Freshwater Systems Pty Ltd Privacy Policy
Who we are
We are Freshwater Systems Pty Ltd A.B.N. 90 641 882 251 of 7-9 Walsh Avenue, St Marys, South Australia 5042 (Freshwater Systems).
In this Privacy Policy, the expressions “we”, “us” and “our” are a reference to Freshwater Systems.
We manufacture and sell a range of innovative water filtration solutions for domestic and commercial applications (Freshwater Systems products).
Privacy Policy Statement
Freshwater Systems is committed to protecting your privacy and personal information in accordance with Australian laws including the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). This Privacy Policy explains how we manage the personal information that we collect, store, use and disclose.
This Privacy Policy relates to the collection and use of personal information that you may provide to us via our website, when ordering or using Freshwater Systems products, via our social media accounts and/or any other engagement that you have with us.
What is personal information?
The Privacy Act defines ‘personal information’ as information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:
- whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
- whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.’
Personal information can be confidential, sensitive and or public. Examples of personal information may include private information such as a person’s name, age and gender or contact details such as phone number and address. It may include details such as payment methods (such as credit information), notes or commentary. Personal information may also include opinion or information inferred about an individual (such as their credit rating).
What personal information does Freshwater Systems collect and how do we collect that information?
We may collect personal information from you directly by a variety of means including:
- personal details you provide to us when setting up a login account or purchase goods from us, or from our distributors and installers. This may include details such as your name, job position/role (trade customers), company name and contact details (phone number, email address, shipping address, billing address);
- information you provide when you visit one of our offices, manufacturing site and/or sales offices of Freshwater Systems or our distributors or installers;
- information you provide to us through enquiry, feedback, reviews and complaints;
- payment information of when purchasing products, including credit/debit card security code numbers and billing information so that we can process your orders;
- information you provide to us when providing us with additional details to find you a specific solution to a particular request (such as water consumption and usage, analysis);
- information you provide to us for meeting government regulations; and/or
- information you provide to us when entering competitions or promotions conducted by Freshwater Systems.
We may also collect personal information from you indirectly by means such as:
- from you when you interact with the freshwatersystems.com.au website (Website) and our social media accounts, including information about webpages and products you view (see ‘Sharing on social media’ for more details); and
- from our distributors and product installers to ensure that you are provided with a collaborative, holistic service.
Why do we collect personal information?
We collect personal information for a variety of reasons.
The primary purpose we collect and use your personal information is to provide you with an improved service experience and improve the Freshwater Systems products we can offer.
We may also collect your personal information for the following purposes.:
- to optimise the Freshwater Systems products and services we are able to provide and optimise the means by which we provide them;
- to optimise the Freshwater Systems products and services that our distributors and installers are able to provide and optimise the means by which they provide them;
- to disclose your personal information to our service providers who assist us in operating our business and delivering Freshwater Systems products and services to you;
- to facilitate your purchase of goods and/or services from us, including delivery and/or installation;
- to enable us to address any questions or comments you may have of us, or address expectations you may have relating to how we conduct our business or supply Freshwater Systems products;
- for servicing the Freshwater Systems product sold to you, to provide the best possible client experience;
- to maintain sales records to monitor longevity of the Freshwater Systems product and for any warranty issues;
- to conduct credit checks if necessary (for example, where you have applied for credit with us);
- to screen for potential risk and fraud;
- to comply with our legal, recording, compliance and regulatory obligations;
- to defend or enforce our legal rights;
- to more accurately market and promote Freshwater Systems products to you, such as those you may be interested in, newsletters, education, events, or offers; and/or
- for customer research and analysis or to conduct surveys, or gather ratings, reviews and feedback.
We may combine or link personal information we hold about you to help us form a better understanding about you. For example, previous purchases with product or marketing or event preferences.
By providing your contact details via our Website, you consent to receiving direct marketing material from us. We will only use your personal information for this purpose if we have collected the information directly from you and the marketing is of a type that you would reasonably expect to receive from us.
If you do not wish to receive direct marketing communications, you can ‘opt out’ or ‘unsubscribe’ from receiving any further marketing or promotional material from us, by contacting Freshwater Systems Administration (filters@freshwatersystems.com.au or phone 08 8351 7800).
Who do we disclose your personal information to and why?
We will only disclose the personal information you provide to us for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy or otherwise in accordance with the Privacy Act
Where permitted under the Privacy Act, we may disclose your personal information to:
- third party contractors and service providers who help us to operate our Website and provide Freshwater Systems products and services to you;
- our distributors and installers to help provide you with a holistic, collaborative service and facilitate your requested access to Freshwater Systems products;
- our related entities to help us ensure that your personal information remains up-to-date and complete; and/or
- to regulators, government bodies, credit reporting agencies, fraud or crime prevention providers where it is reasonably necessary for a legal purpose or as required by law, or for dispute resolution.
