About us and about this privacy policy

Benchmark Media (was started in 2012 and is committed to publishing high quality editorial content for the financial services sector. In 2013 Benchmark Media launched a print title and three online titles selfmanagedsuper, financialobserver and theinstoreport. References to “we” and us in this privacy policy should be read as references to Benchmark Media.

Benchmark Media is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and are committed protecting your privacy.

This Privacy Policy outlines how Benchmark Media collects, uses and manages your personal information.

We may amend this privacy policy from time to time as our business requirements or the law changes. Any changes to this privacy policy will be updated on our website www.bmarkmedia.com.au. Please check our website periodically for any changes. You can also contact us at the contact details below if you would like to receive a hard copy of our privacy policy. When we make changes to our privacy policy your personal information will be used and managed in accordance with the updated policy.

We may also issue specific privacy collection notices from time-to-time when collecting personal information. This privacy policy should be read in conjunction with these privacy collection notices.

Information we collect and how we collect it

The personal information we collect will depend upon the nature of your dealing with us. Personal information held by us may include your name, current and previous addresses, telephone or mobile phone number, email address, occupation and title. We also hold details of your subscriptions to our publications and information on your browsing habits through the use of “cookies”. This is not an exhaustive list and the personal information we collect will depend upon the nature of your dealing with us. In all cases we will only collect information that is necessary for us to provide the requested services to you and to perform our business activities.

We collect personal information in a number of ways, including:

• directly from you, for example, when you provide information by phone, in application forms or other agreements, when you register for an event or when you submit your personal details through our websites, email or in writing (eg. when you are subscribing);
• from third parties such as our related companies, agencies or your representatives;
• when you interact with Benchmark Media through social media (including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter);
• from publicly available sources of information;
• from our own records of how you use your subscriptions;
• third parties that run competitions and other promotions for us or for which we are the sponsor or a media partner;
• third parties that provide us with marketing leads;
• when you make contact with us (for example, by telephone, mail or email);
• when you visit our websites.

Where we collect information about you from a third party we will take steps that are reasonable in the circumstances to notify you that the collection has occurred and the matters outlined in this privacy policy.

If you are providing personal information about other individuals to us (e.g. about your authorised representatives) we request that you inform those individuals that you are providing their personal information to us and to advise them where this privacy policy can be found and that we can be contacted for further information (see ‘Contact Us').

How we use and disclose your personal information

Your personal information may be used for the following purposes:

• assist you to subscribe to our services;
• provide the services and publications you require;
• administer and manage those services, including sending information about these services;
• provide and operate our competitions, promotions and events;
• provide you with information that interests you, information about our events and special offers that are relevant to your interests;
• distribute our newsletters and other communications either ourselves or with the assistance of third party services providers;
• inform you of ways the services provided to you could be improved;
• conduct marketing activities for our products and services, or products and services of third parties, and to conduct market and other research to improve our products, services and marketing activities;
• research and develop our services;
• gain an understanding of your information and communication needs in order for us provide you with a better service;
• maintain and develop our business systems and infrastructure, including testing and upgrading of these systems;
• any other purpose that you consent to;
• any other purpose required or authorised by law.

In order to deliver the services you require and conduct our business operations, we may disclose your personal information to third party service providers outside of Benchmark Media. Examples of the types of services that these organizations provide to Benchmark media include:

• customer enquiries;
• mailing operations;
• billing and debt-recovery functions;
• information technology services (including but not limited to website and database hosting);
• marketing and telemarketing;
• market research;
• website usage analysis;
• event management services; and
• professional services (including accounting, auditing and legal services).

We take reasonable steps to ensure that these organisations are bound by confidentiality and privacy obligations in relation to the protection of your personal information.

In addition, we may disclose your personal information to:

• your authorised representatives or your legal advisers (when requested or otherwise authorised by you to do so);
• our related companies; and
• government and regulatory authorities and other organisations, as required or authorised by law.

We sometimes hold events, offer competitions and promotions that are sponsored by or require entry through identified third parties. Accordingly, these third parties may obtain personal information that users voluntarily submit to attend the event or participate in the competition or promotion. We will notify you at the time of requesting personal information if a third party sponsor will obtain such information and the purposes for which this information will be used.

