Checkmate Technology Pty Ltd (“Checkmate,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and other applicable Australian laws. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, store, use, and disclose your personal information when you interact with our Australian website (www.checkmate.tech/au) and services. This Privacy Policy is effective from 18th November 2024.

Contents

1. Summary
2. Our details
3. When you visit our website
4. When you use our website
5. Marketing communications
6. Information obtained from third parties
7. Disclosure and additional uses of your information
8. How long we retain your information
9. How we secure your information
10. Overseas transfers of your information
11. Your rights in relation to your information
12. Changes to our Privacy Policy
13. Children’s Privacy

Summary

This section summarises how we obtain, store and use information about you. It is intended to provide a very general overview only. It is not complete in and of itself and it must be read in conjunction with the corresponding full sections of this Privacy Policy.

1. ‍Data controller: CHECKMATE
2. How we collect or obtain information about you: when you provide it to us e.g. by contacting us, by becoming a referee, placing an order on our website, completing registration forms, adding or rating locations, posting blogs, or signing up for content such as newsletters. From your use of our website, using cookies and occasionally, from third parties such as mailing list providers.‍
3. Information we collect: personal information such as your name, contact details, social media information, IP address, information from cookies, information about your computer or device (e.g., device and browser type), information about how you use our website (e.g., which pages you have viewed, the time when you view them and what you clicked on), the geographical location from which you accessed our website (based on your IP address), company name or business name (if applicable), ABN number (if applicable), engagement history, and transaction history. In some instances, we may also collect sensitive information, as defined under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) that includes Information about your racial or ethnic origin, membership in professional or trade associations or unions, , health information (e.g., COVID-19 vaccination status, if required for employment or compliance purposes), biometric or genetic information, where necessary for specific services, with your explicit consent. We will only collect sensitive information where necessary and will always obtain your explicit consent unless otherwise permitted by law. ‍
4. How we use your information: for administrative and business purposes (particularly to contact you and process orders you place on our website, to improve our business and website, to fulfil our contractual obligations (such as processing payments, delivering services or products, conducting reference checks, and verifying your identity, to advertise our and other’s goods and services, to analyse your use of our website, and in connection with our legal rights and obligations.)‍
5. Disclosure of your information to third parties: user information can be shared with partners for specific types of content and events where a user has registered their information. Other disclosures are only to the extent necessary to run our business, to our service providers, to fulfil any contracts we enter into (for example, to conduct a reference check for your potential employer), and where required by law or to enforce our legal rights. We may disclose your information overseas when required to deliver our services, where required by law, or to our client (your potential employer) who is based overseas. ‍
6. Do we sell your information to third parties (other than in the course of a business sale or purchase or similar event): No, CHECKMATE does not sell data. However, when you register or sign up for certain types of content, your registration data can be shared with sponsors and partners. We will always make it clear where any information provided will be shared with other parties.‍
7. How long we retain your information: for no longer than necessary, taking into account any legal obligations we have (e.g. to maintain records for tax purposes), any other legal basis we have for using your information (e.g. your consent, performance of a contract with you or our legitimate interests as a business) and certain additional factors described in the main section below entitled How long we retain your information. For specific retention periods in relation to certain information which we collect from you, please see the main section below entitled How long we retain your information.‍
8. How we secure your information: using appropriate technical and organisational measures such as storing your information on secure servers, encrypting transfers of data to or from our servers using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, encrypting payments you make on or via our website using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology and only granting access to your information where necessary.‍
9. Use of cookies and similar technologies: we use cookies and similar information-gathering technologies such as marketing automation tracking on our website including essential, functional, analytical and targeting cookies. For more information, please visit our cookies policy.‍
10. Transfers of your information: By using our website, your information may be transferred to third parties who handle it on our behalf. We take personal data seriously and ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. The third parties we use must agree to comply with data security requirements that meet the relevant standards of Australian privacy laws.‍
11. Use of profiling: we use profiling to understand our users better through web and marketing analytics, provide targeted advertising and deliver a personalised user experience.‍
12. Your rights in relation to your information‍
    1. to access your information and to receive information about its use
    2. to have your information corrected and/or completed
    3. to have your information deleted
    4. to restrict the use of your information
    5. to receive your information in a portable format
    6. to object to the use of your information
    7. to withdraw your consent to the use of your information
    8. to complain to a supervisory authority

Our details

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact the data controller. The data controller in respect of our website is CHECKMATE.

