Privacy Policy
PNK PARTNERS PTY LTD (ABN 49 626 148 632) Privacy Policy (June 2018)
Our Commitment to Your Privacy
Safeguarding your personal information is our priority. Everything we do is guided by a commitment to earning and maintaining your trust.
This Privacy Policy outlines the categories of information we may gather from you or your business, how that information may be used or shared, and the measures we take to keep it secure. It also describes the practices and principles that govern the information we collect through:
- Online and software-based tax return preparation services
- Our official website
- Mobile applications covered under this Privacy Policy
Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.
A Note for Parents: Given the professional nature of our services, we do not intentionally direct our marketing toward minors, nor do we knowingly collect personal information from children. Our website is designed to be fully appropriate for all visitors and contains no content unsuitable for children.
Who This Privacy Policy Applies To
This policy governs the personal and business information we collect in the course of providing tax preparation and related products and services to our current and previous clients. Please note that this policy does not extend to any of our affiliated entities or franchise operators, as these businesses may operate under different regulations and follow their own internal practices. If you are engaging with any of these companies, we encourage you to review their individual privacy policies directly.
Information We Collect
When you use our services, we collect information — including personal information — relating to you, your spouse, your dependants, your business, and other relevant individuals such as employees where business services are involved. The types of information we may collect include, but are not limited to:
- Contact Details (e.g., name, phone number, residential address, and email address)
- Tax File Numbers and other government-issued identification numbers
- Date of Birth
- Financial Data (e.g., income, revenue, assets, tax credits, deductions, expenses, and bank account details)
- Payment Information (e.g., cheque, debit, and credit card account numbers, account balances, and transaction history)
- Geographic Location Data
- Website, Mobile Application, and Email Activity Data
- Account Login Credentials
- Demographic Details
How We Collect Your Information
We gather information from the following sources:
- Directly from you. We collect information that you voluntarily provide when accessing, requesting, or using our services. This includes details submitted during the preparation or electronic lodgement of your tax return, identity verification, or when applying for or purchasing a product or service. Please be aware that if you choose not to supply certain information, we may be limited in our ability to assist you, as some of our products, services, tools, or calculators depend on that information to function properly. Where our website offers interactive features such as chat rooms, forums, message boards, or news groups, please be mindful that any information shared in these spaces becomes publicly visible. We encourage you to exercise caution when disclosing personal information in these environments.
- Through your use of our services. We collect certain usage data each time you interact with us — whether in person at one of our offices, online, via a mobile application, or when opening one of our emails. This may include the pages you visit, the links you click, and the times at which these actions occur. Such data may be collected directly by us or by a service provider acting on our behalf. To gather this information, we employ web and wireless technologies including cookies and web beacons. For a detailed explanation of these technologies and your opt-out options, please refer to the “Types of Web and Wireless Technologies (including Cookies) We Use” section of this policy. Please note that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) or relevant state tax authorities may require us to collect specific personal and system information in connection with preparing or lodging your tax return. This may include your name, Tax File Number, IP address, and unique device identifiers.
- From other companies and government bodies. In accordance with their respective privacy notices, our affiliates, business partners, PNK Parteners franchisees, and unaffiliated third parties — including the ATO and credit reporting agencies — may provide us with certain information about you. We may also collect information when you request services or information from us or our business partners, participate in competitions or prize draws, or respond to surveys or polls. To enhance the security of our services and safeguard your identity and personal information, we may verify the details you provide by cross-referencing them against publicly available data obtained from identity verification providers.
How We May Use Your Information
We use your information primarily to deliver the products and services you have requested. This includes communications directly related to your tax return preparation, such as appointment reminders, lodgement status updates, and ATO deadline notifications. Where permitted by law, we may also use your information to manage and report on your account, and to present you with relevant information, products, or services. These activities may be carried out by us or by a service provider on our behalf.
- Promoting Products and Services. We may use your information to reach out to you regarding products and services offered by us or our affiliated companies, including the distribution of newsletters or publications from us or our affiliates.
