Policies

Acceptable Use Policy

Voice Connect and Its Carriers’ Suppliers Acceptable Use Policy

Please read this document carefully before accessing Voice Connect’s & its carrier suppliers’ network and systems. By using any Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s internet service you agree to comply with the terms of our acceptable use policy.

Purpose

This Internet Acceptable Use Policy (“Policy”) sets out the rules which apply to use of our dial-up or broadband internet connection services (“Internet Services”), including your responsibilities, and permitted and prohibited uses of those services.

Compliance with this Policy ensures you may continue to enjoy and allow others to enjoy optimum use of our Internet Services.

Application

This Policy applies to all customers who acquire Internet Services from us. Your obligation to comply with this Policy includes your obligation to ensure any person who you allow to use your Internet Service also complies with this Policy.

Your failure to comply with this Policy (including by any person who you allow to use your Internet Service) may lead to the suspension or termination of your Internet Service.

Responsible Usage

You are responsible for your actions on our telecommunications network (“Network”) and systems you access through your Internet Service. If you act recklessly or irresponsibly in using your Internet Service or your actions endanger any person or the integrity or security of our Network, systems or equipment, your access may be restricted, suspended, or terminated, without prior notice.

You agree that you will not use, attempt to use or allow your Internet Service to be used to:

  • store, send or distribute any content or material which is restricted, prohibited or otherwise unlawful under any applicable Commonwealth, State or Territory law, or which is likely to be offensive or obscene to a reasonable person;
  • store, send or distribute confidential information, copyright material or other content, which is subject to third party intellectual property rights, unless you have a lawful right to do so;
  • do anything, including store, send or distribute material which defames, harasses, threatens, abuses, menaces, offends, violates the privacy of, or incites violence or hatred against, any person or class of persons, or which could give rise to civil or criminal proceedings;
  • do any other act or thing which is illegal, fraudulent or otherwise prohibited under any applicable Commonwealth, State or Territory law or which is in breach of any code, standard or content requirement of any other competent authority;
  • do anything, including store, send or distribute material, which interferes with other users or restricts or hinders any person from accessing, using or enjoying the Internet, our Services, Network or systems;
  • forge header information, email source address or other user information;
  • access, monitor or use any data, systems or networks, including another person’s private information, without authority or attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of any data, system or network;
  • compromise the security or integrity of any network or system including our Network;
  • access, download, store, send or distribute any viruses or other harmful programs or material;
  • send or distribute unsolicited advertising, bulk electronic messages or otherwise breach your spam obligations set out in clause 4, or overload any network or system including our Network and systems;
  • use another person’s name, username or password or otherwise attempt to gain access to the account of any other Customer;
  • tamper with, hinder the operation of or make unauthorised modifications to any network or system; or
  • authorise, aid, abet, encourage or incite any other person to do or attempt to do any of the above acts.

Spam

In this Policy, “Spam” includes one or more unsolicited commercial electronic messages to which the Spam Act 2003 applies, and derivations of the word “Spam” have corresponding meanings.

Codes of Practice

The Internet Industry Codes of Practice registered with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (“ACMA”) set out how internet service providers, such as Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s, and email service providers must address the sources of Spam within their own networks. They also requires internet service providers and email service providers to give end-users information about how to deal with Spam, and informed choice about their filtering options.

Suspension or Termination

This Policy prohibits you from using your Internet Service to send Spam. If you breach this prohibition, Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s may suspend or terminate your Internet Service. 

Reducing Spam

You can reduce the amount of Spam you receive if you:

  • do not open emails from dubious sources;
  • do not reply to Spam or click on links, including ‘unsubscribe’ facilities, in Spam;
  • do not accept Spam-advertised offers;
  • block incoming mail from known Spammers;
  • do not post your email address on publicly available sites or directories. If you must do so, look for options, such as tick boxes, that allow you to opt out of receiving further offers or information.;
  • do not disclose your personal information to any online organisation unless they agree (in their terms and conditions or privacy policy) not to pass your information on to other parties;
  • use separate email addresses for different purposes, such as a personal email 
  • address for friends and family and a business email address for work;
  • install a Spam filter on your computer to filter or block Spam. We strongly recommend that you install a Spam filter on your computer, even if you receive a Spam filtering service from Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s. 
  • report any Spam you receive to Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s or the ACMA (see “Complaints” below); and
  • visit the ACMA website for more information on ways to reduce the volume of Spam you receive, including how to:
  • reduce Spam if you operate a website; and
  • avoid becoming an accidental Spammer.