You can contact the data controller by sending an email to team@checkmate.tech, calling us on 02 8006 8139, or writing to us at:

Checkmate Technology Pty Ltd
81-83 Campbell Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010

You can also visit our contact page and fill out a form to contact us.

When you visit our website

We collect and use information from website visitors in accordance with this section and the section entitled Disclosure and additional uses of your information.

Web server log information

Our website server automatically logs the IP address you use to access our website as well as other information about your visit such as the pages accessed, information requested, the date and time of the request, the source of your access to our website (e.g. the website or URL (link) which referred you to our website), and your browser version and operating system.

Use of website server log information for IT security purposes

We collect and store server logs to ensure network and IT security and so that the server and website remain uncompromised. This includes analysing log files to help identify and prevent unauthorised access to our network, the distribution of malicious code, denial of services attacks and other cyber-attacks, by detecting unusual or suspicious activity.

Unless we are investigating suspicious or potential criminal activity, we do not make, nor do we allow our hosting provider to make, any attempt to identify you from the information collected via server logs.

Use of website server log information to analyse website use and improve our website

We use the information collected by our website server logs to analyse how our website users interact with our website and its features. For example, we analyse the number of visits and unique visitors we receive, the time and date of the visit, the location of the visit and the operating system and browser use.

We use the information gathered from the analysis of this information to improve our website. For example, we use the information gathered to change the information, content and structure of our website and individual pages based according to what users are engaging most with and the duration of time spent on particular pages on our website.

Cookies

Cookies are data files which are sent from a website to a browser to record information about users for various purposes.

We use cookies on our website, including essential, functional, analytical and targeting cookies. For further information on how we use cookies, please see our cookies policy.

You can reject some or all of the cookies we use on or via our website by changing your browser settings or non-essential cookies by using a cookie control tool, but doing so can impair your ability to use our website or some or all of its features. For further information about cookies, including how to change your browser settings, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org or see our cookie policy.

When you contact us

We collect and use information from individuals who contact us in accordance with this section and the section entitled Disclosure and additional uses of your information.

Email

When you send an email to the email address displayed on our website we collect your email address and any other information you provide in that email (such as your name, telephone number and the information contained in any signature block in your email).

Enquiry forms

When you contact us using an enquiry form, we collect your personal details and match this to any information we hold about you on record. Typical personal information collected will include your name and contact details. We will also record the time, date and the specific form you completed.

If you do not provide the mandatory information required by our contact form, you will not be able to submit the contact form and we will not receive your enquiry.

Phone

When you contact us by phone, we collect your phone number and any information provide to us during your conversation with us.

We record customer-facing phone calls for training and customer service purposes.

Post

If you contact us by post, we will collect any information you provide to us in any postal communications you send us.

When you use our website

We collect and use information from individuals who interact with particular features of our website in accordance with this section and the section entitled Disclosure and additional uses of your information.

Registering on our website

When you register and create an account on our websites, we collect the following information: your name, email address, address, location. We will also record the time and date of completion.

If you do not provide the mandatory information required by the registration form, you will not be able to register or create an account on our website.

We will also use this information to tailor any follow up sales and marketing communications with you. For further information, see the section of this privacy policy titled ‘Marketing Communications’.

Becoming a Referee

When you register as a referee or your details are entered as a referee by one of our users, we collect the following information: your name, email address. We will also record the time and date of completion.

We collect and use this information for the purpose of reference checking. This includes verifying your identity and gathering feedback about the candidate for whom you are providing a reference. The information you provide may be shared with the employer or organization requesting the reference to assist in their decision-making process.

If you do not provide the mandatory information required by the referee form, you will not be able to register or create an account on our website.

Removal of your personal data

If your personal data has been submitted on our website against your express permission or you would like it removing off our servers, please email team@checkmate.tech and we will get your data removed. To read more about your rights please see the section entitled ‘Your rights in relation to your information’

Additional information

When completing the referee form you will be asked additional questions which we will store the answers on our servers and will be accessible by the employer. We will also ask you to verify your identity by linking to your social media profile or by other methods.

Becoming a Candidate

When you register as a candidate or your details are entered as a candidate by one of our users, we collect the following information: your name, email address. We will also record the time and date of completion.

If you do not provide the mandatory information required by the candidate form, you will not be able to register or create an account on our website.

Removal of your personal data

If your personal data has been submitted on our website against your express permission or you would like it removed off our servers, please email team@checkmate.tech and we will get your data removed. To read more about your rights please see the section entitled ‘Your rights in relation to your information’

Additional information

When completing the referee form you will be asked additional questions which we will store the answers to on our servers and will be accessible by the employer. We will also ask you to verify your identity by linking to your social media profile or by other methods.

