This policy applies to all your dealings with Geelong Motors Pty Ltd ACN 124 009 141 trading as Mercedes-Benz Geelong ABN 17 124 009 141 (“Geelong Motors”).

This privacy policy is to provide information to you, on how your personal information is collected and used within our business, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties. If you do not allow us to collect all of the information we request, we may not be able to deliver all of those services effectively.

Geelong Motors is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)(“Act”) and the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”) set out therein in respect of that personal information.

“Personal information” is information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable: 
· whether the information is true or not; and
· whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.

Your acceptance of this Privacy Policy
By completing a credit application, entering into contracts with us (including a personal guarantee and indemnity), using our website, purchasing a vehicle from Geelong Motors or otherwise providing us with your personal information, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

From time to time, Geelong Motors may update this Privacy Policy. When changes are made, we will revise the date of last update listed at the end of this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to visit our website regularly or otherwise ask us for any updates to our Privacy Policy.

Information we collect and hold about you
Geelong Motors will need to collect your personal information when selling a vehicle to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to register your vehicle with Vic Roads and provide any finance and insurance options. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as warranty claims, servicing, and business processes (e.g. staff training).

Only staff who need to see your personal information will have access to it. If we need to use your information for anything else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this.

Personal information:
Geelong Motors collects and holds personal information where the information is reasonably necessary for one or more of our functions or activities. Personal information collected may include but is not limited to:
· your personal details such as your name, gender, date of birth, address;
· your contact details;
· occupation and employment details;
· registration and driver’s licence details;
· credit card and bank account details;
· other financial information;
· current and past vehicle information and details;
· cookies and website tracking;
· educational qualifications and resume;
· personal interests;
· records of communications between Geelong Motors and yourself;
· usage information and other information disclosed by you.

How we collect and hold your personal information

Personal information:

We collect personal information:
a) through our forms (including order forms, quote request forms and credit applications);
b) when you send us an email, letter or fax;
c) when you communicate with us over the phone;
d) when a purchase or refund is made;
e) when you provide us with goods or services;
f) from competitions or promotions you have participated in, our events you have attended;
g) when you arrange to test drive a vehicle, we will take a copy of your driver’s licence.
h) If you are seeking a finance quote, we may require further personal information such as your credit card and bank details and other financial information.
i) through government bodies, enforcement and regulatory authorities.
j) in connection with other services and activities we make available;
k) when you visit our website;
l) when you submit an email address to our website mailing list; and
m) when you apply for a job or make an employment-related inquiry.

In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. This may include information from:
a) the Austroads Ltd’s National Exchange of Vehicle and Driver Information System if we are conducting a recall; and/or
b) government bodies, enforcement and regulatory authorities.

Geelong Motors will collect personal information from you where it is reasonable and practicable to do so. Sometimes, we may collect information about you from a third party, such as our contractors and agents, referees or from publicly available sources.

You may refuse to provide Geelong Motors with your personal information where it is lawful and practicable to do so. However, if you do so, it may prevent you from engaging in certain activities and services with Geelong Motors.

Unsolicited information:

If Geelong Motors receives unsolicited personal information and we determine we should not have collected the personal information from you, and the information is not contained in a Commonwealth record, we will, as soon as practicable but only if it is lawful and reasonable to do so, destroy or de-identify the information.

Passive information collection:

Geelong Motors may from time to time use various technologies, such as cookies, to collect anonymous information from users of its website. This information assists us to analyse traffic and guide development of the website. Most web browsers accept cookies, but you may modify your browser settings to disable them. If you do so, some parts of the website may not function properly.

How we use your personal information

Geelong Motors collect personal information to provide you with the best possible products and services that we have to offer, to create a more personalised experience for you, and comply with our legal, regulatory, industry or workplace requirements.

Geelong Motors collects personal information for the purpose for which it was collected, for any purpose which you have consented to, or for any related purpose where you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose the information.

More specific purposes include but are not imited to:
· buying, selling, repairing and loaning vehicles and parts;
· fulfilling and processing orders and administering accounts;
· roadside assistance, vehicle warranty, product issues, service measures and recalls;
· any related purpose related to one or more of our functions or activities;
· registration of security interests on the personal property securities register;
· responding to enquiries/complaints;
· providing support;
· marketing, event and promotional activities;
· market research;
· administration;
· recruitment purposes;
· checking your details against sanctions lists; and
· to comply with industry, legal and regulatory requirements.

We may also use your personal information: 
· if you apply for insurance, for information about what is being insured, the beneficiaries, and your financial situation, depending on the type of insurance.
· if you apply for finance, to check whether you are eligible for a product or service, assist you with your application and the ongoing management of this service.
· to comply with legislative or regulatory requirements in any jurisdiction, prevent fraud, crime or other activity that may cause harm in relation to our products or services and to help us run our business.
· to tell you about products or services we think may interest you. 

Disclosure of personal information to third parties:
In the course of business, we may be required to disclose personal information to third parties. Geelong Motors will only use or disclose your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles as set out in the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012

The types of third parties we may disclose your personal information to include but is not limited to:

a) third parties who work with Geelong Motors for business purposes, such as VicRoads, Mercedes-Benz Finance & Insurance – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy;
b) for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process;
c) courts or other parties we are required by law to disclose information to;
d) those that you have consented we disclose your personal information to;
e) our insurer; our insurance broker;
f) government agencies;
g) law enforcement bodies;
h) our agents;
i) contractors;
j) contracted service providers including but not limited to advertising and marketing agencies, mailing houses, printers, organisations that assist us to conduct promotions or market research, debt collectors, data analysts, IT service providers, roadside assistance providers, database storage and service providers, cloud service providers and professional advisors; and
k) external advisors who we engage to undertake our business functions and activities from time to time or who assist us in undertaking our business functions and activities.

