Privacy Policy
[last updated March 2021]
Contact us with feedback, comments or complaints
Contact person: | Emma or Carla (it will be one of us replying to you) |
Mail: | PO Box 7036, Greenway ACT 2900 |
Email: | [email protected] |
The Merrymaker Sisters website https://themerrymakersisters.com/ is owned and managed by Get Merry Ventures Pty Ltd ABN 97 621 193 299. When you read the words ‘we’, ‘us’, or ‘ours’, it means The Merrymaker Sisters. The words ‘you’, ‘your’ or ‘user’ means you, the visitor of our Site or user of our services.
We are committed to the protection of your privacy and have prepared this policy to let you know how we handle your personal information. Some of the information might be a little technical but it’s important that you read and understand this policy because it explains how we will collect, use and store your personal information and what your rights are.
When we use the word ‘Site’, we are referring to our website and our social media pages, apps and ebook. By accessing or using our Site, or otherwise interacting with us (together referred to as ‘services’), you are agreeing to be bound by our Site Terms and Conditions [https://themerrymakersisters.com/terms-conditions/] and this Privacy Policy.
Children’s privacy
Protecting the privacy of children is especially important to us. Our Site is not directed toward minors who are under the age of 15 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you are a minor, please do not provide us with your name, contact details or any other information about yourself. We do not allow minors to open an account with us or use our services without their parent or legal guardian providing their own personal information and consent for the collection and use of the minor’s personal information.
If we become aware that a minor has provided us with personal information without parental consent, that information will be deleted from our databases. If you are the parent or legal guardian of a minor and suspect they may have provided us with their personal information without your consent, please contact us and request to have the minor’s personal information destroyed.
What is personal information
‘Personal information’ is information that directly identifies you, such as your name, address, email, or data that could be used on its own or in combination with other data to identify you.
In general, we use your personal information to deliver our services, answer your enquiries, contact you, or send you information about our services.
We do not sell or give away access to the personal information you provide to us.
Collecting sensitive information
We do not actively collect sensitive information about you, including information about your health, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or criminal history. We will take steps to appropriately protect any sensitive information we do receive.
Staying anonymous
You can browse our Site anonymously, although cookies may be used.
However, if you identify yourself to us when you for example, sign up to become a member with us or email us, at that point we will start collecting your personal information.
What we collect and how we collect it
The main way we collect personal information about you is when you give it to us. The personal information we collect about you depends on the dealings you have with us. For example, if you:
- register to become a member of the MerryBody Studio or for our services (eg. to receive our digital messaging services such as newsletters or contests), you may be asked to complete a registration form and provide personal information such as your name, email, phone number, address and date of birth. You may also be asked to choose a user ID and password. Your decision to register for our services or become a member with us is voluntary and it is your choice whether you want to disclose information to us. If you elect not to provide your personal information, you will not be able to take advantage of those products and services that require registration;
- join our special mailing lists or databases to receive information about, for example, certain products, we may collect your name, email, phone number, address, date of birth and information about your shopping or product preferences;
- make a purchase online through our Site, we will collect your name, email, phone number, address, order details, credit card details and we may also ask you to provide your date of birth and gender;
- provide information via our social media pages such as The Merrymaker Sisters Facebook pages or groups, Twitter, Instagram or other social media sites, we will collect the information you make publicly available through those sites;
- attend our function or event, we will collect your name, email, phone number, address, and any dietary or accessibility requirements;
- enter a contest hosted by us, we may collect your name, email, phone number, and address along with your prize/merchandise, service preferences, and answers. Participation is voluntary, and it is your choice whether or not to disclose your information. Your personal information may be used to notify you of the winner, confirm prize delivery or for other related purposes including postings to the Site (see the rules of each contest for details about how your personal information will be used);
- participate in our surveys or games, you may have to register and we may request personal information from you which will be used in conjunction with the survey or game. Participation is voluntary, and it is your choice whether or not to disclose your information to us;
- send us an enquiry or provide us with feedback through our online form or via email, phone or post, we will collect your name, email, phone number, details of your enquiry or feedback and our response. In circumstances where you contact us by phone, calls may be recorded for quality, training and security purposes. Calls may also be monitored without your consent for the following circumstances: to provide evidence of a business transaction; to see that quality standards or targets are being met; and to secure the effective operation of the telecom system;
- provide us a testimonial, you are consenting to us using your name, photo and the date to be displayed on our Site or in our other marketing material, together with the content of the testimonial that you provide;
- submit a sponsorship application with us, we will collect the information you include in your proposal;
- apply for a job with us, we will collect the information you include in your job application, including your and your referee’s contact details and any information included in your resume; or
- engage with or purchase products from third parties who deal with us such as our Affiliates, we may collect your personal information from our Affiliates.
