Privacy Policy
Type of Information Gathered
United Almonds Limited (“UAL”) will always respect the privacy of those persons that invest in our Projects.
The information that is gathered from Investors is of a general nature and is used for administering and managing their investments and for complying with Australian laws. It is usually collected directly from Investors or their Advisers via application forms, email messages, letters and telephone calls. Such information includes names of and contact details for Investors and their Advisers, and Investor details relating to date of birth, tax file numbers, copies of Power of Attorneys and correspondence between Investors, Advisors and UAL.
In the past, Almond Investors Finance Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of UAL, has collected information from Investors that applied for a loan to finance their investment in a UAL Project. Such information included an Investor’s annual income and other financial details, place of work, credit history etc.
We do not collect sensitive information about Investors unless required by applicable laws or rules. Sensitive information includes information relating to:
There may be some situations where we need to source personal information from an external party e.g. credit reporting agency or a government agency.
We generally hold personal information relating to:
A copy of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“Act”) is maintained in the office. UAL must comply with the Act and in particular the Australian Privacy Principles.
Anti-Money Laundering
UAL is required by law to collect certain customer identification information and verify that the information complies with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (“AML/CTF Act”) and AML/CTF Rules before it can process transfers of Allotments to a new Grower or Units to a new Asset Trust Unitholder.
Customer identification information may include detailed Know Your Customer (“KYC”) information in relation to the transferee such as:
UAL may require further KYC information such as information concerning business activities, structure and source of funds and from time to time may require an Investor to provide updated or additional information.
UAL may refuse to transfer Units or Allotments until it has satisfactorily concluded a customer identification procedure in relation to the transferee. Further, UAL may delay or refuse any request or transaction, if UAL is concerned that the request or transaction may cause UAL to contravene the AML/CTF Act. UAL will incur no liability to the applicant if it does so.
Security of Information
The electronic and hard copy information that we have gathered is confidential and secure. Our electronic files are protected by personal User IDs and passwords and our hard copy files are stored in lockable filing cabinets. No one can enter our office premises after business hours without a security pass.
Where the personal information we collect is no longer required, we delete the information or permanently de-identify it.
Destruction of Information
We will destroy personal information if it is no longer needed for the purpose for which we collected it or for the purposes of meeting legal requirements. All hard copy information will be shredded and all electronic information will be deleted from our systems.
Disclosure and Use of Information
We only use and disclose personal information about Investors for the purpose for which it was disclosed to us or related purposes which would reasonably be expected without permission. For example, we may use and disclose personal information to administer and manage our products and services including monitoring, auditing, and evaluating those products and services, model and test data, communicate with Investors and deal with any complaints or enquiries. We may also use and disclose personal information in connection with acquisitions or potential acquisitions of our business.
We may share personal information inside and outside the UAL group of companies:
Direct Marketing
UAL does not currently engage in direct marketing campaigns. However, if our current policy were to change, Investors would have the chance to “opt out” of receiving direct marketing material. Those that do would have their names removed from the mailing list. UAL would never disclose its mailing list to any other organisation.
Notifiable Data Breach Reporting / Cyber Security
UAL has an internal Cyber Security Policy that outlines the processes it uses to maintain and defend operations/service in the face of a cyber-attack.
The Cyber Security policy outlines UAL’s guidelines and provisions for preserving the security of its data and technology infrastructure.
The passage of the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Act 2017 established the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme in Australia. The NDB scheme applies to all agencies and organisations with existing personal information security obligations under the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) from 22 February 2018.
The NDB scheme introduced an obligation to notify individuals whose personal information is involved in a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm. This notification must include recommendations about the steps individuals should take in response to the breach. The Australian Information Commissioner (Commissioner) must also be notified of eligible data breaches.
All data breaches involving personal information that is likely to result in serious harm to any individual affected are required to be reported to the Commissioner.
How You Can Access or Correct Your Information
Investors can contact us as set out below to request access to or correction of their personal information. In normal circumstances we will give full access or make the requested corrections to the relevant information. However, there may be some legal or administrative reasons to deny these requests. If your request is denied, we will provide you with the reason.
How Do We Resolve Your Concerns and/or Complaints
UAL takes it obligation to maintain your privacy seriously and has an effective complaint handling process in place to manage your privacy concerns and increase customer confidence in UAL’s privacy procedures.
Your feedback is important to us, as we are continuously monitoring the effectiveness of our compliance procedures to build and protect our business and reputation.
If you have a complaint to make about the treatment of your information, please advise UAL. You can make a complaint to UAL about the treatment or handling of your personal information by lodging a complaint with the Privacy Officer.
We will make every effort to resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint and we will let you know if we need further information from you to resolve your complaint. We aim to respond fully to complaints within 5 days but depending on the complexity, some may take longer to resolve. We will keep you informed of our progress until the complaint is resolved.
If you are unsatisfied with the resolution, then you can escalate the matter further. UAL subscribes to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), an external body who considers most privacy complaints of financial services providers.
You can also refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
UAL Contact Details
For questions regarding our privacy policy or handling of information, please direct enquiries using the contact details below, or via our contact form. Where an Investor contacts us seeking resolution of any concerns that we have interfered with the Investor’s privacy, we will respond to advise who will be handling the matter and when the Investor can expect a further response. For information about privacy generally, or if concerns are not resolved to an Investor’s satisfaction, Investors may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
The Privacy Officer
United Almonds Limited
Level 12, 470 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: 03 9629 2777