About this policy
This policy is for Vanto Finance ("we," "us," "our"). We are considered an Australian Privacy Principles (APP) entity as defined in the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012. This policy outlines how we manage personal information, including who we are, what we collect, how we collect, hold, use and disclose it, and your rights to access and correct it or make a complaint.
Who we are and what we do
We are finance brokers. We provide "Credit Assistance" when we suggest or assist you to apply for a particular credit contract with a particular credit provider, suggest or assist you to apply for an increase to a credit limit, or suggest you remain in a particular credit contract.
You engage us to arrange finance on your behalf. We act as an independent contractor and have access to a panel of financiers, offering a variety of finance and insurance products tailored to your needs and objectives.
What is Personal Information and what do we collect?
Personal Information (PI) is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. Examples of the PI we collect include:
- name, signature, residential or business address, email address and date of birth;
- bank account details and expenditure information;
- employment details, such as business address, job title and salary; and
- credit report information, such as credit history, credit accounts, repayment history, inquiries, defaults and bankruptcy information.
Sensitive Information is also a form of PI. Generally, we are not required to collect Sensitive Information as it is not reasonably necessary for our main function or activity. If we do need health information for an insurance product, we will inform you and obtain your consent first.
How we collect your PI
In most cases we collect PI directly from you when you apply for a finance or insurance product ("solicited information"). Where you consent, we may also collect PI from third parties such as employers, accountants, banks or referrers.
Why we collect, hold, use and disclose PI
We collect your PI to provide you with the finance and insurance products you have requested. We handle credit and personal information in accordance with Australia’s privacy and credit reporting laws, including the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2024 (CR Code).
If we proceed with providing finance or insurance to you, we will hold your PI for seven years after the finance contract has ceased, after which we will securely delete the information we no longer require.
We may disclose your PI to:
- financiers and insurers;
- credit reporting bodies to obtain credit information about you;
- your employer, bank, solicitor or accountant to verify information;
- the supplier (e.g. dealership) from where you are purchasing the asset; and
- your referees or contacts if we are unable to contact you.
Anonymity and pseudonyms
You have the option of not identifying yourself or using a pseudonym when dealing with us for general enquiries. However, if you apply for a finance or insurance product, you will need to identify yourself so we can support your application.
Solicited and unsolicited information
We only collect information that is reasonably necessary for our main function or activity. We generally do not collect Sensitive Information unless it is related to our main function or activity and we have your consent.
If we receive unsolicited PI about you, we will determine whether we could have obtained it by lawful and fair means. If not, or if it is not reasonably necessary, we will destroy or permanently de-identify it.
Notification of collection
When we collect PI directly from you, we will advise you of the purposes for which it was collected, who it may be disclosed to, and how you can access, correct or complain about the handling of your PI.
Direct marketing and opting out
We may use your PI to market additional products or services to you via email, telephone, social media, SMS, mail or other electronic means. We will not sell your PI to any organisation outside our group.
You can opt out of receiving direct marketing at any time by emailing us. We will update our records and generally stop sending marketing material within 30 days of receiving your request.
Cross-border disclosure
Our group operates in Australia. However, we may share your information with overseas organisations with whom we are affiliated or have contractual arrangements. Overseas recipients may be located in countries such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Germany, the Philippines, India, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam. Where information is stored electronically using cloud or networked services, it may be accessed from other countries via an internet connection.
Overseas organisations may be required to disclose information under foreign law. In those instances, we will not be responsible for that disclosure.
Government related identifiers
As part of a finance application, we may collect government related identifiers such as driver’s licence numbers, passport numbers and tax file numbers. We will not use these identifiers to identify you or your application unless required by law.
Under the Tax File Number Rule 2015, TFNs should only be collected under superannuation, taxation and personal assistance laws. We will take all reasonable steps to permanently de-identify any TFN that appears on a document we receive.
How we keep your PI accurate and secure
We take reasonable steps to ensure the PI we hold is accurate, up to date and complete. We also take the security of your PI seriously and have measures in place to protect it from misuse, modification, interference, loss, unauthorised access or disclosure. These include confidentiality agreements, document storage security, system access controls, premises security and electronic security such as firewalls and data encryption.
In the event of a data breach involving your information, we will notify you as soon as practicable in accordance with our obligations under the CR Code.
Accessing and correcting your PI
If we hold PI about you, we must provide access upon request, except where limited circumstances apply under the APPs (for example, where it would affect public safety, legal proceedings or commercial confidentiality). If we cannot provide access, we will explain why and tell you how to make a complaint.
If you believe the PI we hold about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or irrelevant, please contact us and we will update it.
How to make a complaint
If you believe we have not handled your PI in accordance with this policy or the APPs, please contact us using the details below. Most complaints can be resolved quickly. If we cannot resolve your complaint within 30 days, we will tell you the reason, give you an expected outcome date and update you monthly.
Changes to this policy
Any changes we make to this policy will be updated on our website.
Contact us
If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle personal information, please contact us:
- Email: admin@vantofinance.com.au
- Post: PO Box 3060, Frankston