Spam filtering for aapt.net subscribers

If you subscribe to an aapt.net Internet Service, we subject all email addressed to you to a Spam filter by default. This service is provided free. Spam filtering service for aapt.net subscribers makes use of SpamAssassin filtering technology. The application attempts to identify Spam using text analysis and several internet-based real time blacklists. Using a rule base, it uses a wide range of heuristic tests on mail headers and body text to score the email. If the email scores 6 or more, the email will be delivered to you, but the subject line of the message will be changed to denote that the email has been classified as Spam. If the email scores 11 or more, the email will not be delivered to you.

Spam filtering for Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s Virtual Mail subscribers

If you subscribe to Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s Virtual Mail and have activated Anti-SPAM via the Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s business website we subject email messages addressed to you to a Spam filter. An additional monthly charge per user applies for Anti-SPAM. Further information about Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s Virtual Mail and Anti-SPAM (including pricing) is available.

Loss of legitimate email

Filtering services are an effective means of reducing the amount of Spam you receive. However, they will not eliminate all Spam and there is a risk that legitimate email might occasionally be incorrectly classified as Spam and therefore lost.

Your Spam Obligations

You agree that you will use your Internet Service in compliance with the Spam Act 2003 and will not engage in practices which would result in a breach of the Act. 

In particular, you agree that you will not use, attempt to use or allow your Internet Service to be used to:

  • send, allow to be sent, or assist in the sending of Spam;
  • use or distribute any software designed to harvest email addresses;
  • host any device or service that allows email to be sent between third parties not under your authority or control; or otherwise breach the Spam Act 2003 or the Spam Regulations 2004 of the Commonwealth, (your “Spam Obligations”).
  • You agree to use your reasonable best endeavours to secure any device or network within your control against being used in breach of your Spam Obligations by third parties, including where appropriate:
  • the installation and maintenance of antivirus software;
  • the installation and maintenance of firewall software; and
  • the application of operating system and application software patches and updates.

We or our carrier supplier may scan any IP address ranges allocated to you for your use with your Internet Service in order to detect the presence of open or otherwise misconfigured mail and proxy servers. If we detect open or misconfigured mail or proxy servers we may suspend or terminate your Internet Service. 

Excessive use

You must use your Internet Service in accordance with any download or capacity limits stated in the specific plan that you subscribe to for the use of that Service. We may limit, suspend or terminate your Internet Service if you unreasonably exceed such limits or excessively use the capacity or resources of our Network in a manner which may hinder or prevent us from providing services to other customers or which may pose a threat to the integrity of our Network or systems.

Security

You are responsible for maintaining the security of your Internet Service, including protection of account details, passwords and protection against unauthorized usage of your Service by a third party. We recommend that you take appropriate security measures such as installation of a firewall and use up to date anti-virus software. You are responsible for all charges incurred by other persons who you allow to use your Internet Service, including anyone to whom you have disclosed your password and account details.

Copyright

It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not infringe the intellectual property rights of any person in relation to any material that you access or download from the Internet and copy, store, send or distribute using your Internet Service.

You must not use your Internet Service to copy, adapt, reproduce, distribute or otherwise make available to other persons any content or material (including but not limited to music files in any format) which is subject to copyright or do any other acts in relation to such copyright material which would infringe the exclusive rights of the copyright owner under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) or any other applicable laws.

You acknowledge and agree that we have the right to immediately cease hosting and to remove from our Network or systems any content upon receiving a complaint or allegation that the material infringes copyright or any other intellectual property rights of any person.

Content

You are responsible for determining the content and information you choose to access on the Internet when using your Internet Service.

