SERV - Secure Electronic Registries Victoria
SERVing ethically
Privacy Policy
Secure Electronic Registries Victoria Pty Ltd as trustee for the Secure Electronic Registries Victoria Trust (SERV, we, us, our) has been granted the exclusive right to provide products and services relating to the Victorian register of land (and other related registers and indexes) (collectively, the Registers).
We value our customers and recognise your right to keep personal information private. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and disclose your personal information and how to access, correct or raise concerns about the handling of your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) (PDPA) (together, the Privacy Laws).
What information do we collect?
We collect and hold personal information (including sensitive information) in operating our business, to provide you with information, for recruitment and other purposes. Our operations include performing services and providing data products as the private operator of the Registers. Examples of the types of personal information we collect include:
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Identifying and contact details | This includes information about you that is necessary for us to identify and/or contact you in relation to our services and operations or to deliver our services to you or for feedback, complaint handling or other security purposes (e.g. name, address, phone number, email address, CCTV images). |
| Information collected in relation to the Registers | This includes information about dealings with land that relates to you (e.g. transfer of land, mortgages, caveats); information required to record land and other interests on the Registers that we manage; and information used to support your lodgment. Examples include name, address, date of birth, powers of attorney and probate-related documents. |
| Financial information | Credit card and/or bank account information where required for provision of services. |
| Information for recruitment purposes | When you apply for a job or position with us, we may collect certain information (including your name, contact details, working history, social media profile(s), CV/resume and relevant record checks) from you, any recruitment consultant, your previous employers, background check service providers and others who may be able to provide information to us to assist in our decision on whether or not to make you an offer of employment or engage you under a contract. |
| Information collected by cookies | When you access our website, we may collect certain de-identified and technical information via cookies on our website, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, operating systems, browser information, other websites visited, access date/time and length of session time. More detailed information is included in the “Using our website” section below. |
Anonymity
Wherever it is lawful and practicable, SERV will give you the option to interact with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym. However, given the nature of our services and products, it may often be impracticable for us to deal with individuals who have not identified themselves or who have used a pseudonym. If you refuse to provide us with the information that we require, we may be unable to provide the service or product you have requested.
How and when do we collect your personal information?
In most instances, we collect personal information on behalf of the State of Victoria in connection with the rights granted to SERV to provide products and services relating to the Registers.
We collect your personal information from third parties who access or interact with the Registers, including electronic lodgment network operators (or ELNOs), information brokers and government authorities and agencies, as well as other third-party service providers we partner with and publicly available sources.
We may also collect your personal information directly from you or via your authorised representative acting on your behalf (such as a solicitor or surveyor, etc.). Some of the main ways we collect personal information directly from you are outlined below:
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Lodgement of dealings and other products and services | When a dealing is submitted for lodgement on the Register, or when a product or service is obtained from us (e.g., a register search statement or a property certificate). |
| Communication | When you contact us by phone, email or through our website (including through webchat), attend our offices, participate in our surveys, subscribe to our online services, newsletters or mailing lists or access our website or social media accounts. |
| Register an account | When you register an account with us (e.g. through LANDATA or Service Hub). |
| Visit our offices | When you visit our offices, we may collect contact information, images and/or video surveillance from our CCTV systems. |
| Recruitment | When you apply for a job or position with us, we may collect personal information from any recruitment consultant, your previous employers, referees, CV checking agencies or others who may be able to provide information to assist with our decision. |
How do we use your personal information?
We may collect, store, use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Lodging services | To undertake services in connection with lodging instruments on the Registers and administering / managing ancillary functions, activities and services. |
| Products and services | To facilitate the provision of products and services to you and our other customers (including Register and other data products and services developed and/or offered by us from time to time). |
| Payments | To facilitate payment for providing products and services to you. |
| Contact | To communicate with you when we need to tell you something important about our operations or your information, provide customer support, request feedback or where we need to respond to enquiries, feedback or complaints. |
| Subscriber/ other audits | To undertake subscriber audits of information brokers, and other third parties who access the Registers, or in conjunction with audits of our systems by professional services providers, relevant government authorities or their agents. |
| Recruitment | To consider your employment application. |
| Security | To maintain security of our premises, sites operations, data and infrastructure. |
| Service Providers | In the course of acquiring products or services from a third-party service provider (including in circumstances where those products or services are necessary for us to provide a service to you or another customer). |
| Law | To comply with laws, and to assist government and law enforcement agencies where we are required, authorised or permitted to do so (including to satisfy our contractual obligations to the State of Victoria as a private operator of the Registers). |
| Internal purposes | Internal administrative operations including to measure and improve our services and business operations. |
| Marketing | To send you marketing and promotional messages and other information about products that may be of interest to you (subject to any opt-out requests). |
Do we store or share your personal information outside of Victoria and overseas?