We may also receive your personal information from third parties such as providers of payment services, information technology service providers, marketing and communications agencies or research and statistical analysis providers.
We may collect information that cannot be used to directly identify you such as browser type, Dynamic Internet Protocol (IP) address, and “click stream” data. We may aggregate this information about you and others who visit our Site. Our purpose in collecting this information is to better understand how our visitors use our Site. Please see our Cookies policy below for more details. This information could potentially identify you and we will handle this information in the same way we handle personal information described in this policy.
Why we collect personal information
Main purposes
The main purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information are:
- to deliver our products and services;
- to process orders online;
- to verify your identity;
- to enable your child to use our services;
- to provide any associated loyalty program;
- to promote our brand, products and services;
- to carry out assessment and statistical analysis, including for customer satisfaction and product and service improvement purposes. This may include matching information we collect against other information held by third parties. We may also use and disclose de-identified data for these purposes;
- to help us tailor existing or develop new products, services or offers, and to help us target promotional offers and opportunities;
- to help ensure the security of our systems (including theft and fraud prevention);
- to answer queries and resolve complaints; and
- general planning and administration.
We may also collect, hold, use and disclose personal information for other purposes explained at the time of collection for which you have provided consent, or which are required or authorised by law.
You agree that you do not object to us using your personal information for any of the purposes outlined in this policy and you confirm that you do not and will not consider any of these purposes as a breach of any of your rights under applicable privacy laws.
Direct marketing and opting out
By providing your name, address, email and phone number to us, you consent to us sending you marketing information. We may send marketing information to you in a variety of ways, including by mail, email, social media, SMS, MMS, and phone.
If at any point you no longer wish to receive information from us, there are a number of ways you can unsubscribe:
- contact us using the contact details at the beginning of this policy; or
- use the unsubscribe link that we include in our electronic messages (eg email, SMS or MMS) to opt out of receiving those messages. Each “unsubscribe” link only relates to that specific type of communication (eg marketing communications or survey communications). This means that unsubscribing from marketing communications will not automatically unsubscribe you from our survey communications or vice versa. Please also note that you may continue to receive communications which are already en route to you for a short period of time while your relevant unsubscribe request is being processed.
Who we may share your personal information with
The information we collect about you is used for providing you with our services and as disclosed in this policy. We do not publish your personal information.
We may share your personal information with third parties where appropriate for the purposes set out above, including:
- financial institutions for payment processing;
- referees whose details are provided to us by job applicants; or
- our contracted service providers or partners, including overseas and local agents, information technology service providers, venues and event organisers, marketing and communications agencies, research and statistical analysis providers, hard copy and electronic mail houses, external advisers, and regulatory, investigative or government bodies to comply with laws.
Cross border disclosure and consent to transfer
We may disclose personal information to overseas recipients depending on the nature of the services those recipients provide to us (for example, when we store data via a cloud service, or where our customer relationship management system is hosted on servers located overseas, or where delivery address information for online orders is managed via a third party located overseas).
By providing us with your personal information, you consent to us transferring your personal information across international borders this way. You acknowledge that different countries have different rules about personal information protection. We will do our best to ensure your data is protected to a similar standard as set out in this Privacy Policy by using reputable third-party providers with similar privacy protections.
For United States Users:
The United States has different data privacy laws than Australia and other jurisdictions. We aim to comply with Australian privacy and data protection laws. We will continue to adhere to the principles stated in this policy and will make reasonable efforts to comply with applicable international, national, regional, territorial, and provincial laws in connection with any information collected through the Site. We will always endeavour to preserve the integrity, confidentiality, and security of personal information and afford your personal information a reasonable level of protection.
