Privacy Policy

At Loanstoday we are committed to protecting your privacy and the security of your personal information.

1. Overview

At Loanstoday we aim to provide brokers and clients with the best possible service and in doing so we are committed to protecting your privacy and the security of your personal information.

We are required under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act) to have an up-to-date Privacy Policy with information about how Loanstoday collects, uses and manages your personal information, including personal information collected via our website. This policy describes how we will comply with our obligations under the Privacy Act, and manage the personal information we collect. You should note that our website contains links and references to other websites to which this Privacy Policy does not apply. You should review the Privacy Policy of each of those websites and assess whether those policies are acceptable to you before you use those websites.

2. What does ‘personal information’ mean?

“Personal information” means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

Personal information includes ‘sensitive information’. Sensitive information is any personal information about your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices, criminal record, health, genetic or biometric information.

3. What personal information do we collect?

The type of personal information we collect and hold about you will depend on the dealings you have with Loanstoday. When you deal with Loanstoday (including for the purposes described in section 4 of this policy) the types of personal information you may be required to provide include:

  • your contact details, date of birth, gender, occupation, employer and employment history;
  • financial information, potentially including your spouse’s financial information (if applicable);
  • your salary information;
  • your Tax File Number;
  • your bank account or other financial institution details;
  • identification documents.

4. For what purposes will Loanstoday use your personal information?

We collect, use and disclose your personal information in order to provide financial and related services to you, including for the following purposes:

Your identification details are used to process your loan application, provide you with information about your loan from time to time and to ensure that we comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

Your insurance-related information is collected so that your eligibility for insurance cover can be assessed. If you make an insurance claim, additional personal information may be collected about your claim in order to assess your eligibility for the benefit.

To provide you with financial advice you request, we will ask for certain financial information and personal information about you and your spouse (if applicable) in order to assess your situation.

Your identification details are used to register your attendance at Loanstoday events and seminars, when you enter into Loanstoday competitions, and to provide you with information about important changes to Loanstoday and any related services.

Information that you provide us may also be used and disclosed to allow us to conduct analysis – for example, to assist in improving our services, to better understand our brokers and clients, or for compliance purposes. 

We may also use your personal information for any purpose:

  • for which your personal information was originally collected or you have consented;
  • for enforcement related activities conducted by, or on behalf of, an enforcement body; or
  • which is authorised or required by a court/tribunal order or an Australian law.

We may also collect, use and disclose your personal information to provide you with information about our products and services and products offered by other parties that we believe may be of interest to you (including by way of direct mail, telephone, email, SMS and MMS, secure Loanstoday portals, and online advertising and marketing) or to request your feedback for research purposes. You always have the right to opt-out of receiving such information. You may exercise that right by contacting us as set out below in section 14.

5. How do we collect personal information?

Loanstoday will generally collect your personal information as much as possible directly from you. For example, we collect information about you through your application form and through various other forms, and when you call us.

On occasion, we may collect your personal information from publicly available sources of information and from third parties. Examples of third parties we may collect your personal information from include:

  • When you join Loanstoday, your employer may provide us with your contact details, birth date and tax file number. Employers also provide us with details of the date of termination of employment (where relevant), and notify us of updated address details from time to time.
  • If we cannot contact you we may try to obtain your contact details through other organisations that provide contact details such as Australia Post and Australian Taxation Office.
  • We may also collect your personal information from direct marketing organisations and data providers.

We generally only collect ‘sensitive information’ if the information is reasonably necessary for one or more of our functions or activities or if the collection of sensitive information is authorised or required by a court/tribunal order or an Australian law, including the relevant Australian Laws set out in Appendix A.

6. Who do we disclose your personal information to?

As set out in sections 4 and 5 above, there are a range of people and organisations we disclose your personal information to and collect your personal information from. The particular party we may disclose your personal information to will depend on the dealings you have with Loanstoday. Some examples of the parties to whom we may disclose your personal information include:

  • Mail and electronic mail service providers for the communication of statements and other information.
  • Legal advisers and other experts.
  • Regulatory authorities and legal bodies as required by law (e.g. Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) or a Court or tribunal).
  • Auditors - in order to assist them in conducting their independent audit and review activities of Loanstoday’s financial statements and operations.
  • Third parties - if you give us permission to do so (e.g. a financial advisor with whom you are dealing).
  • Loanstoday’s service provider for conducting surveys, if you participate in a survey.
  • Loanstoday’s overseas service provider for our online member community, if you join the online community.
  • Other third party service providers so that they can provide contracted services to Loanstoday such as research and analytics, information technology support, hosting services, telephony services, mailing or sending other documentation.

We may also share your personal information with an organisation where we have obtained your consent.

7. Notifiable data breaches

On 22 February 2018, amendments to the Privacy Act took effect, introducing a scheme for notifying certain data breaches. As a result of these amendments, Loanstoday must notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and the affected individual(s) if:

  • there is unauthorised access to, unauthorised disclosure, or loss of personal information;
  • this is likely to result in serious harm to one or more individuals; and
  • Loanstoday has not been able to prevent the likely risk of serious harm with remedial action.