It is your responsibility to take all steps you consider necessary (including the use of filtering programs) to prevent access to offensive or obscene content on the Internet by children or minors who you allow to use your Internet Service.

You must not use or attempt to use your Internet Service to make inappropriate contact with children or minors who are not otherwise know to you.

You are responsible for any content you store, send or distribute on or via our Network and systems including, but not limited to, content you place or post on web pages, email, chat or discussion forums, bulletin boards, instant messaging, SMS and Usenet news. 

You must not use such services to send or distribute any content which is prohibited, deemed obscene or offensive or otherwise unlawful under any applicable Commonwealth, State or Territory law, including to send or distribute classes of restricted content to children or minors if that is prohibited or an offence under such laws.

Your failure to comply with these requirements may lead to immediate suspension or termination of your Internet Service without notice. If we have reason to believe you have used your Internet Service to access child pornography or child abuse material, we are required by law to refer the matter to the Australian Federal Police.

Regulatory Authorities

You must label or clearly identify any content you generally make available using your Internet Service in accordance with the applicable classification guidelines and National Classification Code (issued pursuant to the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 (Cth)) or any industry code which applies to your use or distribution of that content.

Commonwealth legislation allows the ACMA to direct us to remove from our Network and servers any content which is classified, or likely to be classified, as ‘prohibited’ content. We also co-operate fully with law enforcement and security agencies, including in relation to court orders for the interception or monitoring of our Network and systems. Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s may take these steps at any time without notice to you.

You must not hinder or prevent us from taking all steps necessary to comply with any direction from ACMA or any other law enforcement or security agency. You acknowledge that Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s reserves the right to limit, suspend or terminate your Internet Service if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that you are engaging in illegal conduct or where use of your Internet Service is subject to any investigation by law enforcement or regulatory authorities.

Complaints about content

If you have a complaint about content accessible using your Internet Service you may contact the ACMA by filling out an online complaint form at acma.gov.au, emailing online@acma.gov.au or faxing your complaint to the ACMA Content Assessment Hotline Manager on (02) 9334 7799. Please note that all complaints to ACMA must be in writing. You may also report a complaint about content by emailing us at support@voiceconnect.com.au.

10.2. Complaints about Spam

You can report or make a complaint about Spam you have received by contacting the ACMA by filling out an online complaint form at acma.gov.au or via the ACMA Spam Reporting System SpamMatters.

You may also make complaints to other bodies about Spam where the content is in some other way offensive or contrary to law. For example, you may complain to the ACMA about Spam that contains content you believe is offensive or relates to online gambling.

You can report a Spam message that contains fraudulent or misleading and deceptive content (for example, email scams) to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) via the ACCC website by phoning 1300 302 502 (business hours, Monday to Friday).

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) also deals with certain complaints about the contents of Spam messages, particularly with regard to fraudulent conduct by Australian businesses. The ASIC website outlines the types of complaints they deal with, and has an online complaint form: www.asic.gov.au (click on ‘Complaining About Companies or People’).

If you are concerned that your personal information has been misused to send you Spam, the Federal Privacy Commissioner recommends that you complain to the organisation first, especially if you know how to contact it and have had dealings with it in the past about other goods or services. If the matter is not resolved adequately, you can visit the Federal Privacy Commissioner’s website for details on how to make a complaint.

Suspension or Termination

Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s reserves the right to suspend your Internet Service if you are in breach of this Policy, provided that we will first take reasonable steps to contact you and give you the opportunity to rectify the breach within a reasonable period. What is reasonable in this context will depend on the severity of the problems being caused by the breach (for example, if you commit a serious or continuing breach, it may be reasonable to immediately suspend your Internet Service without notice to you).

If we notify you of a breach of your Spam Obligations, we will, at your request and to the extent we are reasonably able, supply you with information as to the nature of open relays and suggested resolutions to assist you to comply with your Spam Obligations.

Our right to suspend your Internet Service applies regardless of whether the breach is committed intentionally, through misconfiguration, or by other means not authorised by you including but not limited to through a Trojan horse or virus.

