What this statement is about

Your right to privacy is important to us. This statement explains your privacy rights and our obligations in relation to your personal information.

The Privacy Act regulates the way AIMS Home Loans P/L uses personal information provided to us. Please read the following carefully as it sets out how we may use the information about you.

At AIMS, we want to provide the best possible service across our wide range of financial products and services. To achieve this aim we need to make the most efficient use of your personal information.

However, it is equally important to us that you are confident that any of your personal information entrusted to us is treated with the appropriate degree of privacy.

Who is AIMS?

AIMS is one of the largest Non Bank Lenders in Australia that offers many different categories of financial products and services.

What does "personal information" mean?

Personal information is any information about you that identifies you or by which identity can be reasonably determined.

Why do we collect your personal information?

Collecting your personal information is essential for AIMS to be able to conduct its business of providing financial products and services.

By collecting personal information we:

• Set up and administer products and services
  
• Process the application (including performing the 100 point check required by the Financial Transaction Reports Act and determining if the Consumer Credit Code applies)
  
• Determine your requirements and provide the appropriate product or service
  
• Assess your financial product or service needs
  
• Assess your financial products and services
  
• Improve our financial products and services
  
• Identify you and protect you from unauthorised access to your personal information, accounts or services.

If we do not collect and make use of your personal information, we are unable to do business with you.

How do we collect your personal information?

Where possible we collect your personal information directly from you.

Collection may take place in a number of ways such as when you complete an application form for a product or request a product or service over the telephone or internet.

Often personal information is collected during the course of our relationship with you. Examples of personal information collection during our relationship may be when you seek a variation to the terms of a loan you may have with us.

Sometimes personal information may be collected about you from other sources. Examples of where we may receive personal information about you from another source and why this would happen:

• A credit reference about you from a credit reporting agency in the course of assessing your application for a loan
  
• Your employment and income details from any employer, accountant or tax agent in the course of establishing and administering your loan.
  
• Your income received on an investment property from any nominated real estate agent.

In most cases we will require you to specifically consent to any collection, use or disclosure of your personal information by AIMS. Your consent will usually be required in writing but we may accept your verbal consent in certain circumstances.

However, no matter how your personal information is collected it is dealt with by AIMS in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

How we use your personal information?

We use the personal information that we collect so that we can conduct our business of providing financial products and services and to administer and enhance the financial service relationship we have with you.

To enable us to do this we may share your personal information with the related companies within AIMS.

Direct Marketing

From time to time we may use your personal information to provide you with information about our extensive range of financial products and services. If you do not want to receive any of this information just contact us.

Once you have told us you no longer wish to receive information about our products and services, we will not send you any further material.

You can however, change your mind about receiving information about our products and services at any time- either way, you just need to let us know.

AIMS does not disclose your personal information to a party outside AIMS for the purposes of allowing them to direct market their products or services to you.

Often the law requires us to provide you with certain information about the product or service you receive from us. You will continue to receive this type of information from us even if you have decided not to receive information about our products and services generally.

Do we disclose your personal information to anyone?

AIMS may disclose your personal information in certain circumstances.

Sometimes we are required or authorised by law to disclose your personal information. For example we may disclose your personal information to a court in response to a subpoena or to the Australian Taxation Office following a direction issued under taxation laws.

We may also disclose your personal information where you have consented to us doing so. Your consent to the disclosure of your personal information may be given explicitly such as in writing or verbally or may be implied from your conduct such as when you discuss details of the relationship you have with us publicly with the media.

Generally, we do not disclose your personal information to a party outside AIMS, unless that party is contracted to AIMS to provide administrative services or activities on our behalf and that party is bound by the same privacy rules we follow.

Some examples of parties outside AIMS to whom we may disclose your personal information and the reason for disclosure are:

• Mail service providers for the mailing of bank statements, insurance policy documents, AIMS direct marketing material etc.
  
• Printers for cheque book production
  
• Manufacturers for plastic card production e.g. Credit Cards
  
• Mortgage Insurers for the purposes of insuring your mortgage
  
• General Insurance Companies
  
• Reinsurers
  
• Related companies
  
• Agents, contractors and service providers to AIMS
  
• Rating agencies
  
• Funders
  
• Your employer/s or referees
  
• Title insurers
  
• Your or our professional advisers
  
• Other financial institutions and securitisers and credit providers
  
• Debt collectors
  
• Trustee companies
  
• Law enforcement agencies
  
• Your bank payment system operators
  
• Government and other regulatory bodies

Further request for and verification of personal Information
In order to comply with its obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (ˇ° AML / CTF Actˇ± ), AIMS may request further personal Information from you, even if such information was previously obtained.
The personal Information may be used for assessment and verification for compliance under the AML/CTF Act. You consent to the use of the Personal Information for such purposes.
If you do not provide the Personal Information required , AIMS may not be able to provide you with credit or other products and services.
When AIMS requests Personal Information from you for this purpose, you must comply with such requests.

