Privacy policy

This Privacy Policy applies to Smeg Australia Pty Ltd (ABN 33 146 901 082) ("Smeg").
It explains how Smeg handles personal information and complies with the requirements of the Privacy Act 1988. If you have further questions relating to this policy please contact the Privacy Officer on (02) 8667 4888.

1. Scope of this policy This policy relates to Smeg's general handling of personal information concerning individuals such as wholesale and retail customers. Employee records are not generally subject to the Privacy Act, and therefore this Privacy Policy does not apply to Smeg's handling of employee information. For information about our practices relating to employee information please contact us directly.

2. Collecting information about you - Smeg collects personal information from both wholesale and retail customers, contractors, suppliers and other individuals. We collect this information when it is necessary for business purposes, such as:

for sales transactions and enquiries; for registration of warranties and to handle claims for goods under warranty, and for setting up customer accounts and credit facilities to help facilitate regular orders. A substantial amount of the personal information we collect concerns individuals whose information we have collected because they are the contact person at one of our corporate customers. Smeg seeks to comply with the Privacy Act in the handling of information relating to these business contacts. The personal information we collect may be provided on forms filled out by individuals, face to face meetings, e-mail messages, telephone conversations, and information provided by a third party. If you contact us, we may keep a record of that contact.

3. Using and disclosing your personal information Through our website, processing of transactions and administration we use and disclose personal information in our business operations of supplying and distributing a wide range of leading consumer brands. Besides routine administrative and management purposes, the main purposes for which we will use or disclose your personal information are: to establish and operate an Smeg account, including establishing credit facilities for which, with the specific consent of applicants, we may need to access credit reporting information;to handle claims arising under product warranties and to handle product returns and any general complaints relating to products;as required by law;to protect the rights, property or personal safety of Smeg, an employee or customer of Smeg, or any member of the public;if the assets and operations of the business or a part of the business are transferred to another party as a going concern. From time to time Smeg may contact you to inform you of changes to our business or product range that may be relevant to you, or of any special promotional offers. You may opt not to receive marketing communications, as explained below.

4. Service providers. Like many businesses, Smeg uses a range of service providers to help us maximise the quality and efficiency of our services and our business operations. This means that individuals and organisations outside of Smeg, such as mail houses, credit checking agencies or external debt collection agencies, will sometimes have access to personal information held by Smeg and may use it on behalf of Smeg. We require our service providers to adhere to strict privacy guidelines and not to keep this information or use it for any unauthorised purposes.

5. When we communicate with you. We may contact you at the e-mail or other address which you provide to us in order to: provide you with updated information about our website/s; contact you in relation to your account, order, enquiry, claim or other contact with us; provide you with other information about our products and services which we believe may be relevant to you. If you are receiving promotional information from Smeg and do not wish to receive this information any longer, you may remove your name from our list by emailing us at enquiries@smeg.com.au and asking to be removed from our mailing list, or calling us at (02) 8667 4888. Please allow 28 days for this request to be processed.

6. You can access the information we keep about you. If at any time you want to know exactly what personal information we hold about you, please contact our Privacy Officer. If at any time you wish to change personal information that is inaccurate or out of date, please contact our Privacy Officer and we will amend this record. If you wish to have your personal information deleted, please let us know in the same manner as referred to above and we will take all reasonable steps to delete it unless we need to keep it for legal or auditing reasons.

7. Storage and security of your personal information Smeg will endeavour to take all reasonable steps to keep secure any information which we hold about you, and to keep this information accurate and up to date. Your information is stored on secure servers that are protected in controlled facilities. We require our employees and data processors to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by Smeg. Please note also that Smeg may use off-site facilities to process or back up its information. As a result, we may transfer your personal information to our overseas facilities for storage. However, this does not change any of our commitments to safeguard your privacy.

8. Our web site privacy practices. Smeg's websites which include www.smeg.com.au and shop.smeg.com.au is subject to our Privacy Policy. The web site uses cookies, which are pieces of information that a website transfers to your computer's hard disk for record keeping purposes. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies. Smeg uses cookies to make your use of our website and services as convenient as possible. Cookies in themselves do not personally identify users, although they do identify a user's browser. Cookies are useful to estimate our number of members and determine overall traffic patterns through our website. They also allow us to offer enhanced services on our site, such as facilitating online transactions and ensuring that secure areas of our website are restricted to authorised users. Smeg is adding these enhanced features to our web site over a period of time. If you do not wish to receive any cookies you may set your browser to refuse cookies. This may mean you will not be able to use Smeg's enhanced online services.

9. Password and log-in security For the purposes of viewing restricted access services on our website, certain customers (such as service customers) may be provided with a user name and password. If you are an authorised user of a restricted access part of our web site, you can play an important role in keeping your personal information secure by maintaining the confidentiality of any password and accounts used on the Smeg website. Please notify us immediately if there is any unauthorised use of your account by any other Internet user or any other breach of security.

11. What to do if you have a problem or question If Smeg becomes aware of any ongoing concerns or problems relating to privacy issues, we will take these issues seriously and work to address these concerns. If you have any further queries relating to our Privacy Policy, or you have a problem or complaint, please contact us on (02) 8667 4888 or enquiries@smeg.com.au.

12. Future changes Our commitment to being Australia's pre-eminent supplier and distributor of leading consumer brands means that our business will continue to evolve as we respond to our customers' needs. Because of this, from time to time, our policies will be reviewed and may be revised. Smeg reserves the right to change its Privacy Policy at any time and notify you by posting an updated version of the policy on its website. The amended Privacy Policy will apply between us whether or not we have given you specific notice of any change.