Our privacy obligations

 

Optamise Pty Ltd is governed by the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).  The APPs regulate how personal information is handled by Optamise Pty Ltd.  

 

Optamise Pty Ltd’s Privacy Policy applies to personal information collected and/or held by Optamise Pty Ltd.

 

‘Personal information’ means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.  

 

‘Sensitive information’ is a type of personal information that has specific protection under privacy laws. Sensitive information includes information about an individual’s race or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation or practice, membership of a union or professional or trade association, or criminal record. Health information, and biometric data (such as finger scans, or images used by facial recognition systems), are also protected as sensitive information.

 

‘Health information’ is defined to include information or an opinion about:

(a) an individual’s 

(i) health (including illness, disability or injury);

(ii) express wishes about future provision of health services; and

(iii) a health service provided or to be provided; 

(b) Personal information collected for providing health services; 

(c) Personal information collected about organ, body part or body substance donation;

(d) Genetic information that is predictive of an individual or a genetic relative.    

 

Additionally, as a health service provider in NSW that collects, holds or uses health information, Optamise Pty Ltd is also governed by the Health Records & Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW). 

 

We will review this Privacy Policy regularly, and we may update it from time to time. 

 

The types of personal information we collect and hold

 

We collect the following types of personal information about customers and patients, as part of our routine activities:

• Name, date of birth, address, telephone number, email address, carer details, details of other care providers

• Medicare and/or private health insurance details

• Medical imaging, photographs, videos and medical testing results

• CCTV footage at Optamise Pty Ltd sites

 

As a health service provider we collect health information about patients including diagnoses and treatments. We collect information about products sold, services provided and whether the patient wishes to go on a marketing mailing list.

 

We also collect personal information about our staff, contractors and suppliers, as well as the contact details of individuals who work for contractors and suppliers, and other types of professional associates and personal contacts.

How we collect personal information

 

Information that you specifically give us

 

We may ask you to provide us with certain types of personal information if you wish to obtain a particular service or product from us. This might happen over the telephone, through our website, by filling in a paper form, or meeting with us face-to-face. We will give you a Collection Notice at the time, to explain how we will use the personal information we are asking for. The notice may be written (in hard copy or digital form) or verbal.

 

You might also provide your personal information to us, without us directly asking for it, for example if you engage with us on social media.

Information that we collect from others

 

If you apply for a job or contract with us, we will collect personal information about you from your referees. With your consent we may also use a third-party service to ensure your employment, educational and identity records are valid. We may also check some details about our suppliers from publicly available sources, such as the Australian Business Register and ASIC databases.

Information that we generate ourselves

 

We maintain records of the interactions we have with customers and patients, including the products and services we have provided to you. We may also retain records of any interactions we have made with you whilst providing services, including comments or complaints that have been made.

 

We collect limited information about users of our websites, for diagnostic and analytic purposes. We use cookies and gather IP addresses to do so, but we do not trace these back to individual users.

Links to other sites

On our website, we may provide links to third-party websites. These linked sites are not under our control, and we cannot accept responsibility for the conduct of companies linked to our website. Before providing your personal information via any other website, we advise you to examine the terms and conditions of using that website and its privacy policy.

 

How we use personal information 

 

We may use your personal information for the following purposes:

• to provide the service or product you have requested

• to process payments made to us

• to provide technical or other support to you

• to answer your enquiry about our services, or to respond to a complaint or feedback

• to manage our employment or business relationship with you

• to send reminders about upcoming appointments or your next review appointment is due

• to promote our other programs, products or services which may be of interest to you (unless you have opted out from marketing communications)

• to comply with legal and regulatory obligations

• if otherwise permitted or required by law, or

• for other purposes with your consent, unless you withdraw your consent.

 

We may interact with you via telephone calls, SMS, email, mail, targeted online advertising on social media or other web platforms / sites.

When we disclose personal information 

 

Our third-party service providers

The personal information of customers and patients, staff, suppliers and other contacts may be held on our behalf outside Australia, including ‘in the cloud’, by our third-party service providers. Our third-party service providers are bound by contract to only use your personal information on our behalf, under our instructions.

 

Our third-party service providers are:

• delivery and shipping providers

• IT service providers

• marketing, promotional and market research agencies

• external business advisors (e.g. auditors and lawyers, bookkeeping services, business advisory organisations)

• business-support software services, e.g. Microsoft, Xero, online payment providers

 

Other disclosures and transfers

 

• Financial institutions processing payments

• In case of the sale of the business (in whole or in part), to the purchaser (as an asset of the business)

• For job applicants, referees whose details you provide to us

• To law enforcement agencies in the event of a formal request

• To carers

• To other health service providers, for the purpose of shared medical care for the benefit of the patient

 

We may also disclose your personal information to third parties for the following purposes:

• if necessary to provide the service or product you have requested

• if otherwise permitted or required by law; or

• for other purposes with your consent.

 

Security and retention of your personal information 

 

We will take reasonable security measures to protect personal information from loss, unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure.

 

We will take reasonable steps to ensure personal information is stored securely via encrypted computer systems, local backup stores and cloud-based storage. The information is not kept longer than necessary, and disposed of appropriately. 

 

We will keep personal information about you, to use for the purposes outlined above (see ‘How we use personal information’), or where a specific law requires us to retain it for a given period or for another purpose.

 

By law, medical information must be kept for a minimum of 7 years for patients over the age of 18. In the case of minors (under 18), this information must be kept until they turn the age of 25.

 

Accessing or correcting your personal information 

 

You have the right to request access to the personal information Optamise Pty Ltd holds about you. Unless an exception applies, we must allow you to see the personal information we hold about you, within a reasonable time period, and without unreasonable expense. We will investigate and quote any unreasonable expense to gather the data.

 

You also have the right to request the correction of the personal information we hold about you. We will take reasonable steps to make appropriate corrections to personal information so that it is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

 

Unless an exception applies, we must update, correct, amend or delete the personal information we hold about you within a reasonable time period.  We do not charge for making corrections.

 

To seek access to, or correction of, your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer. 

 

Automated decisions

 

Automated decisions are processes in which a decision is made either entirely or substantially by a computer program.  

 

Optamise Pty Ltd does not use the personal information we hold in automated decision-making processes.  

 

To contact our Privacy Officer

 

If you have an enquiry or a complaint about the way we handle your personal information, or to seek to exercise your privacy rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you, you may contact our office via phone: 02 6765 2912, email: office@harveyoptometry.com.au or mail: PO Box 3134, West Tamworth NSW 2340.

While we endeavour to resolve complaints quickly and informally, if you wish to proceed to a formal privacy complaint, we request that you make your complaint in writing to our Privacy Officer, by mail or email as above. We will acknowledge your formal complaint within 5 working days.

 

If we do not resolve your privacy complaint to your satisfaction, you may lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) by calling them on 1300 363 992, making a complaint online at www.oaic.gov.au, or writing to them at OAIC, GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001.