two weeks’ notice or more.