If your Internet Service is suspended and the grounds upon which it was suspended are not corrected by you within seven days, we may terminate your Internet Service. In the event your Internet Service is terminated, you may apply for a pro rata refund of any pre-paid charges for your Internet Service, but we will have the right to levy a reasonable fee for any costs incurred as a result of the conduct that resulted in the suspension.

Changes

Voice Connect’s & its carrier supplier’s may vary this Policy by giving you notice by email to the email address notified by you or otherwise in accordance with the notice provisions of your service agreement with us. Your continued use of your Internet Service after such notice will constitute acceptance of the variation.

Service Application Credit Checks Policy

Introduction

We or our supplier carriers will run a credit check when you place an order to sign up to a service or plan with us.

When assessing applications, we rely on information from several sources, including the information you provide to us and the information received from credit reporting bodies, Illion or Equifax. Our decision may be because you or the business you applied on behalf of, don’t meet our current credit criteria.

It may also be partly or wholly based on the credit information we received from Illion or Equifax.

You can obtain the credit eligibility information held about you from the credit reporting bodies within 90 days free of charge using these contact details.

Illion (formally Dun & Bradstreet)

1300 734 806  (personal)

13 23 33  (business)

8.30am – 5.30pm AEST (Monday – Friday)

Equifax (formally Veda Advantage)

138 332  (personal)

1300 921 621  (business)

8.30am – 5.00pm AEST (Monday – Friday)

If you think that we or our carrier supplier may have failed to comply with Division 3 of Part IIIA of the Privacy Act or the Credit Reporting Code, you can make a complaint. This is all in accordance with our credit-related personal information management policy.

Fair use Policy

Introduction

This is Voice Connect’s Fair Use Policy (”Policy”) and it forms part of our Standard Form of Agreement (”SFOA”) and other agreements for services (Services) that state the Fair Use Policy applies.

A reference to ‘Voice Connect’ or ‘we’ or ‘us’ or ‘our’ means Voice Connect Pty Ltd (ABN 73068392012) and its associated entities and suppliers.

Our Fair Use Policy is intended to ensure the availability of our Services to all eligible customers and that the Services are not used in an unreasonable manner.

Definitions for the terms used in our Fair Use Policy have the meanings given to them in our agreement with you.

Unreasonable Use

You must not use or try to use the Services for the following circumstances;

  • for any illegal or fraudulent purpose;
  • to endanger a person or damage property;
  • to commit an offence;
  • to communicate, transmit or distribute any computer worms, trojans, viruses, or other similar programs;
  • to communicate, transmit or publish any harassing, abusive, menacing, defamatory or illegal material;
  • to send unsolicited electronic message(s) or do anything else in breach of the Spam Act 2003;
  • to reproduce, download, distribute, transmit, publish, store, copy or exploit any material in any way which infringes copyright, patent, trademark, design or other intellectual property rights;
  • to access, store, copy, distribute or publish any content in contravention of applicable law or regulation; 
  • to provide or permit unrestricted access to content contrary to relevant classification rules;
  • to hack or gain unauthorised access to or control of, or to conduct unauthorised monitoring of, any equipment, system, network, accounts or private or confidential information of others;
  • to do anything which might compromise the security or safety of, or which might damage, interrupt or interfere with the operation of the Service, or the networks used to supply the Service; or
  • to violate a law or cause us to violate a law.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of practices that would not be considered Fair Use;

  • using subscriptions for telemarketing or call centre operations;
  • re-selling subscription minutes;
  • sharing subscriptions between users whether via a call centre, computer or any other means;
  • unusual calling patterns inconsistent with normal, individual subscription use, for example, regular calls of short duration or calls to multiple numbers in a short period of time.

Your Obligations

You must comply with this Fair Use Policy. You must also ensure all other persons who use your Services comply with this Fair Use Policy.

You are responsible for all use of your Services and compliance with our Fair Use Policy, whether or not you authorise the use of the Services. You must take all reasonable steps to secure any equipment you use in connection with the Services to avoid unauthorised access or use. You must keep all passwords and account details associated with the Services confidential. You must contact us if you reasonably suspect unauthorised use of your Services.

