Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY

Last updated: 21 February, 2024

Welcome to the Privacy Policy of Carnevale Mortgage Solutions Pty Limited T/A Seeking Finance, hereinafter referred to as "Seeking Finance," "The Company," or ("we," "us," "our"). This policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you access and use our website and related services.

This privacy policy (Policy) outlines we collect and use your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles.

We will collect and handle your personal information in accordance with its legal obligations, including those under the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act. In addition, where Seeking Finance handles credit information, we are bound by Division 3 of Part IIIA of the Privacy Act and the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2014.

This Policy describes how your personal information and, where applicable, credit information is collected, used, disclosed and held by Seeking Finance.

OUR CORPORATE STRUCTURE 

This website is owned and operated by Carnevale Mortgage Solutions Pty Limited.

The company trades under the registered business name of Seeking Finance.

We operate under the aggregation licence of Finsure Finance and Insurance Pty Ltd Limited.

COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We collect personal information that you provide to us voluntarily, such as your name, contact details, financial information, and any other information relevant to the services we offer. This information is collected when you fill out forms on our website, engage with our services, or communicate with us through various channels.

We collect your personal information directly from you. We may also collect information about you from other sources, for example:

• your representatives such as a solicitor or conveyancer;
• joint applicants, co-applicants, or guarantors;
• referral partners, who refer your business to us;
• publicly available information such as public registers or social media;
• your employer;
• other organisations we partner with to provide products or services to you; and
• credit reporting bodies.

We collect personal information when you:

• enquire about, apply for, or use one of our products or services;
• speak to us about a loan application or a product or are a party to such loan application or product (for example, a joint applicant, co-applicant, guarantor, or director or trustee of a corporate or trust loan applicant);
• give us feedback or to make a complaint;
• visit our website, mobile app or use our digital services;
• participate in other activities we offer, such as competitions or surveys; or
• talk to us or do business with us.

When you give us personal information about another person, you acknowledge that you are authorised by that person to do so and agree to inform that person of the contents of this Privacy Statement.

Examples of the personal information we may collect include:

• Personal and contact details.
• Australian Government, or foreign government identifiers and identity documents including driver’s licence, passport and identification documents.
• Financial information, such as details of your recent and current employment, income, assets and liabilities, your credit history, tax returns, financial statements, bank statements, loan statements, credit card statements.
• Socio-demographic information including marital status, age, gender, number of dependents, occupation, and nationality.
• When you visit or speak to us, we may collect data through call recordings and online interactions with us and CCTV camera recordings in our premises.
• Usage analytics which include online cookies.
• Sensitive information, where this is:
  • relevant to your financial situation, or to an insurance policy or claim, or if you’re in financial difficulty and ask for hardship relief due to illness; or
  • to assist with providing you with translation services.
• Information about your personal circumstances to ensure services are provided that meet your needs, this will include details about current or past relationship, and dependants or children you may have, details of an injury, illness, gambling or an addiction.
• Publicly available information, such as from social media or online forums and public registers.

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION 

Credit information is a sub-set of personal information and may include information in relation to any loans that you have outstanding, your repayment history, opened and closed dates and any defaults. Usually, credit information is exchanged between credit providers and Credit Reporting Bodies (CRBs).

We may ask CRBs to give us your overall credit score and may use credit information from CRBs, together with other information to arrive at our own assessment of your ability to manage credit.

We may store your credit report onto the Seeking Finance Platform when applying for a home loan through us. This also may include showing your credit score graphically, at points in time whenever you have requested a credit report to be generated, so we can show you how your credit score has been tracking. If you do not consent to our use of your information or storing your credit report on the Seeking Finance Platform, we will not be able to proceed with your home loan application.

We may disclose your credit information to joint applicants or co-borrowers.

You have the right to request access to the credit information that we hold about you and to directly request a CRB to correct that credit information. You may also contact a CRB to advise them that you believe that you may have been a victim of fraud. For 21 days after the CRB receives your notification, the CRB must not use or disclose that credit information. You can contact any of the following CRBs for more information: illion (www.illion.com.au), Experian (www.experian.com.au), and Equifax Pty Limited (www.equifax.com.au).

USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We use the collected personal information for the following purposes:

• Processing and managing loan applications
• Providing information about our services
• Communicating with you regarding your inquiries and requests
• Complying with legal obligations
• Improving and enhancing our services

DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may disclose your personal information to third parties, including:

• Financial institutions and lenders for the purpose of processing your loan application
• Service providers and contractors assisting us in delivering our services
• Legal and regulatory authorities as required by law

SECURITY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. However, no data transmission over the internet or method of storage can be guaranteed as completely secure. Therefore, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us.

COOKIES AND WEB BEACONS 

A 'cookie' is a small text file placed on your computer by a webpage server that may later be retrieved by webpage servers. We use cookies on our websites to provide you with a better website experience. When you visit one of our websites or related landing pages to read, browse, submit or download information, our system will record/log your IP address, date and time of your visit to our site, your user identifier (in some scenarios), the pages viewed and any information downloaded. We may automatically collect non-personal information about you such as the site from which you linked to our websites. 

Seeking Finance may also use personal information from cookies in order to assist you with personalised services. You can configure your browser to refuse cookies or delete existing cookies from your hard drive. Rejecting cookies may have the effect of limiting access to, or functionality of, parts of our website.

WEB BEACONS 

A web beacon is typically a transparent graphic image invisible to the user that is placed on a website or in an email. The use of a web beacon allows the website to record the simple actions of the user (such as opening the page that contains the beacon) through a tracking pixel.

We may use web beacons (and cookies) for purposes such as site usage analytics, advertising auditing and reporting, as well as content and advertising/marketing or personalisation services.

We may share any data collected from web beacon (and cookies) with third parties to provide you with relevant advertising when browsing third-party networks and websites such as Google and Facebook.

ACCESS AND CORRECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

You have the right to access and correct your personal information held by us. If you would like to exercise these rights or have any concerns about the accuracy of your personal information, please contact us using the details provided in Section 9.

CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY 

Seeking Finance may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, and we encourage you to review it periodically. Changes to this Privacy Policy will be effective when posted on this page. Your continued use of our website (www.seekinglending.com.au) after the posting of any modifications indicates your acceptance of those changes.

Any updates or revisions made to the Privacy Policy will be accompanied by a revision date at the top of this page. We recommend that you check this page regularly to stay informed about how we are handling your personal information.

Major changes to the Privacy Policy, if deemed necessary, may be communicated through prominent notices on our website or by direct communication to users.

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or the use of your personal information, please contact us at dominic@seekingfinance.com.au.

Effective Date: 22 February, 2024

GOVERNING LAWS

This website (www.seekinglending.com.au) is operated by Carnevale Mortgage Solutions Pty Limited, a finance lending company headquartered in New South Wales, Australia. By accessing and using this website, you agree that the laws of the state of New South Wales will govern all matters relating to your use of this site, without regard to conflicts of law principles.

Any legal action or proceeding relating to your access to, or use of, this website shall be instituted in a court within the state of New South Wales, and you expressly consent to the jurisdiction of such courts.

In the event that any part of these terms and conditions is deemed to be unenforceable or invalid under applicable law, including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations set forth in our Disclaimer and Liability Limitation statement, the unenforceable or invalid provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision, and the remainder of the terms and conditions shall continue in effect.

This Governing Laws Statement is subject to change without notice, and it is your responsibility to review and understand these terms regularly. By continuing to use this website, you agree to be bound by the most current version of this statement. If you do not agree with any of these terms, please do not use this website.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our treatment of your personal information, you can contact us by whichever of the following means best suits you:

Carnevale Mortgage Solutions Pty Limited

Att: Dominic Carnevale 

Managing Director | Senior Mortgage Broker 

Email:       dominic@seekingfinance.com.au

Phone:     1800 931 774

Mail:          Carnevale Mortgage Solutions Pty Limited

                    PO BOX 104 

                    Neutral Bay, NSW 2089

                    Australia 

HOW TO CONTACT THE OFFICE OF THE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER

Under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), if you wish to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) about the way we handle your personal information, you may do so by through here: How to lodge a complaint with the OAIC