Your California Privacy Rights: Other than as is stated by this policy, we will not share any personal information about you with outside third parties for their direct marketing purposes to the extent prohibited by California law, unless you agree otherwise as authorized by your prior written consent.
California residents have the right to request information from us about how we share personal information with affiliated companies and third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To find out what and how we share such information, please contact us. You will receive the following information:
- Information regarding the categories of information we disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year, if any;
- The names and addresses of the third parties who received information for their direct marketing purposes; and
- Examples of the products and services subject to the third-parties’ direct marketing programs, if the nature of the third parties’ business cannot be determined from their names.
You agree that you do not object to us using your personal information for any of the purposes outlined in this policy and you confirm that you do not and will not consider any of these purposes as a breach of any of your rights under applicable privacy laws.
California law requires us to let you know how we respond to web browser Do Not Track (DNT) signals. Because there currently isn’t an industry or legal standard for recognizing or honouring DNT signals, we don’t respond to them at this time.
Data quality and security
General
We hold personal information in a number of ways, including in printed documents, electronic databases and email contact lists. Printed documents may be kept at our office, or archived in boxes and stored in secure offsite facilities. We take reasonable steps to:
- ensure that the personal information we collect, use and disclose is accurate, up to date, complete and relevant. You can help us keep your information up to date by letting us know about changes to your details;
- protect the personal information that we hold from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure; and
- destroy or permanently de-identify personal information that is no longer needed for our purposes.
Security
The steps we take to secure personal information include implementing website protection measures, security procedures to access our computer systems, policies on document storage and security.
While we endeavour to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your information. No method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage can be 100% secure. If you are concerned about sending your information over the internet, please contact us.
We may provide you access to chat rooms, forums, and or commenting and message boards. You acknowledge that by using the commenting features of the Site, your username and location information will be disclosed. Other than this, you are not required to provide any personal information when using these areas, but you may choose to do so. If you post personal information online, it will be publicly available, and you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties.
Please contact us to request removal of your personal information from our Site. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information. We will let you know if we are unable to do so and the reason why.
Third party sites
Links to third-party sites such as our social media or our Affiliate’s websites are not operated or controlled by us. They are provided for your convenience only and should be used with your discretion and prudent judgment. Third-party sites should have their own privacy and security policies and will handle your personal information for their own purposes. We encourage you to familiarise yourself with the privacy policies of these sites before supplying any personal information to them.
Some of the third-party marketing channels may be “co-branded” with our logo. Even so, these third-party channels are not operated, controlled or maintained by us. Links from our Site to third-party sites do not constitute sponsorship, endorsement, or approval of the content, policies or practices of such third-party sites.
Cookies
We use a range of tools provided by third parties including our website host, third party service providers and search engine browsers to collect or view access and traffic information for statistical, reporting and maintenance purposes. Third party providers have their own privacy policies. We may also use tracking pixels, cookies and session tools to improve your experience when accessing our online services.
Cookies are tiny text files that websites or apps may place on your computer or device. Information is automatically collected through your use of the Site through Cookies. The data collected by cookies does not usually identify you but may be combined with other information to identify you. If we identify you using information from cookies, we may use that information to track how you use our Site and send you information more specific to your needs, or to invite you to purchase our products or services.
When you visit our Site, the following types of cookies may be downloaded to your device:
Analytical and Performance Cookies
We may use analytics service providers for Site traffic analysis and reporting. Analytics service providers generate statistical and other information about the use of the Site by using cookies. This helps us to improve the way our Site works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.
Advertising and Targeting Cookies
These cookies record your visit to the Site, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed to other sites. We will use this information to try and make the Site more relevant to your interests. We may use cookies on our Site to help us place our relevant advertising on third-party sites when you visit such sites. We do this because we value your visit to our Site and hope that you will be interested in our other offerings. If you are not happy with this, please see below “How do I turn cookies off”.
Functionality Cookies
We may use functional cookies that allow us to remember choices you have made in relation to the Site to provide a more personalised experience and enhanced user experience by delivering content specific to your interests.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These are cookies that are required for the administration and operation of our Site. Some cookies that we use are necessary for our Site to function properly and to enable you to move around the Site and use their features.