You must keep all equipment, operating systems and software used in connection with the Services up to date. You must secure and back-up (as required) any data stored on equipment that you use in connection with your Services. We are not liable for any misuse, loss or corruption of your data.

You must comply with our reasonable directions, and directions or rules of our suppliers and any government or regulatory body in relation to use of the Services. You must pay any third party fees or charges related to content or services from all access via the Services.

You are responsible for all content you publish via the Services. You are responsible for all risks associated with your use of the Services including downloading, accessing, viewing, using, transmitting, publishing or communicating material; making purchases; and transmitting personal or

confidential information.

You must take reasonable steps to prevent minors from accessing content that may be inappropriate for them.

Our Rights

By using the Services to reproduce, publish, display, transmit or distribute content, you authorise us and our agents to reproduce, publish, display, transmit and distribute the content as necessary for us to supply the Service.

We do not supervise, control or authorise access, use, receipt or transmission of material via the Services. We are not responsible for the content, nature or form of that material.

We do not supervise or control whether material sent or received via the1 Services is sent or received correctly or if it is corrupted or intercepted.

We will not be liable for any loss, cost, damage, expense or liability related to your use, or use by other persons, of the Services in breach of this Fair Use Policy.

We may, without liability, suspend or cancel your Services without notice if we reasonably consider that you, or other persons, have, or are likely, to breach this policy. We may also take any of these steps if directed to do so by a regulatory or other law enforcement body, or where any of our suppliers, acting reasonably, inform us of a breach or likely breach of this Fair Use Policy. We may suspend or cancel your Service whether or not the breach, or likely breach, is intentional or authorised by you.

We may, without liability, block access to, remove, or refuse to post any content that we consider is offensive, indecent, or otherwise inappropriate regardless of whether the content or its publication is unlawful.

We may, without liability, implement traffic management measures to ensure that any heavy users do not affect the Services for other customers on the network, including but not limited to speed management (shaping) or bandwidth allocation management and call barring.

We reserve the right to review and subsequently terminate the all-inclusive call bundles’ packages if suspected that the individual use seems excessive.

We reserve the right to vary the terms of this Fair Use Policy from time to time. Changes will be published to our website. Continued use of the Services after the changes take effect will constitute acceptance of these changes.

Privacy Policy

Introduction

Protecting your privacy is a big deal. At Voice Connect we are strict about how we handle personal information.

This privacy policy outlines how we collect, store, use and disclose personal information. It also confirms our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Telecommunications Act 1997.

What is your personal information?

In this privacy policy, the term ‘personal information’ has the meaning given to it in the Privacy Act. Personal information is information we collect which identifies you or could be used to identify you.

Why do we collect personal information?

We need to collect some personal details from you to provide you with our services and products.

Without collecting your identifying information when you join us, we may not be able to provide you with the products and services you want. We may also need to collect additional personal information to manage your account and continue to provide you with our products and services.

What personal information do we collect?

Information about you

The information we collect about you depends on the products and services you use and whether you are a customer, job applicant or a member of the public. It may include:

  • Your name, date of birth and contact details
  • Your physical address or alternative addresses where we provide our services to you
  • Your bank account and credit card details
  • Information to prove your identity, for example your driver’s licence or another form of ID
  • Information relating to your credit worthiness
  • Your employment history, if you apply for a job with us
  • If you are a business, company or government entity, the number of employees in your organisation
  • Details of products and services we have supplied you or you have asked about
  • Details needed to deliver those products and services or answer your questions
  • What you tell us about the products, services or lifestyle activities you like or how you like to use our products and services
  • Details about your account (including your password and username)
  • Information about you that you provide us directly or indirectly when online
  • Information you provide to us through surveys

We may also need to collect personal information from you about authorised representatives you appoint in relation to your account. If so, you must also tell them about this Privacy Policy and ensure you have the appropriate consents from them to provide their personal information to us.