Only people that need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing services or as otherwise described in this policy, Geelong Motors will not share personal information with any third party without your consent.

We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.

Direct Marketing:

Geelong Motors will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you without your express consent. You may request not to receive such information by: ticking the "opt-out" box on the form we ask you to sign when you order from us; advising our staff member at the time you place your phone or fax order; or you can contact us directly at any time and inform us that you do not wish to receive promotional material. If you do consent, you may opt-out of direct marketing at any time by notifying Geelong Motors in writing.

How we protect your information

We will take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information and credit eligibility information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. 

Your personal information may be stored at Geelong Motors in various forms. Geelong Motors stores all personal information securely. Contracts will be stored in electronic format on Geelong Motors Management System, which is password protected. Hard copies of older contracts are stored in a secure environment. If your information is no longer required to be kept by us, we will destroy it and/or ensure that the information is de-identified.

Accessing your personal information

To access your personal information we hold about you, please send a written request to the attention of the Privacy Officer via email to privacy@mbgeelong.com.au or by mail to PO Box 2134, Geelong VIC 3220. Generally, Geelong Motors will attempt to grant you access to the personal information within a fortnight.

Geelong Motors may refuse to give access to the personal information where, for example, providing access would disclose commercially sensitive information or information relating to existing or anticipated legal proceedings. If we refuse to provide you with access to personal information held by you and us, then we will provide written reasons for the refusal and advise you of available avenues of redress.

How you may correct your personal information

Where necessary, Geelong Motors takes reasonable steps to ensure the personal information we collect and disclose is accurate and up-to-date, complete and relevant. From time-to-time, we will ask you to verify your personal information held by Geelong Motors is correct and up-to-date.

If we discover the information is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, we will take reasonable steps to correct the personal information. If you find that personal information we hold about you is incorrect, please request its correction free of charge by contacting our Privacy Officer via email to privacy@mbgeelong.com.au or by mail to PO Box 2134, Geelong VIC 3220. If we refuse your request for correction, we will provide written reasons for the refusal and advise you of the mechanisms available to you to complain about the refusal.

How you may complain about a breach of the Act

We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure.

Should you have any complaints in respect of our handling of your personal information, you can lodge a complaint free of charge by contacting our Privacy Officer via email to privacy@mbgeelong.com.au or by mail to PO Box 2134, Geelong VIC 3220. Within (5) business days following receipt of the Complaint, Geelong Motors will send a communication via post, fax or email to the person whom made the complaint (Complainant) acknowledging receipt of the Complaint. Within thirty (30) business days fromthe date all information is received, the Investigator will contact the Complainant, via post, fax or email, notifying the Complainant of proposed avenues of resolution. The Complainant and the Investigator may work together to collaboratively resolve the Complaint to the Complainant’s satisfaction. Geelong Motors will notify the individual if additional time is needed to respond due to the complexity of the inquiry.

If you are unhappy with our resolution of your complaint or the way we have handled your complaint, you may be able to refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (see: www.oaic.gov.au for further details or call the OAIC on 1300 336 002.).

Privacy and our website

We provide information and services through a range of digital and online services including websites, email, online advertisements and social media profiles. These services may be operated by Us, MBAuP, other Daimler group companies or third party service providers to provide a consistent experience, personalise your use of each of those services and provide targeted marketing.

We may use “cookies”. A cookie is a piece of information that allows the server to identify and interact more effectively with your device. The cookie assists us in maintaining the continuity of your
browsing session and remembering your details and preferences when you return.
Other technologies that may be used include web beacons (which may operate in conjunction with cookies), Flash local stored objects and JavaScript. Some of these cookies and other technologies are consistent across various digital services used by Us and/or MBAuP, allowing Us and the other providers of these services to understand you better and provide a more consistent experience across these services.

Our’s and/or MBAuP’s systems record a variety of information in relation to interactions with our online services. This can include information about software versions used, device identifiers (like IP
address), location data (where available and not disabled by the user), dates, times, file metadata, referring website, data entered and user activity such as links clicked.

In some cases third parties may use cookies and other technologies such as those described above. These technologies may be used in connection with activities like surveys, online behavioural
advertising, website analytics and email campaign management. The services We and/or MBAuP may use from time to time include Google Analytics, Google Display Network, Google AdSense, DoubleClick, Yahoo, Adobe, Campaign Manager and Microsoft. You can find more details in the privacy policies for those services (e.g. Google’s Ads Preferences Manager), including information on how to opt-out of certain conduct. Bear in mind, you may need to opt-out separately from each service. The website youronlinechoices.com.au also allows you to opt-out of some online behavioural advertising and provides further information about how online behavioural advertising works. You can contact Us and/or MBAuP to request further details of the services We use. Many of these services operate without collecting or using any personal information whatsoever.

Some information which We and/or MBAuP or a third party acting on our behalf may collect is not related to an individual. In many cases the information only relates to a device or is of an aggregated or statistical nature, and we will have no way of knowing the identity of the user. In other cases We and/or MBAuP may associate information about your use of our digital services over time with your personal information, e.g. where on any occasion you have logged in, followed a link sent to you by email or we have otherwise been able to identify you.

Please refer to our Cookies section on our website for further information.

We and MBAuP are constantly developing and enhancing our use of online technologies, and make reasonable efforts to ensure we keep this Privacy Statement and related documents up to date in this regard.

How to contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our handling of your information, please contact our Privacy Officer, by sending an email to privacy@mbgeelong.com.au or by mail to Privacy Officer at PO Box 2134, Geelong VIC 3220.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on 10 February 2022.