- Geographic Location. We may use your location data to display nearby PNK Parteners office locations, evaluate demand for our services in specific areas, and improve the experience we deliver to you and other clients. You may withdraw consent for this data collection at any time by disabling location access at the device level and refraining from using our office locator feature.
- Mobile Device Access. When you use our services via a mobile device, we may request permission to perform certain functions, including making calls, accessing your camera or photo library, connecting to the internet, accessing your calendar, sending push notifications, reading from and writing to device storage, managing your device’s sleep/wake state, and processing in-app purchases.
- Security and Identity Verification. We may cross-reference your personal information against publicly available data to verify its accuracy, strengthen the security of our services, and protect both your identity and your information.
- Unique Identifiers. We may assign you a globally unique identifier (GUID) — an alphanumeric code — when you use our services. This GUID enables us to link information about you, including personal information, across our various products and services, helping us better understand how you engage with what we offer.
- Calculators and Tools. When you use our online calculators or other tools, we may collect non-identifiable data, such as usage frequency for a particular tool. We may also place cookies or tracking pixels based on your activity to pre-fill your information on future visits and to tailor offers and tools to your interests. For tools that require registration or request contact details, we may follow up with relevant offers or services.
- Competitions, Promotions, and Surveys. We may run competitions and online surveys in which we ask for contact and demographic information, such as your email address. This information is used to verify your identity, assess your eligibility for special programs or offers, and complete any related transactions with you.
How We May Disclose Your Information
Your information may be shared in the following circumstances:
- Affiliates. Where permitted by law, we may share information we collect with our affiliated companies. Affiliates may use this information to support the delivery of products or services you have requested, or to offer you additional products and services.
- Business Partners. We collaborate with a range of business partners to offer products that complement our tax services. You can identify when a business partner is involved by the presence of their logo alongside ours. Where relevant, we may share information related to such transactions with the applicable business partner — unless you have requested otherwise in writing — and we may receive a benefit in connection with that arrangement.
- Service Providers. Where permitted by law, we may share your personal information with third-party service providers who carry out business functions on our behalf. These functions may include data processing and analysis, competition management, direct mail or email production, technical support, data storage, courier services, and debt collection. We may also share your personal information and transaction records with third-party advertising partners and their service providers to deliver interest-based advertising when you visit certain other websites. Any data shared in this way is pseudonymised. All service providers are required to enter into written agreements with us that govern the appropriate use of your personal information, mandate its protection, and prohibit any unauthorised or unlawful use.
- Joint Marketing Partners. Where permitted by law, we may share your information with companies with whom we have joint marketing arrangements. As with service providers, all joint marketing partners must enter into written contracts with us that require appropriate use and safeguarding of your personal information and prohibit unauthorised use. Where applicable law grants you the right to opt out before your information is disclosed for joint marketing purposes, we will not proceed without first providing that option or obtaining your consent.
- Franchisees. Some of our products and services are delivered through a network of independently owned franchise offices. Where necessary to serve you, and only where permitted by law, we may share your information with these franchisees.
- The ATO and State Taxing Authorities. The ATO and relevant state tax authorities may require or request certain personal and system information in order to process or electronically lodge your tax return. This may include, but is not limited to, your name, Tax File Number, IP address, unique device identifiers, bank account details, and tax return preparation activity metrics such as time taken to complete your return.
- Acquirers of Our Business or Assets. In the event that we sell or transfer any part of our business or assets, client information may form part of that transaction. Should such a transfer result in a material change to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you in accordance with the notification procedure described in the policy change section below.
- As Required or Permitted by Law. We may disclose your information to affiliated or unaffiliated third parties where we have reasonable grounds to believe such disclosure is required or permitted by law. This may arise in connection with a court order, legal proceeding, or other judicial, administrative, or investigative process. We may also disclose information to relevant government authorities to the extent necessary to report or assist in the investigation of potential criminal activity. Where permitted by law, we may share your information with the ATO for the purposes of preventing refund fraud or addressing potential cybersecurity threats.
- Aggregated Data. We may share aggregated, de-identified information that cannot be used to identify you individually. This may include, for example, the total number of users from a particular region or average demographic data.
We may also share your personal information with our parent company or affiliated entities in the United States, Canada, and India, as well as other service providers located in the United States.
