PART A – ABOUT THIS PRIVACY POLICY
Who is Worthington Clark and what does it do?
Worthington Clark Pty Ltd (ABN 002 216 953) (Worthington Clark or we) is a specialist genealogy and asset research firm that provides a range of genealogy and asset research services (Services). Our Services include tracing and locating missing executors, beneficiaries and inheritances, recovery of lost or unclaimed assets and researching, compiling and writing family history books.
Members of the public can use Worthington Clark’s Services by contacting us by way of the details available on our website www.worthingtonclark.com or by way of the contact details set out at the end of this Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy applies to the provision of all of our Services.
What are Worthington Clark’s privacy obligations?
Worthington Clark’s privacy obligations concern the collection, use, disclosure and storage of personal information.
In dealing with personal information, Worthington Clark Pty Ltd is subject to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and any applicable State or Territory privacy laws.
PART B – OUR PERSONAL INFORMATION HANDLING PRACTICES
What personal information does Worthington Clark collect and hold?
We may collect your name, address, date of birth, information about your family members and relatives, information about unclaimed assets, and any other information required to provide you with our Services.
The types of information Worthington Clark collects and holds includes (but is not limited to) personal information about users of our Services, personal information of other individuals disclosed by users of our Services and personal information about our employees.
The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) states that you may choose to deal with Worthington Clark anonymously (or by providing a pseudonym) such as when you make a general inquiry about our Services, in which case your details will not be subject to privacy laws. However, given the nature of the Services we provide, if you choose to remain anonymous or provide us with a pseudonym when you engage us, it will be impractical for us to provide you with our Services. Providing us with your personal details not only enables us to provide you with our Services it also allows you, and other authorised persons, to retrieve information about your matter at a later date.
If you identify yourself, Worthington Clark will usually collect your name, date of birth, gender, marital status, contact details and information about your connection with certain unclaimed assets. We may also record information about the Services to be provided to you in the future.
We usually collect personal information directly from you when you contact us, send us an email or letter, visit our offices or when you enter into an agreement with us to engage our Services. We also collect personal information from third parties including custodians and family members who wish to locate you or agencies or affiliates who assist us in delivering our Services to you. We will only use fair and lawful ways to collect the personal information.
All correspondence with Worthington Clark in relation to our Services is noted in a database. This note might include personal information (for example, your email address when you contact us by email).
We have processes in place to ensure that our records of your personal information remain accurate, complete and up to date, including by verifying the information with you each time you use our Services or from other sources.
If the personal information is no longer required by us for any purpose for which it was collected and is no longer required by law to be retained by us, we will destroy or de-identify the personal information.
What uses and disclosures of personal information may occur?
Worthington Clark uses and discloses personal information for the following purposes:
? delivering our Services; this may include (but is not limited to) the following:
? tracing missing executors, beneficiaries and inheritances around the world;
? liaising with or consulting third parties to assist in recovering lost or unclaimed assets;
? claiming assets, entitlements or inheritances and any earnings;
? researching, compiling and writing family history books;
? adoption research and the reunification of families; and
? genealogy research for print and TV media;
? promotion of our Services;
? administration of our business;
? compilation and analysis of statistics relevant to our business; and
? complying with our legal obligations.
If personal information is used for statistical analysis or similar research purposes, Worthington Clark will de-identify the personal information before use.
Worthington Clark may use your personal information to contact you for feedback on your satisfaction with our Services. We may also publish your testimonials on our website.
Worthington Clark will generally not disclose your personal information to anyone except as described in this Privacy Policy, when you consent to a particular disclosure, or where the identifying data can be removed.
There may be other disclosures where:
? you would reasonably expect the disclosure to occur (for example, quality assurance purposes, training and the purpose of enhancing our Services);
? it is required for Worthington Clark to recover any unpaid Services fees owing to us;
? Worthington Clark is authorised or compelled by law to disclose;
? it will prevent or lessen a serious threat to someone’s life, health or safety or a threat to public health or safety;
? it is necessary to take appropriate actions in relation to any suspected unlawful activity or serious misconduct;
? it is necessary to locate a missing person subject to compliance with rules made by the Australian Information Commissioner;
? it is necessary as part of the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim;
? it is requested by an enforcement agency such as the police;
? it is a necessary part of an investigation following a complaint or incident; or
? it is necessary for a confidential alternative dispute resolution process.
Worthington Clark will only disclose personal information to third parties for the purposes discussed in this Privacy Policy. When we disclose your personal information to third parties, we will make all reasonable efforts to ensure we disclose only relevant information and that it is accurate, complete and up to date.
