Privacy Policy – Whale Watching Sydney

Whale Watching Sydney Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is effective from 20 January 2018.

Our commitment to Privacy

Whale Watching Sydney is operated by Fantasea Cruising and its related bodies corporate (collectively, WWS), which is a member of the National Roads and Motorists’ Association Limited (ACN 000 010 506) (NRMA*) group of companies.

WWS is committed to treating the privacy of our customers with utmost importance

A reference in this document to WWS includes when WWS handles information for an on behalf of any of its related bodies corporate and its parent company NRMA.

The types of Personal Information we collect

The personal information that WWS collects may include an individual’s:

Name;
Address;
Email addresses / IP addresses;
Telephone numbers;
Payment information (such as credit card, PayPal or bank details);
Financial and transaction details associated with bookings, products and services;
Special needs or preferences;
Any personal information we are required to collect under Australian Maritime rules;
Information concerning previous interactions with WWS, and its business partners;
Your social media preferences;
Any benefits you obtain from your NRMA Membership any of the above information in respect of additional cardholders or your family members; and
Any preferences you tell us about or other information that you provide.

In addition, WWS may collect sensitive information by consent to assist with providing services to cater to special needs.

Please see the Direct Marketing section of this policy for more examples of the kinds of personal information we collect.

Why we collect Personal Information

The primary use for obtaining personal information is to effectively administer records, accounts and financial transactions, to assist our internal administration and operations including accounting, risk management, record keeping, archiving, systems development and testing, and staff training, to arrange bookings, tours and other services on a customer’s behalf, to improve services to meet customer preferences, provide opportunity for future sales and marketing and provide other goods, and services in connection with WWS business or undertaking. Some personal information obtained is required by law such as properly identifying individuals using Maritime services..

The information obtained provides a means for WWS to contact customers, provide tourism information and assist in managing risks associated with using the ferry service including responding to emergencies, responding public safety threats or where there is a serious threat to health, life or safety.

Personal information also assists in understanding the demographics of existing and future customers and providing appropriate facilities to meet customer needs and to offer marketing material to customers to provide information on goods and services offered. In addition, such information may be used by WWS enterprises, business partners and associates for the above-mentioned purposes associated with WWS’s business and undertaking or disclosed to other persons or organisations if it is reasonably expected by the individual.

How we collect personal information

Generally, we collect personal information directly from you, such as when you purchase tickets or request a product or service, in the course of providing you with that service or when you have other dealings with us.

We may collect and update that information over the phone, over the Internet, in person, when you write to us or if you participate in our marketing campaigns. We may also collect personal information through third parties such as:

Our related companies;
Our third party service providers and business partners;
Data washing organizations and postal service providers, including Australia Post.

We may use and disclose the personal information we collect for the purpose of providing you with tailored marketing communications about our goods and services, or to conduct market research. Typically, we send these communications to your email address or mailing address.

When we disclose personal information

As WWS is concerned with maintaining the privacy of personal information, such information will not be disclosed to third parties that are not directly involved or associated with WWS’s business or undertaking unless:

an emergency exists where disclosure of such information will assist in the response; and
a law enforcement agency or person duly authorised by law requests the disclosure of such information for bona fide reasons.

Personal information such as basic contact details sourced from the WWS customer base, may be provided to other WWS and related entities, business partners and associates for bona fide purposes associated with WWS’s business and undertaking. This includes the opportunity to provide information concerning products and services offered by WWS and other entities including companies in the NRMA Group, to our other business partners, our service providers and Insurance Australia Limited* (trading as NRMA Insurance) .

We may disclose your personal information where we are required or authorised by law to disclose your personal information or for any purposes connected to a fraud, crime prevention or impropriety investigation.

Direct Marketing

Personal information may be used for direct marketing purposes including direct marketing from us and our related companies such as NRMA, in absence of an objection, implied consent is assumed. WWS will also provide options for a person to opt out of receiving marketing material.

