Privacy Policy

In this policy "we", "us' and "our" means Rainmaker Information Pty Limited (ABN 86 095 610 996), Financial Standard Pty Limited (ABN 57 604 552 874), its subsidiaries and affiliated companies.

This Privacy Policy will outline the kind of information we collect and how we use it. We may update or revise this policy from time to time by posting an updated version on our websites. You have no obligation to provide any personal information requested by us. However, if you choose to withhold your personal information, we may not be able to provide you with the services or products that depend on the collection and use of that information.

1. Our privacy commitment

We recognise the importance of, and are committed to, managing any personal information that we collect in compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), which includes the Australian Privacy Principles and other Australian privacy laws (together, "Privacy Laws"). The protection of customers' privacy rights is a fundamental element of our business and we are committed to ensure that our relationship is as exclusive as you want it to be.

2. What information do we collect?

Business information

Rainmaker, as an information company collects information about certain businesses. This information about businesses does not include information about individuals at these businesses beyond their commercial activities, what is already available in the public domain or beyond what they voluntarily disclose in the course of our research and compilation activities.

Personal information

In the course of doing business, and separate to the above, we may also collect personal information from our customers and subscribers. The personal information we collect varies depending upon the purpose of the collection and the product or service we are providing you. Generally, we may collect and hold the following types of personal information, depending on the nature of the transaction with us:

  • your name and address;
  • your telephone number;
  • your e-mail contact details;
  • your date of birth;
  • your gender;
  • other information you may make publically available online (including but not limited to on social media platforms);
  • transaction details, if you make a purchase with us or choose to store details in your online profile;
  • bank account/credit card numbers and associated details as reasonably required in relation to processing payments at your request; and
  • any other personal information which may be required in order to facilitate and where possible improve your dealings with us.

However, for certain purposes, such as where you apply for employment with us, we will collect additional personal information such as your employment history, educational history and employment references.

Your personal information may be used by us to inform you about products and services, improve the products and services we offer, and otherwise better meet the needs and preferences of our customers.

We generally do not collect sensitive information such as race, ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union memberships or details of health or disability. Exceptions to this include:

  • where you have given express consent for us to do so;
  • the use of this information is authorised by law or is considered reasonably necessary to enforce the law; or
  • when the information is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim.

3. How do we collect information?

Where possible, we collect your personal information directly from you. This collection includes through your:

  • registration when you purchase a product, magazine or digital subscription;
  • entry into promotions or competitions;
  • answers to surveys;
  • signing up to newsletters and other notifications from our publications and other brands;
  • registration to attend events;
  • application for an internship or employment with us;
  • communications with us such as letters, telephone calls, text messaging and emails regarding services and products;
  • download and use of our digital publications and mobile applications ("apps").

In some circumstances, however, we may also collect your personal information from third parties or public agencies where it is unreasonable or impracticable for us to collect the personal information directly from you. For example, if you subscribe to one of our magazines through a third party that is authorised to take subscriptions for us, we will collect your personal information from that third party. If we have difficulty in delivering a magazine to you, we may make enquiries in an effort to locate your address or correct any error in our recorded address details for you.

In some circumstances, we may provide you access to our online platforms through the option of a third party platform sign on (including but not limited to, social sign ons). In this instance we will be accessing and collecting the personal information which you have authorised the third party platform to pass on to us. Where we collect personal information from third parties, we will ensure that the collection is conducted in a fair and lawful manner and the information is reasonably necessary for our functions or activities.

4. Why do we collect and use your personal information?

We will collect your personal information if it is reasonably necessary for the performance of our business activities and functions, which includes providing a range of products and services to you, some of which are listed below.

4.1 Registration for magazine subscriptions

We collect personal information from individuals who purchase products or subscribe to magazines that we publish in order to process their payments, fulfil their order and to confirm whether they would like to receive promotional materials in the future.

We will also seek your consent to send to you promotional material and special offers. Where you have a subscription for a magazine published by us or purchased from us through a third party such as Magshop, we will also send you renewal notices and that magazine's regular newsletter as well as promotional material. Occasionally (where notice has been given) you may also be sent special offers from third parties associated with that magazine.

4.2 Sales promotions, competitions, surveys and registration to attend our events

We collect personal information when you respond to one of our promotions, competitions or surveys or when you register to attend an event in order to inform you if you have won a prize, to place you on a guest-list to the event and to help us better understand what products and services you would like to receive information about in the future.

4.3 Our mobile apps

We, or a service provider, may collect information through our apps to assist us in understanding how you use our apps, how the apps are performing across different handsets and to assist us in the selection of advertisements for groups of individuals. Our access to this information is as you have agreed to with the respective app store from which you download our app.

4.4 Registration for our newsletters

We collect personal information when you sign up to register for our newsletters. By providing this personal information we are able to keep you updated on special offers and events that you may be interested in and to reward your commitment to the brands.

4.5 Employment or internship

We collect personal information from applicants who are seeking employment or an internship with us as part of the recruitment process. In circumstances where you do not provide the mandatory personal information, we will be unable to consider you for a position with us.

