Privacy Policy

1. About this policy

1.1 This Privacy Policy explains, in plain language, how Autofocus handles personal information.

1.2 It applies to the Autofocus website, account creation, enquiries, Confidence Pack, Ease Pack and the Concierge service.

1.3 It should be read with our Terms and Conditions. If there is a conflict about how we handle personal information, this policy prevails.

1.4 We have written this policy to meet the content expected of an Australian Privacy Principles privacy policy, including what we collect, how we collect and hold it, why we use it, how you can access or correct it, how to complain, and whether we disclose information overseas.

1.5 A small business with annual turnover of $3 million or less is often not covered by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), unless an exception applies, such as trading in personal information without consent. Whether or not the Act formally covers us at a given time, we will handle personal information as described in this policy.

1.6 We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will be on the website with the date above. If we make a change that is more than minor, we will give you reasonable notice by email or by a notice on the website.

2. Who we are

2.1 This policy is issued by Autofocus Media trading as Autofocus.

2.2 ABN: 98 774 092 139

2.3 We operate from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

2.4 Privacy contact: support@autofocus.net.au.

2.5 Website: autofocus.net.au.

3. What personal information we collect

3.1 Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified person, or a person who is reasonably identifiable.

3.2 We collect and hold the following kinds of personal information:

• Account and contact information: name, email address, password or other login credentials, account settings and marketing preferences. Ease Pack and Concierge enquiries also collect your phone number and suburb so we can arrange your appointment
• Pricing report email: if you enter your email to unlock the full pricing calculator report, we store it with that report and use it to email you your Valuation Certificate. If you tick the optional box, we also send a short series of follow-up emails about market price changes, selling tips and AutoFocus offers. Ease Pack and Concierge enquiries also receive a personal follow-up email about arranging a call
• Number plate lookup and calculator details: if you use the pricing calculator, we collect the number plate, state, vehicle details, kilometres, condition and suburb you enter. We send the plate and state to a third-party vehicle data provider to identify the car, and keep a record of lookups to prevent misuse and limit daily use
• Service information: messages and enquiries you send us, information you give us about the vehicle and the sale, including condition, history, ownership, finance, service records, and how you want to sell, documents, photos or other files you upload or email to us, and the listing materials we prepare for you
• Payment information: if you buy a paid package, payment status, invoice details, and the limited payment information our payment provider shares with us. We do not store full card numbers on our own systems
• Technical information: date and time of visits, pages viewed, browser and device type, approximate location derived from IP address, and diagnostic or error logs needed to run the website

3.3 Vehicle details are not always personal information on their own. They become personal information when they can identify you, for example when they sit with your name, email, photos of a house or number plate, or a unique combination of facts about your car.

3.4 We do not seek sensitive information, such as health information, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or biometric templates. Please do not send us that kind of information. If you do, we will delete it if we reasonably can, unless we must keep it by law.

3.5 We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18.

3.6 We do not collect government identifiers such as a driver's licence number or tax file number unless you choose to send them and we reasonably need them for a specific job. Do not send those details unless we ask.

4. How we collect personal information

4.1 We collect personal information directly from you when you:

• create an account
• log in
• submit an enquiry or intake form
• email or message us
• upload files
• pay for a package
• update your account details
• subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, marketing emails

4.2 We collect technical information automatically when you use the website, through the website server and any analytics or security tools we use.

4.3 We do not buy marketing lists. We do not collect personal information from data brokers.

4.4 We may receive limited information from a service provider acting for us, for example a payment confirmation from a payment provider, or a delivery receipt from an email provider. That information still relates to your use of the Service.

4.5 We collect personal information only by lawful and fair means, and only where it is reasonably necessary for our functions and activities. We do not collect more than we reasonably need.

5. Why we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information

5.1 We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information for these purposes:

• to create and manage your account
• to identify you and communicate with you
• to assess whether we can take your job
• to prepare listing copy, a buyer-response pack, and a handover sheet
• to process payment and keep financial records
• to send service messages about your account, enquiry, job, or these policies
• to send marketing emails if you have consented
• to improve, secure, and troubleshoot the website and Service
• to handle questions, complaints, and disputes
• to comply with the law

5.2 We do not sell your personal information.

5.3 We do not use your personal information for a new purpose that is unrelated to the purposes above, unless you consent or the law allows it.

5.4 We do not publish your listing, name, email, or other identifying details as a case study or testimonial without your consent.

