Privacy policy

1. Who this policy applies to

This policy explains how Alanova Pty Ltd (ABN 99 701 390 598, ACN 701 390 598) collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information. In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" mean Alanova Pty Ltd, and "you" means anyone who contacts us, uses this website, or engages us for advisory work.

We handle personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the thirteen Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in Schedule 1 of that Act.

2. What personal information we collect

We collect only what we need to answer an enquiry and to carry out an engagement. That ordinarily includes:

• your name and the name of the business you represent;
• your email address and any other contact details you choose to give us;
• the content of your enquiry and of our subsequent correspondence;
• information about your business operations, systems and processes that you share with us during an engagement; and
• billing details necessary to invoice you and keep our accounting records.

We do not seek sensitive information as defined in the Privacy Act, and we ask that you do not send it to us. If sensitive information reaches us incidentally within business records, we handle it in accordance with APP 3 and delete it where it is not required.

3. How we collect it

We collect personal information directly from you in almost all cases — when you email us, when you complete the contact form on this website, or during meetings and site visits forming part of an engagement. The contact form on this website opens your own email application; it does not transmit anything to a third-party form service.

Where we collect information about you from someone else, such as a colleague who refers you to us, we will tell you at the first reasonable opportunity, as APP 5 requires.

4. Why we collect and use it

We use personal information to respond to your enquiry, to prepare proposals, to perform the advisory work you engage us for, to issue invoices and maintain financial records, and to meet our legal and tax obligations. We do not use your personal information for direct marketing, and we do not sell, rent or trade it.

5. Cookies and website analytics

This website is a set of static pages. It does not set cookies, does not run analytics or advertising scripts, and does not embed third-party content that would track you across other sites. No account is created and no browsing profile is built.

Our web hosting provider may record standard server information, such as the IP address making a request and the time of the request, for security and operational purposes. We do not use those logs to identify individual visitors.

6. Disclosure of personal information

We disclose personal information only where it is necessary, and only to:

• service providers that support our own operations, such as our email provider, website host and accounting software;
• our professional advisers, including accountants and lawyers, where relevant; and
• a person or body to whom we are required or authorised by Australian law to disclose it.

Some of our service providers store data on servers located outside Australia. Before disclosing personal information to an overseas recipient we take steps that are reasonable in the circumstances, as required by APP 8, to ensure the recipient does not breach the Australian Privacy Principles.

7. Storing and securing information

Personal information is held in our email system, in our document storage, and in our accounting records. We take reasonable steps to protect it from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure — including access controls, multi-factor authentication on business accounts, and restricting access to those who need it.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm, we will comply with our obligations under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme in Part IIIC of the Privacy Act and notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

8. How long we keep it

We keep engagement records and correspondence for as long as needed for the purpose they were collected, and then for the period required by Australian tax and corporations legislation — generally seven years from the end of the engagement. Enquiries that do not lead to an engagement are deleted within twelve months. When information is no longer needed and we are not required to retain it, we destroy or de-identify it in line with APP 11.2.

9. Accessing and correcting your information

Under APP 12 and APP 13 you may ask for access to the personal information we hold about you, and you may ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. Write to [email protected] and we will respond within a reasonable period, ordinarily within 30 days.

There is no charge for making a request. If we refuse access or refuse to correct information, we will tell you in writing why, and how you may complain about that decision.

10. Dealing with us anonymously

Under APP 2 you may deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym where it is lawful and practicable. In practice we cannot deliver an advisory engagement or issue a tax invoice without knowing who you are, but you are welcome to make a general enquiry without identifying yourself.

11. Complaints

If you believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, please raise it with us first at [email protected]. Set out what happened and what you would like us to do. We will acknowledge your complaint and give you a written response within a reasonable period.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), which is the body responsible for privacy complaints in Australia. The OAIC can be contacted by post at GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001, or by telephone on 1300 363 992.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our practices or the law change. The current version is always the one published on this page, and the date at the top of the page shows when it was last revised.

13. Contact

Privacy enquiries should be addressed to Alanova Pty Ltd at [email protected]. Our registered details are ABN 99 701 390 598 and ACN 701 390 598, Geelong VIC 3220.