4.6 Direct marketing and research

As set out above, we may use personal information about you for marketing and research purposes. However, you can manage your communication preferences with us in a number of ways, e.g. if you are an online customer, you will be provided options to manage your own online profile; you may also contact our Privacy Officer. In addition, the marketing communications that we send to you will also contain information on how to unsubscribe from those communications.

If you do not want us to disclose your details to other organisations such as our related companies or third parties for marketing purposes, please contact our Privacy Officer.

From time to time, we may extract information from our collected records to produce aggregated data. This aggregated data does not identify individuals. We use the aggregated data for research purposes, product development and may share the data with third parties.

5. Who do we disclose your personal information to?

We provide your personal information to third parties only where you have consented to such disclosure. We also provide your personal information to third parties in order to carry out our business activities and functions. This may include:

  • other business units across the Rainmaker Group;
  • organisations who are sponsoring or otherwise involved with or participating in a promotion, offer, competition or survey;
  • other companies or individuals we engage to perform functions on our behalf, such as mailing a subscription, processing credit card information, mailing information or prizes, data analysis, telemarketing, research and advertising, IT support services; and
  • with your consent, to other companies or individuals for the purposes you have consented to.

In certain circumstances, we may disclose your personal information where required or authorised to do so by law, including in emergency situations and to assist law enforcement agencies. We will always ensure that those to whom we disclose your personal information have the legal right to receive it.

6. How is your personal information secured?

We understand that the security of your personal information is important. As such, we take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. However, data transmission over the Internet cannot be guaranteed to be 100% secure. While we will strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us or receive from our online products and services. These activities are conducted at your own risk.

7. Access to, updating or deleting of personal information

In certain circumstances where you have a sign in to your customer details and/or you can access your own personal information via your membership you will be required to follow prompts to access, correct or update your personal information.

If you wish to access, amend or delete the personal information we hold about you, please let us know by contacting us using the 'Contact Details' set out below and we will take reasonable steps to comply with your request.

Exceptions to this include:

  • where providing access will provide a serious threat to life or health of any individual or pose an unreasonable impact on the privacy of an individual;
  • your request for access is frivolous or vexatious;
  • where information relates to existing legal proceedings between Rainmaker and you; or
  • where providing access would be unlawful or may prejudice an investigation of possible unlawful activity.

8. Web logging and the use of cookies

Rainmaker's websites record standard information such as time, date and URL of request (the web page you arrived from) via our web servers. This information is recorded by all web servers and is used to improve the functionality, structure and performance of our websites.

Information may be collected when you access our websites or apps, such as the time and specific page or app you visited. This information is collected through the use of "cookies". A "cookie" is a small piece of information, or file, that a website or app sends to your computer's hard drive while you are viewing that website or app for record keeping purposes. Most web browsers are automatically set to accept cookies. If you do not wish to receive any cookies you may set your browser to refuse cookies. However, this will mean you will not be able to take full advantage of our websites or apps.

We, and our service providers, use the information collected from cookies for a number of reasons:

  • for statistical purposes in order to track how many users we have and how often they visit our website or apps;
  • to provide statistical data, ratings and other information for industry and other public reporting;
  • to provide you with a more personalised, convenient and interactive experience on our websites or apps;
  • to track who has viewed an advertisement or clicked-through an advertisement; and
  • to provide you with a more targeted advertising experience both on and off our websites or apps, allowing us to impose restrictions where appropriate and monitor how effective an advertising campaign has been.

We may sometimes use services, including Google Adsense and Facebook, in activities such as analytics and online behavioural advertising, to provide you with more relevant messages. You can find more information on these services and choose to opt-out from services of your choice by using this website http://optout.networkadvertising.org. You will still see advertising after opting out, however it won't be tailored to your likely interests. Opt-outs only apply to online behavioural advertising and do not apply to other technologies such as email and social advertising.

9. Third party websites

Some of our web pages may be hosted by third parties. If personal information is collected from one of those pages and provided to us, we will treat that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy; and as if it was collected directly by Rainmaker.

Our websites contain links to third party web sites that are not operated or controlled by us. Please note that we are not responsible for the privacy or security practices of those third party web sites and those sites are not covered by this Privacy Policy. We recommend that, before disclosing your personal information to a website to which you were redirected from an advertisement, you read that website's privacy policy and terms of use/service. Third party companies may also collect information about you when you view or click on their advertising or content through the use of cookies or other means. We cannot control this collection of information. You should contact these advertisers or content providers directly if you have any question about their use of the information they collect.

10. What to do if you have a problem or question

If you have a question or wish to make a complaint about the way in which we handle your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer using the contact details set out below.

We undertake to acknowledge and investigate any complaint promptly and will respond to written complaints within a reasonable time from the date of receipt.

11. Contact details

If you have any further questions or would like more information on Rainmaker's Information practices and privacy policy, please contact our Privacy Officer at: [email protected]

12. Additional information

For further information about privacy issues and the protection of privacy, visit the Australian Federal Privacy Commissioner's web site at: www.privacy.gov.au