Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

ARTICON Pty Ltd (ABN 72 606 185 086, ACN 606 185 086, QBCC Licence 15014911) ("Articon", "we", "us" or "our") provides building and pest inspection services in Queensland and operates the website at articon.com.au.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This policy explains what personal information we collect, how and why we collect it, how we store and protect it, when we may disclose it, and how you can access it, correct it, or make a complaint.

2. What personal information we collect

We only collect personal information that is reasonably necessary to provide our inspection services and operate our website. Depending on how you interact with us, this may include:

• Your name, email address and mobile number when you request a quote or booking, or contact us through our website
• The address and suburb of the property to be inspected, the type of inspection you require, and the approximate size of the property
• The subject and content of any message you send us through our general contact form
• If you create a customer account (a planned feature), your email address, a password, your inspection history, and the inspection reports we have prepared for you
• Records of our correspondence with you, including booking confirmations and other service emails
• Limited, anonymised website usage data collected through Google Analytics, but only if you consent (see the Cookies and Analytics section below)

3. How we collect your information

We collect personal information directly from you when you:

• Submit a quote or booking request form on our website
• Submit our general contact form
• Create or use a customer account (once this feature is available)
• Email us, call us, or otherwise communicate with us in the course of arranging or receiving an inspection
• Interact with our website, where limited analytics data is collected only after you accept analytics cookies

4. Why we collect and use your information

We collect, hold and use your personal information for the following purposes:

• Preparing and providing quotes for building and pest inspection services
• Scheduling, confirming and carrying out inspections at the nominated property
• Preparing and delivering inspection reports to you
• Sending service-related communications, such as booking confirmations, account verification emails and password reset emails
• Responding to enquiries you send through our contact form
• Providing you with ongoing access to your inspection history and reports through your customer account
• Asking you to rate our service after a completed job; if you give a positive rating we may invite you to leave a review on our Google review page
• Meeting our legal, regulatory and insurance obligations, including record-keeping obligations that apply to licensed building work in Queensland

5. Customer accounts and inspection reports

When our customer account feature is available, you will be able to log in with your email address and password to view your inspection history and download your inspection report PDFs, which are stored on our server.

We retain inspection reports so that you have ongoing access to them and so that we can meet our professional record-keeping and insurance obligations. Passwords are stored in hashed form and are never stored or transmitted in plain text.

If you would like your account closed or your account information deleted, you can contact us using the details at the end of this policy. Note that we may need to retain copies of inspection reports and related records where the law or our insurance obligations require it.

6. Cookies and analytics

Our website shows a consent banner when you first visit. We do not load any analytics cookies unless you click Accept.

If you accept, we use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our website so we can improve it. We have enabled IP address anonymisation (anonymize_ip), which truncates your IP address before it is stored. Analytics data is aggregated and is not used to personally identify you.

Your choice is remembered using a small consent flag stored in your browser's localStorage. This flag records only whether you accepted or declined; it does not track you. If you decline, no analytics cookies are set. You can change your mind at any time by clearing your browser's site data, which will cause the consent banner to appear again.

We do not use third-party advertising cookies and we do not sell or share your browsing data with advertisers.

7. Email communications

We send transactional emails using Amazon Web Services Simple Email Service (AWS SES). These include booking confirmations, account verification emails, password reset emails and post-job review requests.

After a completed inspection we may email you asking you to rate our service. If your rating is positive, you may be redirected to our Google review page where you can choose whether to leave a public review. Leaving a review is entirely optional.

We do not send marketing newsletters, we do not add you to marketing lists, and we do not sell or rent your email address to anyone.

8. Storage and security

Your personal information and inspection reports are hosted on Amazon Web Services infrastructure located in the Sydney region (ap-southeast-2), so your data stays in Australia.

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification and disclosure, including:

• Encryption of data at rest on our AWS infrastructure
• Encryption of data in transit using HTTPS/TLS
• Access controls that limit who within our business can view your information
• Hashed storage of account passwords
• Retention of personal information only for as long as it is needed for the purposes described in this policy or as required by law, after which it is deleted or de-identified

9. Disclosure of your information

We do not sell your personal information. We only disclose it in the following limited circumstances:

• To service providers who help us operate our business, currently Amazon Web Services for website hosting, data storage and transactional email delivery, and Google for consent-based analytics, in each case only to the extent needed to provide the service
• Where you have asked us to, for example if you ask us to send a report to your nominated representative
• Where we are required or authorised to do so by law, such as in response to a court order, subpoena, or a lawful request from a regulator or law enforcement agency
• Where disclosure is necessary to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim, including in connection with our professional indemnity or public liability insurance

10. Overseas disclosure

Our website and data are hosted in the AWS Sydney region and your personal information is stored in Australia. We do not routinely disclose personal information to overseas recipients.

If you consent to analytics, limited and anonymised usage data is processed by Google Analytics, which may involve processing on infrastructure outside Australia. This data has IP anonymisation applied and is not used by us to identify you.

11. Accessing and correcting your information

You have the right under the Australian Privacy Principles to request access to the personal information we hold about you, and to ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.

To make a request, contact us using the details at the end of this policy. We will respond within a reasonable time, and in most cases we will not charge you for making a request or for making a correction. If we refuse access or correction in circumstances permitted by the Privacy Act, we will give you written reasons and information about how you can complain about the refusal.

12. Making a privacy complaint

If you believe we have mishandled your personal information or breached the Australian Privacy Principles, please contact us first using the details below. We take complaints seriously and will investigate and respond to you, usually within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):

• Online: www.oaic.gov.au
• Phone: 1300 363 992
• Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example when we introduce new features such as customer accounts or when the law changes. The current version will always be published on our website with its last updated date. Significant changes will be highlighted on the website or notified to account holders by email.

14. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us:

• ARTICON Pty Ltd (ABN 72 606 185 086)
• 10 Valentine Circuit, Augustine Heights QLD 4300
• Email: info@articon.com.au
• Phone: 1300 350 553