In addition, WWS may use information appropriately and lawfully sourced by a third party for direct marketing purposes if the information is not sensitive information and:

it is impracticable for WWS to seek your consent before that particular use;
you have not made a request to WWS not to receive direct marketing communications;
in each direct marketing communication with you, WWS includes a prominent notice informing you how to opt out if you wish not to receive any further direct marketing communications.

We may collect information about your social media preferences and activities so that we can engage with our customers on social media sites. We may also collect certain demographic information and behavioural information from social media platforms to better serve consumers with more targeted advertising.

If we do not collect information in the ways described above, we may not be able to let you know about our products and services in the most effective way.

Opting out of direct marketing

If you do not wish to receive direct marketing information from WWS, please use the contact details below to update your preferences, or use the unsubscribe feature on our electronic marketing communications.

Please note that if you make such a request, we may still need to use your personal information to provide you with the services and products you have requested as a customer.

It may not be possible for us to immediately action a request to cease receiving any or all direct marketing material. However, we will respond to such requests as soon as practicable and will make all reasonable efforts to promptly activate a change in preference or an opt-out of receiving future direct marketing material.

Protection of personal information

WWS takes reasonable steps to ensure the personal information it holds is accurate and up-to-date, and is protected from misuse, interference and loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. All information stored electronically is protected by unique password and network protection with access limited to key positions held within WWS. Physical records are kept in secure locations to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure. In addition, once records are no longer of use, personal particulars will be removed to de-identify any such records.

When the opportunity arises, WWS will take steps to confirm or update the personal information and contact particulars to ensure currency is maintained as is practicable.

Website cookies and digital services

Information is also generated and collected whenever a page is accessed on our website that records information such as the time, date and specific page. We collect such information for statistical and maintenance purposes that enables us to continually evaluate our website performance. Some parts of our websites also use “cookies”. A “cookie” is a small text file that is placed on your computer’s hard drive by a web page server. Cookies store information about the use of our website and are used to identify new or previous visitors to the website and what pages have been accessed. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies, but this function can usually be disabled if you wish. Please note that if you do disable this, not all functionality on our websites will be available to you.

Overseas disclosure of personal information

WWS is likely to disclose some of your personal information, for the purposes described above, to organisations in the United States of America. Personal information provided to organisations in the United States of America may not have the same protection as set out in this privacy policy and the Australian Privacy Principles, and WWS may not take any steps to ensure such protection.

Location-Based Services

To provide location-based services on any of our iPhone or Android application, WWS, its partners and licensees may collect, use, and share location data, including the real-time geographic location of your mobile device. This location data is used by WWS, its related companies, its partners and licensees to provide and improve location-based features and services. The location data is collected anonymously in a form that does not personally identify you, however we may request you to provide personal information and link that information to your location data for the purpose of providing some of the location based features of our iPhone or Android application.

Openness, Access and Correction

WWS will provide access to personal information held by us on you, according to our obligations under the Privacy Act. We may charge a fee for retrieving this information, in which case we will inform you of the fee in advance of providing the information. Prior to information being released, precautions will be taken to confirm the person’s identity by reference to information held and other unique information held. If your personal details change, such as your address or phone number, please contact us on WWS Head Office on 02 9583 1199 to update your details.

Making a complaint

If you wish to complain about our handling of your personal information, please send a written complaint to the Privacy Officer in the first instance by emailing us at [email protected]. We undertake to promptly acknowledge and investigate any complaint about the way we manage personal information. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of our investigation, you may take your privacy complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

For information in making a complaint to the OAIC, please visit the OAIC’s website http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints, or phone 1300 363 992.

Contacting WWS

Any queries relating to this policy, enquiries about the personal information held, requests to update personal information, requests to be excluded from receiving marketing communications or complaints may be directed to the WWS Head Office on 02 9583 1199 or via our contact form.

*Insurance Australia Limited (trading as NRMA Insurance) and its related entities are separate and unrelated to National Roads and Motorists’ Association Limited.

[Last amended on 20 January 2018]