Privacy and Policy

Respecting your privacy
Whites Group Pty Ltd ABN 25 001 845 478 and each of its related entities (“Whites Group”) takes its obligations under The Privacy Act, 1988 (Cth) (“act”) and the Australian Privacy Principles seriously. Whites Group respects the right to privacy of its customers, suppliers, contractors, agents and others with whom it deals (“you/your”) and understands the need to protect your personal information.This privacy policy sets out how Whites Group manages your personal information. It also describes, in general terms, the types of personal information Whites Group holds, for what purpose and how that information is collected, used, stored and disclosed.

Collecting your personal information
As a large distributor of a broad range of products, personal information collected and maintained by Whites Group generally comprises:

Personal details such as name, address, drivers licence information;

• Contact details including phone number, fax number and email address;
• Credit card and cheque details;
• Reports from credit reporting agencies;
• Business details such as company name, size and business type; and
• Unique identifiers such as user name, account number and password.
• This personal information is collected for the purpose of Whites Group’s dealings with its customers, performing credit worthiness checks in accordance with Whites Group’s credit policies and promoting and marketing Whites Group’s goods and services.

Whites Group does not collect information about a customer’s racial or ethnic background, political views or persuasions, membership of any political association, professional or trade association, trade union membership, religious belief or affiliation, philosophical belief, sexual preference or practice, criminal record or health information.

Use and disclosure of your personal information
Your personal information, as disclosed at the time of collection, is used by Whites Group for the primary purpose of supplying you with our goods and services. It is also used for ancillary purposes such as fulfilling customer requests and maintaining Whites Group’s relationship with its customers.

Whites Group may also use personal information collected for the purpose of marketing its goods and services. Whites Group may also disclose personal information collected in confidence to third parties when undertaking joint promotions. In those cases Whites Group will require the third party to hold and use the personal information strictly in accordance with the terms of this policy. If, at any time, you do not wish to receive direct marketing from Whites Group, you may elect to “opt-out” of any further direct marketing communication.

Whites Group undertakes to you that it will not sell, license or exchange your personal information. Whites Group will not otherwise use or disclose your personal information unless such use or disclosure is authorised under the Australian Privacy Principles. Some examples of where such use or disclosure of your personal information would be authorised are:

The use or disclosure is required or authorised at law;

• The use or disclosure is necessary to prevent a threat to life, health or safety;
• The use or disclosure is necessary to investigate suspected unlawful activity, to prevent or detect criminal offence or improper conduct;
• The use or disclosure is reasonably necessary for the preparation or conduct of court proceedings; or
• You have consented, either expressly or implicitly, to the disclosure of information about you.

Using Whites Rural’s website
Whites Group uses cookies on its website to collect information. The information collected may contain personal information about you such as your browsing activities on the Whites Rural website in order to provide targeted marketing based on your interests. If you do not wish to have information collected through the use of cookies, Whites Group recommends that you disable cookies in your browser. There are also web services that help you control what information is collected about you, such as Google’s ads preferences manager.

Accuracy of your personal information
Whites Group aims to ensure that all personal information held about you is collected and used in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles. This means that from time to time, Whites Group may contact you to see if there are any changes to your personal information. If you find your personal information as held by Whites Group is not accurate, complete or otherwise requires amendment, please do not hesitate to contact Whites Group.

Personal information security
Whites Group keeps personal information about its customers secure and takes reasonable precautions to minimise the likelihood of loss, misuse or unauthorised access, modification or disclosure or alteration of such information.

Destruction of personal information
Whites Group takes all reasonable steps to ensure that personal information about its customers is destroyed when it is no longer required.

Access to your personal information
Whites Group will give you access to your personal information which it holds about you. Your right to access your personal information as held by Whites Group is subject to certain exceptions allowed by law and may be affected by matters such as:

The information being commercially sensitive to Whites Group or one of its service providers or customers;

• Access being unlawful;
• A frivolous or vexatious request by you or some other person on your behalf; or
• The existence of a legal dispute or potential legal dispute.

If Whites Group denies you access to your personal information, Whites Group will provide an explanation for doing so. For most requests, your information will be provided free of charge, however Whites Group may charge a fee to cover its reasonable costs in relation to retrieving and supplying the information to you.

Opt-out in respect of direct marketing
Whites Group acknowledges and respects its customers’ choice to “opt-out” of direct marketing undertaken by Whites Group. If you do not wish to receive direct marketing from Whites Group, you can opt out by following the link appearing on any electronic direct marketing or by notifying Whites Group’s privacy officer that you do not wish to receive direct marketing communication.

Exemptions to this policy
This policy does not apply to information held that may be shared between Whites Group and any of its related entities. It also does not apply to information held by Whites Group about its employees.

Resolving your privacy concerns
Whites Group have nominated a privacy officer, to manage any privacy complaints. If you have any questions about Whites Group’s privacy practices or wish to make a complaint about how your personal information is managed, please contact Whites Group’s privacy officer by email at privacy@whitesrural.com.au.

Changes to this policy
Whites Group reserves the right to make changes to this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes to the Privacy Policy will be published on Whites Group’s website.

Contacting Whites Group
To review and update your personal information or to obtain a copy of this Privacy Policy, please contact Whites Group’s privacy officer. This privacy policy may also be found on Whites Group’s website at www.whitesrural.com.au.

Authorised by:
Whites Group Pty Ltd
ABN 25 001 845 478
Policy effective: February 2015