If we need to collect and verify any sensitive information (for example, Covid-19 vaccination status), we will first seek your written consent. We will only request this information if it is reasonably necessary for our client’s (your potential employer’s) functions and activities. 

If you have provided evidence of your Covid-19 vaccination status, we will delete the evidence immediately after completing the verification process.  However, we will retain the vaccine status for the purposes of monitoring and triggering alerts for your employer.

When you place an order

We collect and use information from individuals who place an order on our website in accordance with this section and the section entitled Disclosure and additional uses of your information.

Information collected when you place an order
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When you place an order for goods or services on our website, we collect your name, email address, billing address.

If you do not provide this information, you will not be able to purchase goods or services from us on our website or enter into a contract with us.

Additional information

We can also collect additional information from you, such as your phone number, full name, address etc.

We use this information to manage and improve your customer experience with us. We will also use this information to tailor any follow up sales and marketing communications with you. For further information, see the section of this privacy policy titled ‘Marketing Communications’.

If you do not supply the additional information requested at checkout, you will not be able to complete your order as we will not have the correct level of information to adequately manage your account.

Processing your payment

After you place an order on our website you will need to make payment for the goods or services you have ordered. In order to process your payment, we use Stripe, a third-party payment processor.

Your payment will be processed by Stripe, who directly collect, use and process your information, including payment information, in accordance with their privacy policy. You can access Stripe’s privacy policy via the following link: https://stripe.com/au/privacy.

Newsletters

When you sign up for any of our newsletters from us by completing the newsletter sign up form, we collect your name, email address. We will also record the time and date of completion.

We will also use this information to tailor any follow up sales and marketing communications with you. For further information, see the section of this privacy policy titled ‘Marketing Communications’.

We use a third-party service to send out our e-newsletter and administer our mailing list, Mailchimp.

Information you submit to subscribe for our e-newsletter may be stored on our third-party mailing list provider’s servers in the United States.

Marketing communications

Our content, goods and services

When signing up for content, registering on our website or making a payment, we will use the information you provide in order to contact you regarding related content, products and services.

We will continue to send you marketing communications in relation to similar goods and services if you do not opt out from receiving them.

You can opt-out from receiving marketing communications at any time by emailing team@checkmate.tech

Third party goods and services

In addition to receiving information about our products and services, you can opt in to receiving marketing communications from us in relation third party goods and services by email by ticking a box indicating that you would like to receive such communications.

Use of tracking in emails
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We use technologies such as tracking pixels (small graphic files) and tracked links in the emails we send to allow us to assess the level of engagement our emails receive by measuring information such as the delivery rates, open rates, click through rates and content engagement that our emails achieve.

Information obtained from third parties

This section sets out how we obtain or collect information about you from third parties.

Information received from third parties

We can often receive information about you from third parties. The third parties from which we receive information about you can include partner events within the marketing industry and other organisations that we have a professional affiliation with.

It is also possible that third parties with whom we have had no prior contact may provide us with information about you.

Information we obtain from third parties will generally be your name and contact details but will include any additional information about you which they provide to us.

Information obtained by us from third parties

In certain circumstances (for example, to verify the information we hold about you or obtain missing information we require to provide you with a service) we will obtain information about you from certain publicly accessible sources, both EU and non-EU, such as Companies House, online customer databases, business directories, media publications, social media, and websites (including your own website if you have one.)

In certain circumstances will also obtain information about you from private sources, both EU and non-EU, such as marketing data services.

We will continue to send you marketing communications in relation to similar goods and services if you do not opt out from receiving them.

You can opt-out from receiving marketing communications at any time by emailing team@checkmate.tech.
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Where we receive information about you in error

If we receive information about you from a third party in error and/or we do not have a legal basis for processing that information, we will delete your information.

Disclosure and additional uses of your information

This section sets out the circumstances in which will disclose information about you to third parties and any additional purposes for which we use your information.

Disclosure of your information to client (potential employers)

When a reference check is ordered by one of our clients (potential employers), we may disclose relevant information to them to fulfill the purpose of the reference check. This includes sharing the details provided by referees and candidates, such as references, feedback, and verification results.

Disclosure of your information to service providers

We use a number of third-party service providers to provide us with services that are necessary to run our business or to assist us with business operations. These service providers include, but are not limited to, internet services, AML search services, IT service providers, and web developers.