We do not sell personal information to third parties.
Service providers
We use third party service providers (Service Providers) to provide us with services to support our business. These Service Providers may perform services on our behalf or assist us to provide services to you. For example, we engage Service Providers to provide us with IT services, advertising, payment processing, marketing (e.g. maintenance and management of Website, social media, search engine optimisation, design, communications, and publications), and marketing analytics services Google Analytics and Yoast). Our Service Providers may need to access, or be provided with, your personal information in connection with providing us with these services. We only disclose your personal information to our Service Providers in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable privacy laws. We do not authorise their use or disclosure of your personal information for any other purposes other than in connection to the provision of their services to us.
Links to external websites
Our Website may contain links to third party websites for provision of information. Each of these third party websites may collect personal information from you in accordance with their own privacy policies. You should refer to the third party’s privacy policy for information about how that third party handles your personal information.
We take no responsibility other practices or policies of third parties or websites that are not our own. We are not liable for any loss or damage suffered from the use of these websites.
Sharing on social media
If you click on a link to a social media website or post from our Website, or click on a link to our Website from our social media pages, we may share your personal information (including user name, profile picture, likes and posts) with the social media service provider, other users and your friends or followers. If you do not want your personal information shared in this way, you can choose not to connect via your social media profile with our Website, or configure your web browser to block cookies (which may affect the functionality of some features on the Website).
If you like, comment or share information from our Website, or one of our social media pages, using your social media account, that personal information will be subject to the Privacy Policy of the social media site.
To meet our legal obligations
We may also use personal information:
- to comply with any applicable laws;
- to fulfil our contractual obligations;
- where necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others, including for fraud or risk management purposes; and/or
- to comply with requests from government authorities and/or regulators.
Other purposes
We may use your personal information for other reasons which we will explain when we collect it, or for reasons that you have consented to us using the information. We will only use your personal information in accordance with applicable privacy and data protection laws.
Disclosure of personal information to overseas recipients
We do not disclose your personal information to recipients which are located outside Australia.
How do we hold your personal information and keep it secure?
We keep your personal information stored in both electronic form and paper form. We store personal information in its electronic form with our IT systems or the IT systems of third parties required to provide you with our products and services. We store personal information in paper form when it is provided to us or prepared by us in hard copy.
We take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect and safeguard your personal information. The electronic and procedural safeguards in place to mitigate risk associated with your personal information such as secure premises and the use of antivirus software and protection.
We implement and maintain processes and security measures to protect personal information which we hold from misuse, interference or loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
These processes and systems include:
- the use of identity and access management technologies to control access to systems on which information is processed and stored;
- requiring all employees to comply with internal information security policies and keep information secure;
- requiring all employees to complete training about information security; and
- monitoring and regularly reviewing our practices against our own policies and against industry best practice.
We will also take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify personal information once we no longer require it for the purposes for which it was collected or for any secondary purpose permitted under the APPs.
We may use some third-party providers that provide data-storage related services, that may be located on other sites.
We only allow those entities and/or individuals who we have authorised to access to your personal information. We require them to treat personal information as confidential, and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Gaining access to your personal information and correcting it
You may request access to or correction of any of the personal information we hold about you by forwarding a written request to:
Attn: Freshwater Systems Administration
- Address: 7-9 Walsh Avenue, St Marys, South Australia 5042
- Email: filters@freshwatersystems.com.au
- Phone: 08 8351 7800
Once a request has been made, Freshwater Systems Administration will aim to contact you within 7 business days.
We may need to verify your identity to provide you with access to your personal information.
How to contact us with any questions or make a complaint
If you have any questions, comments or concerns about our Privacy Policy and how we deal with your personal information or would like to make a complaint, please contact Freshwater Systems Administration via the contact details above.
Freshwater Systems Administration will treat any request or complaint respectfully and confidentiality.
Once a request or complaint has made been made, the Privacy Officer will contact you within 7 business days. We are committed to working with you to resolve any concerns or complaints effectively.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome or the way in which we have handled your request or complaint, you may contact the Office of Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints
Changes to our Privacy Policy
We do not expect to make changes to our Privacy Policy regularly, however we reserve the right to do so at any time to reflect changes in the way we collect and manage your personal information or to make updates that are required by law. Changes to our Privacy Policy will take effect when they are published on our Website.
This Privacy Policy was last updated on 13th May 2024.