Information about how you use our products and services

We may also collect:

  • Phone numbers that you call or send messages to
  • Phone numbers that you receive calls and messages from
  • The date, time and length of the calls and messages you send or receive with us. Also, your location at the time of these calls and messages
  • Information about the level of service you receive. This may include details of network faults or events which may affect our services
  • Information about your use of our services, including how you use our network, the operating system you use, our apps or online portals, call centres, webchat services and stores
  • Websites you visit and online searches you do. This includes the date, time and length of your internet browsing and your location at the time. For further information, please see the section ‘How we use online identifiers’ below

How do we collect personal information?

We collect your personal information if you:

  • Provide information to us in account application forms, order forms or service enquiry forms
  • Provide information to us when you buy products or services from our websites
  • Subscribe to newsletters, alerts or other services from us
  • Take part in a competition, prize draw or survey
  • Visit our websites, online stores, Facebook pages and other pages that we own and manage
  • Use any of our apps or online portals
  • Visit external websites and perform online searches using your device
  • Require assistance with service provisioning or fault management
  • When you contact us or we contact you. These conversations may be recorded for training, quality and business purposes
  • Use your device including when this results in contact between your device and our network. This contact might tell us about you, your device, your use of our services and your location

We or our carrier suppliers may also collect personal information about you in accordance with our obligations under the data retention provisions of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth).

Information collected from other sources

We may collect personal information from:

  • Our carrier suppliers. For example, if you have a service with one of our carrier suppliers, they may share your personal information with us
  • Credit reporting agencies, law enforcement agencies and other government entities
  • Entities that provide services to us. This includes entities to which we may disclose your personal information. We explain who these entities are below in the section ‘Who can we provide your information to?’
  • Your authorised representatives or legal advisors
  • Publicly available sources of information, like market research providers

We may also collect information in other ways and will take all reasonable steps to let you know if we do.

Paging and Messaging services

Some entities in the Voice Connect carrier services (e.g. Vodafone) offer paging and messaging services. If you call or message a customer with a messaging or paging service and you would like to leave or send a message, we will collect from you details like your name, telephone number and any details in your message. We will then send your message and those details to our customer as part of the service. We will not use or disclose your details in other ways. We will hold and manage your details as set out in this policy.

How do we use online identifiers?

We may use cookies and other online identifiers to collect information about you when you interact with our websites, applications, communications, products and services.

How we use online identifiers

  • Cookies are small text files stored in your browser and mobile app. Cookies and other online identifiers help us understand how we can make our online products more relevant to you.
  • We may use a persistent cookie, which is a cookie that stays linked to your browser. A persistent cookie is used to record your visits so we can recognise you if you visit our website again. It also lets us keep track of products or services you view so that, with your consent, we can send you news about them.
  • We also use cookies and other online identifiers to measure traffic patterns, to see which areas of our website have been visited and to measure total transaction patterns. This helps us see how our site is used so that we can improve our online products and services. You can set your browser so your computer stops cookies or lets you know each time a website tries to set a cookie.
  • We may also log your IP address. Your IP address is your computer’s electronic Internet address. We may collect your IP address to see trends, run the website, track user movements, and gather broad demographic information.

How do we use your personal information?

We may use your personal information and usage information for the purposes of:

Providing you with products and services

  • Providing you with products and services
  • Processing orders or applications to become a customer
  • Providing you with customer and technical support

Communication and administration

  • Contacting you with messages about changes to our products or services
  • Verifying your identity
  • Generating bills, managing your account, and carrying out debt-recovery
  • Carrying out credit checks and credit reporting
  • Dealing with questions, complaints and other customer care activities
  • Assessing any financial hardship application made by you
  • Identifying your location so we can send you emergency alerts

The communications above may be sent from entities within the Voice Connect group from which you do not currently purchase products and services (e.g. you may receive a bill from Cloud Comms Connect for your Voice Connect services).