Third Party Cookies
We know you love to share the great content we have on the Site so we try to make it as easy as possible for you to do so. We add buttons to allow people to easily share on sites like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. We also use Facebook to power the commenting functionality on the Site.
Please note that when we include such social ‘plugins’, it gives those social networking site the flexibility to use cookies. They can’t read any cookies we set from the Site, and we can’t read any cookies they set, but it lets them do the same kind of traffic measuring that we do on the rest of our website, and it also lets them know whether you’re logged in. For example, if you’re logged in to Facebook, read one of our blog posts and want to make a comment, you can do that straight away without having to log in to our website again – we never know whether or not you’re logged in, as you communicate directly with Facebook, through their plugins on our website.
We don’t control the setting of these third-party cookies, so we suggest you check the third-party websites for more information about their cookies and how to manage them.
Other sites and services (for example, advertising networks, providers of external services such as web traffic analysis services and content recommendation engines) may also use cookies, over which we have no control. These cookies are likely to be analytical/performance cookies or targeting cookies.
Our internet service providers may also use other standard web-based technologies to analyse your movements while accessing our Site. The technologies include analytic solutions, web “beacons,” “pixel tags,” and “clear gifs.” These technologies help us ascertain the effectiveness of our product and service campaigns and marketing programs, allow us to customize the services offered on or through our Site, and help determine the best use for Site content, and product and service offerings. Some of this information, including your IP address, may be stored on our internet service provider’s server logs, and may be stored for extended periods of time.
How do I turn cookies off?
If you do not wish cookies to be installed on your computer or device or you don’t agree with how we use cookies in any way, you can change the settings on your internet browser to delete or do not accept cookies. Please be aware that if you delete or do not accept our cookies, some areas of our Site may take more time to work or may not function properly. For more information about cookies please visit: http://www.allaboutcookies.org. To find out how to opt out of tailored advertising please check the options available here – http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/.
Access, correction and deletion
General
Please contact us if you would like to access, correct or delete the personal information we hold about you. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing any requests to make sure that your personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.
Access
We will provide you with access to your personal information within 30 days, subject to some exceptions permitted by law. We will generally provide you an electronic copy of the information we hold about you and may provide you access in the manner that you have requested (eg providing photocopies or allowing a file to be viewed) provided it is reasonable and practical for us to do so. We may charge a fee to cover our reasonable costs of locating the information and providing it to you.
Correction
If you ask us to correct the personal information we hold about you, or if we are satisfied that the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, we will take reasonable steps to correct that information. If we correct personal information about you, and we have previously disclosed that information to another agency or organisation, you may ask us to notify that other entity. If so, we will take reasonable steps to do so, unless this would be impractical or unlawful.
Deletion
If you live in a country with privacy laws granting you the right to request to have your information deleted, we will, if appropriate, delete your personal information from our system and notify all third parties to whom we have shared your personal information to delete it. We may keep deidentified information for business purposes.
Data retention periods
We will retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with our products and services. If you wish to cancel your account or request that we no longer use your information to provide you with our products and services, please contact us to make a request. Please note that we will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
Complaints or questions
We hope everything is explained here clearly but if you would like further information about how we manage your personal information, or if you have any queries relating to this policy or wish to lodge a complaint in relation to our use of your personal information, please contact us.
All complaints received by us will be dealt with fairly and in a timely manner considering all the circumstances of the complaint. In most cases, we expect that complaints will be investigated and a response provided within 30 days of receipt of the complaint. If the matter is more complex and our investigation may take longer, we will contact you and tell you when we expect to provide our response.
If you are not happy with how we manage your concerns, you can contact your local data protection supervisory office. For example, in Australia this would be the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner of the https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
Changes to this policy
We may amend this policy from time to time. Please check back regularly to see any updates or changes. If we make a material change to the way in which we collect, use, and or share your personal information, we will post a notice on the Site and or send an email to users who have provided an email address. Please note that you should always update your personal information to provide us with a current email address.
The current version of this policy will be posted on the Site and a copy may be obtained by contacting us. We have included a ‘last updated’ date at the top to help you keep track of any changes.
End.