Direct Marketing and opting out

In seeking to give you the most worthwhile experience in using the Benchmark Media website or attending Benchmark Media events, your personal information may be used to send you advertisements about products and services that Benchmark Media thinks you are likely to be interested in. This may include advertisements for products, services and offers provided by a third party. Unless you have given your express consent at the time your personal information was collected (such as where an event or competition is sponsored by a third party) Benchmark Media does not disclose your personal information to advertisers. Instead, advertisers provide Benchmark Media with advertisements and informs Benchmark Media of the kind of audience they wish to reach. Benchmark Media then takes the advertisement and displays it to users who are most likely to have an interest in the product or service.

This marketing may be carried out in a variety of ways (including by email, SMS/MMS, or social media or by customising on-line content and displaying advertising on websites) and may continue after you cease acquiring any products or services from us.

You can opt-out from receiving messages by emailing info@bmarkmedia.com.au with “Attention: Privacy Department” in the subject line.

Help us to ensure we hold accurate information

We take all reasonable precautions to ensure that the personal information we collect, use and disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

However, the accuracy of that information depends to a large extent on the information you provide. That's why we recommend that you:

• let us know if there are any errors in your personal information; and
• keep us up-to-date with changes to your personal information such as your name or address. If you are a subscriber to one of our online products or services, you may change your personal details by using the contact us on our website.

You can access your personal information

If you would like to request access to, or correction of, your personal information we hold about you, please email info@bmarkmedia.com.au with “Attention: Privacy Department” in the subject line.

We will provide you with access to the information we hold about you, including for the purpose of correcting or updating that information, unless there is an exception which applies under the Australian Privacy Principles.

We may recover from you our reasonable costs of supplying you with access to this information. However, we will not charge you for the making of the request or to correct or update your personal information.

Your request to provide access to this information will be dealt with within a reasonable time.

If we refuse to provide you with access to, or correct, the information, we will provide you with reasons for the refusal and inform you of any exceptions relied upon under the Australian Privacy Principles.

How we use cookies

Cookies are small pieces of data stored on the web browser on your computer. This website and associated websites (including those you reach by clicking on advertising) may store cookies on your web browser.

There are two types of cookies, these include:

• Required - These cookies are necessary for site functionality and cannot be disabled;
• Performance and tracking - Site visitors can disable these cookies.

You can set up most web browsers so you are notified of when a cookie is received, so you can then either accept or reject it. You can also check the cookies stored by your web browser and remove any that you do not want.

If you disable the use of cookies on your web browser or remove or reject specific cookies from this website or linked sites, then you may not be able to gain access to all the content and facilities of our website or linked sites.

You can visit our viewing tips page to see if you have cookies enabled in your browser. You can also check our cookies page to see how to enable or disable cookies in your browser.

Further information about cookies can be found at: www.whatarecookies.com

Disclosure of information overseas

In the course of providing our services and conducting our business, we may disclose your personal information to related companies of Benchmark Media, and other third party service (such as IT and customer service providers) located overseas. The countries in which these third parties are located include the United States. While we will take steps that we consider reasonable to ensure that the recipient does not breach the APPs, the overseas recipients are not bound by the APPs, and subclause 8.1 of the APPs does not apply to the disclosure of your personal information to overseas recipients. You agree to the disclosure of your personal information in these circumstances.

Unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal information

While we will take reasonable steps to keep any personal information we hold secure from unauthorised disclosure or access, due to the nature of the Internet, we cannot guarantee that your personal information will always be secure during transmission or from unauthorised access during storage. Please contact us immediately if you become aware or have reason to believe there has been any unauthorised use of your personal information. To the extent permitted by law, we exclude any liability for loss or damage caused by breaches of the security, integrity or privacy of this website or any of our databases.

Privacy complaints and further information

If you have a concern about your privacy or you have any query on how your personal information is collected or used please contact us using the details below. We will respond to your query or complaint within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Our contact details

You can contact us by emailing info@bmarkmedia.com.au with “Attention: Privacy Department” in the subject line.