Given the public nature of the Registers we manage and the services we offer, we may disclose personal information outside of Victoria and Australia where an individual or entity who undertakes searches of / requests information from the Registers is located outside these jurisdictions.
In limited circumstances, we may also allow service providers who operate outside of Australia access to your personal information held on the Registers we manage to enable them to provide services to our business. If we do this, we seek to ensure there are appropriate privacy, data handling and security arrangements in place to protect your personal information.
Who do we disclose your personal information to?
We may disclose your personal information with:
- individuals and other third parties conducting searches of the Register or otherwise obtaining other products and services from us;
- our employees and related bodies corporate;
- third party suppliers and service providers to our business;
- professional advisers, information brokers and agents;
- specific third parties authorised by you to receive information held by us; and/or
- other persons, including government agencies, regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies, to comply with laws in any of the jurisdictions in which we operate, or as otherwise required, authorised or permitted by law or our contractual arrangements with the State of Victoria.
How do we secure and store your personal information?
SERV seeks to protect your personal information from misuse and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We only store personal information on infrastructure located in Australia in electronic systems and databases operated by us and/or our external service providers. Some information about you may also be recorded in hard copy form.
Our website, products and working environment are built with integrated physical, electronic and governance processes that seek to safeguard your personal information and protect it from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
We also aim to securely destroy or de-identify your personal information once we no longer need it for any purpose (subject to our legal or contractual data retention requirements).
Using our website
We may use “cookies” or other similar tracking technologies on our website that help us track your website usage and remember your preferences. Cookies are small files which contain a unique ID number that store information on your computer, mobile phone or other device. Cookies enable us to recognise you when you return and keep track of the services you view or preferences you have so that, if you consent, we can send you information and tailored marketing / promotional materials in relation to those services. We may also use cookies to measure traffic patterns, to determine which areas of our website you have visited and to measure transaction patterns in the aggregate. We use this information for insights in relation to our customer’s habits so we can improve our services and customer experience.
If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can set your browser so that your computer does not accept them. Please refer to your internet browser’s instructions or help screen to learn more about these functions.
Our website uses Google Analytics, to help us better understand the ways customers use our website. Google Analytics uses cookies, which allow de-identified information about your use of our website to be transmitted to Google. For more information, please also see Google Analytics’ currently available opt-outs.
Our website may also contain links to external websites. We do not control these sites or the privacy practices of their operators. We recommend reviewing the relevant third party privacy policies before using those websites.
What are your rights in relation to your personal information?
You have rights in relation to your personal information. You can contact us to exercise the following rights in relation to your personal information at any time:
| Right | Description |
|---|---|
| Access | You can request a copy of your personal information. |
| Correct | You can ask us to correct or update your personal information. |
| Complain | You can express your concerns or complains to us about your privacy in the context of our operations or the way we are handling your personal information. We take your concerns seriously and we will seek to fix any problem as soon as possible. |
Please contact our Privacy Officer in relation to any request for access, correction or to make a complaint using the details in the “Contacting Us” section below. We request that you include your name and contact details (such as email address and phone number) and clearly describe your request or complaint.
We are committed to the quick and fair resolution of any complaints. We will contact you promptly to let you know that we have received your correspondence, and we will formally respond to your complaint within 30 days. Where we are unable to fulfil your request to access or correct your personal information for a legal or other reason, we will let you know why.
If your complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction by our Privacy Officer or you still have a concern relating to your privacy, you can contact:
| Authority | Privacy Law | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|
| Office of the Victorian Commissioner (OVIC) | Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) | Website: ovic.vic.gov.au Telephone: 1300 006 842 Email: enquiries@ovic.vic.gov.au Post: PO Box 24274, Melbourne VIC 3001 |
| Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) | Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) | Website: oaic.gov.au/privacy Telephone: 1300 363 992 Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au Post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2000 |
Contacting Us
You can get in touch with us by contacting the Privacy Officer at any time about the way we handle, store, use and safeguard your personal information, including if you want to:
- ask a question;
- make a request for us to correct or update your personal information or register a concern; and/or
- opt-out of certain communications.
| Privacy Officer | |
|---|---|
| Address: | Attn: SERV Privacy Officer Secure Electronic Registries Victoria Two Melbourne Quarter Level 13, 697 Collins Street Docklands VIC 3008 |
| Email: | privacy@servictoria.com.au |
Find out more
You can find out more about the various Privacy Laws we have mentioned in this Privacy Policy by visiting the OVIC or OAIC websites outlined above.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy may change over time. All changes will be published on this website and the amended, modified or replacement Privacy Policy will be binding once it is published. We encourage you to consider our Privacy Policy each time you visit our website or provide us with personal information.
Effective: [28 August 2024]