You can find more information about the Scheme on the OAIC website at www.oaic.gov.au.

8. Do we disclose your personal information overseas?

We may disclose personal information to overseas recipients.

Loanstoday will only disclose your personal information to a recipient overseas in accordance with the Privacy Act. Circumstances in which we will do this include:

  • you have asked us to or we have your consent to do so;
  • we have outsourced a business activity or function to an overseas provider;
  • we reasonably believe that the overseas recipient is subject to a law or binding scheme that protects the information in a way that is substantially similar to the way the information is protected under the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles, and there are mechanisms you can access to take action to enforce that protection; or
  • the disclosure is required or authorised by or under an Australian law or a court/tribunal order.

9. Do you have to provide your personal information to us?

If lawful and practicable, we offer you the opportunity to deal with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym. For example, we can provide general information to you about our products or services, or general guidance on how to fill out our forms without collecting any personal information.

However, in order to provide our services to you it is normally impracticable for us to deal with you anonymously or by using a pseudonym. For example if you do not provide your personal information to us, Loanstoday will be unable to properly administer your application, or adequately provide our services.

10. Can you access the personal information we hold about you?

You may request access to any of the personal information we hold about you by contacting us as set out below in section 14. A summary of personal information such as your name and contact details you have with us is available to you upon request. We will provide you with access to your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act. Under the Privacy Act we can deny access to some or all of your personal information in specified circumstances, and will provide reasons for any refusal in writing.

11. Can you correct any personal information held by us that is incorrect?

Loanstoday endeavours to ensure that the personal information we hold about you is accurate, up-to-date, complete, and relevant and not misleading. Please let us know if you believe any of your personal information is incorrect by contacting us as set out below in section 14.

To ensure that the information we hold about you remains accurate, complete and up-to-date, we may ask you to check and correct your personal details from time to time. We may do this when your annual member statement is sent out, when you make a telephone enquiry, or through other means.

12. How do we protect your personal information?

Loanstoday has security policies and systems in place to protect your personal information. We implement multiple layers of security controls throughout our systems so that in the event that one control fails, or a vulnerability is exploited, there are other measures still in place to protect your personal information.

The people who handle your personal information have the training and skills to protect your personal information from unauthorised access or misuse.

Loanstoday uses industry standard security protocols to protect the personal information you disclose in using our Loanstoday portal. Loanstoday uses encryption to provide more secure communications when using our Loanstoday portal facilities.

13. Cookies

The Loanstoday website uses “cookies” to provide a number of services to you. A cookie is a piece of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your computer. Cookies generally allow the website to interact more efficiently with your computer. Usually you can set your browser to notify you before you receive a cookie so that you can decide whether to accept it. You may also be able to set your browser to turn off cookies. However, sometimes not accepting a cookie may affect your use of our website. We sometimes use cookies to monitor which pages on our website you visit, in order to improve our service.

14. Who should you contact if you have any questions regarding our Privacy Policy?

We have appointed a Privacy Officer. If you have any queries you can contact us by the following means:

Call:07 3465 9259

Email: Contact us online

Mail:
The Privacy Officer,
Loanstoday Pty Ltd
PO Box 805
Samford Qld 4520

15. Can you complain about a breach of your privacy?

If you believe that we have not protected your personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy you may lodge a complaint with us by the following means:

Call:07 3465 9259

Email: Contact us online

Mail:
The Privacy Officer
Loanstoday Pty Ltd
PO Box 805
Samford Qld 4520

We will endeavour to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. If we have not resolved your complaint within 21 days, we will write to you about the progress of your complaint.

If you are not happy with Loanstoday’s response to your complaint or Loanstoday has not responded within 30 days, you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) by:

Using the online Privacy Complaint form

Mail:
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001

Fax: +61 2 9284 9666

Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au

Call: 1300 363 992

View full details about making a complaint to the OAIC.

16. Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may change from time to time. Before providing us with personal information, please check this policy for any changes either by logging on to www.Loanstoday.com.au or by contacting us as set out above in section 14 to request an up to date copy. This Privacy Policy was last updated 22 July 2020.

* Loanstoday is the name we use to describe the business that offers a range of loan products and related financial services. Financial product advice is provided by representatives of Loans Today Pty Ltd (ABN: 51 130 405 480, Australian Credit License: 366867).

Need more information?

You can contact us in writing at PO Box 805, Samford, QLD 4520 or call us on 07 3465 9259 between 8.00am and 6.30pm AEST Monday to Friday.

Appendix A

Australian Laws under which Loanstoday is required or authorised to collect information.

Australian Law

Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006

Corporations Act 2001

Family Law Act 1975

Income Tax Assessment Act 1936

Income Tax Assessment Act 1997

Privacy Act 1988