Your personal information will not be used or disclosed for any purpose beyond what is set out in this policy, or as otherwise communicated to you at the time of collection.
If you would prefer that we do not use your personal information for marketing purposes, please inform us at the time your information is collected, or contact us to opt out of marketing communications (refer to the Opting-Out section for details).
Web and Wireless Technologies We Use (including Cookies)
To recognise returning users and personalise your experience — including the features and advertisements you see — we use cookies and related technologies that help us understand usage patterns, track preferences, and analyse how our services are used. Reports generated from these technologies may be reviewed on an individual or aggregated basis. You may opt out of certain technologies where indicated.
- Cookies. We use a technology known as “cookies” to customise your experience on our websites. Cookies are small alphanumeric identifiers transferred from a web server to your computer or mobile device via your internet browser. When your browser visits a web page, a unique number is assigned and stored in a small text file on your device. Each time you return to a cookie-enabled page, the site is able to recognise your browser as a returning user. Cookies allow us to display content that may be relevant to you, simplify access to your account, and measure the number of unique visitors to specific pages or advertisements. We may also use cookies and similar technologies to serve you tailored online advertising based on your interests. To opt out of advertising delivered by us, please refer to the Opting-Out section. You can adjust your browser settings to accept, decline, or prompt you before accepting cookies. While cookies are not essential for all parts of our services, disabling them entirely may affect the functionality of certain features.
- Local Storage Objects (LSOs) and HTML5. We use LSOs — such as those enabled by HTML5 — to store content, settings, and preferences in connection with certain website features and interest-based advertising. Your browser may provide tools to manage these local storage objects.
- Clear GIFs and Web Beacons. We use clear GIFs (also referred to as pixel tags or web beacons) to help us manage website content more effectively by analysing usage patterns, identifying issues, and improving the products and services we offer. We also embed clear GIFs in our emails to determine whether messages have been opened, enabling us to assess the effectiveness of our communications and marketing campaigns. These activities may be carried out by us or a service provider on our behalf.
- Log Files. Like most websites, we make use of log files. Information recorded in these files may include IP addresses, unique device identifiers, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), referring and exit pages, platform type, date and time stamps, and click counts. We use this data to diagnose technical issues, identify trends, administer our site or mobile application, monitor aggregate user movement, and gather broad demographic insights. When certain online tax services are used, IP addresses and unique device identifiers may be linked to personally identifiable information to enable the lodgement or transmission of tax returns to the ATO.
- Online Behavioural Advertising. We permit select third-party companies to serve advertisements and collect certain pseudonymous information when you visit our websites. These companies may use data such as clickstream information, browser type, date and time, and details of advertisements you interacted with, both on our websites and others, to display advertisements for goods and services that may be of greater interest to you. This is typically done via cookies or third-party web beacons. We may engage different providers for similar purposes from time to time. You may opt out of certain personalised advertisements by clicking directly on the ad, or by visiting the opt-out pages at https://support.google.com/ads/answer/2662922 or the Digital Advertising Alliance Consumer Choice page at http://www.aboutads.info/choices/. Please note that opting out of personalised advertising does not mean you will stop receiving advertisements — you will continue to see generic ads.
- Mobile Device Data. We may collect data from your mobile device, including identifiers such as Apple IDFA, general device characteristics, and other device-specific identifiers.
Web Browser “Do Not Track” Signals
Regardless of your browser’s “Do Not Track” setting, all visitors to our website have their data handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy. While we do not alter our data practices in response to browser-level “Do Not Track” signals, we do provide you with choices regarding the receipt of promotional communications from us or third parties. These choices are outlined throughout this Privacy Policy.
How We Protect Your Information
The security of your personal information is a matter we take seriously. We maintain appropriate safeguards designed to protect your information from unauthorised access or misuse. If you have any questions about the security measures we have in place, please contact us as described in the “Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy.
Where your information is shared with service providers, we require all such providers to enter into written agreements that govern the appropriate use of your personal information, mandate its protection, and prohibit any unauthorised or unlawful use.
