Pet Search privacy policy

Pet Search recognises the importance of protecting the privacy of personally identifiable information collected about our customers. For the purposes of this Privacy Statement, the word customers includes visitors to our web sites, subscribers to and users of our services, purchasers of our products and advertising customers.

We are bound by the National Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 in relation to the handling of personal information.

Personal Information

We collect personal information when we provide our services to you. Generally we will tell you why we are collecting information when we collect it and how we plan to use it or these things will be obvious when we collect the information.

We usually collect personal information directly from you although sometimes we may use agents or service providers to do this for us. We may also acquire lists from other sources, both from other companies and from other public documents.

Use of Information

We usually collect personal information such as your name, address, telephone number, and in some instances, your financial details. When you are online, we collect information regarding the pages within our network which you visit and what you click on. As a general rule we do not collect sensitive information. However, if we do, it will usually be for the purposes of providing our goods or services and if the law requires us to, we will seek your consent to collect it.

We use your information to provide our services to you, to fulfil administrative functions associated with these services, for example billing, to enter into contracts with you or third parties and for marketing and client relationship purposes. Where your personal information is contained within an advertisement which we publish for you, we may also use your information for publication of that same advertisement in other media, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the initial publication.

We may share your information with other companies which are related to Pet Search, within Australia. We or they may also use your personally identifiable information to assist us in improving our products and services and any of us might be in touch to let you know about goods, services, or promotions which may interest you.

Use by Third Parties

PET SEARCH may disclose your information to its service providers and contractors from time to time to help us to provide and market our goods and services to you. We may also share your information with third parties who provide prizes for competitions or reader offers. If we do this we generally require these parties to protect your information in the same way we do.

Use of Aggregate Data

We may collect certain non-personal information to optimise our goods and services including our Web pages for your computer (e.g., the identity of your Internet browser, the type of operating system you use, your IP address and the domain name of your Internet service provider). We may use such non-personal information for internal purposes, including but not limited to improving the content of our sites.

PET SEARCH may use personally identifiable information in aggregate form to improve our goods and services including our Web sites and make them more responsive to the needs of our customers. This statistical compilation and analysis of information may also be used by Pet Search or provided to others as a summary report for marketing, advertising or research purposes.

Security

PET SEARCH strives to ensure the security, integrity and privacy of personally identifiable information of our customers. We use a variety of physical and electronic security measures including restricting physical access to our offices and firewalls and secure databases to keep personal information secure from misuse, loss or unauthorised use or disclosure.

Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be totally secure.

Access to Personal Information

You have a right to access most personal information we hold about you and if we deny access in some circumstances we will tell you why.

To request access, please contact our privacy officer as set out at the end of this document.

Public Information

Any information posted on bulletin boards and/or communicated in chat areas becomes public information. While PET SEARCH strives to protect and respect your privacy, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you disclose in a chat room or bulletin board.

Cookies

Cookies are data that a Web site transfers to an individual's hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Cookies can facilitate a user's ongoing access to and use of a site. They allow us to track usage patterns and to compile data that can help us improve our content and target advertising. If you do not want information collected through the use of Cookies, there is a simple procedure in most browsers that allows you to deny or accept the Cookie feature. But you should note that Cookies may be necessary to provide you with features such as merchandise transactions or registered services.

Online Links to Third Party and Co-Branded Sites

PET SEARCH may establish relationships with business partners that allow visitors to our Internet sites to link directly to sites operated by these partners. Some of these sites may be "co-branded" with our logo; however, these sites may not be operated or maintained by or on our behalf. These sites may collect personal information from you that may be shared with us. This Privacy Statement will apply to any personal information we obtain in this manner.

PET SEARCH is not responsible for the content or practices of Web sites operated by third parties that are linked to our sites. These links are meant for the user's convenience only. Links to third party sites do not constitute sponsorship, endorsement or approval by PET SEARCH of the content, policies or practices of those third party sites. Once you have left our site via such a link, you should check the applicable privacy policy of the third party site.

What else you should know about privacy on the Internet

Remember to close your browser when you have finished your user session. This is to ensure that others cannot access your personal information and correspondence if you share a computer with someone else or are using a computer in a public place like a library or Internet cafe. You as an individual are responsible for the security of and access to your own computer.

Whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information over the Internet that this information can be collected and used by others. In short, if you post personal information in publicly accessible online forums, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return. Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your username and passwords and any account information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you are using the Internet.

For further information

Please contact our Privacy Officer to ask for access to your information or if you have a complaint concerning your information privacy or if you would like more information about our approach to privacy.

Privacy Officer
Pet Search
PO Box 837
Blacktown, NSW, 2148

Australia
Ph: 1300 309 004