5.5 We do not currently make decisions that substantially affect you solely by automated computer programs. A person reviews enquiries and prepares listing materials.

6. What happens if you do not provide the information

6.1 You do not have to give us personal information. If you do not, these are the main consequences:

• we cannot create an account without a name and email address
• we cannot deliver the Service without enough information about you and the vehicle
• we cannot take payment or start paid work if required payment details are missing
• we cannot reply to you if we do not have a working email address

6.2 You can browse public pages of the website without creating an account. Some technical information may still be collected as described in clause 3.

7. Who we share personal information with

7.1 We may disclose personal information to:

• service providers who host the website, accounts, database, email, analytics, or payments
• professional advisers, such as a lawyer or accountant, if needed
• a person who takes over the Autofocus business
• a person you ask us to share information with
• a court, regulator, or other body if the law requires or authorises it
• a person if it is necessary to protect our rights, safety, or the rights of others

7.2 Those service providers may only use the information to provide their service to us, or as the law requires.

7.3 Types of service providers we use include website and database hosting, account authentication, email delivery and marketing email (Brevo), payment processing (Stripe), vehicle data lookup from number plates, advertising measurement (Google and Meta), and security and error monitoring.

7.4 We do not disclose your personal information to other Autofocus customers. We do not list your car for you on third-party platforms unless that is separately agreed in writing.

7.5 If you publish listing materials we prepare, you are disclosing that content on the platforms you choose. Those platforms have their own privacy policies.

8. Overseas disclosure

8.1 We are likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients because some of our service providers store or access information outside Australia.

8.2 The countries in which those recipients are likely to be located include the United States and countries in the European Union, including France, where our email provider Brevo operates. They may also include other countries where a provider operates support, backup, or hosting systems. We will update this clause once the live tools are confirmed, if other countries become likely.

8.3 If personal information is stored overseas and something goes wrong, Australian privacy law may not apply in the same way, and you may not be able to seek a remedy under the Privacy Act against the overseas recipient.

8.4 We still take reasonable steps to make sure overseas providers handle the information under their contract with us and in a way that is consistent with this policy.

9. How we hold and protect personal information

9.1 We hold personal information in electronic form. That includes our account database, email, and files you send us.

9.2 Some information may also be held in backups or in the inboxes we use to run the business.

9.3 We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. Those steps include:

• limiting account access to people who need it to provide the Service
• using password protection and encrypted connections to the website where available
• using reputable third-party providers for hosting, accounts, email, and payments
• not storing full card numbers on our own systems
• reviewing who can access customer information

9.4 No website or electronic storage is completely secure. If we become aware of a data breach that is likely to cause serious harm, we will take the steps the law requires, including notifying affected people and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner where that is required.

10. How long we keep personal information

10.1 We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purposes in this policy, or as required by law.

10.2 As a guide:

• account information is kept while the account is open, then deleted or de-identified when we no longer need it
• enquiry and job files are kept for as long as needed to deliver the Service and handle follow-up questions, then for a reasonable period for accounting, tax, or dispute purposes
• payment and invoice records may be kept for the period required by tax and accounting law
• marketing consent and unsubscribe records are kept for as long as needed to show we complied with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth)
• technical logs are kept only for a short period unless we need them to investigate a security or service issue

10.3 When we no longer need personal information, we take reasonable steps to delete it or permanently de-identify it, unless an Australian law or court or tribunal order requires us to keep it.

11. Emails and direct marketing

11.1 We use your email address to send service messages about your account, enquiry, job, this policy, or our Terms. These are operational messages.

11.2 We will only send marketing emails if you have consented, or if the law otherwise allows us to. We ask for consent through a separate unticked box, for example when you unlock a pricing report or create an account. Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link.

11.3 Marketing emails will identify Autofocus, include our contact details, and include a clear unsubscribe option. You can unsubscribe without logging in or creating an account. We will process an unsubscribe request within 5 working days.

11.4 You can also email support@autofocus.net.au and ask us to stop marketing emails.

11.5 Unsubscribing from marketing does not stop operational emails we need to send about your account or an active job.

11.6 We keep a record of who consented, when, and how.

11.7 Our email provider records whether emails are delivered, opened, bounced or marked as spam, and when you unsubscribe. We use this to understand which emails are useful, to stop emailing addresses that bounce or complain, and to honour unsubscribe requests. We send each follow-up email only once per email address.