The personal application information of customers (https://www.etaxback.com) using the Online Tax Express service is stored on a stable hosting server provided by crazydomains through SSL certificates and malware prevention monitoring services.
Once you have finished using your account, please remember to log out and close your browser window — particularly if you are using a shared or public computer. We use the latest SSL encryption technology to protect your confidential information during transmission. However, please note that no method of transmitting or storing data electronically can be guaranteed to be completely secure, and we are therefore unable to warrant absolute security.
How Long We Retain Your Information
We retain your information for as long as necessary to serve you or as required by applicable law.
Your information is kept for the duration that your account remains active or for as long as is needed to continue providing our services to you. We may also retain your information where necessary to comply with our internal policies, meet legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce our agreements.
In cases where a tax return has been started but not completed through our online tax programs, it is our general practice to retain the information provided until the end of the third tax season following the date the return was initiated, after which it will be permanently deleted from our systems.
Third-Party Products and Services, Including Social Media Features
We maintain business relationships with third parties that offer products or services through or in connection with our own services. Please note that this Privacy Policy does not extend to any third-party products or services. We encourage you to carefully review the privacy notices and any applicable terms and conditions of those third parties before engaging with their offerings. By requesting products or services from such companies, you authorise us to share with them any information about you that is necessary to fulfil or process your request.
For example, certain social media features on our platform may use scripting or require us to share your IP address and the page you are viewing in order for the feature to operate correctly. Social media features and widgets may be hosted either by a third party or directly on our site, and your interactions with these features are subject to the privacy notice of the company that provides them. Common examples include the Facebook “Like” button, the “Share This” button, and interactive mini-programs embedded within our services.
Opting Out
You have the right to restrict our use of your information or our ability to share it in certain situations. Please be aware that exercising this right may affect your experience and our ability to provide you with certain products or services. To opt out of electronic or other communications, please submit a written request to your nearest office using the contact details provided in the “Contact Us” section below, or by clicking here. Please note that you may continue to receive service-related communications that are directly connected to products or services you have purchased, such as appointment reminders, ATO deadline notifications, payment confirmations, and lodgement status updates.
Where permitted by law, and subject to your consent where required, we may use your information to contact you about products and services available through us or third parties. If you wish to limit the receipt of such communications at any time, please submit a written request using the contact details in the “Contact Us” section below, or by clicking here. Upon request, and subject to the limitations outlined below, we will make reasonable efforts to reduce or cease marketing communications directed to you. You may also unsubscribe from certain marketing emails by following the unsubscribe instructions included within those communications. We will endeavour to respond to all opt-out requests within a reasonable timeframe.
Please note that you are not able to opt out of the sharing of information that does not personally identify you.
The above applies only to personal information collected through your use of the services covered by this Privacy Policy. To opt out of communications from our affiliates or franchisees, you will need to contact each entity directly in accordance with their respective policies.
For information on opting out of specific web and wireless technologies, please refer to the “Web and Wireless Technologies We Use (including Cookies)” section of this Privacy Policy.
Accessing Our Services from Outside Australia
Our services are hosted on servers based in Australia, and we also engage service providers located in Australia and the United States to help deliver our services. If you access our services from outside Australia, you consent to the transfer of your information — including personal information — to Australia. Please be aware that Australia may not provide the same level of data protection as your country of residence.
Accuracy of Your Personal Information
If you believe that any information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date, please contact us using the details provided in the “Contact Us” section below. We will take reasonable steps to correct the information promptly.
Contact Us
For any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, requests to access your personal information, or concerns about our compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles or any applicable privacy code by which we are bound, please reach out to us through any of the following:
Postal:
The Privacy Officer
PO Box 3881
Rhodes NSW 2138
Email: etaxback@gmail.com
Phone: 02 8970 8513
We aim to respond to all compliance-related concerns within a reasonable timeframe, generally within one week. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may escalate your concern to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Updates to This Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. Where we make a material change — including any significant change to how we use your personal information — we will notify you at least thirty (30) days before the change takes effect using one of the following methods: (1) by posting a notice on our website describing the update; or (2) by sending you an email outlining the change.
Effective Date
This Privacy Policy is effective from 1 July 2019.