Our third-party service providers are located both inside and outside of Australia, including the European Economic Area, the United States of America, and potentially other countries. When you interact with our website or order goods and services from us, your information may be shared with these service providers to fulfill your request or to provide services related to your interaction with us.

We require all our third-party service providers to implement appropriate safeguards to protect your information in compliance with applicable privacy laws.

Requesting Information About Service Providers

We do not display the identities of our service providers publicly by name for security and competitive reasons. If you would like further information about the identities of our service providers, however, please contact us directly by email and we will provide you with such information where you have a legitimate reason for requesting it (where we have shared your information with such service providers, for example).

Disclosure and use of your information for legal reasons

Indicating possible criminal acts or threats to public security to a competent authority.
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If we suspect that criminal or potential criminal conduct has been occurred, we will in certain circumstances need to contact an appropriate authority, such as the police. This could be the case, for instance, if we suspect that we fraud or a cyber-crime has been committed or if we receive threats or malicious communications towards us or third parties.

We will generally only need to process your information for this purpose if you were involved or affected by such an incident in some way.

In connection with a legal or potential legal dispute or proceedings. We may need to use your information if we are involved in a dispute with you or a third party for example, either to resolve the dispute or as part of any mediation, arbitration or court resolution or similar process.
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How long we retain your information

This section sets out how long we retain your information. We have set out specific retention periods where possible. Where that has not been possible, we have set out the criteria we use to determine the retention period.

Retention periods

1. Server log information: we retain information on our server logs for 3 months.
2. Covid-19 vaccination status: If you have provided evidence of your Covid-19 vaccination status, we will delete the evidence immediately after completing the verification process.  However, we will retain the vaccine status for the purposes of monitoring and triggering alerts for your employer.
3. Order information: when you place an order for goods and services, we retain that information for seven years following the end of the financial year in which you placed your order, in accordance with our legal obligation to keep records for tax purposes.
4. Correspondence and enquiries: when you make an enquiry or correspond with us for any reason, whether by email or via our contact form or by phone, we will retain your information for as long as it takes to respond to and resolve your enquiry, and for 36 further month(s), after which point we will archive your information.
5. Newsletter: we retain the information you used to sign up for our newsletter for as long as you remain subscribed (i.e. you do not unsubscribe).
6. Membership: we retain the information you used to sign up for our memberships for as long as you remain subscribed (i.e. you do not unsubscribe).
7. Subject to any legal requirements to retain certain information, reports prepared by Checkmate for the Client may be deleted by Checkmate from its systems no less than 30 days from completion of the relevant services for the Client.

Criteria for determining retention periods

In any other circumstances, we will retain your information for no longer than necessary, taking into account the following:

1. the purpose(s) and use of your information both now and in the future (such as whether it is necessary to continue to store that information in order to continue to perform our obligations under a contract with you or to contact you in the future);
2. whether we have any legal obligation to continue to process your information (such as any record-keeping obligations imposed by relevant law or regulation);
3. whether we have any legal basis to continue to process your information (such as your consent);
4. how valuable your information is (both now and in the future);
5. any relevant agreed industry practices on how long information should be retained;
6. the levels of risk, cost and liability involved with us continuing to hold the information;
7. how hard it is to ensure that the information can be kept up to date and accurate; and
8. any relevant surrounding circumstances (such as the nature and status of our relationship with you).

Disposal of your information

At the end of any retention period, we will ensure your information is securely and permanently destroyed. This includes secure disposal of both hard and digital copies of information, including in any back-up system.

How we secure your information

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to secure your information and to protect it against unauthorised or unlawful use and accidental loss or destruction, including:

1. only sharing and providing access to your information to the minimum extent necessary, subject to confidentiality restrictions where appropriate, and on an anonymised basis wherever possible;
2. using secure servers to store your information;
3. verifying the identity of any individual who requests access to information prior to granting them access to information;
4. using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software to encrypt any payment transactions you make on or via our website;
5. only transferring your information via closed system or encrypted data transfers;
6. storing any hard copies of information in locked cabinets when not in use and restricting physical access to authorized personnel only;

Transmission of information to us by email
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Transmission of information over the internet is not entirely secure, and if you submit any information to us over the internet (whether by email, via our website or any other means), you do so entirely at your own risk.

We cannot be responsible for any costs, expenses, loss of profits, harm to reputation, damages, liabilities or any other form of loss or damage suffered by you as a result of your decision to transmit information to us by such means.

Transfer of your information

Your information may be transferred and stored outside Australia in the circumstances set out earlier in this policy.

