Australia's oldest and most experienced
share accommodation service - since 1987

Flatmate Finders privacy policy

We're committed to protecting your privacy and the security of your information. Your information is only used by Flatmate Finders for the purpose of providing this service. The following privacy policy describes how we manage and protect your information.

Data collection

Flatmate Finders undertakes to collect Your Data by means that are:

  • fair;
  • legal; and
  • transparent.

If you visit Flatmate Finders' web-site, your web-browser automatically discloses, and Flatmate Finders' web-server automatically logs, the following information: the date and time, the IP address from which you issued the request, the type of browser and operating system you are using, the URL of any page that referred you to the page, the URL you requested, and whether your request was successful. This data may or may not be sufficient to identify you.

Any additional data that you provide, e.g. in a web-form, may also be logged. This data may or may not be sufficient to identify you.

Any additional data that your web-browser automatically provides may also be logged. This will be the case, for example, if your browser has previously been requested to store data on your computer in 'cookies' and submits them each time you request a web-page within a particular domain (such as Flatmate Finders.com.au). This data may or may not be sufficient to identify you.

If you disclose personal data to Flatmate Finders in conjunction with an identifier such as your name or your credit-card details, Flatmate Finders will collect Your Data. Moreover, any data that becomes available to Flatmate Finders through any of the means described in the preceding paragraphs may be able to be associated with that identifier, and hence become Your Data.

Subject to the qualifications immediately below, Flatmate Finders undertakes to collect Your Data from you and not from other parties. This undertaking is qualified as follows:

  • where Flatmate Finders reasonably considers that the protection of its financial interests requires that it gather Your Data from other sources, or from additional sources. This applies in particular where Flatmate Finders
    has a lending exposure to you, and seeks information about your creditworthiness;
  • where Flatmate Finders reasonably considers that its capability to deliver quality services to you will be
    materially enhanced by gathering YourData from other sources. This applies in particular to consumer
    profile data.

Where Flatmate Finders collects Your Data from sources other than you, it undertakes:

  • to do so only by legal means;
  • to do so only with your Consent; and
  • to declare to you what sources it uses, and under what circumstances.

Flatmate Finders undertakes to declare the purpose of collection in a manner which is clear and meaningful, and to avoid vague, highly inclusive statements such as 'to support our operations'.

Data security

Flatmate Finders undertakes to store Your Data in a manner that ensures security against unauthorised access, alteration or deletion, at a level commensurate with its sensitivity.

Flatmate Finders undertakes to store Your Data only in jurisdictions where data protections are at least equivalent to those required under the OECD Guidelines.

Flatmate Finders undertakes to transmit Your Data in a manner that ensures security against unauthorised access, alteration or deletion, at a level commensurate with its sensitivity.

Flatmate Finders undertakes to implement appropriate measures to ensure security of Your Data against inappropriate behaviour by Flatmate Finders' staff-members and contractors. These include:

  • training for staff in relation to privacy;
  • access control, to limit access to Your Data to those staff and contractors who have legitimate reasons to access it;
  • particularly in the case of sensitive data, audit trails of accesses, including the identities of staff and contractors accessing the data;
  • reminders to staff and contractors from time to time about the importance of data privacy, and the consequences of inappropriate behaviour;
  • declaration of appropriately strong sanctions that are to be applied in the event of inappropriate behaviour
  • clear communication of policies and sanctions; and
  • processes to audit, to investigate and to impose sanctions.

Data use

Use refers to the application of Your Data by any part of Flatmate Finders, or any staff-member or contractor of Flatmate Finders in the course of their work.

Flatmate Finders undertakes to use Your Data only for:

  • the purposes for which it was collected;
  • such other purposes as are subsequently agreed between Flatmate Finders and You;
  • such additional purposes as may be required by law. In these circumstances, Flatmate Finders will take any reasonable steps available to it to communicate to You that the use has occurred, unless it is precluded from doing so by law; and
  • such additional purposes as are authorised by law (in particular to protect Flatmate Finders' interests, e.g. if it believes on reasonable grounds that You have failed to fulfil your undertakings to Flatmate Finders or have committed a breach of the criminal law).