12. Access and correction

12.1 You may ask us for access to the personal information we hold about you.

12.2 You may also ask us to correct personal information if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant, or misleading. Please keep your name and email current in your account, or email us if you cannot update it yourself.

12.3 Send access or correction requests to support@autofocus.net.au. We may need to verify that the request comes from you.

12.4 We will respond within 30 days. If we need more time, we will tell you why.

12.5 In most cases we will give you access. We may refuse if the law allows us to, for example if giving access would unreasonably affect someone else's privacy, or if the request is frivolous or vexatious. If we refuse, we will tell you why, unless it is unreasonable to do so, and how you can complain.

12.6 We will not charge you for making a request. If a request is unusually large, we may charge a reasonable amount for giving access. We will tell you the cost first.

12.7 This policy explains how you can access and correct your personal information, and how you can complain.

13. Closing an account and deletion

13.1 You may close your account at any time by emailing support@autofocus.net.au.

13.2 You may also ask us to delete personal information we hold about you.

13.3 We will delete or de-identify that information where we reasonably can. We may retain information we need to keep for legal, tax, accounting, dispute, or security reasons.

13.4 Closing your account does not automatically delete listing materials you have already published on third-party platforms. You will need to remove those listings yourself.

14. Complaints

14.1 If you think we have mishandled your personal information, email support@autofocus.net.au with your name and email address, what happened, and what you would like us to do.

14.2 We will acknowledge the complaint and aim to respond within 30 days. If the matter is complex, we will tell you that and give you an update.

14.3 If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:

• website: oaic.gov.au
• phone: 1300 363 992
• post: GPO Box 5288, Sydney NSW 2001

14.4 The OAIC can generally investigate complaints about businesses the Privacy Act covers. If the Act does not cover us at the time, the OAIC may still be able to tell you what options you have.

15. Cookies and similar tools

15.1 The website may use cookies or similar tools that are needed for the site and your account to work, such as keeping you logged in. If you use the pricing calculator, your car details and the email you entered are saved in your own browser so the Ease Pack and Concierge enquiry forms can be filled in for you on the same device. You can clear this by clearing your browser storage.

15.2 Analytics, where enabled, may collect technical information about site use. Separately, the Meta Pixel shares page views, browser and device details, approximate location and confirmed purchase events, including the amount paid, with Meta Platforms for ad measurement and purchase optimisation. The Google Ads tag shares page views, browser and device details and successful report unlock, concierge enquiry and confirmed purchase events with Google for measurement and ad optimisation. Both record successful calculator report unlocks. Google receives an opaque report reference to prevent duplicate unlock counts. Only after you explicitly accept the advertising notice covering enhanced conversions, Google also receives SHA-256 hashed email addresses for successful report unlocks, concierge enquiries and confirmed purchases, and hashed phone numbers for concierge enquiries, using designated customer-matching fields. Hashing is not anonymisation: Google may match these details with its signed-in users. We do not send number plates, vehicle details or contact details in ordinary event parameters or page URLs, and do not send this matching data to Meta. Meta and Google may process information outside Australia, including in the United States.

15.3 In regions requiring consent, we ask before enabling advertising measurement. Where consent is not required, ordinary advertising measurement may operate unless you opt out. Use Cookie settings in the footer to reject or withdraw advertising permission at any time; changes apply to new events immediately. You can also use your browser settings, Meta ad preferences and Google ad settings. Essential account cookies remain in use.

15.4 We keep a record of your cookie choices, including when they were made and the notice shown, so we can honour changes and withdrawals. Withdrawing does not erase the record of an earlier choice.

15.5 Enhanced customer matching always requires recorded explicit advertising acceptance, even outside consent regions. Earlier choices made before this enhanced-conversion notice do not authorise customer matching. You may update your choice in Cookie settings; refusing does not stop you unlocking a report, submitting an enquiry or purchasing. Withdrawal clears customer matching data from the tag and stops new advertising events immediately, including in other open tabs. Events blocked when they occurred are not replayed after acceptance.

16. Children's information

16.1 The Service is for people aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

16.2 If you believe we have collected information from a person under 18, email support@autofocus.net.au and we will delete it if we reasonably can.

17. Contact

Questions about this policy, access or correction requests, deletion requests, and privacy complaints:

Email: support@autofocus.net.au

Business: Autofocus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Website: autofocus.net.au

If you cannot use the website, email us and we will take reasonable steps to give you a copy of this policy in another form, including a paper copy if you ask for one.