Our website and your privacy

Protecting your privacy has always been important to us. Changes to the Commonwealth Privacy Act now require us to handle your personal information in accordance with a set of principles know as the National Privacy Principles. The following statement explains how we use and disclose information collected from you.

What information do we collect from you?

When you visit our website, details may be recorded about your visit, such as the time and date, your server address, type of browser, domain name, pages visited, documents downloaded and length of visit. This information is used anonymously for statistical purposes and cannot identify you. We use this information to determine the effectiveness of our site and to assess ideas that could make the site more useful to our members.

If you log on to the Members or Employers sections of our web site or send us an email, we will collect personal information from you including your name, address, telephone numbers and e-mail address. We can only collect personal information via our website with your consent, as you must log in or click on a 'submit' button provided on each web page before any information is recorded.

Cookies

We only use cookies on our web site when you log in to the Members or Employers sections by entering your Membership number or Employer ID and PIN. Once you enter these secure areas of our web site we use temporary session cookies. If your browser is configured to reject all cookies, you will be unable to use these sections of our web site.

A "cookie" is a small text file placed on a computer by a web server. A cookie allows information to be retrieved from the computer by a web page server. These cookies may be permanently stored on a computer or are temporary session cookies. They are used for a variety of purposes, including security and personalisation of services. They are frequently used on Web Sites and you can choose if and how a cookie will be accepted by configuring your preferences and options in your browser.

How do we use the information that we collect from you?

When you log in to the member or employer sections of our website, we collect personal information from you so that we are able to…

• establish your identity and allow you to access our online services
• report the investment performance of your account to you, and
• keep you up to date with other products and services available to you as a HOSTPLUS member.

Your personal information will not be used or disclosed for any other purpose, without your consent, except where permitted or required by law.

What if you don't give us the information we request?

You are not required to give us the information that we request. However, if you do not give us the information that we ask for, or the information you give is not complete or accurate, this may

• prevent or delay the processing of your application or any claim
• affect your eligibility for specified insurance cover, or
• prevent us from contacting you.

Your access to the information we collect

You may request access to the personal information we hold about you. We reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee to cover our costs.

Do we give information about you to third parties?

Yes, there are instances where we need to do so, however, there are strict controls on how they can use this information. The types of organisations to which we usually disclose your personal information include our fund administrator and other service providers as necessary, regulatory authorities, our insurers, any fund to which a benefit is rolled over, our professional advisers, and medical professionals. In the event of your death, the information may be provided to your personal representative, any beneficiary or other person contacted to assist us to process that benefit.

How we protect the security of information from you?

If you use the member or employer sections of our website, we will verify your identity by your Membership number or Employer ID and a PIN. Once verified, you will have access to a secure site where all information entered is protected by 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption (the highest available level of encryption). You can check that the encryption capability is working when a "padlock" icon appears in the bottom of the screen of your Internet browser. Our VeriSignTM Secure Server Certificate is current and was re-installed on 18 July 2001.

Risks of using the Internet

You should note that there are inherent security risks in transmitting information via the Internet. You should assess these potential risks when deciding whether to use our online services. If you do not wish to transmit information via our website, there are other ways in which you can provide this information to us. You can, for example, contact our Customer Service Hotline on 1300 363 895.

HOSTPLUS Privacy Policy

Protecting your privacy has always been important to us. Changes to the Commonwealth Privacy Act now require us to handle personal information in accordance with a set of principles, known as the National Privacy Principles. The following statement explains our policies and practices with respect to our management of the personal information we collect.

What information do we collect?

We ask you (or in the case of employer sponsored members, your employer) to provide personal information such as your name and address, date of birth, contact details, occupation and employer.

There are also specific circumstances where we will ask for additional information such as:

• personal health and income information (if you are applying for additional insurance protection or salary continuance), or
  your bank account details (if you are requesting a direct debit to your superannuation account), or
• your dependants (for the purposes of paying benefits in the event of your death).

We may also need to collect additional information from medical practitioners or from your employer for the purposes of assessing your eligibility for the insurance cover you have applied for or the assessment of a claim. We will always seek your express consent before collecting this kind of sensitive information.

We are also required to ask for certain information by law. Wherever there is a legal requirement for us to ask for information about you, we will inform you of the obligation and the consequences of not giving us the requested information. For example, we are required to ask for your Tax File Number when you become a member of HOSTPLUS. If you choose not to give us your TFN you may be subject to higher tax charges on your superannuation.

How do we use the information that we collect from you?

We collect personal information from you so that we are able to...

• establish and manage your superannuation account
• implement your investment choices
• establish and maintain your additional insurance protection
• process contributions, transfer monies or pay benefits
• report the investment performance of your account to you, and
• keep you up to date, by way of a newsletter and other communications, with other products and services available to you as a HOSTPLUS member.

Your personal information will not be used or disclosed for any other purpose, without your consent, except where permitted or required by law.

What if you don't give us the information we request?

You are not required to give us the information that we request. However, if you do not give us the information that we ask for, or the information you give is not complete or accurate, this may:

• prevent or delay the processing of your application or any claim
• affect your eligibility for specified insurance cover, or
• prevent us from contacting you.

Your access to the information we collect

You may request access to the personal information we hold about you. We reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee to cover our costs. There may be circumstances where we are unable to give you access to the information that you have requested. If this is the case we will let you know and explain the reasons.

You have a right to ask us to correct any information we hold about you if you believe it is not accurate, complete or up to date. If we do not agree with the corrections you have supplied, we are not required to alter the information. If you have a concern about this, or anything else about the privacy of your information, you may lodge a complaint with us by writing to...

Privacy Officer
HOSTPLUS
Locked Bag 999
Carlton South Vic 3053

If our privacy officer is unable to resolve your complaint, you may lodge a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner.

You can contact the Privacy Commissioner by:

• calling the hotline on 1300 363 992, or
• visiting www.privacy.gov.au

Do we give information about you to third parties?

Yes, there are instances where we need to do so, however, there are strict controls on how they can use this information. The types of organisations to which we usually disclose your personal information include:

• our fund administrator (who may in turn engage and disclose your personal information to third party service providers such as information technology, credit control, printing and mailing)
• any insurers or re-insurers (who may in turn disclose your personal information to other insurers or re-insurers) who we deal with in order to provide you with benefits
• external agencies who provide services for the purposes of data matching, cleansing and/or enrichment
• any fund to which your benefit is to be transferred or rolled over (including the administrator of that fund)
• medical practitioners and other relevant professionals, where you apply for additional insurance cover or make a claim for a disablement benefit
• in the event of your death, your personal representative, or any other person who may be entitled to receive the death benefit, or any person contacted to assist us to process that benefit
• regulatory authorities such as the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Taxation Office, to the extent required by law
• your spouse or former spouse, to the extent required by law, and
• our professional advisers.

How do we protect the security of your information

We have stringent security systems, practices and procedures in place to safeguard your privacy. The people who handle your personal information for us have the training, knowledge, skills and commitment to protect it from unauthorised access or misuse.

More information about us

We (HOSTPLUS Pty Ltd ABN 79 008 634 704) are an approved trustee under the Commonwealth Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 and the trustee of the HOSTPLUS Superannuation Fund. Superannuation Fund Number (SFN) 268 350 944. We're also a Australian Financial Services Licence holder number 244392. 

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