Flatmate Finders undertakes to use YourData only if it has demonstrable relevance to the particular use to which it is being put.

Flatmate Finders undertakes to use YourData in such a manner as to take into account the possibility that it is not of sufficient quality for the purpose, e.g. because it is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, or out-of-context.

Data disclosure

Disclosure refers to making YourData available to any party other than Flatmate Finders and You. The term disclosure may include many different conditions of data transfer, including selling, renting, trading, sharing and giving.

Flatmate Finders undertakes to disclose Your Data only under the following circumstances:

  • in the course of business being conducted between You and Flatmate Finders, where disclosure is necessary to a contractor, such as a transport company. Where Your Data is disclosed in this way, Flatmate Finders undertakes to exercise control over Flatmate Finders' contractors to ensure that their actions are compliant with these Terms;
  • in other circumstances that are directly implied by the purpose agreed between You and Flatmate Finders at the time of data collection or subsequently. Where Your Data is disclosed in this way, Flatmate Finders undertakes to exercise control over Flatmate Finders' contractors to ensure that their actions are compliant with these Terms;
  • with your consent, or at your request;
  • where required by law, such as a provision of a statute, or a court order such as a search warrant or sub poena. In these circumstances, Flatmate Finders will take any reasonable steps available to it to communicate to You that the disclosure has occurred, unless it is precluded from doing so by law;
  • where permitted by law (e.g. the reporting of suspected breach of the criminal law to a law enforcement agency; and in an emergency, where Flatmate Finders believes on reasonable grounds that the disclosure of YourData will materially assist in the protection of the life of health of some person), provided that Flatmate Finders will apply due diligence to ensure that the exercise of the permission is justifiable.

In all cases, Flatmate Finders undertakes to disclose only such of Your Data as is necessary in the particular circumstances.

Data retention and destruction

Subject to the qualifications immediately below, Flatmate Finders undertakes:

  • to retain Your Data only as long as is consistent with its purpose; and
  • to destroy Your Data when its purpose has expired, and to do so in such a manner that Your Data is not subsequently capable of being recovered.

This undertaking is qualified as follows:

  • Your Data may be retained in Flatmate Finders' logs, backups and audit trails within short-term retention cycles that are devised to protect the company's operations. In such cases, Your Data will be destroyed in accordance with those cycles;
  • Your Data may be retained beyond the expiry of its purpose if that is required by law, such as a provision of a statute, or a court order such as a search warrant or sub poena, or a warning by a law enforcement agency that delivery of a court order is imminent. In these circumstances, Flatmate Finders:
    • will take any reasonable steps available to it to communicate to You that Your Data is being retained, unless it is precluded from doing so by law; and
    • will only retain Your Data while that provision is current, and will then destroy Your Data;
  • Your Data may be retained beyond the expiry of its purpose if it is authorised by law (in particular to protect Flatmate Finders' interests, e.g. if it believes on reasonable grounds that You have failed to fulfil your undertakings to Flatmate Finders or have committed a breach of the criminal law). In these circumstances, Flatmate Finders will only retain Your Data while that situation is current, and will then destroy Your Data.

Access by you to your personal data

Flatmate Finders undertakes to provide you with access to Your Data, subject to only such conditions and processes as are reasonable in the circumstances. In particular, Flatmate Finders undertakes to enable access:

  • conveniently;
  • without unreasonable delay; and
  • without cost.

Flatmate Finders undertakes to establish and operate identity authentication protections for access to Your Data that are appropriate to its sensitivity, but practical. This may involve some inconvenience; for example, relatively straightforward procedures may be involved in order to provide you with access through a channel that you have previously registered with Flatmate Finders (such as a particular email-address), but may impose more onerous procedures if you wish to use some other channel.

In the event that you dispute some aspect of Your Data, Flatmate Finders undertakes to take reasonable steps in relation to the amendment, supplementation or deletion of Your Data.

You undertake:

  • not to seek access for frivolous purposes, or unreasonably frequently;
  • to accept that deletion of some data may not be consistent with the provision of particular services by Flatmate Finders to you.

