WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICY

George Brand (we, us, our) is committed to complying with its obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Act). The Act allows personal information to be collected, used and disclosed for the purposes for which it was collected in accordance with the Act. This Privacy Policy only applies to the extent we collect, use and disclose personal information in connection with this website. We also have a privacy policy which details our policy in connection with our real estate and/or strata agency business. A copy of this privacy policy can be requested from the office you are having dealings with. This Privacy Policy may be revised, updated or replaced from time to time and we may subsequently notify users of any changes to it by posting the revised, updated or replaced Privacy Policy on this website.  Any changes to it take effect on the date on which the revised, updated or replaced Privacy Policy is posted to this website.

What information do we collect?

• Name, phone number, email address, and suburb of residence (via enquiry forms or newsletter sign- ups)
• Details of property interests (e.g. buying, selling, leasing, holiday rental enquiries)
• Feedback or comments submitted through the website or online reviews
• Cookies, IP addresses, and browsing data (used for analytics and website optimisation)
• Social media profile information if users engage through social channels (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn)

Why do we collect this information?

Real estate and strata agencies typically collect a range of personal and property-related information from members of the public via their website, social media, and daily business interactions. This information is gathered to enable the agency to perform its functions lawfully and effectively in property sales, leasing, strata management, and related services.

Automated Decision Making (ADM)
ADM is when:
we use a computer program to make, or do a thing that is substantially and directly related to making, a decision; and the decision could reasonably be expected to significantly affect the rights or interests of an individual; and
the kinds of personal information used in the operation of such computer programs are:

• Contact details (name, phone number, email address, postal address)
• Property ownership or tenancy details
• Transactional information such as rent payments, arrears history, or inspection records
• Application data including employment, income, and rental references (for tenancy assessments)
• Communication history and enquiry records (email, SMS, web form submissions)
• Marketing and engagement data (e.g. website visits, open rate tracking, automated follow-up trigger

the kinds of such decisions made solely by the operation of such computer programs are:

•  Automated responses to online property enquiries or inspection registrations
• Scheduling of property inspections and automatic confirmation or reminder messages
• Auto-allocation of maintenance requests to approved contractors based on category or location
• Automated arrears notices or rent reminders generated through property management software
• Automated distribution of marketing materials or email campaigns based on client segmentation or preferences

the kinds of such decisions for which a thing, that is substantially and directly related to making the decision, is done by the operation of such computer programs are:

• Flagging or ranking of potential buyers, tenants, or leads based on engagement data or criteria entered into the CRM
• Generating performance or compliance reports that inform management decisions
• Auto-populating standard forms, agreements, or notices from stored client and property data
• Identifying overdue accounts or compliance tasks requiring human review or follow-up
• Generating suggested pricing or rent reviews using market data integrations or algorithmic recommendations (with human verification before final decision)

Information disclosed

We will use and disclose personal information only for the purposes for which it is collected in accordance with
the Act, including:

• providing services and customer support, including service updates;
• maintaining and updating our records;
• comparing information for accuracy, and verifying it with third parties; and
• providing information as authorised or required by law or a relevant government body or authority.

Overseas disclosure

We may engage third-party service providers or remote support personnel located outside Australia to assist with our business operations, including IT support, data storage, and software maintenance.
Where this occurs, reasonable steps are taken to ensure that any personal information shared with overseas providers is handled in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
These providers are granted access only to the information necessary to perform their support function and are required to maintain confidentiality and data security standards consistent with Australian privacy requirements.
We may use cloud storage and IT servers that may be located overseas to store the personal information we hold.As electronic or networked storage can be accessed from various countries through an internet connection it is not always practical to know in which country information about an individual may be held.

To the extent that we can identify the countries to which we transfer information they are:

• The Philippines

Please note that in some cases countries to which we transfer information may not have laws or binding schemes that have the effect of protecting your information in a way that overall is at least substantially similar to the way in which the Australian Privacy Principles protect your information, and there may not be any mechanism or binding scheme that you can access to take action to enforce legal protections.

Anonymity and pseudonyms

General users of the website do not need to disclose their identity to us in order to use this website. This website does not, therefore, collect personal information about people who generally access it except in the circumstances described above.
Please note that we may not be able to provide you with some or all of our services if you are anonymous or use a pseudonym.

Cookies

A cookie is an electronic token that is passed to the user’s browser which passes it back to the server whenever a page is sent to the user. Our servers may generate cookies which are used to keep track of the pages that
users have accessed while using the website. The cookie also allows data to be inputted into a form or template and temporarily stored until the user chooses to save that form or template. Cookies generally remain on the
user’s computer even after an internet session is ended and the computer rebooted. The cookie can be read by the server that placed it there during a subsequent visit to that same server. Their exact behavior is server specific.

When users visit this website, our server may log certain information, including the type of browser and operating system the user is using, the top level domain name (for example .com, .net, .au, etc), the address of the
referring site (for example, the previous site visited), the server's IP address, the date and time of visit and the address of the pages accessed and the documents downloaded. This information is generally only for internal
statistical analysis and system administration purposes.

Any other information supplied to us (for example, if a user sends an email or enters any personal information into our website) is treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Information security

We take reasonable steps to protect all information which we hold (including personal information) from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
We may store information about you in cloud or other types of networked or electronic storage. As electronic or networked storage can be accessed from various countries through an internet connection it is not always practical to know in which country personal information about you may be held.

Where appropriate, we use secure transmission facilities. However, no transmission of information over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure and we do not warrant the security of any information transmitted to us over the internet.

Links to other websites

This website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of those websites. This Privacy Policy does not extend to those linked websites.
Marketing and opt-out We may also use the information, including personal information (excluding sensitive information), provided by users of this website for marketing and research purposes, to analyse and improve products, benefits and services and to inform users of products, services and benefits provided by us, our related entities, suppliers or sponsors which we consider may be of value or interest to users, unless the user tells us, or has previously told us, not to. If a user does not wish to receive any information about such products, services and benefits they can contact the Privacy Officer (details specified below). We will not use your sensitive information for these purposes without your consent.

Accessing your Personal Information

Users of the website whose information we either collect, use or disclose have the right to request access to any personal information held by us which relates to them, unless we are permitted to withhold that information. We
may charge a reasonable fee where access to personal information is provided. Any requests for access to a user’s personal information should be made in writing to the Privacy Officer (details specified below). The user also has the right to request the correction of any personal information which relates to them that is inaccurate, incomplete, irrelevant, misleading or out-of-date.

If the user requires any further information about our management of personal information or has any queries or complaints, they should contact:

The Privacy Officer
164 Avoca Drive, Avoca Beach NSW 2251
Tel: (02) 4382 1311
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Office of the Information Commissioner can be contacted as follows:
Phone enquiries 1300 363 992
Mon–Thurs
10am–4pm AEST/AEDT

Online enquiries Enquiry form
Post GPO Box 5288
Sydney NSW 2001
Fax +61 2 9284 9666

Acceptance of this Privacy Policy By using this website, accessing any of our products, services or features, the user acknowledges that it has read, understands and accepts this Privacy Policy and the permissions to collect, use and disclose personal information, and the user authorises us to collect, use and disclose, in accordance with the Act, their personal information for the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy.

Changes to our privacy policy

We may change this privacy policy from time to time. Any updated versions of this privacy policy will be posted on our website. This privacy policy was last updated on 30th Oct 2025.