M & A Investigations understands you as a client of our company may have concerns about the privacy, confidentiality, and security of information we may obtain from your company. M & A Investigations' policy is to protect our clients' privacy and confidential information collected; this includes physical security, computer and network security, communications security and personnel security.

M & A Investigations has undertaken to comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act, 1988, and the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Collecion) Act 2012 (Cth) (Act).

Collecting personal information

M & A Investigations uses your personal information for the legitimate business purpose for which it was disclosed at the time of collection. We lawfully collect personal information that is necessary for our business to provide comprehensive quality services. The information we collect and hold will depend upon the investigation service you request from us and may include information you provide us when you engage our services. This information will include client details such as name, address, telephone and facsimile numbers, email addresses, together with information pertaining to the claimant and their associated claim.

We use this information to:

• set up and administer a service for the client;
• maintain client contact details;
• determine a customer's requirements and provide the appropriate service;
• assess our clients and their needs; and
• improve our products and services.

This information is essential to the provision of our services.

Storage of Information

M & A Investigations will take all reasonable steps to protect your personally identifiable information. We use appropriate security procedures and the latest technology to protect the information we hold.

Only staff authorised by the Directors have access to the data file information. Hard copies of information are stored in locked cabinets of commercial-grade steel, in accordance with the requirements set out in Part IV of the Commonwealth of Australia Protective Security Manual.

We are also required to take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify personal information when it is no longer required for a permitted purpose.

Disclosure of personal information

We do not disclose personal information to any outside third party organisation, unless we are contracted to do so by our clients. In this case, we make sure that the third party is bound by the same privacy rules we follow. We do not share information with entities outside of Australia.

Information will only be used or disclosed by M & A Investigations as allowed by the Privacy Act 1988, and the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Collecion) Act 2012 (Cth) (Act).

Openness

You have the right to request access to any personal information we hold about you. You can request this information by contacting the Director of our company. Where we hold information that you are entitled to access, we will respond to your request in a reasonable time and endeavour to provide you with a suitable range of choices as to how access is provided.

If at any time you believe that personal information we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request amendment of it and we will either amend the information or make a record of your comment, as we think appropriate.

Making changes to personal information

M & A Investigations endeavours to ensure information held is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Where you believe information held is not accurate, complete or up-to-date, please advise M & A Investigations and every effort will be made to correct the information.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about how we have collected or handled your personal information, please contact M & A Investigations' Director, who will endeavour in the first instance to deal with your complaint and take any steps necessary to resolve the matter within a week.

Complaints Process

M & A Investigations will endeavour to acknowledge receipt of a privacy complaint within 24 hours of receiving it and to complete our investigation into your complaint in a timely manner. This may include, for example, gathering the relevant facts, reviewing relevant documents and speaking to relevant individuals.

In most cases, we expect that complaints will be investigated and a response provided within 28 days of receipt of the complaint. If the matter is more complex and our investigation may take longer, we will write and let you know.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint), or other regulatory bodies.