Information about data-handling practices

Flatmate Finders undertakes to make information available to you about the manner in which Flatmate Finders handles your data:

  • in general terms, in a readily accessible manner; and
  • in more specific terms, on request.

Where Your Data is disclosed to a contractor, Flatmate Finders undertakes to make information available to you on request about the manner in which Flatmate Finders' contractors handle your data.

Flatmate Finders undertakes to ensure that the information provided is meaningful, and addresses your concerns.

You undertake:

  • not to seek such information for frivolous purposes, or unreasonably frequently; and
  • to accept that the disclosure of excessive detail may harm the security of Your Data and Flatmate Finders' business processes, and may harm Flatmate Finders' commercial interests.

Handling of enquiries, general concerns & complaints

If you have enquiries, general concerns, or complaints about these Terms, or about Flatmate Finders' behaviour in relation to these Terms, you undertake:

  • to communicate them in the first instance:
    • to Flatmate Finders only;
    • in sufficient detail;
    • through a channel made available by Flatmate Finders for that purpose;

Flatmate Finders undertakes:

  • to provide one or more channels for communications to Flatmate Finders, which are convenient to users;
  • to promptly provide acknowledgement of the receipt of communications, including the provision of a copy of the communication, the date and time it was registered, and Flatmate Finders' reference-code for the communication;
  • to promptly provide a response to the communication, in an appropriate and meaningful manner.

You further undertake to not pursue Flatmate Finders through any Regulator or the media:

  • until and unless Flatmate Finders has had a reasonable opportunity to respond to the initial communication; and
  • while Flatmate Finders and you remain are conducting a meaningful dialogue about the matter.

Enforcement

Flatmate Finders declares that its undertakings in these Terms are intended to create legal obligations, and that those obligations are intended to be enforceable under appropriate laws in appropriate jurisdictions. These include laws relating to data protection, privacy, fair trading, corporations and criminal laws.

You undertake to seek enforcement only in a jurisdiction that is relevant to the transactions that have taken place between You and Flatmate Finders, in particular the jurisdiction in which you live or in which you performed the relevant acts, and the jurisdiction in which Flatmate Finders is domiciled or performed the relevant acts.

If you wish to discover the relevant laws in any particular jurisdiction, Flatmate Finders draws your attention to the following resources:

Changes to these privacy undertakings

Flatmate Finders undertakes:

  • not to materially change these Terms in a manner that reduces the protections for Your Data;
  • to take all possible steps to prevent any company that acquires this company or any of its relevant assets from materially changing the Terms applicable to Your Data in a manner that reduces the protections for Your Data;
  • where it is considering making changes to these Terms, or creating more specific Terms relating to specific services, to consult with appropriate representative and advocacy organisations;
  • where it makes changes to these Terms, to ensure that the differences between successive versions are readily accessible;
  • to maintain all prior versions of these Terms in such a manner that they are dated, and readily accessible.

Definitions

Flatmate Finders means Linksoft Solutions Pty Ltd.

Your Data means data that is capable of being associated with you, whether or not it includes an explicit identifier such as your name or customer number. In particular, it encompasses all data that Flatmate Finders is capable of correlating with you, using such means as server-logs and cookie-contents.

Your Data does not refer to data that can no longer be associated with you. This includes aggregated data that does not and cannot identify the individuals whose data are included in the aggregation.

Consent means your concurrence with an action to be taken by Flatmate Finders. Consent may be express or implicit, but in either case must be informed and freely-given.

 

Copyright in the Privacy Statement Template is owned by Roger Clarke's company, Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd.