We utilise the services of various overseas entities located in countries such as the United States, the European Economic Area (EEA), and other jurisdictions. By providing your personal information, you consent to the transfer and storage of your information to these countries.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is handled securely and in compliance with applicable data privacy and security laws, including when we disclose your information overseas.

Additionally, we may be required to transfer your information to comply with legal obligations, such as responding to a court order. Where necessary, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards and protections are in place to secure your information.

You consent to the rights of access, processing and disclosure on the basis specified above.

Your rights in relation to your information

Subject to certain limitations on certain rights, you have the following rights in relation to your information, which you can exercise by contacting Checkmate, the data controller, using the details provided.

1. ‍to request access to your information and information related to our use and processing of your information;‍
2. to request the correction or deletion of your information;‍
3. to request that we restrict our use of your information;‍
4. to receive information which you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format (e.g. a CSV file) and the right to have that information transferred to another data controller (including a third-party data controller);‍
5. to object to the processing of your information for certain purposes (for further information, see the section below entitled Your right to object to the processing of your information for certain purposes); ‍
6. to withdraw your consent to our use of your information at any time where we rely on your consent to use or process that information. Please note that if you withdraw your consent, this will not affect the lawfulness of our use and processing of your information on the basis of your consent before the point in time when you withdraw your consent; and‍
7. to lodge a complaint about how your information has been handled

You can also contact Checkmate to make a complaint about a breach of the APPs. 

If you make a complaint to Checkmate, we may contact you to ask for some further information to help us to investigate and address your concerns. We will do our best to resolve your complaint.

If you believe we have not adequately addressed your concerns regarding your information, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at:

Visit: oaic.gov.au
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
‍Phone: 1300 363 992
Mail: GPO Box 5288
Sydney NSW 2001

Further information on your rights in relation to your personal data, as well as information on any limitations which may apply to those rights, can be found in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and its Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). You can also contact us if you would like more information about our Privacy Policy.

Verifying your identity where you request access to your information

Where you request access to your information, we are required by law to use all reasonable measures to verify your identity before doing so.

These measures are designed to protect your information and to reduce the risk of identity fraud, identity theft or general unauthorised access to your information.

How we verify your identity

Where we possess appropriate information about you on file, we will attempt to verify your identity using that information.

If it is not possible to identity you from such information, or if we have insufficient information about you, we may require original or certified copies of certain documentation in order to be able to verify your identity before we are able to provide you with access to your information.

We will be able to confirm the precise information we require to verify your identity in your specific circumstances if and when you make such a request.

Your right to object

You have the following rights in relation to your information, which you may exercise in the same way as you may exercise by writing to the data controller using the details provided at the top of this policy.

1. to object to us using or processing your information where we use or process it in order
2. to carry out a task in the public interest or for our legitimate interests, including ‘profiling’ (i.e. analysing or predicting your behaviour based on your information) based on any of these purposes; and
3. to object to us using or processing your information for direct marketing purposes (including any profiling we engage in that is related to such direct marketing).

You may also exercise your right to object to us using or processing your information for direct marketing purposes by:

1. ‍clicking the unsubscribe link contained at the bottom of any marketing email we send to you and following the instructions which appear in your browser following your clicking on that link;
2. ‍sending an email to team@checkmate.tech, asking that we stop sending you marketing communications or by including the words “OPT OUT”.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

We update and amend our Privacy Policy from time to time.

Minor changes to our Privacy Policy
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Where we make minor changes to our Privacy Policy, we will update our Privacy Policy with a new effective date stated at the beginning of it. Our processing of your information will be governed by the practices set out in that new version of the Privacy Policy from its effective date onwards.

Major changes to our Privacy Policy or the purposes for which we process your information
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Where we make major changes to our Privacy Policy or intend to use your information for a new purpose or a different purpose than the purposes for which we originally collected it, we will notify you by email (where possible) or by posting a notice on our website.

We will provide you with the information about the change in question and the purpose and any other relevant information before we use your information for that new purpose.
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Wherever required, we will obtain your prior consent before using your information for a purpose that is different from the purposes for which we originally collected it.

Children’s Privacy

We care about the safety and privacy of children online. Our website is not intended to collect personal information from individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect or process personal information from children.

It is possible that personal information about persons under the age of 18 could be received through fraud or deception by a third party. If we are notified of this, we will promptly verify the information and, where required, seek appropriate consent from a parent or guardian to use the information. If we are unable to obtain such consent, we will delete the information from our servers.

If you believe we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 18, please contact us using the details provided at the top of this policy, and we will take immediate action to address the issue.