Worthington Clark will not sell or rent your personal information to anyone. Worthington Clark may transfer your information overseas as part of the delivery of our Services to you if you consent to the transfer or if we reasonably believe that the personal information is protected overseas in a substantially similar way to how it is protected under the privacy laws and privacy principles that applies to Worthington Clark in Australia. If we transfer your personal information overseas, it will be at your request and for the purposes of engaging researchers located in the country/countries nominated by you to assist us in delivering our Services to you.
How does Worthington Clark protect your personal information?
Worthington Clark has systems and procedures in place to protect your personal information from misuse and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We will permanently destroy or de-identify personal information we hold about you if we no longer need it for any purpose including the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.
PART C – OUR WEBSITE
This part of our Privacy Policy explains the type of information that is collected by Worthington Clark in managing and operating our website, how such information is used and under what circumstances and to whom it may be disclosed.
What personal information does Worthington Clark collect from its website?
Worthington Clark does not collect your personal information when you only browse our website.
However, Worthington Clark does provide links on our website to allow you to email us. We may collect your personal information if you transmit personal information to us through email.
When you use our website we may use your IP address to assist with diagnosing problems with our server and to administer our website. While the website logs are IP identifiable, no attempt is made to link them with any individuals that browse our websites.
What uses and disclosures of personal information collected from our website may occur?
Worthington Clark will only use personal information collected via our website in accordance with the purposes stated in this Privacy Policy.
Your email address will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it and will not be added to any mailing lists without your prior consent. We will not use or disclose your email address for any other purpose without your consent, unless it is otherwise in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
We do not disclose your personal information to other organisations unless one of the limited circumstances set out in Part B of this Privacy Policy applies (see Part B, ‘What uses and disclosures of personal information may occur?’).
Does Worthington Clark use cookies?
A “cookie” is a small file supplied by Worthington Clark and stored by the web browser software on your computer when you access Worthington Clark’s website (an explanation of cookies can be found at the website of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au).
Worthington Clark uses a session cookie for maintaining contact with a website user throughout a web browsing session and to ensure a persistent client state. Worthington Clark also uses cookies to ensure that your connection, when using our website, is kept as secure as possible. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of our website.
No attempt will be made to identify anonymous users or your browsing activities except, in the unlikely event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant to inspect the Internet Service Provider’s log files.
Our website may contain links to other websites that are not controlled or owned by Worthington Clark. We are not responsible for these websites including their content and their information handling practices. We are also not responsible for any consequences of your use of those websites.? Worthington Clark recommends that you read the privacy policies made available on those websites to understand their privacy practices. Worthington Clark is not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of those websites.
PART D – QUERIES, CONCERNS AND FURTHER INFORMATION
How does Worthington Clark ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate and how can I access the information held about me?
Worthington Clark has measures to ensure that the information it holds about you is accurate, complete and up to date before acting on it. If you learn that personal information we holds about you, such as your address and contact details, are inaccurate, incomplete or not up to date you should contact us as soon as possible so that your information can be promptly updated to maintain the privacy of your personal information and ensure that any communications are correctly addressed to you.
If you wish to see what information Worthington Clark holds about you, you can ask us for a copy. Sometimes it may not be possible to give you a copy of the information if it was provided anonymously, if it contains details about other people that you are not authorised to access, or if it would be unsafe to provide the information in that it may lead to harm being done to another person.
If we refuse to provide you with access to your record or to update your record in the way you request, we will provide you with written reasons.
If we refuse to correct or update your information, you may request that we make a note on your record that you are of the opinion that the information is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date, irrelevant or misleading, as the case may be.
Worthington Clark will not charge you for lodging a request for a copy of your personal information but you will be asked to pay a reasonable fee for the work involved in providing you with this information and for associated costs such as photocopying. You will be notified of any likely costs before your request is processed.
What if I have a complaint?
If you have a privacy complaint or concern, especially if you think your privacy has been affected or you wish to complain about our refusal to update or grant access to our records of your personal information, you should visit our offices or contact us by phone, email or letter for an examination of your complaint. If you are dissatisfied with our examination of your complaint, you can subsequently complain about the privacy matter to the Australian Information Commissioner. See www.oaic.gov.au for how to make a complaint.
Does Worthington Clark change its policies on privacy from time to time?
Worthington Clark may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. To see the most current Privacy Policy, please look at our website www.worthingtonclark.com or contact us.
How can you contact us?
Email:
Phone:
Within Australia: 1800 077 973
Outside Australia: (+612) 9460 3922
Facsimile:
Within Australia: 1800 077 517
Outside Australia: (+612) 9460 3944
Office address:
North Sydney office
115 Union Street
North Sydney NSW 2060
Australia
Bowral office
18 Bundaroo Street
Bowral NSW 2576
Australia
Postal address:
North Sydney
Worthington Clark Pty Ltd
PO Box 1710
North Sydney NSW 2059
Australia
Bowral
Worthington Clark Pty Ltd
PO Box 2275
Bowral NSW 2576
Australia