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    Flatmate Finders is a great site. I found the perfect flatmate in less than a week - we have plenty in common and he was just around the corner. Keep the good work up on here - it was money well spent. Matt
    Matt C May 16, 2013
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    I'm happy with how I went using your service. I have been able to find a housemate within 2.5 weeks, which is quicker than other times I've looked online, thank you!
    Yvonne M May 14, 2013
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    You run a very professional service and I won't hesitate in recommending flatmate finders to friends.
    Rachel F May 13, 2013
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    I thought the website was very interactive and proactive. Although I didn't find anyone on this website, I would use it again. I would highly recommend it to other people.
    Anita B May 10, 2013
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    Flatmate Finders is great service - I clicked with the first person who came to look round. So Easy!
    Sarah B May 9, 2013
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    I would like to thank the team for all the help you gave us. Really appreciated. Your service is one of the easiest to use and provides a great calibre of people. Thanks again, Donall and Erin
    Donall B May 4, 2013
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    Flatmate Finders is a great service - highly recommended. It really is the easiest way to find a place!
    Tracy B May 4, 2013
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    Fantastic website!! Found someone straight away and the list of people was great. The profiles told me everything I needed to know to make the right choice for my new house mate. Thanks Flatmate Finders
    Matthew A May 3, 2013
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    Love flatmate finders. 10 times better than gumtree!
    Tina C May 2, 2013
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    Website is great, really like it and wish other websites learn from you guys for their listings. I'll definitely use it again in the future if needed.
    Pierre-Olivier N May 2, 2013
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    Great service! Not a time waster like some sites.
    Lucinda H May 1, 2013
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    I am pleased to say that I did find a room mate, and through flatmate finders! Please update my details accordingly. I would like to thank Flatmate Finders for providing such a great, easy to use, and effective service, I will definitely recommend it to others.
    Vin F May 1, 2013
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    Very helpful, easier than Gumtree.
    Paul B Apr 29, 2013
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    Thanks, I found a flatmate via a friend, however your services were excellent and I would most likely recommend your site to anyone looking to rent or share a place. Kind Regards, Lea
    Lea S Apr 28, 2013
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    A really great service to find new housemates. Have used it before and will use it again in the future if needs be. Would definitely recommend it to friends to use :)
    Katie S Apr 28, 2013
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    Great website! I have been recommending it to others. It was initially difficult to find this website, it's a fab alternative option to gumtree. If it were not for a previous flatmate recommending, I would never have known.
    Kerrie W Apr 27, 2013
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    great site! thanks for the help.
    Nicholas H Apr 25, 2013
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    Thank you, it was loads of fun, all the best flatmate finders. Thanks, will definitely use again and share with others. Regards Monique
    monique p Apr 24, 2013
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    Thanks - I found the site quite easy to use and follow, the matching profile service is great and saves time with looking for people. I found a good match!
    Christine P Apr 24, 2013
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    Compared to similar websites/online classifieds, very helpful/useful and reasonably priced service, good quality applicants. Would use again when looking for housemates or a place to live! Message to SMS service is quite handy for quickly getting in contact with people without racking up the mobile bill.
    Eva C Apr 19, 2013
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    Your website and service is brilliant, and very reasonably priced. I was particularly impressed with the lack of scammers, the format of the website, the grouping of match types and lastly, there were lots of listings. I will be recommending your website to all others and with a high degree of enthusiasm, and it will be my first choice should I need to find another place, or indeed, find a flatmate.
    Alex S Apr 17, 2013
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    Flatmate Finders is the best flatmate finding website - it's worth the fee. I've paid for another one, easyroommate - it's impossible to navigate and you're not matched with people who suit your preferences. I especially like that you can search through unmatched profiles.
    Alice J Apr 15, 2013
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    This is the first time I've used the 'Starting a New Shared home' function and I loved it. Having someone to share the research with and set up a home together was fantastic. I found a roomie and a home in 7 days. Awesome! This is the first time I've used the 'create a shared home' function and I loved it. Having someone to share the research with and set up a home together was fantastic. I found a roomie and a home in seven days. Awesome! Thank you Kate :D
    Kate Q Apr 9, 2013
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    Thank you so much, I am chuffed to win the iPad Mini. I have never won anything before so it's really cool! The first time I used Flatmate Finders was about 9 years ago and every time I use it they have never failed to find me a house or a flatmate! Great work!!
    Joseph C Apr 8, 2013
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    Flatmate Finders worked like a dream! Also advertised on Gumtree and the quality of people from Flatmate Finders is much better. I think it has something to do with the fact that we have to pay which is a good thing.
    Bridgid H Apr 8, 2013