Fairfax Privacy Policy

This policy sets out how Fairfax uses your personal information and explains:

• What kind of personal information Fairfax collects and how it is collected
• How Fairfax uses the information you provide
• Disclosure
• How Fairfax treats sensitive information
• Management and security of personal information
• Updating personal information
• Seeking access to the personal information Fairfax holds about you
• How to contact Fairfax

Your privacy is important

This policy applies to all sites that form part of the network of Fairfax Business Media ("FBM") sites which are owned and operated by Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd ("Fairfax"). To view the FBM network of sites and the various offerings please go to www.afr.com. This statement sets out Fairfax's policy on managing the personal information that it collects.

Fairfax is bound by the National Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act. However, Fairfax is exempt from complying with the Privacy Act in relation to its journalism activities. Fairfax has publicly committed to complying with the Australian Press Council Privacy Standards for the use of personal information in the course of journalism.

Fairfax may, from time to time, review and update this privacy policy statement to take account of new laws and technology and changes to Fairfax's operations. Please visit this page periodically, to check for updates. All personal information held by Fairfax will be governed by its most recent policy, posted on Fairfax.

What kind of personal information does Fairfax collect and how does Fairfax collect it?

Fairfax collects personal information from a variety of sources, including from members of the public, advertisers, prospective employees, mailing lists, recruitment agencies, contractors and business partners.

In general, the personal information Fairfax collects includes (but is not limited to) name, address, contact details, gender, occupation, in some cases membership of professional associations and, where relevant, financial information, including credit card information, banking details and income information.

Where Fairfax enters into a transaction with an individual, Fairfax may collect other types of personal information, depending on the nature of the transaction. Fairfax will generally state the specific purposes for which this personal information will be used and to whom it may be disclosed, other than as set out in this policy.

Personal Information you provide: We obtain the personal information you enter on Fairfax or give to Fairfax in other ways. We obtain most personal information through Fairfax membership registration process and updates to membership details. You may provide information when you request or acquire a product or service from Fairfax or its related companies, provide a product or service to Fairfax, complete a survey or questionnaire, enter a competition, participate in forums or when you communicate with Fairfax by e-mail, telephone or in writing (for example if you contact customer service or provide feedback).

Automatic collection: Cookies: We may use a feature of your browser called a cookie to assign your computer a 'User ID'. Cookies contain information by which Fairfax can identify your computer to our servers. You may configure your browser so that you are notified before a cookie is downloaded or so that your browser does not accept cookies. Fairfax may use information contained in cookies to make assumptions about the user of the computer and to provide users of that computer with focused advertising that Fairfax believes may be of interest, based on that information. In some cases a web page might contain more than one cookie, the information gathered from these different cookies are used to build statistical and demographical information which does not identify you personally to advertisers and other third parties for marketing, promotional purposes.

To disable your cookies, please refer to the help menu within your Internet browser.

Indirect collection: Fairfax endeavours to collect personal information about an individual only from that individual. In some circumstances Fairfax may obtain personal information from a third party. If you provide personal information about another person to Fairfax, Fairfax requires that you inform that person you have done so and provide them with a copy of this policy.

How Fairfax uses the information you provide

Fairfax may use information it collects from you for the primary purpose for which it is collected and for such other secondary purposes that are related to the primary purpose of collection. Fairfax generally uses personal information to:

• provide you with products or services you have requested
• personalise and customise your experiences on Fairfax;
• help Fairfax manage and enhance its services;
• communicate with you;
• provide you with ongoing information about opportunities on Fairfax in which Fairfax believes you may be interested;
• give you the opportunity from time to time to receive e-mail and 'e-newsletters' from Fairfax

In most cases where Fairfax asks you to provide information about yourself, if you do not provide Fairfax with that information, Fairfax will not be able to provide you with the requested product or service.

Disclosure

Fairfax may disclose personal information to other companies in the Fairfax Group that may only use it as set out above. Fairfax may also provide your information to:

• third parties engaged by Fairfax to perform functions on its behalf, such as processing credit card information, mailouts, debt collection, marketing, research and advertising;
• third parties authorised by you to receive information held by Fairfax;

Fairfax may use DoubleClick International Asia B.V. to deliver the e-mails and e-newsletters you may ask to receive about our products and services. DoubleClick International generally sends this data to the United States and Canada, but may transfer it to other countries where appropriate. By requesting an e-mail or e-newsletter from Fairfax, you agree that Doubleclick may use your personal information in this way. If you would like to know more about the information gathering practices and 'opt-out' procedures of DoubleClick International, click here

Fairfax shares web site usage information about visitors to Fairfax who have received a targeted promotional e-mail campaign, with DoubleClick International B.V. for the purpose of targeting future campaigns and upgrading visitor information used in reporting statistics. For this purpose, Fairfax and its third-party advertising company will keep information on the email campaign and some of the pages you visit on Fairfax through the use of pixel tags (also called clear gifs). For more information about our advertising company, visit www.privacychoices.org. To opt out of the targeting program, please visit the Privacy Choices Optout page.

How Fairfax treats sensitive information

"Sensitive Information" means information relating to a person's racial or ethnic origin, membership of political bodies, religion, membership of a trade union or professional or trade association, sexual preferences, criminal record and health. Fairfax may use and disclose Sensitive Information only for the purpose for which it was provided or a directly related secondary purpose or as allowed by law unless you have agreed otherwise.

Management and security of personal information

Fairfax has appointed a Privacy Officer to oversee the management of personal information in accordance with this policy and the Commonwealth Privacy Act. Fairfax protects the personal information Fairfax holds from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by various means including firewalls, pass word access, secure servers and encryption of credit card transactions.

Updating personal information

Fairfax endeavours to ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate, complete and up-to-date. You can update your Fairfax membership information via the 'Update your details' section on any of the sites within Fairfax.

You can generally update personal information that is not membership information on the website of Fairfax where you submitted that information. Where personal information is no longer required by Fairfax, it will be destroyed or de-identified.

Seeking access to the personal information Fairfax holds about you

You have the right to seek access the personal information held about you and to advise Fairfax of any inaccuracy. There are some exceptions to this right set out in the Privacy Act. If you make an access request, Fairfax will ask you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. Fairfax may charge a fee to cover the costs of meeting your request. Membership information: Fairfax Members can access the membership information Fairfax holds about them at any time via the "Change Details" section on any of the sites within Fairfax.

How to contact Fairfax

If you have enquiries or wish to provide feedback about this policy, please mail to the Privacy Officer at GPO Box 506 Sydney 2001. If you do not wish to receive special offers or marketing communications from Fairfax, please either call 1800 032 577, send an email to fbmhelp@brw.fairfax.com.au, fax your request to (02) 9282 2165 or mail it to the Privacy Officer at GPO Box 506, Sydney NSW 2001. You can obtain further information on the Fairfax Privacy Policy by visiting www.afr.com and selecting "Privacy"

Last updated: 18 July 2007