Mortgage Insurers

The following statement is provided for your information in relation to Mortgage Insurers only. This is only a summary and AIMS accepts no liability for, among other things, the collection, disclosure or use of your information by any Mortgage Insurer.

AIMS will disclose personal information to Mortgage Insurers for purposes related to the provision of Mortgage insurance to AIMS in relation to any finance sought by or provided to you. The Mortgage Insurer may use this (among other things) to assess the risk of providing mortgage insurance or assess the risk of default.

The Mortgage Insurer may disclose your personal information for the purposes described above, to related companies; its agents; credit providers; reinsurers; credit reporting agencies; its service providers; contractors and external advisers; your referees, including your employer; your legal and financial advisers; government and other regulatory bodies; ratings agencies; payment system operators; and other financial institutions, securitisers and credit providers.

In this statement the "Insurer" means each and every one of the following organizations (whether acting- individually or together):

Ensuring your personal information is up to date

We rely on the personal information we hold about you to efficiently conduct our business of providing financial products and services.

For this reason, it is very important that the personal information we collect from you is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

During the course of our relationship with you, we will ask you to tell us of any changes to your personal information however you can contact us at anytime to update your personal information or to tell us that the information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete.

Is my personal information secure?

The protection of your personal information is a priority for AIMS.

This is why we take all reasonable precautions to safeguard your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

We employ a number of means to protect your personal information including:

• Restricted access to personal information. Such personnel have agreed to ensure confidentiality of this information and to comply with the Act.
  
• Maintaining technology products to prevent unauthorised computer access.
  
• Regular reviewing and testing of our technology in order to improve the level of security.

Furthermore, when we no longer require your personal information it is our practice to securely destroy the information or delete it from our systems.

Can I access the personal information AIMS holds about me?

You may request access to any of the personal information we hold about you.

In most cases, a summary of personal information such as your name and address details, contact telephone numbers, policy numbers, policy cover and the products and services you have with us are freely available to you by calling 1300 132 467 or visiting us.

For more detailed requests for access to personal information for example, access to information held in archives, a fee may be charged to cover the cost of retrieval and the supply of this information to you.

All requests for access to personal information will be handled as quickly as possible and we shall endeavour to process any request for access within twenty-one (21) days of having received the request. Some requests for access may take longer than twenty-one (21) days to process depending upon the nature of the personal information being sought.

AIMS may be required by law to retain your personal information for a period of time after you have ceased your relationship with us. After the required time passes we attend to the secure destruction or deletion of your personal information.

Can my request for access to my personal information be denied?

AIMS is not always required to provide you with access to your personal information upon your request.

We may refuse you access to personal information in a number of circumstances such as where the information may relate to existing or anticipated legal proceedings with you, where denying access is required or authorised by law or where the request for access is regarded as frivolous or vexatious.

If we deny your request for access to, or refuse your request to correct your personal information, we will explain why.

What is a Commonwealth identifier?

A Commonwealth identifier is a Commonwealth Government or Commonwealth Government agency designated identification number such as your tax file number (TFN) or Medicare number.

AIMS does not use Commonwealth identifiers as a means of identifying the personal information that we may have collected about you.

Do I have to be identified at all?

Generally, it is not possible for us to do business with you unless we have identified you and in some cases, such as when you wish to obtain a Credit Card with us the law requires that you identify yourself to us.

Wherever it is lawful and practicable to do so, we may offer you the opportunity to deal with us anonymously. For example, when making an inquiry about current interest rates applicable to our various loan products or the type of products or service we offer.

Does my personal information leave Australia?

AIMS Home Loans does not send personal information outside Australia unless it is authorised to do so by law.

Access to our services via the Internet

Whilst the Internet has bought many improvements to the way AIMS Home Loans is able to do business with you we also understand that you may have concerns about personal information collected about you online or the security of your personal information that may be exchanged between us online.

Security of your personal information online

Generally, e-mail is not a secure way to communicate therefore you should not send your personal information to us via email unless you are using our secure messages within our online forms on our website.

AIMS maintains significant technology and procedures in respect to its online transactions. These measures are continually updated to maintain this security and are regularly audited by experts.

Complaints and further information

If you have a question about this Privacy Policy Statement or wish to lodge a request to access your personal information or have a complaint, please contact our Privacy Officer in any of the following ways:

AIMS Home Loans P/L
Privacy Officer
Level 16, 323 Castlereagh St
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Tel: 1300 132 467