Marketing and communications

  • Contacting you with marketing about products and services offered by any of the brands and subsidiaries in the Voice Connect. This may include marketing from or related to brands and subsidiaries within the Voice Connect that do not currently provide you with products or services. See below for more information about direct marketing communications

Improvement and analytics

  • Understanding how you use our products and services, carrying out market analysis and research, and analysing the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns
  • Developing our products and services, networks, and business processes
  • Understanding how customers use our networks, analysing network use and performance, behavioural data and demographic trends
  • Analysing the things that interest you, as well as where you use your device. We may use those details to provide you with services, products and information suited to your needs, interests and location
  • Sharing de-identified and anonymised data with select business partners. In these cases, we use techniques such as grouping, combining and anonymising so that we do not reveal your personal information
  • Training our staff

Network security and fraud

  • Protecting our network and managing the use of our network, including by analysing data use, calling patterns, SMS and other uses of our network. For example, we identify peak periods of use so our network can better handle the volume at those times.
  • Conducting internal investigations in relation to crime and fraud prevention, detection, recovery or prosecution.

Compliance

  • Complying with. or as required or authorised by, law (including under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth) and the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth)
  • Complying with, or as required by or in accordance with, any mandatory industry code or standard registered under the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth)
  • Performing identity checks for pre-paid public mobile telecommunications services under the Telecommunications (Service Provider-Identity Checks for Prepaid Mobile Carriage Services) Determination 2013
  • Complying with requests for information issued to the Voice Connect by agencies and courts that are entitled to obtain the information under Australian law

We may share personal information collected by one Voice Connect entity with other entities within the Voice Connect and use that information as set out above.

For other purposes, we will ask for your consent to use your personal information.

Direct marketing communications

We may send you direct marketing messages and information about:

  • Products, services, discounts, competitions and special promotions offered by entities within the Voice Connect that may be of interest to you
  • Offers or promotions based on how you use our products and services for example your data, calling and messaging activities, location information and browsing information
  • Other companies’ products and services (including offers and discounts we have arranged for our customers) we think may interest you, if you have chosen to receive this information

This marketing material may be sent by various methods, including but not limited to, telephone, post and any form of electronic message (including, but not limited to, email, SMS, MMS, push messages and video messages).

You consent to us sending you marketing material by any of those methods. Unless you opt out, you may continue to receive marketing material from us for up to 13 months from when your agreement with us ends.

At any time you may opt-out of receiving marketing material from us. For details on the opt out process, please see the section below headed “How can you opt-out of marketing materials?”

We may give your personal information to other organisations that assist us in providing you with direct marketing. These organisations are limited to our suppliers or third parties working with or directly on behalf of the Voice Connect. You can separately opt-in to receiving third-party marketing through a specific promotion.

How can you opt-out of marketing materials?

If you would rather not receive our marketing material, you may opt-out by using any of the opt-out methods noted in the marketing material. You may also contact us in the following ways:

Consumer and small business customers:

If you have multiple services with Voice Connect, opting out of receiving direct marketing material for any one of the Voice Connect brands will not withdraw your consent to receive direct marketing material from other Voice Connect brands that you have a service with. If you wish to opt out of receiving direct marketing from all Voice Connect brands that provide you a service, you will need to follow the opt out process for each relevant brand.

Please be aware that even if you have opted out of receiving marketing material, we will still need to send you essential information about your account, your service or plan and other information required by law.

Who can we provide your personal information to?

We might disclose your personal information both within and outside Australia to the relevant entities below.

We take reasonable steps to make sure recipients of your personal information handle that information in accordance with the obligations set out in the Australian Privacy Act. The relevant entities are:

  • Credit providers or credit reporting agencies for the purposes permitted under the Privacy Act and credit reporting legislation
  • Our carrier suppliers
  • Our service providers, including the providers of network and IT services, content providers, insurance products and mailing services
  • Our dealers, agents, suppliers, contractors and advisers
  • Our device manufacturers and repairers
  • Our providers of marketing, research, call centre and telemarketing services
  • Companies and brands in the Voice Connect group
  • Your authorised representatives or legal advisors
  • Our professional advisors including lawyers, accountants, tax advisors and auditors
  • Debt collection agencies and other parties that assist with debt-recovery functions
  • Law enforcement bodies to assist in their functions, courts of law or as otherwise required or authorised by law
  • Emergency services (if you make an emergency call) or other service providers assisting in emergency situations
  • Regulatory or government bodies to resolve customer complaints or disputes both internally and externally or to comply with any investigation by one of those bodies
  • Other telco companies for the purposes of dealing with unwelcome calls and number portability issues
  • To third parties for the purpose of preventing or investigating actual or suspected fraud, unlawful activity, or misconduct relating to your accounts or our services. For example, your financial institution may use a third party service to verify your location or to verify that the location where your mobile service is being used is near the place of a recent or pending financial transaction and/or to check whether or not your mobile service’s SIM has recently been swapped

We are required by law to disclose personal information about you to the operator of the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND). Information we may be required to disclose includes, your name, residential address, telephone number and email address. Personal information in the IPND is used to assist emergency services and safeguard national security. If you consent, information from the IPND may also be published in public directories or used by directory assistance. IPND information may also be used for research with approval by the ACMA.

Do we disclose your personal information outside Australia?

Our carrier suppliers may disclose personal information to third party suppliers and service providers located overseas for some of the purposes listed above.

Our carrier suppliers may store or sometimes disclose personal information to entities outside Australia. Some of these entities are:

  • Companies within the Vodafone Group Plc group of companies located in the UK, Germany, Italy, Egypt and India
  • Voice Connect’s data hosting and other service providers located in Fiji, Canada, countries within the European Union, United Kingdom, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Indonesia, and the USA

How do we (including our carrier suppliers) hold and protect your personal information?

The security of your personal information is important to us. We take all reasonable steps to securely store your personal information in a way that is protected from unauthorised use, access, modification or disclosure. This includes both physical and electronic security measures.

We sometimes use service providers to process, manage and store personal information. Where we do, we require those service providers to comply with strict requirements about the use and protection of your details.

We also ensure that your personal information can only be seen and used by staff who need it to do their jobs. Our staff securely destroy any printed documents containing your details.

We run checks of our systems, service providers and staff to make sure that your personal information is held and used properly. We give our staff special training about privacy and the proper use of your details.

How can you protect your account from unauthorised access?

Anyone who knows your account security information (such as PIN or online username and password) can access your account. You must keep this information secure. You may choose to nominate authorised persons to manage your account, and they will need to provide their own personal and security information. We accept no responsibility for information we disclose to parties who know your account security information.

How accurate is the personal information we hold about you?

We take all reasonable measures to make sure the personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up to date. However, the accuracy of your information is largely dependent on what you provide us. To make sure we have your most current and accurate details, please let us know when your information changes (e.g. if you change your name or address).

Can you access and correct the personal information we hold about you?

Yes, but there may be times where we cannot grant you access to the personal information we hold. For example, we may not grant access to information if it could interfere with the privacy of others or if it would result in a breach of confidentiality. If that happens, we will give you written reasons for any refusal.

If you think your personal information is not current or may not be accurate or complete, you should ask for it to be updated. If we do not agree that there are grounds to change it, we will add a note to the personal information stating that you disagree.

How can you report a breach of your privacy?

If you believe your privacy has been compromised, please fill in this Privacy Breach Form and return it to the address provided. A member of our Privacy team will get in touch within 5 business days.

If you believe that we have not dealt with your concerns you may lodge a complaint with the Australian Privacy Commissioner or the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.

Australian Privacy Commissioner: GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001. Telephone: 1300 363 992. Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au

Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman: PO Box 276, Collins Street West, VIC 8007. Telephone: 1800 062 058. Website: https://www.tio.com.au/making-a-complaint

Contact us

If you have any questions about your privacy, or if you would like a printed copy of this privacy policy (free of charge), please contact us by:

  • calling us at 1300 995 464
  • emailing us at privacy@voiceconnect.com.au 
  • sending us a letter to Voice Connect Customer Care, PO Box 207, Elwood, 3184
  • if you are an enterprise, government or wholesale customer, by contacting your designated account manager.