Privacy policy of Australian business directory

Ratebe is bound by the National Privacy Principles ("Principles") contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and will only collect and use personal information in accordance with those Principles.
The Principles are designed to protect the confidentiality of personal information and the privacy of individuals by regulating the way personal information is managed. In summary, the Principles define 'personal information' as information or an opinion relating to an individual which can be used to identify that individual.

We understand that when interacting with us the privacy and confidentiality of your personal information is important to you. That is why we are committed to safeguarding the personal information you provide to us. Ratebe's intention is to use the personal information provided to us by you to make any dealings with Ratebe better suited to your needs. Ratebe believes that choice is one of the most important privacy principles. You have the choice not to submit personal information (other than as may be required by law) to us although this may result in us being unable to provide products and services to you or reduce your ability to fully participate in all aspects of our web sites.

What information does Ratebe collect?


Ratebe may collect personal information about you through our interactions with you. Generally, Ratebe may keep a record of your name, contact details (ie. email address, telephone number, etc.), and when collecting personal information for business purposes your professional details (eg. qualifications, speciality, areas of interest) and details of your dealings with us. Other information may be collected from other sources but those sources will provide details of what personal information is being collected and why.

The personal information collected may vary depending on your particular interaction with Ratebe but will be limited to that information necessary to record and manage our interaction with you (eg. your name, relevant contact details and information about the interaction).

If any personal information is collected through visiting our website you will be informed of its use, purpose, who it may be disclosed to and the procedure to gain access to it through specific statements and privacy policies on the website. Ratebe may provide links on our website to other sites. These sites may have different privacy policies and you are advised to check the privacy policy on those sites.

How does Ratebe use personal information and to whom does Ratebe disclose it?

The Principles generally require Ratebe to use personal information only for the primary purpose for which it is collected, or for secondary purposes which are related to the primary purpose.

In general, Ratebe uses personal information for the following purposes:

* to provide products or services that have been requested;
* ensuring our products deliver to you the information requested based on your specialty and areas of interest (eg. meetings and conferences, clinical trials, etc.);
* to develop and improve our products, services, communications methods and the functionality of our website;
* maintaining a record of product queries, complaints and feedback relating to our products;
* sending you material on our activities and products or developments that Ratebe believes may be of interest to you and tailoring marketing services to suit your needs;
* to comply with legal obligations such as notifying you of matters that we may be required by law to notify you of;
* managing, planning and arranging meetings between you and our sales representatives; and
* generating customer lists for the purposes of market research.

As Ratebe changes and grows Ratebe might buy or sell companies, subsidiaries or assets and generally, customer information is one of the transferred business assets, particularly if Ratebe or substantially all of its assets are acquired.

Generally, we require that organisations outside Ratebe who handle or obtain personal information as service providers to Ratebe acknowledge the confidentiality of this information, undertake to respect an individual's right to privacy and comply with the National Privacy Principles and this Privacy Policy. However, we are not responsible for the privacy or security practices of any third party (including third parties that we are permitted to disclose your personal information to in accordance with this policy or any applicable laws). The collection and use of your information by such third party may be subject to separate privacy and security policies.

In most cases, if you do not provide information about yourself which Ratebe has requested, Ratebe may not be able to provide you with the relevant service or information required.

Notice

Where Ratebe collects personal information directly from you, we will inform you about the purpose and use of the collected information and the choices and means, if any, we offer individuals for limiting what we do with their personal information.

Security of personal information

Ratebe is committed to keeping your personal information secure. All reasonable precautions will be taken to protect information from loss, misuse or alteration. We will take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information that we hold from misuse, loss, or unauthorised access.

While we endeavour to keep information on our website, including those provided by you or on your behalf, secure and confidential, we will not be responsible for any breach of security caused by third parties and do not represent that our website is completely secure.

Ratebe has directed its staff that personal information must be dealt with in accordance with this Privacy Policy and kept secure from unauthorised access or disclosure. We will limit access to personal information to Ratebe personnel on a need to know basis. We educate our staff about their duty to protect your privacy and provide training regarding this Privacy Policy.

Cookies

Ratebe, in common with many website operators, may use standard technology called cookies on its website. Cookies are small data files that are downloaded onto your computer when you visit a particular website. Cookies help provide additional functionality to the site or to help us analyse site usage more accurately. For instance, our server may set a cookie that keeps you from having to enter a password more than once during a visit to one of our sites. In all cases in which cookies are used, the cookie will not collect personal information except with your explicit permission. You can disable cookies by turning them off in your browser, however, some areas of our website may not function properly if you do so.

Spam

Ratebe's interactions with you are also regulated under the Spam Act. Ratebe complies with these laws and will not send you a commercial electronic message unless permitted by the Act.

IP Addresses

An IP (internet protocol) address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer by your internet service provider when you log on. Your IP address is not linked to your personal information but we do preserve the right to use IP addresses to identify individuals who may threaten our site, services or customers.

Click stream data

A click stream or click stream data reflect the specific web pages visited by an individual user and importantly, the manner or traffic pattern by which a user moves from one web page to another. Ratebe may choose to track this information within its website. This information is tracked and used to understand user habits and personalise the content, banner ads and promotions that users will see on the website. Clickstream data does not contain or reveal any personal information about the user.

Links

Ratebe website may contain links to other sites that we think may be of interest to you. However, Ratebe is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such web sites. When linking to the other site, you should always check that the site's privacy policy before providing any personal information.

Mail and email information

If you wish to stop receiving any emails or other communications from Ratebe which may be sent to you in the future based on your request for this information, or if you have submitted personally identifiable information through Ratebe's web site and would like to have that information deleted from our records, please notify us.

Ratebe will preserve the contents of any email message that you send if we believe that we have a legal requirement to do so. Emails sent to or from Ratebe are routinely monitored for quality control, systems administration and legal compliance purposes.

Sales Representatives

Our sales representatives will collect general information about you as outlined above.

Accessing and updating personal information that Ratebe holds about you

Ratebe has appointed a Privacy Officer to oversee our management of personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the Commonwealth Privacy Act. The Privacy Officer's contact details are set out below in How to contact us.

You can, in most cases, access the personal information Ratebe holds about you. If you wish to do so, please contact the Privacy Officer. We endeavour to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Please contact the Privacy Officer if you believe that the information Ratebe holds about you requires changing or becomes out-of-date.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

Ratebe reserves the right to amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. Should any changes occur to our Privacy Policy, it will be posted on our website and will be available on request.